A month in Provence Throughnal

[DBK]

An early photo du jour for WESTY66

Just like DBK on his thread, we are loving the tomatoes. View attachment 947624View attachment 947625

We bought some of those red ones with the points on the end recently and they were exceptionally sweet. We will buy some more if we see them again.

 

[suavecarve]

Oh dear. Too much thinking time !

We saw the wind coming in and thought we would escape it by heading east.

We didn't want to go to the mercantour area this holiday as it is motorbike heaven and we want to keep it for when we can carry both e bikes and motorbikes.

But we didn't listen to ourselves. We did castellane, had a couple of dips in castillon and headed for st martin vesubie. We have now seen the hills, we won't be getting the bikes out. We will definitely return with motorbike though.

I ll try a journal entry for it and for st martin. But we anticipate leaving down the gorges in the morning

Cycling in from the museum aire (2 more aires) we located yet another market and stocked up on tomatoes by just selecting a couple of each variety.
A caravan male hairdresser was set up. He had quite a queue. Very pleasing walk round the market... https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/journals/castellane.596/

 

[suavecarve]

The roads

2 roads we have done today.

The M might mean Mountain route. If it doesn't it should.

In order to get to these roads from Castellane we took the windy rocky but wide D6202 passing through Entrevaux beaux village and Pugets.

The interesting... https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/journals/m2205-and-m2565.597/

 

[suavecarve]

Last one tonight.

First up, the official aire is a dump. No other way to describe it. A caravan takes up 2 spaces, pulled up tarmac another 2. Completely wrecked vehicles take up another 4 spots, then there was an obvious full timer who was mates with the ground... https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/journals/st-martin-vesubie.598/

 

[Abacist]

We did the Gorge du Verdon today and a Pedalo ride - most uncomfortable as I’m 6ft 1” and the pedals must be fixed for kids or midgets! Parked for the night at Vinon-sur-Verdon at a Pass d’Etapes Aire in the company of Morelo, Phoenix, Concorde and Carthago. My EHU has died! Tried 3 different cables but the problem is in the van. Checked all the trips and OK, checked all the connections into all the mains trips and fuses and all tight. Checked inlet port and all tight. Must be somewhere under the sink unit and kitchen drawers as the cable at the plug connection to the van is different from the cables at the fuses boxes and trips! Very annoying paying for lecky and not getting any not that we need it with solar and B2B.

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[Abacist]

 

[suavecarve]

View attachment 948016View attachment 948019View attachment 948020View attachment 948021

Go on. Tell me I didn't need to be concerned about the wind !

 

[Abacist]

It has certainly been breezy! On our way to Pampelonne now and van getting buffeted on the road. Maybe being a tag helps but probably not the 9 metre bit as lots to catch the wind! Pedalling the pedals against the breeze to get back gave us some good exercise!

 

[suavecarve]

We have had a pig of a day.

Owing the steeper than expected hills of st martin vesubie and parking in a car park we decided to leave the area as it is motorbike country. Definitely returning though. So we took the gorge road down. Interesting (journal entry later)
And we realized we were close to st Laurent du var. (Now has height barriers) But I didn't want double back in towards Nice so we went x country (foolish) til st Paul de Vence and then went really back road out of there til we were nearly in frejus. We opted for Seillans and the Grasse road was awful for a red road, it was just hectic and sat nav was obviously listening when I was chastising her constantly. Reading reviews the full up and dump spot was better than the aire so we went there. It was a decheterie. Ideal for going to the town (which appears to have a disused railway) so we tried to find the less desirable aire, failed, tried turning round in a one way street to the dismay of crowds picking up at school and they couldn't park for toffee with their back ends out and us now committed to driving through, what we thought was the town, it wasn't but it wasn't fun either. I took the first turning that looked like a road and we were on yet another single carriageway.
We pulled up at Bargemon and checked and we were 100 yards away from an aire which S4s review couldn't find.

We found it and love it. Free always helps but we have gone straight in for a well deserved beer, checked out the cycling and already into relaxed mode it will be a couple of nights here.

First of 3

Nestling in just above Nice is this Beaux village.
We came in via St Laurent du var on some roads I would not recommend. There has to be an easier way in and out as we located a similarly "why has the sat nav taken me down here" road.

There is... https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/journals/st-paul-de-vence-beaux-village.599/

 

[suavecarve]

Number 2

We traveled down this route in. 7.4m a class.

It is a conduit road for motorbikes, day vans and pvcs at a push. They are doing some major river transformation and we suspect they are building barrages for edf creating lakes. There are several... https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/journals/m2565-gorges-du-vesubie.600/

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[suavecarve]

Number 3. Lovely classic aire

Were we pleased to find this aire.

Right little stunner next to the bouledrome with free water, dumps and free to stay overnight. Leccy available which costs a jeton but no idea how much a jeton lasts or the cost of it.

Allegedly 11 minute... https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/journals/bargemon.601/

 

[suavecarve]

And photo du jour for WESTY66

Starters

 

[AGT]

I am sorry about your day today.

I should have said that the Vesubie road was tight in places - and we only have a pvc. I always think that it’s just me being not very dextrous and so stick as close as I can to the right and hope for the best - or shut my eyes. There is one horrid tunnel which you enter blind from the South - I think that you have a picture of that one!

The Vesubie was flooded in 2020 with loss of life and again in 2024. I think that the ongoing work is flood protection. We stayed at the lovely Roquebilliere campsite last month. It was washed away in 2020 and the owner put his soul into getting it operating again.

St Paul de Vence is stunning. The best non autoroute approach from the Mercantour is through Carros, St Jeannet and Vence. Google and Waze are both bizarre in their routings from Nice with endless roads forbidden for more than 3.5 tonnes. The aire at St Paul is hardly ever full, maybe because some of the spaces are on quite a slope. A few weeks ago we passed one Sunday morning and a Roadsurfer had parked across five spaces.

I hope that the rest of your trip goes well. We are trundling home at the moment via a few days at the beach and have had a disappointing mistral day in Agay. The wind has now dropped to about force 5.

 

[suavecarve]

Photo du jour is a personal "oh I ve got panoramic mode on my phone" job. WESTY66 but it's too big !
Make do with a random dragon which may have something to do with a priest in 900 and something slaying a dragon which is the story behind naming of draguignan

I may have forgotten to upload photos for bargemon. They have been added along with the news of there is a voie verte of sorts and a thread has been created for that and added to the disused railway line thread and Posh and Becks have a house/mansion up the hill from the aire.

Reckoning on 4 entries today. Claviers is a quick one, then Seillans, fayence and tourettes. (Plus the voie verte)


I was in 2 minds about the justification of a journal entry for here, but we took some photos and it is pleasant enough.

Possibly best viewed from outside it is very "look another hilltop village"

It has a station and tunnel on the voie verte... https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/journals/claviers.603/

 

[suavecarve]

Number 2 Seillans Beaux village

We tried parking here yesterday. Signs send you to a decheterie and there are facilities there. I ll place that place as the map marker for this entry. Fine for day time parking visiting the village but we don't think we would stay overnight (we... https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/journals/seillans-beaux-village.604/

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[suavecarve]

Number 3

Along the draguignan Cannes cycle route this town had very little going for it as we parked at the bottom and walked in.
Just old and tatty, until all of a sudden after the first bar it came alive.

The town then split into further sections... https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/journals/fayence.605/

 

[suavecarve]

Number 4

500 m from Fayence we wondered about the effort of getting the bikes but we walked. It really isn't far at all.

Mapy.cz (and presumably Google maps) didn't offer much in the way of excitement to entice us there.

It is so worth it. Place of the... https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/journals/tourettes.607/

 

[suavecarve]

No journal entries tonight. Found another disused railway line, a beaux village and a cascade. I ll get them done tomorrow or day after. Feet up for a bit for us.

Photo du jour WESTY66

 

[suavecarve]

We bypassed this one last week. It said there was an aire. We aren't so sure but there is parking outside (only couple hundred meters) where you could easily overnight.

We came in via villecroze which was a tight traffic light controlled... https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/journals/tourtour-beaux-village.609/

 

[suavecarve]

Thread 'Meyrargues Draguigan' https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/meyrargues-draguigan.309562/

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[suavecarve]

We came here 10 years ago and parked in the free aire, had a drink in the bar, and in walked an owl !

The aire has gone and replaced with pop up burger and pop vans.

The parking is extortionate akin to London I would suspect if I ever paid... https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/journals/sillans-la-cascade.610/

 

[sedge]

??? Wedding recently ??? or does pale blue signify the baptism of a baby boy - or nothing at all .....

 

[suavecarve]

??? Wedding recently ??? or does pale blue signify the baptism of a baby boy - or nothing at all .....

Absolutely nothing ..... To my knowledge

 

[suavecarve]

While I have the slightest amount of internet.

We are having a couple of days off.

We think we will move towards the rhone on Tuesday and then to uzes and we have no other plans apart from (for the umpteenth time) go up the gorges du doux from tournon in the hope we might see the train or even do it.

We may also canoe the ardeche with a bottle of wine as company. No photo of the day .... Yet as hardly any internet but it will be chickens.

 

[suavecarve]

Sunday photo du jour.
WESTY66

Moulins et frites.

It does actually beat sausage and cabbage

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[WESTY66]

Sunday photo du jour.
WESTY66

Moulins et frites.

It does actually beat sausage and cabbage View attachment 951103

No it doesn’t

 

[Lenny HB]

No it doesn’t

Oh yes it does.

 

[suavecarve]

No it doesn’t

Monday phot du jour

Chickens

 

[WESTY66]

Oh yes it does.

Not if you don’t like mussels

 

[suavecarve]

Not if you don’t like mussels

It's a close shout. Flavoured wine with bread and chips, or sausage and cabbage.

I m with the non moules but bread wine and chips

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