Route National 7 and Western Cote d'Azure

Usually when we take MoneyPenny to the south of France we zoom down the Route de Soleil Autoroute but this year we are trying 'slow travel' and retracing the Route Nacionale 7 (RN7). This was the original route that people took from Paris to the Mediterranean from the 1930s. It's been described as the French equivalent of Route 66, so we are trying to find and follow this historic route to the best of our ability.

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We've had a few days in Paris, staying as Hotel Des Artes in Montmarte again and experieced for the first time the Fete de la Musique on the summer solstice day. The whole of the country lights up with music on this day and evening. There were brass bands, singers, jazz groups, drummers & DJs on every street corner. Wow, the French joie de vivre was alive and well! We also saw the magnificent rebuild of Notre Dame, Versailles and had some Galeries Lafayatte therapy. I need to say that France is currently in the middle of its worst heatwave since 2003. Every day is reach 36-38 degrees but this does not stop the French. They still partied hard.

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The RN7 arguably starts from the Place d'Italie on the south side of Paris. This basically just a roundabout with some flowers in the middle but from there you head through the southern suburbs of Paris on the D7 toward Paris-Orly airport. This is 'really slow travel'. We lost track of how many sets of traffic lights we were stopped at. Finally we broke into some countryside with a tree-lined straight road that felt like it had been there since Roman times. The D7 becomes the D607 at Corbeil-Essones which is a confusing part of the route to navigate. Stick with it and the D607 will take you to Fontainebleau. This is a beautiful town and if you have time you can stop and visit the Palace which looks like it could rival Versailles for grandeur and history. It was now 36 degrees outside so we moved on, keeping on the D607 towards Nemours.

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From Nemours you follow the Loing Valley to Montargis and the road now becomes the D2007. There are a few old remnants of the previous era, with signage still remaining on old buildings that looked they were once accommodation and restaurants for weary travellers.

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The original road disappears at Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire so we took the A77 on to Nevers and our overnight destination Moulins. Thankfully our hotel had a pool and airconditioning as it was 39 degrees when we arrived. This beautiful medieval town deserved more of our attention but it was not possible in the heat. We stayed at the Mercure Hotel de Paris and the staff were incredibly friendly and welcoming, plus there was parking out the back - what more can you want? Let's see if we can navigate around Lyon tomorrow to get to our next destination - Vienne tomorrow.

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