Just the Bare Necessities

Our first full day on the trip was spent follow the Route des Vins through the Rhone Valley trying to locate the various caves. You think that on a designated route with not only a GPS but also a map, we'd be pros locating our destinations. You'd think. That would be way to easy. This is why I don't go anywhere in the morning without my coffee.

After seeing lots of vines, we finally caught on and found our first cave and were even greeted by an English speaker. At this point I guess we were in the Hermitage region where Syrah is the main grape. (Check me out- I'm trying to get a handle on all these grapes/wine things.)

At any rate, we did lots of driving (in circles) but the views were great and the other drivers on the road so polite. How polite? Kim decided to actually wave a few folks in. (For you non Naples drivers this is a huge thing- trust me.) Lunch that day was fabulously fried calamari beignets and quite possibly the best french fries I've ever had. In this same town we also discovered some great themed topiaries. I'm not quite sure why they picked The Jungle Book  but it sure was fun to see a familiar face or two.  My first baguette was also purchased in this town but I was so full from lunch it's going to live to see tomorrow.