Month: May 2019

It’s now Wednesday night and the Silver Machine is finally parked up at Calais in the same Aire that we stayed in this time last year. It’s a new one, built to replace the brilliant one down at the port. It’s ten euros, has 4 service points and is only a five minute walk to the beach and perhaps 20 mins to the town centre. The weather’s a bit grey but hopefully it will improve tomorrow and allow us one final bike run before we car hit the ferry to Dover on Friday.

This is our third stop in three days since leaving Meung sur Loire on Monday. Last night we parked up in the Aire at Giverny, and Tuesday night in an Aire in Courville-sur-Eure, not far from Chatres.

We changed our plans because the forecast suggested the weather was going to be changeable. Both mornings it was due to be heavy rain, and sunny spells both afternoons, so we decided we might as well travel in the rain. It worked out well, in Courville-sur-Eure we managed to get out on the bikes, a 70km circuit in very rural France after lunch. In Giverney we managed to get out for a wander round the village late afternoon and again in the evening.

It’s is an excellent Aire in Courville-sur-Eure, it’s free, has a Euro Relais service point, so only water has to be paid for. Situated next to the municipal campsite, on the banks of the Eure, and close to the centre of the village, it is in a good location. It was built for 12 but again the French managed to squeeze in their vans into spaces that only they seems to love.

The village, which is pleasant enough to walk around, is very much in the heart of rural France and the surrounding countryside is flat with a large variety of crops. There is a real maze of traffic free roads connecting the farms and small villages that dot the landscape and make this area ideal for cycling. It’s a bit of a lottery which have signs and which haven’t so good navigation skills are essential!

The Aire at Giverny is on grass, in a separate section of a huge car park, developed especially for motorhomes. There are no services but obviously really handy for parking up the night before visiting Monet’s house and garden, hopefully getting there first thing in the morning before the rest of the 5000 or so people who come each day. That’s was the plan anyway, what could possibly go wrong.

Giverny the village is very pretty, but it has been changed forever in response to the hoards who come to visit Monet’s house and garden. Its difficult to believe that there is anyone staying here who isn’t in someway connected to the Monet bandwagon. With the spectacular plantings everywhere, it’s actually difficult to believe that everyone who stays here isn’t a gardener! In reality though it’s all artists studios, restaurants and gift shops with a pleasant little garden centre come coffee bar thrown in.

Monet’s Garden is absolutely stunning and were lucky to get in before it got too busy. We had purchased ‘skip the line’ e-tickets which allow access though a separate entrance and arrived, first in line, at 9am for a 9.30am start. Unfortunately it turned out that some groups get in at 9am, so we had to watch, literally bus loads of people, pile in. We were really grateful when out of the blue, the attendant let us through at 9.15am.

We’ll let the pictures do the talking, but the Water Garden is a true wonder of the garden world. The Japanese bridges, the inspired planting, the play of light through the plants and reflections on the water all collude to create a beautiful, serene atmosphere, which changes as the light changes. Or at least it would, you had to try really hard to feel serene trying to push past the bus parties. But as I said earlier, we were really lucky. We got enough time and space in the Water Garden to get some sense of what this Garden must have felt like to Monet who loved it so much that he would receive his guests here.

By the time we left the water garden, the hordes had truly arrived. The walk through Monet’s house was more like a queue management system at Disney, but nevertheless fascinating. This is a garden that leaves such an impression, that as you head for the exit, you are already planning to come back…..and we most definitely will be.

So we ditched the sat nav again on our way to Meung sur Loire because the D952 takes you there following the Loire pretty much all the way from from Villandry. It’s not the quickest route, but it’s the prettiest one and our sat nav unfortunately doesn’t recognise pretty. Being a Sunday, skirting around Tours and Blois wasn’t a problem which left plenty of time to simply enjoy the drive.

The Silver Machine is parked up in a small aire on the edge of the village, surrounded by playing fields, not even a five minute walk from the centre. There are officially 9 places but tonight the French have managed to squeeze in 13 so it’s all a bit cosy. The Aire is free, has a service point, although you have to pay 2€ for water.

We’re here because Chateau de Meung is on a number of people’s 10 ten list of must see Chateaux. It’s a relatively small Chateau, but it’s privately owned. It’s furnished as would have been in the 1700’s, and the owners have really tried to create an atmosphere where you feel how it must have been to live in the castle at that time. We are also here because reviews in Camper Contact suggest the the village itself is very pretty.

I have to say that the Chateau was everything it was made out to be and it was good value at 9€. Each room attempted to provide insights into who might have used each room, how they would have used it and generally what life was like at that time. This ranged from drying the bed linen up in the loft (they only washed it twice a year) to the bathing arrangements down in the cellars (right next to the torture chamber) and all rooms in between.

The village although nice enough would not have enticed us on its own. In fact we passed by a number of places I would have preferred than here. Nevertheless it is still nice to have a stroll around even though being a Sunday almost everything is closed. This evening even the bars and restaurants were closed! Just as well we have one or two beers in the Garage!

The Silver Machine has been parked up in an Aire in Villandry for the last couple of nights Friday/ Saturday after a short 30 minute drive from Chinon. We’re here because of the Chateau, of the same name, and it’s gardens, but mainly for the gardens.

The Aire seems fairly new and although it is relatively expensive at 12€, for that you get electricity as well as a service point for fresh water and waste. It’s a fairly complicated system to get in. By Machine, first you need to buy a card, second you top up up the card with 12€ then finally you use the card on another machine to lift the barrier. All of this was rendered irrelevant as it turned out because the Machine was broken, so we had to phone instead. Luckily the guy on the phone spoke great English otherwise I don’t think we could have stayed the night.

We arrived midday Friday and headed off to see the Chateau and Gardens immediately after we had lunch (and I had my customary post lunchtime snooze). We didn’t have to go far as it’s a small village and the Chateau is just off the Main Street.

The Chateau was built around 1536 and is the last of the great chateaux constructed along the banks of the Loire, during the Renaissance period. It’s stands out from many of the other Chateau in the area thanks to a Spaniard, Joachim Carvallo, who bought it in 1906 and made it his life’s work restoring it and recreating the Renaissance gardens. The Chateau remains in the same family today who continue to develop the gardens with the same passion.

The tour of the Chateau is interesting enough. All the rooms are furnished, there’s a decent 17/18 century art collection and each room has the most beautiful floral displays. But as you walk around you keep getting tantalising views of the garden out of the windows and you know that’s where you really want to be.

The garden is divided into 7 main parts: the Ornamental Garden; the Woods; the Water Garden; the Sun Garden; the Maze; the Herb Garden; and the Vegetable Garden. As well as looking absolutely wonderful, it is clearly incredibly well maintained. everything is pruned to inch perfect provision and there is not a weed in sight. Apparently there are in total 85,000 vegetable plants and 125,000 flowering plants but we took their word for that. There are two different plantings a year, Spring and Summer, and well we caught the end of the Spring bedding. I guess we’ll just have to come back.

The cycling is equally good here as Chinon, indeed we had almost included Villandry in our first loop from Chinon. It is possible to cycle from here into Tour, about 12 miles or so, on a bike path all the way. We headed off on Sunday with the intention of doing 100kms, or 62.5mls. After completing a loop that saw us going through Chinon again, just can’t keep away it seems, we headed towards Tour along this path for 5mls just to get the miles in. It’s a great path and had we stayed another night I dare say we would have headed to Tours on the bikes.

Most routes in this area involve cycling alongside a river, maybe even more than one, cycling past various Chateau, riding through vineyards and of course the route is mostly flat. And it’s brilliant cycling. Sadly we have to move on, but we’ve now got a plan which takes us up to Friday before catching the Ferry. So it’s Meung sur Loire tomorrow, probably for a couple of nights, Giverney to see Monets Garden Tuesday/ Wednesday before then heading directly to Calais for the ferry back to Brexit Britain on Friday.

So we’re now in the Loire Valley or to be exact, Touraine, in charming Chinon. The Silver Machine is parked up in Camping de I’lle Auger, a really nice, friendly site, only about 500m to the centre of the village and all for only 11€ without electricity.

It’s about 350 miles, a nine mile drive, from Grenoble. We pushed on because the forecast for most of France wasn’t good on the Sunday and Monday and the Loire looked promising this week. We did the journey over 2 days staying in Moulins overnight Sunday. We choose Moulins because it was slightly over half way, had a decent aire close to the town, and sounded like it would be nice to meander around.

It worked out well, because it really did chuck it down for most of Sunday and Monday, but the sun came out when we arrived in Moulins, and we had a very pleasant evening there. And the weather has been glorious since we arrived in the Loire.

Chinon is best known for its hilltop Chateaux and the charming medieval quarter, built on the banks of the River Vienne about 15kms before it joins the River Loire. It’s the place where Joan of Arc first met future King Charles VII in 1429 to convince him to give her an army to relieve the siege of Orleans. It’s also the birthplace of Francois Rabelais, Renaissance writer, physician, monk, Greek scholar, and quite a guy by all accounts, but famous only within the town of Chinon it seems.

Although obviously geared up for tourism, Chinon is a lovely town to spend a while wandering around the lovely little streets. It’s has a nice relaxed friendly feeling to it and you get the impression that the residents do their best to make it so.

The Chateau which is really is a fortress, has dominated the landscape for almost 1000 years, and is well worth a visit. They have just introduced iPads to enhance the experience for visitors by allowing you to see what each room may have looked like at the time of Charles VII and his Court. It’s also a pretty decent aerobic workout! By the time you’ve walked uphill to the Fortress, clambered up the towers, descended into various rooms and returned to the village, you’ve burnt a fair few calories.

The cycling here is a big thing, and one of the reasons people come here on holiday. Chinon is in the region of Touraine, known as the garden of France, and it is not difficult to work out why. Add relatively flat quiet roads, beautiful villages, vineyards, fields of flowers and the odd Chateau to the mix and it’s a perfect place to get on a bike for all ages and abilities.

We managed 80 miles of cycling while we were in Chinon and it is clear that the number of possible routes is many and varied. If the area isn’t beautiful enough we found a field of sweet peas on our first outing and red flowers which looked a bit like lavender on our second.

This is our last night in Chinon and it’s such a great village we’ve decided that we really have to eat out tonight. We also booked our ferry yesterday, so we now know that our own personal Tour de France ends on the 31st May when we sail from Calais. The countdown starts………

Well it turned out to be a good move to head for Grenoble. It started raining as soon as we hit the outskirts of the city and hasn’t really stopped since. The Silver Machine has landed in a small campsite, Les Trios Pucelles, tucked away in Seyssins, a suburb of Grenoble. We were lucky to get in. Most of the pitches seem to be seasonal so there are very few pitches for tourers.

We got a very friendly welcome from the two lads who run the site, in fact we were escorted to our pitch and helped set up before any of the paperwork was completed. That doesn’t happen often. The real bonus is that there is a tram stop just round the corner so that if it continued to rain, it wouldn’t be too much hassle heading into the town centre.

As it turned out the weather on Saturday turned out to be much better than the forecast had suggested and it continued to improve as the day went on. Grenoble is a very pleasant city, situated between the Drac and Isere rivers and surrounded by mountains. The old town, where most of the action happens is almost entirely pedestrianised, which along with the 50,000 students who attend the University here give it a relaxed and friendly and atmosphere.

As ever we had a wander around and were inevitably drawn upwards to the Citadel perched high above the city. It’s a strenuous walk but well worth it. Initially you walk uphill through the lovely Jardine de Daupine, before the path turns into the equivalent of Alpe d’Huez and its hairpins. Eventually the path joins with one of the access routes for the Citadel and it winds through arches, between walls and up through passages cut into the rock itself. Of course, during the climb upwards the views over Grenoble just get better and better.

There is a cable car Les Bulles, literally ‘the bubbles’, as it is affectionally called, all the way up to the Citadel. I am sure that it would be an amazing way to get there but it was such a great walk that we were really glad we had hoofed it.

The Musee de Grenoble turned out to be a superb art gallery with a bit of everything to make sure there is something for everyone. Some of the really modern stuff kinda goes over our heads but some of the works here had a real sense of humour about them.

Since it was Saturday, we had to finish off with a few beers and the sun was out so we were able to sit outside O’ Callaghan’s. Being a town full of students and it being happy hour when we were there, it was really busy. Christine decided to change to red wine by the time we reached the Korner Pub but unfortunately the barman didn’t want to sell us any old red, he wanted us to choose exactly the wine we wanted. Not having a clue what he was offering, he decided to give us a taste of each of his reds on offer. (Unfortunately he had only three we could have kept this up for some time!) It was all good fun.

The Silver Machine has landed in Camping Cascade, Bourg d’Oisson, at the foot of Alp d’Uez. It’s a nice campsite with generous sized pitches and all the basic facilities, but it’s the setting which makes it something special. Snow capped mountains rear up, dramatically, all around the Romanche river valley, which stretches from the Col du Lautaret to Grenoble. The campsite has been very quiet for the four days we have been here, but that is reflected in the area generally, the tourists have still to arrive.

It was a really spectacular journey to get here, following a section of the Route Napoleon through the alps, passing through the Park Nationale du Ecrins, and climbing to over 4100 feet on the Col du Bayard.

The Route Napoleon runs from Cannes to Grenoble and marks the route Napoleon marched his army, after leaving exile on Elba on 26th Februuary, to avoid ‘Royalist’ Provence. and before finally arriving in Paris on 20th March to declare himself Emperor once again. It was exactly 100 days later he finally met his Waterloo.

Bourg d’Oisan, is a pleasant village with a very relaxed feel. In the winter it’s all about skiing and in the summer it a world class cycling venue. It is often used to host the start of stages of the Tour de France. The town sits at the base of the road to Alpe d’Huez, and with its 22 hairpins, on a 10 mile climb to the top, it’s probably the most iconic cycling hill in the world. But the area is not just about the “Alpe”, other world famous Tour de France Cols: the Galibier, The Telegraphe, The Croix de Fer and the Glandon are all within (relatively) easy reach!

As a result, this is the fourth time we’ve been in the area, the previous three occasions to watch the Tour de France finish at Alpe d’Huez, start again the next day in Bourg-d’Oisans, and get some cycling in while we’re at it. So previously, when we have been here, the area has been absolutely mental as around 400,000 people descend on the small town to watch the battle up Alpe d’Huez. Great fun thought!

We’ve managed to get a couple of days cycling in again this time. On Tuesday, for a change we cycled up the Pass de la Confession from Allemond, to join the hair pins with only six to go to the top. The road up the pass is stunning, some of it literally carved out of the rock with sheer drops down the cliff face. After a rest day on Wednesday, we headed up towards the Croix de Fer. At 28kms, it’s a monster of a hill, we climbed it from the otherside, St Jean du Maurienne, this time last year. We must be getting old though as our legs still hadn’t recovered from Tuesday and we had to turn around just short of the top.

As we head into the weekend the weather is due to deteriorate, with rain forecast, so we are going to head to Grenoble for a couple of nights. After that the weather looks good in the Loire Valley So forever onwards……With a bit of luck that’s the end of these bloody hills.

So decision made, we’ve headed for the Alps and the Silver Machine is parked up for the night in an Aire in Sisteron. Sitting in a narrow mountain pass, Sisteron been an important gateway between the Alpes and Provence for centuries.

To prove the point, overlooking the town, the only bridge crossing the Durance River and dominating the whole Durance valley both north and south, is a massive Citadel. It must have struck both fear and awe in anyone approaching with bad intentions. It’s a pleasant enough town, its well known to us as the Tour de France passes through it just about every year, but it’s really the the Citadel that encourages you to stop here.

It was another great drive from Grimaud. There was no obvious direct route so we charted a course through the impressive Park Natural du Verdon before picking up the Durance and pretty much following it to Sisteron. The road as ever twisted up and over countless hills, covered in mixed woodland, before finally getting here. The whole area must have been a dangerous place over the centuries. Virtually every village we passed was built on a hilltop and fortified. Although built to repel the hoardes, today their stunning locations and dramatic appearance only serves to attract them.

After parking up, quick lunch and quick snooze, we headed for the Citadel. It’s a steep climb to get there and once you pay your entrance money, 6.50€ per person, it doesn’t stop there. Usefully we were handed a leaflet, in English, and told to follow the arrows, and generally you just keep on climbing.

Basically a visit to the Citadel is really interesting, it’s also a good bit of exercise and, you get great 360 degree views from the ramparts. There’s even a subterranean passage, cut into the rock which goes down 280 steps. There’s nothing really at the bottom, but you get to climb back the 280 steps just in case you were looking for just a bit more exercise!

Once inside and looking out you can really understand how much the Citadel dominated the Durance Valley. Sadly the Citadel was bombed by the Allied forces in the Second World War, which cause a lot of destruction. Fortunately since the mid fifties a lot of renovation work has gone on.

We had a pleasant wander around the old part of town in the evening. It’s tucked away but contains most of the shops, restaurants and bars. We had missed this area earlier in the day and had misjudged the town a bit, thinking that, other than the Citadel, there really wasn’t much here. Despite this, we’re thinking that we’re going to move on again tomorrow. I guess we’ll see how we feel when we get up.

The Silver Machine in parked up in Camping Mures only about 50 miles further along the coast from Sanary sur Mer. The Campsite is right on the beach overlooking St Tropez on the other side of the bay, and is only about 6 miles away. Port Grimaud is only about a mile in the direction of St Tropez and St Máxime is about 4 miles in the opposite direction. There is an excellent bike path linking them all, which passes the entrance of the campsite, which is just as well as the road along the coast is incredibly busy. Goodness knows what it must be like in the height of the summer.

It’s a huge campsite and with 540 pitches, it’s one of the biggest we’ve ever been in, but it’s well designed, with plenty facilities, so it doesn’t feel so large. With an ACSI Card it’s only 20€ per night. Not sure where else in the area you could stay on The Golfe de St Tropez for that sort of price.

We decided to stay for four nights and headed for St Tropez on Thursday morning, our first day. It’s about 25 minutes on the bus, 3€ each way, and it’s a pleasant enough journey.

St Tropez is all about the Port and the restaurants that line the quay. Walking into town, you don’t get the feeling that it’s anything special. Then you hit the port. And wow!. You just can’t take your eyes off the row of huge, sleek yachts, in prime position, backed onto the quay, with the star stuck tourists oggling, and the posh looking restaurants handily on the other side of the street. It’s pleasant enough walking around the Port wondering what these beautiful craft must look like inside.

The old town is lovely, but nothin special and the shops are fine. You have many of your well known designers here but again nothing exceptional.

We visited the excellent Musee l’ Annonciade which is adjacent to the Port. St Tropez was an isolated, unknown fishing village when the artist Paul Signac was forced into port due to bad weather. He liked St Tropez so much that he immediately decided to build a house and invite his friends: Matisse, Bonnard, Marquette, Dufy, Derain, Vlaminck, Seurat and Van Donigan. It was Signac’s idea to create a permanent exhibition of their works and the Musee is it. A number of the paintings depict the port and apart from the hulking boats which now moor there the quay front, with the pastel coloured fisherman’s houses, remarkably remains the same.

Grimaud, is about 5 miles inland, and is a much more beautiful town. We had a look around as part of a bike run which is never as satisfactory as walking around on foot. Nevertheless, the lovely little, flower filled alleys, shady squares and magnificent views were stunning.

Port Grimaud is also worth a visit, and perhaps more so than St Tropez. Basically if Disney built a Marina for the rich and famous…..he would build Port Grimaud. Built on marches only 60 years ago, Venetian like channels are surrounded with French “Fishermans” style houses, mirroring those in St Tropez. Most residences have their own mooring and most of the yachts are impressive.

Most roads are just a bit too busy for us, but the 9 mile cycle path around the bay does help to open up opportunities in the Massif des Maures, the hills running parallel to the coast along the Côte d’Azur. The roads are much quieter and there are some really beautiful villages tucked away between the hills, surrounded by mixed woodland and vineyards. We found the delightfully named Le Plan de la Tour on one such trip and the beautiful Ramatuelle the following day.

There are of course plenty of beaches and we found probably the most famous, the Plage de Pampelonne, when we were out on the bikes. It was used as a landing beach in the allied invasion, but later when filming Et Dieu Crew la Femme there in 1956, Bridgette Bardot changed the face of the area forever.

Tonight, our last night we’re just chilling, sitting out enjoying the last of the sun. It’s been the hottest few days we’ve had so far, although being beside the sea, it’s been a bit breezy. We had planned to head for the alps tomorrow but we’ve just discovered that it still gets pretty cold at night. Mmmmmmmm Maybe we need to review this.

We had a great time on our last night in Remoulins. The restaurant, Les Glycines, was excellent, the people who served us made us feel really welcome and the food was particularly good. Afterwards we nipped into the Cafe du Nord on the way home for a couple of drinks. It’s a small bar, obviously popular with the locals, and very pleasant.

The Silver Machine is now parked up in Park Mogador Camping, on a promontory between Sanary sur Mer and Bandol on the French Riviera, at a point where both seaside resorts have expanded into each other. The campsite is very good and seems to be run by Germans who speak excellent English, we got a very warm welcome.

It was another interesting journey getting here: passing through the Costieres de Nimes Vineyards; skirting around Marseille; and driving over winding roads on pine clad, steep rocky hills as we followed the coast. The wind was gusting at speeds of over 50 mph which focused your mind on the road and at one point the spray from the waves was being blown across the road and across the windscreen.

Sanary is a lovely town. It has retained much of its original character with pastel coloured overlooking facing the port, and the main shopping area in alleys immediately behind. It was very pleasant taking a leisurely stroll past the shops and around the port. Judging by the estate agents, Sanary is a very expensive place to buy a house and there a lot of big houses. As you walk around the headland, as with most of the Côte d’Azur, houses are built in all the desirable locations and it is difficult at times to actually see the sea!

Where Sanary is much more a place to hang out and be seen in the cafes and bars around the Port, Bandol has much more of a traditional holiday feel to it where normal people just get on with their lives. Having said that, its difficult to really get a proper feel for Bandol. The Main Street, running the whole length of the large Marina, is being is being pedestrianised and the the numerous cafes, restaurant and shops overlook a security fence and the ongoing renovations. It’ll be nice I am sure when it’s finished, but I wouldn’t go back till it was.

We found the opportunities to get some decent miles in on the bikes to be a bit limited. There is only one road squeezing it’s way along this part of the coast and it’s really busy with traffic. The first day out, we discovered a bike path on the other side of Sanary, taking you the four miles past the small coastal villages and onto a promontory which had very little cars. The second day out we pretty much followed the same route but just before we headed back down to the madness, we checked out a different road which, it turned out, wound uphill for about 5kms. It was a beautiful road, with minimal traffic and by the amount of other cyclists, THEE go to climb in the area.

Tonight is our third night on the campsite and we head off for Port Grimaud tomorrow. There is an annual Rose Wine festival in Sanary over the weekend and the town is beginning to get decorated in pink. Apparently you pay 10 euros in exchange for a glass and a wrist band and 71 Rose Wine producers “make” you drink their wine. At least we think that’s what the Frenchman said. Maybe we’re being a bit hasty……..

It was another spectacular drive as we passed through the remainder of the Cevennes National Park our way south to Remoulins, a small village close to both Nime and Avignon. It took us 2.5 hours to travel the 75 miles to get here which reflects the nature of the road as it twisted it’s way over and through the hills.

We’re here because, although we have been to both cities before, we have never been to the Pont du Gard. The Silver Machine has been parked up, for the last three nights, in Camping La Sousta, an ACSI site, because it’s the closest campsite to the Pont du Gard, only a one kilometre walk along the Gardon River, and only a kilometre in the opposite direction to Remoulins the nearbye village.

Its a big site, but despite that, it has a very relaxed, laid back feeling and at 18€ a night ACSI rate, it’s good value. You don’t get a sense of just how big it is until you walk around it. It just keeps on going. The pitches are fitted in between the trees and around the ground undulations which give a higglety piggelty appearance. It’s as though people have just decided to wildcamp in the woods. There are some great pitches along the river side.

The Pont du Gard is impressive, and as you walk from the campsite, you get probably the best view from any direction. The Pont du Gard was built by the Romans around the 19 BC, to transport water from Uzes to Nimes. At 50 metres high, 275 metres long and with 35 arches, it is described as France’s finest aqueduct.

We followed a sign which simply said panoramic view, and which directed us up an ancient path. You get really great views of the Pont as you climb higher and we would really recommend this to anyone who visits. Once at the top, you have access to well signposted trails heading off in all directions indicating that this would be a very good area for walking.

You can still walk across the Pont du Gard, which has to be done, and this gives you access to a museum, which does’nt, or at least we didn’t.

Remoulins is built at a crossroads between traffic coming down through the Cervenne in the North and Avignon, Nime and Arles. There’s a lot of traffic but you get the feeling that very few people actually stop. As a result there are few shops or amenities, but it’s still pleasant enough walking though the older part of the town.

There is some good cycling to be had in the area, but because of these busy routes and the connecting roads, you can end up in fairly unpleasant situations being passed by big lorries, buses and cars all trying to go as fast and as close to you as possible.

The jewel in the crown is a 10 mile bike path, built on an old railway line running from the Pont du Gard to Beaucaire. It’s beautifully made with a really smooth tarred surface and even included a tunnel! Whilst we wouldn’t really recommend Beaucaire as a destination, it just didn’t feel welcoming, the bike path give you access to quieter roads, plenty of other villages and the vineyards of Côte du Rhône!

So must sign off now and go off to put on the glad rags. We have booked a restaurant for a meal in the village tonight, or at least I hope we did, the conversation was entirely in French!