Provence......................June 3

Looking for a stop at the beach further up the coast but to no avail - motorhomes are not welcome to stay near the beach - they have height restriction bars that even prevent us from parking in carparks at the beach. The beaches were nothing to write home about so we continued up north through Montpellier into Provence - Nimes  and on our way to Avignon via the infamous Pont du Gard - the 2000 year old Roman aqueduct. Are staying about 6k away so will spend the morning at the bridge. Katherine wanted to see some interior photos of the motorhome so here they are. We have had this particular model before - it has a large double bed and a big frig and freezer. Weather has been perfect today - sunny and 28 - couldn't ask for more.

The Mediterranean Sea

Dining room/lounge/office

Bathroom/ensuite

Vanity swivels round to unveil the shower

Screen door and kitchen cooktop and sink

Ample frig and freezer

Hallway leading to the master bedroom

Master bedroom

 As you can see we have everything we need to be comfortable.

Ann

Off to the seaside.......................June 2

Saw Carcassonne by floodlight - a beautiful site. It truly is an amazing fortress. Walked through the castle this morning and saw the video on its chequered history and how scientists today are discovering about its earliest inhabitants by the building methods - astonishing. Freezing up in the fortress - 16 degrees but with a howling wind it felt much much colder. Left early afternoon looking for a night near the beach or water at least. Passed through the impressive hilltown of Beziers before finding a sleeping hollow - La Tamarissiere - a fishing village on L'Herault River not far from where it flows into the Mediterranean Sea. Beautiful warm sunny afternoon - 30 degrees - how the temp has risen since we left Carcassonne a few hours earlier. On our way we passed prostitutes working on a stretch of the road in the countryside. We thought they were hitch hikers at first until close up we saw what they were wearing - or not. We saw a couple of cars drive up, pick up a girl and drive a short distance down the road. We passed a dozen girls in about a 10k stretch of road. A sight you don't see at home. 

Spectacular sight at night

Carcassonne!!!!...................June 1

Raining during the night and very overcast with low cloud this morning so we decided to pull the plug on Andorra, no point in driving up the mountains and taking the cablecar if the weather is closed in. So now instead of heading southwest and along the Pyrenees east to the coast, we drove southeast to Castelnaudary and onto the highlight of the France trip so far - the walled city of Carcassonne - it has to be seen to be believed. Weather picked up by early afternoon and it was gorgeous here. La Cite of Carcassonne was built on a former Roman fortress dating back, in parts, to 1355. With its witch's hats turrets and walled city, Carcassonne looks like some fairy tale fortress from afar. Walked through today - amazing -  going back tomorrow for a tour of the Chateau. It is dramatically illuminated at night so we are going for a walk round town tonight to catch of glimpse of it.



Our stop for the night - only a 400m walk

                                                            

Heading to the Mediterranean coast tomorrow - as much as we have loved the scenery so far, we are always drawn back to the water - hope to stay in a little fishing village then make our way up to Montpellier, through Provence and into Northern Italy. Will hopefully blog again from Provence.

Ann

Vineyards and orchards................May 31

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Slow day of driving today as we were now in the mountains and the low cloud made driving more difficult. It took us 5 hours to go just over 150k. Nevertheless the scenery was gorgeous - rolling green hills and farms one minute and then we were driving through forests. Stayed in the tiny town of Bazus - we found a rest area to stay the night but 10 mins later the church bells rang (6pm) and we realised we were 200 metres from the church - time to move on - couldn't cope with that every hour - found another place 500m down the road opposite a wheat field - nice and peaceful.

Ann

Travelling alongside the Rhone..................May 30

Continuing south - we hope to go as far south as Andorra and the Pyrenees - we stayed in the beautiful town of Serrieres in a park looking out over the Rhone River - just outside of the town of Annonay which we will drive through tomorrow. Beautiful scenery driving through the many tiny villages. Love the french concept of fresh bread morning, noon and evening. They wouldn't consider buying bread in the morning for the evening meal. The smell of fresh bread baking is an all day experience - delicious. Don't get me started on the pastries!!!

Ann

Chocolat - the movie..............May 29

Today we were entering the famous wine region of Burgundy and to Flavigny-sur-Ozerain - the village which was the setting for the movie Chocolat - quite a difficult drive in the rain through dozens of roundabouts and tiny villages - I just hoped the end was worth it. It was - the village has only 250 residents and all were extras in the movie. I spoke to a couple of locals who told me it was a wonderful time for the town - so busy and full of excitement - but alas no Johnny Depp - his scenes were shot in the UK and no chocolate shop to be found - how disappointing. the weather picked up dramatically and the sun broke through to a beautiful afternoon. The scenery on the way has been beautiful - farms, vineyards and orchards dotted with quaint cobble stoned villages.



The chocolate shop in the movie



Ann

On the road again.................May 27, 28

Bonjour mes amies   An early 5am start for a short walk to the Metro station and then to the airport for our flight to Stuttgart. We arrived in Stuttgart in beautiful weather - 21 degrees - had to catch 2 trains and then a short taxi ride to the McRent depot to pick up the motorhome. All went smoothly - the chap at the depot spoke fluent English - and we were away by 2pm. Stopped off at a supermarket down the road for immediate supplies - would look for a much bigger one tomorrow to do a full shop. Today we are leaving Germany and heading for the French region of Alsace, abutting Germany and Switzerland, a rural area of vineyards and orchards, and pretty, half-timbered villages and towns  such as Colmar - our first overnight stop. We visited Colmar in 2011 and vowed to return to this delightful town.   It did not disappoint - the weather was perfect - 20 degrees and sunny. Had a lovely morning walking round this beautiful little town and then headed south to Basel. Found a massive supermarket on the way - the Hypermarket dwarfs in comparison - and stocked up on supplies - smoked salmon, prawns, french pastries, french wine - just the bare essentials really. Basel is on the borders of 3 countries - Switzerland, Germany and France - but we ended up driving straight through (eventually) - there were detours everywhere due to roadworks and it was nigh on impossible to move. We ended up staying in the tiny hamlet just outside Basel (I call it this when it is even smaller than a village) of Dannemarie.  

One way to move house - by lift

A bientot

Ann