beautiful France...

so here i was, driving through beautiful France. or was i?

France is always depicted as this amazingly beautiful place. don't get me wrong, i think a lot of places in France are beautiful. it's just that i had higher expectations for this part i was in. driving away from Toulouse, we had to get quite a way beyond Auch before i started liking what i saw and calling it beautiful. i voiced this feeling, explaining that, when i was in Japan (or Denmark), the countryside had always been amazing, and i'd never thought a place wasn't beautiful. after some discussion, we came to the conclusion that there were two reasons for this:
1. French people don't care about nature the way Japanese people do. in Japan, Nature is to be respected and cherished. in France, it's just there.
2. in France, there are not only road signs everywhere, but also various advertising signs, letting you know that supermarkets, hotels, and various other facilities are within driving range, but also signs for big clothes stores, DIY, etc. they're everywhere and it really ruins the natural look.

once we got away from Auch, things were a lot better. we were in the real countryside. nothing for miles but rolling hills, farmhouses, small villages, vineyards, roads bordered by huge trees. and that, i liked.