We spent the first two days just hanging out by the pool, then explored the town of Niederbronn, which is far bigger than we expected. A driving tour of some typical villages, as recommended by the tourist office, was interesting, and we also did a dégustation of some excellent beers at a brasserie in Oberbach.

A sixth call to the lost and found in Annecy bore fruit – my husband’s wallet had been returned, with credit cards, driver’s license, and 175 euros! Since we can’t remember exactly how much was in it, we’re not sure whether the good Samaritan who turned it in took something for his trouble, but even if he did, he left quite a bit, and we’re grateful for that.

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About 6 corners of the Hexagon

After crossing back into France, we visited the tiny Most Beautiful Village of Lods and regretted not being able to rent a canoe or some other craft to enjoy the lovely stream.

We spent one night and half a day in the beautiful city of Besançon, where we rented an electric boat to do the “loop” around the city. After lunch, we continued north into Haut-Rhin, Alsace and visited an organic wine cave in the Plus Beau Village of Hunawihr before settling into our chambre d’hôtes for two nights in Colmar, one of my favorite cities in all of France – and the world, for that matter.

The next day we took a tour of 5 nearby villages as well as the Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg and did a bunch of wine tasting.

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About 6 corners of the Hexagon

Next we headed to Seyne to spend the night chez our friend Guy. We drove through part of the Gorges du Verdon (one place in Provence that we never got around to visiting) and, later, endless fields of poppies and other wild flowers.

Lunch the next day was a picnic in Barcelonnette, followed by a major map error that added two hours to our trip. Finally arrived in Risoul, where we stayed for three nights. We visited Briançon and another Plus Beau Village, Saint-Véran – at 2,040 meters in altitude, it’s the highest commune in Europe.

Upon leaving Risoul, we drove to La Mure and took the little tourist train to Saint-Georges-de-Commiers, round trip. Continued north and arrived in Annecy, where we stayed for two days. We enjoyed a lovely day of biking and paddleboating and could easily have stayed a week. Truly a lovely city, and one of the most beautiful lakes I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, my husband lost his wallet with his license, credit card, and, as far as we can remember, about 200 euros.

Two more Plus Beaux Villages: Sixt Fer à Cheval, which was cute but unremarkable – though definitely worth the visit for the beautiful drive, and apparently it’s a favorite spot for hikers. Then Yvoire, which was like a town-sized flower shop – it seemed to be filled and covered with flowers as far as the eye could see. We spent night number 7 in Amphion-les-Bains, on Lac Léman (Lake Geneva).

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About 6 corners of the Hexagon

We’ll start by heading north from Hyères (with a brief detour around Lake Geneva), before spending two weeks in a tiny town in Alsace, near the first corner. Then we’ll visit Nancy and Metz (and – finally! – the new Pompidou museum, which I’ve been looking forward to for years) before heading to Lille and Calais for a few days (second corner). After that we’ll continue along the coast a while before detouring to Paris and Tours for a week each, then head back north to Mont Saint-Michel (my husband has never been there!) then drive all the way along the border out to Finisterre (third corner), before following the coast all the way down to Saint Jean de Luz for another week (fourth corner). Then we’ll continue leisurely through/along the Pyrénees, detouring briefly into Andorra, before spending a week in Argelès-sur-mer (fifth corner), and then follow the Mediterranean coast all the way to Menton (sixth corner).

The way we’ve mapped it out, we’ll be driving no more than 4 hours most days, so we’ll have plenty of time to visit the towns we spend the night in, and we’re also going to check out all of the Plus Beaux Villages and Plus Beaux Détours within a reasonable distance. We’re going to visit a spa in the Pyrénées, take some incredible scenic train rides, follow the wine route (Colmar) and champagne route (Reims), and pretty much cut my list of “must visit” French towns in half, at least. It’s going to be amazing.

Read about the trip:

Week 1: Hyères to Lake Geneva

Update 7 July: I’ve received three books from one grateful reader who emailed me, and two others who didn’t. So to all three of you, anonymous and named, thank you! I appreciate the books.

Original post (28 January 2009): I had a flash of inspiration this morning. While looking at my never-ending list of books I have to have, I realized that there are probably tens, even hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of people out there just dying to buy me presents. So I put them all into my Amazon wishlist to make it easy for you:

Seriously, though, I made this to organize my thoughts. But if anyone out there does want to buy me a book, please note that I prefer paperbacks. Kindle is good too, except for cookbooks and grammar books.

If you didn’t already know about it, my book includes intermediate-level grammar lessons, writing tips, and practice exercises, and is the most extensive (and, all modesty aside, the best) book I’ve written. Check it out at Amazon.com or your favorite bookstore: Intermediate French for Dummies

And here’s the site that led me to it: Do your fonts look faint and washed out?

French love language
French terms of endearment
Spanish love language
Vegetarian aphrodisiacs

Arianna Huffington – Move Your Money: A New Year’s Resolution