Scott POWELL LEDGER STAFF WRITER This column picture was taken May 31 while I was enjoying one of my favorite pleasures in life in a cafe next

the beach in Genova, Italy.

I had driven a Citroen rental car two hours from Nice, France, into Italy towards the end of a 10-day vacation in France from June 22-July 2. As an avid coffee addict, I could not in good conscience end my day trip to Italy without having a cup of cappuccino.

The cappuccino was good. It just ranks below the cappuccino I had 25 years ago in Venice, which remains my standard for judging all versions of this wonderful Italian drink.

This is the third trip I have made to Europe, and the first trip I have gone by myself.

This story began last October when Gaffney native David McBee, one of my best friends, accepted an invitation and plane ticket and plane ticket to fly to Nice and sing on a new CD being recorded by French heavy metal band Toxxic Toyz.

Members of Toxxic Toyz in Nice had heard David’s vocals on a couple of songs on David’s MySpace page and wanted him to sing on their new CD. The Gaffney resident spent six weeks last fall recording the vocals and then returned home for four months.

Toxxic Toyz sent him another plane ticket in early February and flew him back to Nice for six months so he could perform in concert with the band. I promised David I would visit him in France while he was over there.

A couple weeks before my birthday, I hinted to my parents that I would be interested in traveling to France.

I was handed a card by my parents on my birthday on March 22. The card was shaped like a roulette wheel with names of cool things people might consider great presents for their birthday such as a new car, boat, jet skies, a CD player or computer.

Opening the inside of the card, my dad had written “France 2010.” This resulted in me getting a plane ticket to fly to Nice.

The plane flight took 14 hours and included a 6-hour time change.

I was met at the airport in Nice by David and a couple from Milwaukee he had become friends with following a Toxxic Toyz concert in France.

After enjoying a French breakfast of baguette, croissants and strong coffee, David’s friend drove me from their mountain home to the airport to pick up my rental car for the week.

The car was a Citroen station wagon capable of seating seven people. The vehicle featured an all-digital console with a GPS system in French, a CD player and gears located on top of the steering wheel.

This car was christened the “Mothership” by me due to the spaceship qualities of the new-age driving machine. The vehicle served its purpose quite well and ferried me to day trips around the Le Rouret village where I stayed.

The signs are well marked in France. The scariest aspect of driving is the narrow streets and getting used to the fact that French drivers only stop if there is a vehicle in the way.

I do not speak any French and picked up only a few words while I was over there.

Most French do speak decent English. They just don’t want you to know it.

Money solved any communication problems I had in getting the French to understand what I wanted.

I took 100 pictures during the trip. I posted a small sampling of the pictures on my Facebook page and fully intend to share some additional photos with Gaffney Ledger readers in the coming week.

I seem to have caught a cold in the spring France air, which a couple co-workers have taken to calling the “Powell Plague.” Two late election nights have not helped my effort to get my body clock back on American time.

I did have a great time in France when I wasn’t coughing.

Food is a religion in France where an evening meal takes a minimum of two hours. Two French meals were added to my Top 5 all-time meal list.

I had roasted duck cooked on a 12th Century fireplace at a bed and breakfast. The duck was served with pasta, salad, and a French baguette with assorted cheeses.

The other entry into my all-time meal list was swordfish prepared by a French couple in a restaurant called “La Cable de Pimprenelle” in a small village.

On the music front, I saw Toxxic Toyz play in Marseilles on my last weekend there.

All of the band members do music as a hobby while working full-time jobs and raising families. The band members work as an actor in a French children’s theater troupe, an alarm system installer, air conditioning control systems engineer and an 18-year-old high school student.

While I was there, Toxxic Toyz signed a distribution deal for Nightmare Records to release their new CD “Mutation” in the United States and Europe in September.

All of the songs by Toxxic Toyz deal with world affairs and social issues rather than the rock ’n roll party lifestyle commonly associated with the lyrics in heavy metal music.

One need look no further than their song “Worth Gold” to realize these French musicians are quite aware of what’s going on in the world, even though they contend much of their country’s lifestyle is superior to America.

The following lyrics from “Worth Gold” by Toxxic Toyz could easily be about our country‘s 2008 economic crisis and the Gulf Coast oil spill:

“Dear shareholders, I am so proud to announce Our moves have generated unexpected rewards The government has finally authorized Everything to become merchandized Triumph of free trade over life But what is the price? That time will come when water is worth gold.”