Exploring France in a Convertible...What Else?

Apart from our private chef positions (ok, ok...imaginary private chef positions) and some light garden work, it would appear that John and I are on a sort of vacation here in Lamure-sur-Azurges. We could be helping at the cheese farm (where Therese and Wladek work, about 2 miles up the road), but since they seem to have that pretty dialed-in, we are forced to spend our free time driving a “convertible” around, picnicking poolside, visiting the neighboring Beaujolais wine region, or going for hikes. They’re torturing us, for godssake!

This car was only made cooler by my banana pepper shirt

Wait, did I just mention a convertible?

Why, yes, yes I did. Our lovely hosts have somehow decided they trust us enough to drive this relic around ohhh, whenever we want. For our first outing, we took the convi (that’s my nickname for the little guy) to a nearby pool in La Clayette. The pool was just the icing. The cake, of course, was the driving —the views? The clean air? The sun? I need to go lie down.

Yup, this is one of those views I was talking about

Driving through the Beaujolais wine region. Vineyards. Everywhere.

OK, I’m back. 

We arrived at the pool and found out another little gem about French culture: board shorts are a no-no. I thought maybe that because John’s swim trunks were aesthetically revolting (there might be a skull on them) we were being denied entrance, but it turns out that French public pools find board shorts to be unclean, because “what if you have been wearing them around all day?" I suppose that the pool administrators had not considered that a guy could secretly wear his speedo-style swimsuit/panties around for a week—maybe even a month—before jumping in the pool. The kind desk attendant pulled out a previously used speedo from a mystery bag and enthusiastically offered it to John. We quickly denied this philanthropy, and finally they let us in despite his hideous shorts.

Once past that obstacle, we enjoyed a picnic on a lawn that borders the pool and overlooks a lake and old castle. We also enjoyed the huge waterslide, obviously (which is sadly not pictured).

Honing my lady-of-leisure skills poolside on the grass

A hodgepodge and delicious salad of quinoa, beet, avocado, cucumber, lime, red wine vin, and EVOO.

The castle of La Clayette is privately owned...as in, this is someone's house. Oy.

A quick walk around La Clayette afterwards afforded us a visit to a local chocolatier, where we consumed many samples, but skipped the high-priced delicacies. With a mouthful of chocolate, we were then able to consider our day complete, and headed back home—ugly shorts and all—to spend a lovely evening with Therese and Wladek.


Follow the trail as we head next to explore huge rocks in Burgundy!