Sunday 10th September 2023
We are moving on today and left the site at 8.30am. To begin with the roads were clear and the weather was cool. We climbed steeply out of the Tarn Gorge and later went through 2 tunnels cut into the mountains. We also had a steep road down into another valley with amazing views of the mountains either side. We had to drive through a fairly big city called Montpellier and hit traffic queues there. The road was closed whilst they recovered a broken down car so we had to rely on Garmin to re-route us! We stopped for coffee after driving for 3 hours as there was a lack of places to pull into. Finally arrived at Avignon around 12.40pm. Got booked in, set up then had some lunch. It’s exceedingly hot now and we didn’t set off to explore the town till 3pm. We walked to the free ferry boat that takes you over the river Rhone to the town.
We saw the famous bridge that everyone sings about, “Sur Le pont d’Avignon”. It’s a medieval bridge originally with 22 arches but unfortunately only 4 survive to this day and the bridge stops mid way over the river!
We walked to the Palais des Popes, (Pope’s palace) and from the Place de l’Horloge, the main open square infront the palace we took a land train on a tour of the main sights in the town. We had headsets with information about all the buildings we saw and the little train managed to squeeze through the tiny narrow streets and passageways.
We walked up through the gardens next to the palace for far reaching views of the river and land beyond.
It was extremely hot by now so we stopped for a drink on a terrace and they misted everyone every 30 seconds with misters in the umbrellas above our heads!
From a nearby shop I bought a local pottery bowl and a T towel which I’ll use as a tablecloth in the van. Caught the boat back over the river and walked back to the van. After a rest we got the washing done in the laundry. Bought some aloe Vera spray off a lady’s stall as she says it will deter the mosquitoes ( we are under attack again!) Had showers then later Del went up and bought pizzas for tea. Sat inside the van to avoid mozzies with all the fans going, it’s still very hot and muggy at 9pm.
Monday 11th September 2023
It’s cooler this morning so before breakfast we left for a walk that took us along the river with views across to the bridge of Avignon.
On the way back into site we collected our fresh baton and pain du chocolat. Del made fresh coffee that we had with our pastries. Later we set off on our bikes for a tour of the town, following a route Del had found on his Kamoot app. We ended up cycling about 9 miles in and around the town, following the ancient walls or nipping in and out of narrow backstreet roads.
Had our lunch back at the van then later when the sun hazed over we did a second bike ride along a new purpose built tarmac cycle path. We cycled around 4 miles before turning round and coming back the same way. Del put the bikes on the back of the van and packed the chairs and tables away. We showered then had drinks and nibbles before eating left over pizza and salad for tea. Sat in the van to avoid the mozzies as Del has been bitten again!
Heading into a more rural location at Correns in the morning.
We are moving on today and left the site at 8.30am. To begin with the roads were clear and the weather was cool. We climbed steeply out of the Tarn Gorge and later went through 2 tunnels cut into the mountains. We also had a steep road down into another valley with amazing views of the mountains either side. We had to drive through a fairly big city called Montpellier and hit traffic queues there. The road was closed whilst they recovered a broken down car so we had to rely on Garmin to re-route us! We stopped for coffee after driving for 3 hours as there was a lack of places to pull into. Finally arrived at Avignon around 12.40pm. Got booked in, set up then had some lunch. It’s exceedingly hot now and we didn’t set off to explore the town till 3pm. We walked to the free ferry boat that takes you over the river Rhone to the town.
We saw the famous bridge that everyone sings about, “Sur Le pont d’Avignon”. It’s a medieval bridge originally with 22 arches but unfortunately only 4 survive to this day and the bridge stops mid way over the river!
We walked to the Palais des Popes, (Pope’s palace) and from the Place de l’Horloge, the main open square infront the palace we took a land train on a tour of the main sights in the town. We had headsets with information about all the buildings we saw and the little train managed to squeeze through the tiny narrow streets and passageways.
We walked up through the gardens next to the palace for far reaching views of the river and land beyond.
It was extremely hot by now so we stopped for a drink on a terrace and they misted everyone every 30 seconds with misters in the umbrellas above our heads!
From a nearby shop I bought a local pottery bowl and a T towel which I’ll use as a tablecloth in the van. Caught the boat back over the river and walked back to the van. After a rest we got the washing done in the laundry. Bought some aloe Vera spray off a lady’s stall as she says it will deter the mosquitoes ( we are under attack again!) Had showers then later Del went up and bought pizzas for tea. Sat inside the van to avoid mozzies with all the fans going, it’s still very hot and muggy at 9pm.
Monday 11th September 2023
It’s cooler this morning so before breakfast we left for a walk that took us along the river with views across to the bridge of Avignon.
On the way back into site we collected our fresh baton and pain du chocolat. Del made fresh coffee that we had with our pastries. Later we set off on our bikes for a tour of the town, following a route Del had found on his Kamoot app. We ended up cycling about 9 miles in and around the town, following the ancient walls or nipping in and out of narrow backstreet roads.
Had our lunch back at the van then later when the sun hazed over we did a second bike ride along a new purpose built tarmac cycle path. We cycled around 4 miles before turning round and coming back the same way. Del put the bikes on the back of the van and packed the chairs and tables away. We showered then had drinks and nibbles before eating left over pizza and salad for tea. Sat in the van to avoid the mozzies as Del has been bitten again!
Heading into a more rural location at Correns in the morning.
