We woke up early, the sun already shining, and after a beautiful breakfast of French pastries, jam, fresh fruit, cheeses and hams, we took coffee out onto the patio overlooking the surrounding countryside of Langres.
Surprisingly, there were no aches and pains — something we’d fully expected after the long drive the day before in a sports car with firm suspension. The older you get, the harder it becomes to get in and out of a low car with any kind of dignity, but somehow we’d escaped relatively unscathed.
We set off around 10am, leaving Le Belvédère des Remparts disappearing slowly into the rear-view mirror. Ahead of us was another 6+ hour, 350 mile drive down to Aix-en-Provence, mostly made up of toll motorways with French countryside roads at either end.
A Long Motorway Day (But Not a Bad One)
There’s not a huge amount to report about the actual driving — the sun was out, the air conditioning did exactly what it was supposed to do, and the miles ticked by easily.
Even on the motorway, France has a habit of putting on a show. We passed mountains topped with châteaux, drove alongside sweeping fields of rapeseed and lavender, passed world-famous wineries lined with perfectly spaced grapevines, and skirted past lakes and rivers that looked like they belonged in a travel brochure.
What I’m trying to say is — despite being motorway driving, it was still a very pleasant journey through some genuinely stunning scenery.
Lyon, Traffic and the Crit’Air Sticker
The only stretch where things felt a little more industrial was passing through Lyon. It’s a sprawling city full of tunnels, heavy traffic and imposing buildings that seem to close in around you as the roads slow to a crawl. Nine times out of ten, if we’ve driven this way before, we’ve ended up taking a wrong turn somewhere.
For what I think might be the first time ever driving through Lyon, we got it absolutely spot on. No wrong turns, no accidental city centre detours — and before long we were south of the city, following the Rhône and heading back out into open countryside.
One difference on this trip was needing a Crit’Air sticker to legally drive through certain French cities, including Lyon. It’s essentially an environmental emissions permit linked to your vehicle. From memory it wasn’t expensive to buy, but the fines for not having one can be significant, so it’s definitely worth sorting before travelling.
If you’re driving from the UK, the RAC guide to French low-emission zones and Crit’Air rules explains everything clearly and is worth a quick read before you go.
Arriving in Provence
The further south you get in France, the prettier everything seems to become. By late afternoon we were rolling into our hotel in Aix-en-Provence, ready to slow things down again.
The hotel itself was lovely and only a couple of minutes’ walk from the centre of town. The free car parking, however, was slightly terrifying — down a very narrow, very steep ramp into an underground cellar space with pillars everywhere. It was safe, but getting a low sports car into it involved a lot of inching backwards and forwards to avoid grounding or clipping something expensive.
The room itself was beautiful, with views out across tiled Provençal rooftops, and the hotel had that comfortable boutique feel that immediately makes you relax.
First Evening in Aix-en-Provence
After unpacking, we headed straight out to explore before night fell.
Aix is exactly what you imagine when you picture a classic Provençal city. Wide main streets lined with shops, narrow side streets branching off in every direction, and plazas dotted with fountains. There happened to be a record fair taking place while we were there, which was a nice unexpected bonus.
People sat outside cafés drinking coffee or beer in the afternoon sun, wearing pastel jumpers tied over shoulders, chinos, slip-on shoes and sunglasses that looked like they’d never go out of style.
It’s fair to say older French men and women might be some of the most confidently stylish people in Europe. It probably helps when you’ve got Mediterranean sunshine giving you that permanent holiday glow. It’s safe to say it’s a look that would be significantly harder to pull off back home in Derby.
After a few hours wandering and getting some steps in, we stopped at a restaurant with outdoor seating and had a light Tex-Mex dinner and a couple of Coronas before heading back to the hotel for coffee and an early night.
Derby to France by Eurotunnel, Circuit de Gueux & Langres
Aix-en-Provence to Saint-Raphaël: Markets, Port Grimaud & First Miles on the Riviera
