Wednesday 5th December 2007

It was time to take our leave from Le Ch'Ti Franoi and Steve and Audrey. We had a great time and Steve and Audrey were excellent hosts, so relaxed and easy to get on with.
I can thoroughly recommend Le Ch'Ti Franoi (www.campinglechtifranoi.com) as a place to stay and, given all of the local attractions that we hardly touched, we will certainly return. Seeing Steve and Audrey again will be a real bonus.
Steve had told us that all East-West routes from that area were windy and slow but we hoped that that also meant that they would be picturesque. We therefore plotted a relatively short journey (2.5 to 3 hours according to the satnav) to Le Monastir. The journey was indeed picturesque, climbing soon after we set off and reaching 1150m at the pass 'Le Col des Tribes'. The scenery was very rugged, reminding us of Scotland, with dark-stoned villages hugging the hillsides or set beside the fast-flowing streams. We passed a fairy-tale a chateau with those small circular towers with inverted cone roofs and a ruined castle perched on crag, all surrounded by the wild countryside.
We stopped for lunch high in the mountains with a view over a valley to the peaks beyond. We were on a fairly major road but in the 40 minutes we were there, less than 10 cars passed us. It is difficult to imagine a similar road in England that would be as quiet and it makes driving in France very pleasant.
We arrived in Le Monastir at half past three to discover that the camperstop was (temporarily?) closed and we had to implement Plan B to move on to the next camperstop at Millau just under one hour away. By now, we were on good major roads and very soon a motorway so the journey was very easy. This camperstop was quite an unusual one – overnight parking, waste water and WC dumping were free but there was a charge for fresh water and electricity. For €6, you had 20 minutes of fresh water and 50 minutes of electricity and this was only available in two positions, away from the parking and in the position where you dumped the waste water and WC. I could understand the charge for water but why 50 minutes of electricity – perhaps if you were addicted to Coronation Street? It also meant that you occupied the dump whilst you were connected to the electricity, very strange.
After parking up, we wandered into the town. It has an interesting old town and has a huge number of shops, obviously a major centre for the surrounding area.
Back then to Henrietta for Tartiflette (a Savoyard – northern France – dish of potato, cheese and ham) and chicken escalopes.
Photos: Our pitch at Ch'Ti Franoi; View from the campsite; Our hosts – Steve and Audrey; View on our journey; Christmas lights in Millau.

Tuesday 4th December 2007

After a quiet morning we decided to go for another walk from the campsite, this time to the South, down a valley in the direction of Lablachere. Rather than following the official route that stayed high above the valley, we turned off the main track and followed another small track down the side of the valley to the river at the bottom. After crossing the river, an easy task because the river was very low, we walked up the valley to a ruined 'abbey'. This must have been little more than a hermitage given that there were very few remains and certainly no sign of large buildings. We then walked on paths up the valley to Panzolles and back down the road to Le Ch'Ti Franoi.
We had arranged to go out for a meal with Steve and Audrey on our last evening with them and we went to a a hotel / pizzeria / restaurant in nearby Joyeuse. The food was very good indeed and the generous portions meant that we were well satisfied by the end. The cheese course was very good, including two very local cheeses, one of which, a blue cheese called Coucouron, everyone thought was excellent and I am sure that it will appear regularly on Steve and Audrey's shopping lists in the future. The evening finished with more chatting over coffee back at the site.
Photos: Parasitic growth on an oak leaf.

Monday 3rd December 2007

There are plenty of interesting places to visit in the area and today we decided to see the Ardeche Gorge. We noticed from a map that Steve had lent us, that there was an area just south of Lablachere that had a large number of dolmen and we plotted our route via the minor road that cut through it. We found a point where we could park the motorhome near where a dolmen was indicated on the map and set off in search. The area is incredibly stony with huge exposed areas of bedrock. We found the dolmen, a huge pile of stones with slabs forming a cist exposed in the middle. Having seen many barrows in Somerset and Dorset, it was intriguing to see the equivalent made in stone. The dolmen was positioned close to a small stream where it formed a series of small ponds, a ritual setting or is that just my imagination?
On then to the Ardeche Gorge, which proved to be spectacular. The natural arch over the Ardeche river was very impressive and we sat and had a picnic sat beside the river with a view of the arch. The road then travels along the edge of the gorge high above the river with excellent views over the gorge and the surrounding countryside. In the summer, it must be impossible to stop on this road as there would be huge numbers of people visiting. However, in December, there were very few cars and all of the very small viewpoint car parks were empty. It took a long time to go along the gorge as I kept stopping to look at all of the views! The gorge itself is very popular with canoeists and it must be a fantastic way to see the gorge. In season, there are many places to rent canoes.
The gorge is not very far from the area with the dolmen and it is unsurprising that the surrounding area was also important in prehistoric times with more dolmen, menhirs and inhabited caves, some with cave paintings.
We returned via the cooperative cave (winery) in Lablachere and sampled a selection of their wines. With the exception of the Cabernet Sauvignon, that wasn't to my taste, they were very good and we bought a few bottles, including the white and rose 'Menhir'.
Photos: The dolmen blending into the stony background; Dolmen with grave; Stream next to the dolmen site; Arch over the Ardeche.

Sunday 2nd December 2007

The morning dawned without a hangover, a pleasant surprise! After breakfast we found Steve and Audrey and had a guided tour of the site. It is in a very peaceful position on a hill with lovely views over vineyards and wooded valleys. The site has a number of permanent mobile homes that are available for rent together with camping and motorhome facilities. There is plenty of shade for the hot summers and a swimming pool, tennis court, boules court, 18 hole crazy golf and volleyball provide plenty to keep the guests busy and all at no extra cost. The crazy golf and boules were very tempting but I couldn't persuade Jane!
We went for a walk down a valley to the north of the site. There are many signed walks through the woods and we created a circular walk ending above the campsite in the village of Panzolles. The forestry authorities are obviously very concerned about fire and we came across a number of fire ponds – raised structures holding 30 cubic metres of water. Steve also told us that a local by-law prohibits open fires on the campsite during July and August. The geology on the walk was also interesting with a very sandy soil interspersed with exposed limestone and much calcite often coloured pink, orange and brown by the presence of other minerals. Needless to say there are vineyards everywhere and, judging by the local Merlot, the soil is very well suited to wine production.
Photos: Potential motorhome conversion project?; Tempting path in Cedat; View of campsite entrance over vineyards.

Saturday 1st December 2007 – Le Reunion

Early this year Jane found an entry on Friends Reunited from Steve Cutting. We were both at Weymouth Grammar School with Steve in the 70's but had not seen him since we left school in 1973. Steve's entry explained that he and his wife had taken over a campsite in Southern France and, given our plans for The Odyssey, we felt we should be able to visit them. We contacted Steve by email, exchanging brief synopses of our life stories and suggesting a reunion later in the year. This was a long time in the future as we were still working and we had only just bought our motorhome. However, now the time had arrived and as soon as we got into France we tried to contact Steve by phone, without success. We sent an email explaining that we were trying to contact him and yesterday Steve phoned us, explaining that he and Audrey had been in England for the last week. This was excellent timing for us as we were about to leave Avignon, so we arranged to see them today.
We plotted a route via Orange just north of Avignon so that we could visit the very large Roman theatre, the only one in Europe with an intact stage screen. Orange was once Dutch and this is where the Dutch King William of Orange came from and the current Dutch Royal Family come from the same line. The Dutch, being Protestants were eventually forced out of Orange, rejecting the option of conversion to Roman Catholicism is they stayed. The threats to the safety of the citizens of Orange was one of the reasons for the preservation of the theatre. The walls of the theatre provided defence for the population and a whole town was built within the walls. This has all been removed and the theatre restored so that it can hold performances again, especially a high-profile opera festival in the Summer.
We also visited the Roman Triumphal Arch, at the opposite side of the town, and admired the carvings high up on the arch, many of which are in very good condition.
Later than intended, we set off for Steve and Audrey's site, Le Ch'Ti Franoi just north of La Blachere. The satnav has been invaluable and travelling would have been much more difficult without it, however it does have its moments. The first problem was a roundabout that the mapping knew about but it did not know about the new exit that took us into the narrow village lanes before we could find a way of retracing our steps. The second problem was when it directed us down a small road in a town rather than the main road. I realised that this was incorrect as soon as I took the turning but could see from the satnav display that we would return to the main road, so I continued. I then came across a well-disguised sleeping policeman and although I was only going very slowly, the shock was big enough to send the contents of the cupboards to be re-arranged and objects on shelves took flight, landing on the floor. These speed humps are a nightmare for motorhomes when they are not well signed and some are very severe. I can understand the concerns of ambulance and fire-engine drivers where the effects must be much more serious. We then came to the point where the satnav told us to turn left only to discover a 2m height limit. So, we had to turn around and negotiate, very slowly, the sleeping policeman again.
The latter part of the journey took us up quite narrow, although thankfully quiet, windy roads in the dark. We were sure that the views would have been really good in the daylight! We arrived at Le Ch'Ti Franoi to find all of the lights on and it looked very welcoming. It was easy to recognise Steve, although he was a little greyer than the last time that we saw him, and it was great to meet Audrey. We were invited to dinner and, after parking up and plugging into the power, we made our way to the campsite bar. We had been in very quiet campsites but it was strange to be in a closed campsite eating a meal with the campsite owners. And what a meal it was – Audrey produced an excellent three-course meal and we were certainly not hungry at the end! It was a lovely relaxed meal and chat and great to catch up on 34 years of news and talk about the adventurous step that they had taken 18 months ago in buying the site. Things were even more relaxed due to the volume of the local Coteaux de l'Ardeche rouge that we drank, the smooth Merlot was lovely and went down far too easily.
Photos: Orange Roman Theatre; Artists view of the Theatre in Roman times; Cyclops mask from the Theatre; External view of the Theatre.

Friday 30th November 2007

The campsite is located on a large island, the Ile de la Barthelasse, in the middle of the Rhone. The Pont d'Avignon used to connect Avignon with the far bank of the Rhone via the Ile de la Barthelasse, thus reducing the length of bridge required. Only part of the bridge still stands, starting at the Avignon bank and finishing part way to the Ile. However, a defensive tower, the Tour de Phillipe le Bel (Phillip the Fair), built at the turn of the 14th century, is still extant on the right bank of the Rhone where the bridge use to terminate. We decided to walk to the tower from the campsite and were lucky to find it open as it is only open until the end of November i.e. today. From the top of the tower, there is a very good view of the Rhone, Avignon and Villeneuve lez Avignon. It was a windy day and at the top of the tower it was very windy although, given that they close the tower in high winds, it must get extremely windy when the Mistral is blowing. The tower, built by the French had a chequered past, promoting disputes with Papal controlled Avignon and its people who believed that they had exclusive rights to the bridge. This led to ambitious plans for a larger complex being dropped in order to avoid a clash with their very powerful neighbour.
We then went on to the village of Villeneuve lez Avignon and visited the largest Carthusian monastery in France – La Chartreuse du Val de Benediction. It was built in the 1350's for 12 monks but over the years was extended and the number of monks increased. After the French Revolution it was split up into parts and sold. From 1909, restoration was started and little by little the parts were bought back. The building is now very well restored and gives a glimpse into life of a monk in the 14th century.
Our ticket also covered entry to the fort above the monastery – Fort Saint-Andre. A very impressive fort built in 1291, it protected France's border with the Papal lands. The walls are complete but very little of the interior has survived. Its walls however still surround the Saint Andre Abbey with its 10th century church.
A pleasant walk took us back to campsite and the late sun giving a golden glow to the fort and the tower.
Photos: Tower of Phillipe le Bel; Fort St. Andre; Entrance to monk's cell; Inside monk's cell; Three photographs around the cloisters.

Thursday 29th November 2007

A more in-depth sightseeing visit to Avignon was scheduled for today. We started with a walk from the nearest gate (Porte de l'Oulle) round the inside of the walls to the Porte de la Republique, somewhat uninspiring but it seemed like a good idea at the time. We visited the tourist information office and obtained an 'Avignon Passion'. This sounds very interesting but turned out to be a passbook granting discounted entry to sites in Avignon and Villeneuve lez Avignon on the other side of the Rhone. Useful but not passionate in my opinion!
The next stop was the Musee Lapidaire, an archaeological museum based in a huge, deconsecrated church. The collection was small but very interesting with Roman, Greek and Etruscan finds. We then moved on to the Palais des Papes where we obtained a €4 'passionate' discount on our tickets. There was very little in the way of furniture, decoration or fittings of any kind in the palace but the architecture was very impressive and there were a huge number of rooms. The free audio guides were very informative and detailed – if we had listened to every available clip, the palace would have closed before we had finished. The palace was home to 9 popes and it was very interesting to see how they lived, where they stored their treasure, where they slept and how they enhanced and enlarged the palace. They were eventually thrown out during the French Revolution in 1791/2 and the army took over the palace, destroying much of the interior and adding additional floors in the huge rooms. Part of the palace was used as a prison during the popes' time - protestants and those accused of witchcraft leaving graffiti carved into the walls.
After a session at an Internet Cafe, we walked up to the Rocher des Doms, the popes' garden above the palace with its wonderful views over the Rhone, the land surrounding it, the Pont d'Avignon and up to the Alps in the North.
Photos: Avignon Papal Palace; Pont d'Avignon; Avignon at night.