Touring Tourtour

Today we went adventuring in our spiffy Twingo.  Our intended first stop was the little town of Villecroz, but once we realized how close it is to home, we decided to save it for a day when we could walk there.  We continued up the mountainside towards Tourtour, zipping the Twingo up a very twisty road and stopping occasionally to play the tourist role properly.  It was a bit overcast, so the sun was often behind the clouds, but it was still beautiful.  Soon we found ourselves looking across a vast valley dotted with towns and houses, meadows and forests- it reminded me of the types of scenes you see on a jigsaw puzzle.  We of course took a ton of photos.  The higher we drove, the better the view, so we kept driving until we hit Tourtour.  It’s the cutest little place, built into the top of a hillside and full of 12th century stone buildings, cobblestone streets, and even a creek that’s directed through the middle of town by stone waterways.  There were a few touristy museums and such to see but they were all closed, so I’m sure we’ll be visiting again in the future.  We decided to have dinner at an adorable little restaurant called L’Alechou.  We were the only customers, but even if it had been packed, there could have only been ten of us; the restaurant was that small.  The owner was a very sweet (and efficient!) French lady.  We fumbled through ordering, steak tartar with fries for John and a salad for me.  She handled everything from taking the order to cooking to serving.  The food was fantastic!  My salad had two different types of ham on it, which she described and I pretended to understand.  John was a huge fan of both, which makes me certain he will enjoy our visit to Barcelona, where there is ham everywhere you look.  All in all, it was a great afternoon and an excellent reminder of why we’re in France- to see amazing things and meet amazing people!

– Janelle

April 16, 2011 | Categories: Food, Sightseeing | 2 Comments