Our last visit in Provence was to Avignon, a town known for its bridge.

The campground, on an island in the Rhone, was not only open but had incredible views of the walled city of Avignon and the remains of the famous medieval bridge. 

We walked across the modern bridge over the Rhone to the city and noted that the river was quite high, to the point of flooding.  Police were closing a riverside road.  Quite a change from the River Loire which had all but dried up.

The weather was cold but mainly sunny.  We found the ticket office for the bridge first and bought double tickets for the bridge and for the Palais des Papes (Pope’s Palace).  We decided to tackle the latter first.

The Palais des Papes was huge, with exceedingly large rooms.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_des_Papes) It brought to mind the Prince Bishop’s palace we had visited in Germany, but it is even larger.  We had an electronic guidebook which let you see an image of how each room had been decorated and explained the history of the Papal Residence and its later transitions.  It was certainly not handicap friendly as it involved a lot of steps both up and down! The Avignon Papacy is one of the stranger periods of Christian history. More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avignon_Papacy

And did we mention that this place is huge? (Click to expand gallery.)

Starving after all that exercise, we headed for the center of town to find food and ended up in a Moroccan restaurant upstairs on the main square.  The the food was delicious and it was nice to be out of a biting wind.

After lunch, we walked back to the Saint Bénézet bridge where we watched two videos about its construction and history. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_Saint-Bénézet) More popularity known as the Pont d’Avignon and, to some of us, at least, it is where you go to dance.

Seriously, everybody knows the folk song, don’t they? What you may not realize is that the original, medieval bridge was actually huge, spanning two branches of the River Rhone.

There is an old Avignonese proverb which states that one cannot cross the bridge of Avignon without encountering two monks, two donkeys, and two whores. Our visit was a bit more tame, perhaps because the ruins of the bridge are so short. But we did take a moment to dance.

After our little dance we retreated to the camper to warm up!

As we headed north the weather continued to deteriorate.  It was December, after all, and it rained a lot! 

Then it was on to Riquewihr in Alsace for a visit to the Christmas Market. Denise had wanted to go to Colmar, but the only campground open was full.  The campground at Riquewihr was lovely and it was an easy bike ride to the market. 

As it was mid week, the shuttle buses to Colmar and Ribeauville were not running, but the market was open and was busy, with at least six tour buses, and lots of campers parked everywhere.  Using the bikes, it was easy to make several visits.

We enjoyed the gluhwein and nibbled on various treats, including fresh roasted chestnuts.

Click on gallery to expand.

We also bought a santon nativity group, as we realized we had failed to buy one in Provence and Denise collects nativity sets.  The lunch we had planned was impossible as all the restaurants were either full or closed by 1:00 PM (!!) – place was heaving! So we returned to the camper.

Having visited our Christmas market, we now began the serious trip to Calais to take the Shuttle back to the UK.  Even the wineries were closing and the remaining aires were filling up, but we made it to Dunkirk. The aire was on a steep hill, right next to a little museum dedicated to Operation Dynamo, the Dunkirk evacuation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation)

From Dunkirk it was off to Calais and one last stop at the Carrefour superstore before heading to a very pleasant campground near Ashford, in Kent (https://www.broadhembury.co.uk), where we were able to clean the camper, do the necessary laundry and prepare it for its storage in Yatton.

And what we did about it. When we last saw our heroes … Their repeated efforts to reseal the front window had failed. So, they sought out an expert in camper leaks. He told them that the problem was (probably) not the window, but rather leaks in other places.

We realized then that we would have to remove everything, solar panels, fans, etc., from the roof, reseal everything, and then remount. Not a trivial task. So we began a diligent internet search and found Avanoa, a new campervan conversion company outside of Draguinan. (https://avanoacampers.fr) They agreed to look at the problem, so we headed to the Draguignan area.

Alexi and his wife, Megane clambered up on top, looked, rolled their eyes, and, in a moment of weakness, agreed to undertake the repairs. But they could not start immediately as we needed to order fans and other parts. We only stayed long enough to make a brief one day visit to Draguignan.

This turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, as one of the museums that we had planned to visit, the French Army Artillery Museum, had decided to close that day. (Denise did not repine. And we were serenaded by the sounds of artillery from the military school.) We did get to visit the Musee des Arts et Traditions Populaires, which Denise did enjoy. And, naturally, we brought home presents.

Draguinan has a small US military cemetery. Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France, gets overshadowed by Operation Overlord, the Normandy landing. But, it was long planned. At one point, the two landings were planned to be simultaneous, so as to put the Germans completely off balance, but, in the end, there were simply not enough landing craft. Fortunately, the southern landings were much easier than Normandy. That said, there was a cost and there are memorial plaques all over southern France. The French have never forgotten.

We then headed south to the driest, sunniest place we could find in an attempt to dry out the camper roof while we awaited the arrival of fans and other necessities.  This proved to be near Frejus, on the Mediterranean coast. 

We found a lovely campground south of Frejus, near Saint Aygulf, the aptly named “Paradise of Campers.” (https://auparadisdescampeurs.com/en/) En route we stopped for a little shopping at a vegetable seller in the main square of Saint Aygulf. This involved circling the block, clambering over curbs, and inching down narrow streets to park inside the square itself. The vendors loved it!

The campsite was next to the beach and there were some beautiful views of the bay looking back to Frejus and Sainte Rafael. Much too cold and windy to get in the water, however.

We ended up staying a full week, although two days were lost to a strong Mistral that rocked the camper from side to side.  We took the bikes into Saint Aygulf for a return shopping visit and were welcomed by the vegetable vendors as old friends.

One day we took the bus into Sainte Raphael. Athough the old medieval church that Denise wanted to see turned out to be closed, we did visit the new cathedral, rode the tourist train, and enjoyed lunch by the marina.

Denise really wanted to revisit Aix-en-Provence, where she had studied, so we studied the approaches. Aix itself was impossible between narrow streets, no parking, and low emission zones. There was a campground, but it had mostly, sketchy reviews. So, we headed to Peyrolles-en-Provence, a small town about 30 minutes away on the bus line. We found the aire in which we were the only campers.  It felt a bit odd!  (No water, either, as we were so late in the year.)

The next morning we set off on the bus to revisit Aix en Provence. The Christmas market was just opening on the Cours Mirabeau, the main downtown street, and we enjoyed browsing. 

Denise was amazed at how much Aix had changed since she lived there as a student. 

Two plaques that show that freedom isn’t free. The first is a classic appreciation of the liberation by US and Free French troops. The second, dedicated to the shot, deported, and missing of the Resistance, is, perhaps, even more poignant, showing the cost of living under occupation.

The Cathedral of Saint-Saveur does not generally appear on the list of must see cathedrals but it does have the most amazing baptistry we have ever seen. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aix_Cathedral) We tried, but photos simply do not do it justice. The well/basin and lower walls are Roman and the upper works are medieval.

Then on the bus home, we received an email from Avanoa asking us to be there the following afternoon.  So we were off the next morning.

We had pretty much established that the problem was water leaking in at at least one of the fans, and probably from the mountings for the solar panels. Basically, we had a lot of things mounted on the roof with screws through the panel and inadequate, or aged, sealing. So we resolved to remove everything from the roof and remount everything properly using adhesives only. We would also examine for any obvious leaks and repair a section that had delaminated. (WARNING: Extreme camper geekery follows.)

The first challenge was just getting down the lane and up to the shop. We are a bit bigger than most of the vehicles that they work on. With the aid of a saw to trim the trees along the lane, road guides, and careful driving, we settled in to what would be our home for a week.

The first task was to get everything off and assess what was to be done.

Alexi called in his friend, neighbor, and landlord, who just happens to build composite yachts for a living. He, too, clambered up on the roof and declared that we had to drill holes in the roof and inject epoxy. This might sound terrifying, but it was, in fact, exactly what Total Composites, the manufacturer of the panels suggested. He came over on Sunday to take charge personally.

Fortunately, Alexi had taken a training course with Sika adhesives and stocked the full range of their products and the nifty tools to work with them. Who knew that there is a powered caulking gun? Sika adhesives are widely used in the construction of composite campers. (https://fra.sika.com/?_gl=1*nau8a8*_ga*NTEzMzk4MDgyLjE3MDQ2NDg4OTg.*_ga_K04G1QB2XC*MTcwNDY0ODg5OC4xLjAuMTcwNDY0ODkxNy4wLjAuMA..) Most installations required a very strict protocol, clean, sand, prime, bond, cure. We were careful to find, and cover, every screw hole or other opening. In the process we found a crack at the front of the camper – probably a tree strike – and probably the main source of water at the front window.

The repairs, including repair of the delaminated part of the roof, took eight days in total.  A great deal was achieved including the fabrication of an aluminum cover for the newly found crack.  The solar panels were removed and remounted without piercing the roof, two new fans were installed and. as noted, the delaminated section was repaired. Interesting side note – the owner of Total Composites noted that when he proposed to the fan manufacturer that fans should be mounted with adhesives only, he was warned that that would void the warranty. Needless to say, ours are mounted without screws. I am more worried about leaks than I am about warranties.

Spend a week camping on someone’s doorstep and you develop a real relationship. When we left, Alexi and Megane gave us a wonderful going away package. Should you want a camper, or need repairs in Southern France, see Avanoa.

“Man, man, your time is sand, your ways are leaves upon the sea
I am the eyes of Nostradamus, all your ways are known to me”
— Al Stewart “Eyes of Nostradamus” from the album “Past, Present, and Future.”

Provence has lots of famous cities and resorts, from Sainte Tropez to Marseille and many more. But we tend to prefer places off the beaten path. Les Baux de Provence was on our list of must sees, but we were having trouble finding a place to stay. One possibility was the little town of Saint Remy de Provence, but then we noticed that the campground was about to close for the winter. We were off before it was too late!

Saint Remy is the birthplace of Michel de Nostredame, more commonly known as Nostradamus. An absolutely fascinating person: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostradamus

It proved to be a wonderful visit and one of the highlights of the trip.  The campsite was close to the town and it was an easy bike ride to the tourist office – once we found it.

There were also Roman ruins – a whole town of them, but then Denise saw a poster. What on earth is a “course camarguaise?” We repaired to “Paul’s” for coffee, goodies, and research. The course camarguaise turns out to be the local form of non-fatal bull fighting. In fact, the bulls are all repeat performers and have star billing on the flyers. (The bull fighters, or, more appropriately, bull runners, are not mentioned.) This led to a test ride to find the arena and get ready for the last performance of the season, to be held the following afternoon. We were set!

The next morning we rode to Glanum, a small Roman town, founded by the Gauls and dedicated to the local god of plenty and pure water, Glan. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glanum)

Founded by the Gauls around 600 BC, Glanum became a Greek city before the Romans arrived. The city was abandoned in the third century AD due to attacks by Germanic tribes. Relocating to the larger and more defensible site of the modern Saint Remy, the people dismantled most of the Roman city to reuse the stones. Finally, a flood put it under eight metres of mud, with only the “antiquities” showing.

And there it remained until the 1920’s. Read more here: https://www.site-glanum.fr/en/discover/history-of-glanum Our visit complex, we headed back to “Paul’s” to warm up and then to wander and admire the typical Cathar curved streets and, finally, to enjoy a great pizza and Minestrone soup lunch!

That afternoon we joined the local population and we were off to the races. Or bull fights. Or whatever.

When we couldn’t find a bike parking rack, the ticket taker told us to just bring them inside where he could watch them. Settled in our seats, we discovered ourselves next to a locally resident American. (Small world – I think she was as surprised to see us as we were to meet her!) It was the final “performance” of the season, so we studied our program and guide. 

A total of six decorated, and named, bulls would spend 15 minutes each in the ring and the 10 raseteurs would attempt to pull their decorations off, leaping out of the ring as each bull approached.

To be honest a couple of the bulls had a rather “been there done that” attitude!  One or two clearly had a good sense of time, as at about the 13 or 14 minute mark, they simply quit being ferocious and trotted back to the gate to await the end of the round. It was the last course of the year after all! Animals are amazingly intelligent.

But it was a lot of fun and one bull especially enjoyed leaping over the barrier, four times. 

Our very first bull fight, or was it our second rodeo? https://diplostrat.net/2019/06/23/the-oregon-trail-revisited/) Who knows, but it was one that we could enjoy because the bulls returned happily to the pastures after their performances. They had top billing, after all.

We did make it back to Glanum the next day, which unfortunately meant we did not have a day to revisit Les Baux (our last visit was in 1974!).  But we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Glanum and were amazed by this little ancient town.

The site is small, but the excellent museum has many animated light shows and models to explain how the town evolved over the centuries. (https://www.site-glanum.fr/en) The small size makes it easier to get a full understanding of how the city worked.

The Gauls established the first settlement, up in the narrow valley and surrounded by walls. By the time the Greeks arrived, the great gate had become the ceremonial entry to the temple sector, with the sacred spring. The spring, of course, is one of the reasons for settling here. By the time the Romans arrived, the spring was purely religious and they fed the city with an aqueduct.

The Romans excelled at civil engineering and, if you had to choose only one thing to demonstrate their superior understanding and technology, it might be water. Clean potable water into towns via aqueducts – see the Pont du Gard. Water storage and distribution to public fountains and houses, and finally, water drainage from houses, baths, and latrines, via the various cloacae. While the Romans were better at this than anyone up to and probably including the 19th centur, think of the London cholera and typhoid outbreaks, they still suffered from plagues and disease as they did not fully understand public sanitation and the spread of illness and parasites. They didn’t always flush the bath water enough and sharing a toilet sponge is not a great idea. Still, compared to the dark and middle ages, they were amazing. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanitation_in_ancient_Rome)

First Gaul, then Greek, then Gallo-Roman, and complete with housing, temples, sacred springs, and ramparts – Glanum is a fabulous visit.

Oh, and Al Stewart, the Scottish musician quoted above? We linked for the quixotic Nostradamus reference, but his whole album “Past, Present, and Future” is a good listen and amazingly good history – especially the song “Roads to Moscow.” Chilling. For a deep dive: https://glintoflight.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Al_Stewart-_-_-Road_To_Moscow.pdf (A tip of the hat to Denise’s brother, Trevor – ever the source of the best music.)

Or who knew that there were so many Roman ruins in this part of France?

Roman ruins are no strangers after our stay in Jordan but we still enjoyed every stone! It is easy to forget that Caesar’s Gallic wars ended before the birth of the Christ and that for centuries thereafter, Gaul, modern France, was close to the very center of the Roman world. Lots of Romans, especially combat veterans, settled there and lots of Gauls became Romans soldiers and they too Romanized. And the Romans knew how to build! Everything from roads, to drains, to waterworks, on up to massive theaters, arenas, and temples. Arguably, their greatest contribution to civilization was the recognition that if people were to be healthy in a city there were two great needs – clean water and effective sewers. The Romans built their cities around both. And some of those water systems, aqueducts, were simply amazing.

We started the tour with a visit to Pont du Gard, which was on Fred’s must see list.  We stayed at an aire on the south side of the river and bicycled into the site as the sun was shining and we were anxious to seize the moment.  We then proceeded to take a round about way due to muddled signage and were completely lost.  It turned out we had cycled to the viewing tower (Belvedere) and were quite a way from the Aqueduct, down a trail that was only marginally bicyclable. It was a lovely ride through the woods and an olive grove and we found a portion of the aqueduct leading to the Pont. Not the famous bridge, but impressive none the less.

We kept hunting! We turned around and found our way to the “real thing”.  And it was breathtaking.

It is really quite amazing and includes a much later 18th century footbridge, which we of course crossed. 

There were steps leading to the top from the northern bank of the river.  Denise declined due to her sore ankle but Fred climbed to the top and took photos. 

Evening was coming and it gets chilly fast, even in the south of France.  So we stopped for hot chocolate and then headed back to the aire. You can read more about the Pont here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_du_Gard (One of their better articles.)

Our next planned visit was to Arles and we found an aire beside a marina and with good bus connections to Arles and Nimes.  We were also becoming seriously worried about our leaks, so we took one day and went to Codognan to consult with a RV repair shop that specialized in leak control. (https://www.techniloisir.fr) He didn’t want to hear what we thought so as not to prejudice his own research. So we headed across the street to a lovely bakery for a coffee and goodies while we waited. He opined that the window was fine, but “It is raining in your camper.” We had serious leaks, just not at the window. We received valuable information but he had a line of camper vans waiting for repair so he could not work on our camper. (“It’s going to take a lot of work!” he predicted) SPOILER: Turned out that he was exactly right. But that is another post!

Back at our aire, we worked out the bus schedule and found the stop. Early one morning, we set off and thirty minutes later, we were in Arles.

We had a wonderful day.  The Foundation Vincent Van Gogh was unfortunately closed due to a new art exhibit being prepared but we set out to explore.

“Modern” Arles was wonderful, but there were lots of Roman ruins to see. 

We started at the Roman Amphitheater, which is still in use. It even has new metal galleries added.

Quite amazing to imagine actually going to gladiatorial contest, or later, a bull fight here, sitting on the very seats used by the ancients.  By the middle ages, it had became a veritable city as it was divided into houses.

Our next stop was the Constantine Baths from the fourth century AD.  Quite a lot of the hypocaust was still visible. 

We stopped at the Place de la Republique with its Roman obelisk and also visited the Church of St. Trophime.  

Perhaps the most interesting Roman site in Arles is the least known – the massive underground foundations of the old Roman forum, known as the cryptoporticus. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptoporticus)

We had a wonderful lunch sitting outside in one of the squares, before hopping the bus back home.

Yes, beach resorts out of season have a certain air of abandonment about them and the beach town of Palavas les Flots looked a lot like parts of Florida, in the winter, when the tourists have gone home. 

We could not go into Montpellier proper because of emissions restrictions so we headed for a municipal Aire in Palavas, just south of Montpellier and on the coast.  Denise wanted to see the famed pink flamingos of that area of the Camargue marshes. Fred wanted to take his window out and see if he could do anything about the drips in the camper, as a sunny day was forecast.

The aire proved to be huge, with 135 spaces, and we were most fortunate to get one of the very best spaces in the front with a view of the marsh and the boats along the water front.  Reminded us a bit of Duluth (!) as it was right on a canal full of boats. Although there was no one playing pétanque or boss in Duluth. During the afternoon we walked through the mostly deserted town and shared the most enormous ice cream sundae we have ever seen!  Given the prices, we decided not to eat out and returned to the camper for dinner!

As promised, the following day dawned bright and sunny, so Fred took out the leaking window and we cleaned it and its mounting site.  One of our neighbors very kindly helped lift it back up to put it back in and another neighbor helped tighten the spring tension on the inner shade and screen. 

After lunch, we biked along the bike path on the edge of the marshes and Denise got to admire the pink flamingoes (and other sea birds).

Aigues Mortes is not exactly a beach resort though there are a number of boats tied up along the canal, but it is one of the main towns in the Camargue.  Denise had visited it in 1964 and it had made a big impression on her.  (Everyone wants to visit a town whose Roman name was “Stagnant Water!” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aigues-Mortes)

We stayed at a lovely aire, Le Poisson D’Argent (the silver fish), about 5 KM from Aigues Mortes, along the bike path of the canal.  The Poisson D’Argent was originally built as a fishing farm, but now makes more money as a campground. The first day we were there was chilly but there was a little sunshine, but we had a pleasant visit to Aigues Mortes in the afternoon, including a tour on the Little Tourist Train, and a short visit to the town. 

The town is interesting because it has remained within its fortifications.  All more recent development is across the canal, so one gets a real feel of history as the fortified town walls loom in front of you.  Unlike many old walled cities, the walls are intact and, on three sides, there has been no modern development.

Each tower is from a different era, which adds interest also!

Because the walls are still intact, the town inside retains much of its medieval feel.

Friends of ours, Ron and Ton Corbin were on their way back from Corsica in their camper (Their Three Island Tour – read more here: https://travelintiger.com/a-list-of-places-we-have-visited/countries-we-have-visited-in-europe/france/provence/november-2-2023-aigues-mortes-fr) and stopped off to see us for a couple of nights.  We managed a visit to Aigues Mortes the next day and a fun lunch in the main square but the weather was not very nice.  Cold, windy and quite rainy. 

We were all hunting the Weather Channel for where we could find sunshine.  We gave up on a bike ride to Le Roi de Grau as it was so bad.

But the weather was looking a little better so we headed north to Pont du Gard.

Denise had spent time on an exchange with a French family in this part of France in 1964, so for old times sake, we headed to Roquefort to see the caves and buy some cheese.  It was a beautiful dry morning (finally) and we enjoyed the beautiful views we saw, over the valley as we drove the country roads towards Roquefort.  As it was Saturday, the town was a lot quieter than we had expected but we parked in the free Aire and then climbed up the steep street towards the top.  The place was completely empty and appeared very closed, but then we came upon the Maison Gabriel Coulet, founded in 1872, which was open.  We were able to descend to their cave, where a film described the founding of the Maison and the making of Roquefort cheese.  We then went into the storage cave where we could see wheels of cheese ageing both in the “visitor” section and in the real cave, which was separated from visitors. The magic of Roquefort cheese is the natural mold spores found in the “fleurine” caves. Fleurines are natural fissures in the cliff while allow air flow into the caves.

We then, of course, bought our cheese, a sampler of each of their four types of cheese..  This was a much smaller Maison than the enormous Societé brand which we discovered further up the street and which was much larger.  But we enjoyed the intimacy of the smaller group. More than you ever wanted to know about Roquefort cheese can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roquefort

The following day, we headed to Millau, entirely for sentimental reasons – Denise stayed there in 1964. Again the views on the route were spectacular.  We found the Aire and set out on the bikes to visit the “Vieux Pont” (Old Bridge) and “Vieux Moulin” (Old Mill) which sat upon it. 

Millau is some 3,000 years old. In Roman times it was a center of earthen ware and in the 19th century it was famous for gloves. Interestingly it was an English town during the Hundred Years War. (Much further south than Fred would have expected.) The old bridge dates from the middle ages when it boasted seventeen arches and three towers. Neglect and floods have reduced it to two arches and one tower/mill – an art museum.

We rode along the Tarn River, with the hills around Millau in full view.  We then headed into town for a coffee on the square. Never found a coffee and ended up taking the long way home – medieval towns can be confusing!

The Millau Viaduct is simply huge and amazing. Denise was disappointed that we passed under and not over it. As the wind was blowing, Fred had a more neutral opinion. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millau_Viaduct)

We had hoped to see some Roman ruins but they were closed so the next day we headed out towards Montpellier.

As we headed east, we stopped in Gaillac to taste some more wine!  We enjoyed a visit and overnight stay at a local family winery called Long Pech. (https://www.long-pech.fr/). We had quite the adventure getting to the vineyard. We were driving along a normal, if narrow “D” (Departmental, i.e. State) road when Miss Neverlost, our GPS, suddenly directed us off to the right. After a few kilometers of driving on single track though what felt like people’s backyards, we finally reached the winery.

We had a lovely tasting with the lady winemaker and spent the night on a hill with a view over the vineyards as far as the eye could see. 

This time we ignored the GPS and took the main road. If there was a restriction it completely escaped the notice of the steady stream of huge tractor trailers that was climbing up the same road. Was a bit of a white knuckle drive. 

This is not the first time that the GPS has steered us off of main roads, but we are hesitant to change our weight/size dimensions as we don’t want to get trapped on restricted roads. We could probably re-list ourselves as 7,5 tonnes, as the breakpoints appear to be 3,5 tonnes and 7,5 tonnes. No easy answer.

We headed into the aire in Gaillac. A former commercial campground, it is down a narrow descending trail. (Of course, we met a camper coming up.) The spaces were bound with hedges and most had picnic shelters. As the weather brightened a bit, we got the bikes out and went exploring.

The first stop was the Abbey of Saint Michael, a huge red brick complex by the River Tarn.

We wanted to see the museum but it was unfortunately closed and we had enough wine that we did not need to buy more from the Maison de Vin! We continued up to the main square and had coffee and then visited the church of Saint-Pierre.  

This church was first founded in 972 and it was quite fascinating to see the old color on the stonework, including trompe d’oeil, especially on the pillars.  Some of the paint was flaking off and some of the stone work was crumbling but it was a magnificent church and obviously still very much in use.

Unlike many ancient churches, Sainte-Pierre is not on an open square, but is completely surrounded by other buildings, even to the front.

From Gaillac we moved on to Albi, famous as the focus of the crusade against the Cathars. Catharism is a fascinating subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharism. Fred remembers that when he was in college, there were posters up inviting people to discussions of Gnosticism, so at least some elements are still around.

The aire at Albi was pleasant and we could see the famous red brick church on the horizon.  It was raining, again, so we settled in.  

The next morning proved sunny so the bikes came out and we headed across the Vieux Pont (with some difficulty as it is under repair!). 

We started our visit at the Toulouse Lautrec Museum which is located in the old bishop’s Palace, an amazing building.  The grandeur of it reminded us of visits to the Prinz-Bishoff’s Palace in Wurzburg, Germany.

The art of Henri de Toulouse Lautrec on display ran the gamut from his early work, often of animals and especially horses, to his later, more cartoonish work and posters.  A bit like Pablo Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrac was an accomplished classical painter, but only achieved fame when he developed a new, more unique style, even if that style was much less technically accomplished. We did not try to photograph the actual art, but focussed on the amazing building.

Fred, never a Toulouse-Lautrec fan, bought a mug in the gift shop. The mug was decorated with a bicycle chain poster and the bicycle motif made it acceptable!

Albi is, as you might expect, almost achingly pretty.

After a great lunch (cassoulet again!) on the square, we headed to the Cathedral of Sainte Cecilia, the huge red brick cathedral.

The red brick, as opposed to the white limestone of more northern cathedrals, gives the building a different aspect. There are about 29 different chapels, each one dedicated to a different saint, and each one full of ornate and intricate stonework and frescoes and paintings, describing the life of the respective saint. 

The curved sections of wall replace the classic flying buttresses of a gothic cathedral. Folks knew their materials!

If you make a payment, you can see the inner altar and the Cathedral treasures.  Naturally, we paid up and climbed the narrow stairs to the exhibit. These included gold and silver plates and cups, art work, exquisite decorated manuscripts, and gruesome wonders such reliquary skulls.

The Basilica of Saint Cecilia is an amazing church, with a long history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albi_Cathedral Fittingly, Saint Cecilia is a patroness of musicians. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Cecilia)

Fred then decided to get a haircut so off he went again on his bike. He got rather scalped so he is lacking hair now. (Hopefully) it will grow back!

An important and tragic part of French history is the conflict between the Langue d’oïl and the Langue d’oc; a conflict of language, religion and, of course, political power.

Toulouse was an early capital of the Langue d’oc. We had not planned to spend time in Toulouse a we tend to prefer smaller, less congested spots. Then Denise noticed that there is a Cité de l’espace or Space Museum in Toulouse. And then we discovered that there is an aire right across the street. We were off. When we got there, we realized that it would required 250 yards or so in the low emission zone but we managed to get there without being stopped. We felt like we were tip toeing down the street, a challenge in a nine ton truck! Picture an elephant trying to sneak by.

It was a rather cold, grey day, but we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.  There was lots of space information of different kinds but all from a European point of view.  There is a lot more European space research than we had known.  (Despite our best efforts, we are still a bit US/UK centric in our thinking.)

We saw an Ariane rocket and a replica of the US moon landing module. 

There was an interesting presentation on the Mars rovers on a replica of the Mars landscape. It features radio controlled replicas of two Mars rovers, Perseverance (US) and, Zhurong (PRC). 

Finally, we saw both a Planetarium presentation (blah) and an amazing Canadian 3D film about asteroids.  The information on asteroids was exceptional and included where they are found, what they are made of, and various plans to deal with them if one should  become dangerous. 

There are also exhibit halls with lots of digital information and such fun experiences such as what it would be like to walk on the moon.

All in all, it was a great day. Cultural observation. We are in the off season, so the Cité de l’espace was running at reduced capacity. This meant that they shut down the snack bars, but kept the full service restaurant – sort of the opposite of what we might expect at a US attraction in the off season.

Moving into the past, we headed to Carcassone. Carcassone simply drips history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcassonne In popular fiction, the author Kate Mosse has written several books that touch on Carcasonne, the most famous being “Labyrinth.” Central to all of this is the Cathar heresy which resulted in the only crusade ever declared against Christians: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albigensian_Crusade Today, Carcasonne is a major tourist attraction.

The closest aire we could find was in the little town of Bram, about ten kilometers away. Bram was a castrum (old Roman fort site) in the Langue d’oc, When attacked in 1210 by French crusaders, 100 prisoners had their noses cropped, their lips cut off, and their eyes gauged out. One man was left with one eye so that he could guide the others away. With a hand on the shoulder of the one in front, and the one-eyed man at their head, a file of blind prisoners wound its way to Lastours (Cabaret), a visible demonstration of the ineffable mercy of God’s Christian Army. (Sarcasm alert.) Today there is no trace of the medieval fortifications, but the street layout preserves the traditional “circulade” or circular layout.

Both the aire and the town proved to be delightful.  The aire is beside a lovely lake and beautiful views greeted us each day.  We originally planned to take the train to Carcasonne, but discovered that we would have a major trek from the aire to the Bram station and from the Carcasonne station to the old city. As Denise has a badly sprained ankle, long walks were not optimal. Then we discovered a camper parking lot, just five minutes from the old town and, with the next sunny day, we were off.

Arriving at the parking lot, we were reminded that we are not the biggest dog around – not by a long shot.

The approach to the old city is simply stunning.

One of the legends of the origin of the name “Carcasonne” dates back to Charlemagne. At the time, the city was ruled by the Moors. When their ruler, Ballak, was killed fighting Charlemagne, his widow, Dame Carcas, held the city against the French. The French settled down to a siege.

After five years, Dame Carcas hit upon a ruse to get the French to give up. She fattened up some pigs and then had them thrown over the walls to the French, who, by this time, were feeling the privations of the siege as well. When the French saw that the Moors had so much food that they could give it away to their attackers, they gave up and lifted the siege. As they marched away, they could hear all of the bells ringing, thus “Carcas sonne!” (sonner = sound or ring, as a bell) Any truth? Probably not a lot, as Charlemagne would have only been about 17 years old and the French had already taken the city, but it was enough to name the city and reminds of the long history of conflict in the region. (And lets us continue our search for strong women in history.)

Naturally, we started OUR siege with a cup of coffee at a cafe, where a local cat came over instantly to meet Fred and take over his lap! Denise was afraid Fred would never leave!

We then enjoyed a short tour in a horse pulled carriage and learned a lot about the ramparts and the different eras of their construction, beginning with the Gallo Roman one.  We tend to be military/fortification nuts and it is rare to have a guide so well versed in the intricacies of medieval fortifications.

The ramparts had enclosed the old, and then only, city, before the “modern” Bastide St. Louis was created outside, during the seventeenth century.

We then tackled the ramparts ourselves, walking up and down multiple sets of steps to towers, which all had fantastic views. 

Fred has a bit of an obsession about the way that movies consistently fail to present medieval fortresses correctly, starting with the detail that they were usually plastered smooth and white washed or painted. They typically were not grey or craggy.

Another example is hoardings and they are beautifully reproduced at Carcasonne. Basically, hoardings are wooden structures used to protect defenders on the walls, conceal their numbers, and allow them to drop nasty things on attackers. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoarding_(castle))

At various points in the ramparts were explanations of different history in small museums. 

The walk around the ramparts took nearly 2 hours, by which time we were hungry.  We headed back to our coffee site for a Cassoulet, which was excellent.  We sat out in the rear on a lovely terrace.  There was no cat, however!  Fred was disappointed!

Finally, we took the Little Tourist Train, which ran past some of the ramparts and then into parts of the lower town.  So we learned more facts about both.  A great day.

The following day was much cooler but we did take our bikes into Bram. Bram lies on a plain, beside the Canal du Midi, with the Pyrenees to the south.

We admired the circular town center.

As it was Sunday, we were not able to visit the church but the curved streets were interesting.  Lots of buildings looked abandoned.

After a quick visit to view the Canal du Midi, we returned to the camper, ready for some warmth!

We found some interesting mentions of an abandoned chateau, the Chateau de Valgros, so Fred set out on his bike to find it.

And there it was, abandoned and the victim to two fires. A plan to make it into luxury apartments never panned out. Beautiful building, but a bit of a fixer-upper.

Next up, the search for wine and cheese.

And where, you may ask, is the Dordogne? Well, it is a Department of France with a long, long history. Long as in back to the Middle Ages? Nope, longer. How ’bout the Gauls and Romans? Nope, longer. Greeks? Too soon. OK, we’ll give you neolithic, and that is why we are here. The Lascaux cave paintings are the stuff of legend.

As we headed south our first stop was at an aire on a country horse farm.  It was excellent and provided power, water and a bag of tomatoes when we arrived!  We enjoyed visiting with the horses and went to the neighboring town of Bellac for groceries and laundry.  And on to Montignac where we camped in a pleasant aire, an easy, if very steep, 20 minute drive to the Lascaux caves.

And on to a complex explanation. Visitors are no longer allowed in most of the original caves because of deterioration to the paintings.  (They are a bit old.) In the 1960’s a full size replica of the original cave was constructed inside another cave nearby. After careful measurement, some 85% of the paintings were recreated by craftsmen using similar dyes, tools and methods to those used by Cro-Magnon man – a six year undertaking.  This is Lascaux II.  More recently, a digital presentation of the cave has been opened in a nearby modern building, complete with films and other high tech displays.  That is Lascaux IV.

We chose to go to Lascaux II because we wanted the feeling of being in a real cave rather than a representation of one.  It was fabulous. 

We had an excellent guide who knew all about his subject and the paintings were large and amazingly colorful.

A visit to a different set of caves in Rouffingnac proved interesting.  This cave had been excavated to install a small electric mining train, which enabled them to limit the number of visitors.  (We are suckers for trains of any size or kind!) They had opened up the cave passages to build the railway. Most of these paintings, or mostly outlines, had been painted while the artists were on their backs and cover the ceiling. The paintings themselves are much less colorful and impressive until you realize that you have ridden a train for some thirty minutes through passages that have been cleared of mud. In neolithic times, you would have had to crawl in and then lie on your back to see much. Clearly, this was not a temple or gathering place for a lot of people.

There are many, many caves all over this area, some with paintings, and some with classic commercial cave stalactites and stalagmites.  It would take weeks to see them all but we enjoyed the ones we did see. 

We camped in Las Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sineuil (say that three times fast) for our Rouffingnac visit and while there we visited the excellent National Museum of Prehistory.

The museum, is built into the ruins of Las Eyzies Chateau, which, in turn, was built directly into the side of the cliff. The Museum has thousands of examples of tools, artifacts, statues, and recreations of paintings and dwelling caves from the Cro-Magnon era, culled from the entire area.

Moving east, we drove to Cahors, which has a most interesting fortified medieval bridge, built in from 1308 to 1378, called the Valentré Bridge, which we wanted to see.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

We knew we would have to park and take the bikes to see it as all the roads around it had weight limitations.  But when we made it to the large car park that allowed camper parking, it became clear that it was a mess, full of double parked cars, residential campers and there was not a chance we could park.  And then someone parked beyond the end of a row. Grrr! In fact, we barely got out.  Since I could not get my own shot of the Valentre bridge, I am shamelessly stealing this amazing shot by my neighbor Bruce Dale. Bruce did this for a living for National Geographic and you can see more of his great work at: https://brucedale.com

So we gave up on Cahors and drove to St. Cirq Lapopie, a village east of Cahors, that Denise wanted to visit.

It was an amazing visit.  We camped down by the river with a full view of the hilltop village above us.

We took the bikes, grateful for their electric feature, and climbed the steep winding road to the village.  This village defined the term “vertical real estate” and the views from it were amazing.  We visited the church of St Cyr and Ste Julitte, saints dating from the fourth century, and saw at least some of the 13 historic buildings there! 

Unfortunately, a lot of the artisanal shops that Denise wanted to visit were closed.  The shoulder season really closes up in October.  But a cafe on the main square was open and we enjoyed a coffee and an ice-cream before heading back down the hill.

Both the road we took in and the road by which we left were amazing. 

They were one lane, winding roads along the cliffs with incredible views and we came upon a couple of small villages which did not even show on the map. 

For example, the village of Lugangnac had a full size old fashioned windmill with sails and a chapel beside the road with a plaque “For Bread and Prayer”. 

We stopped at the next larger village Limogne en Quercy for coffee in the village square.

Denise went wandering while Fred ordered coffee and went to the boulangerie to acquire a treat to eat with it.  He came back with apple goodies and an absolutely huge bread that we shall be eating for months! (He is no longer allowed into a boulangerie without adult supervision.)

Coffee and goodies accomplished, we pressed on towards Toulouse. From the Neolithic to the Space Age!

Clean clothes in hand, we set out for the Fontevraud Royal Abbey. Established in 1101 the Abbey was always headed by an Abbess, despite the presence of monks. It became a prison during the French Revolution and remained one until 1963.  It was then renovated to show its former life. Perhaps the Abbey’s greatest claim to fame is as the resting place of three of the great (or infamous) Plantagenets – Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their son, Richard, known as the Lionhearted. A reminder that a lot of “English” monarchs really had their roots in France. There are lots of serious books about the Plantagenets; for something a little, but not much, lighter, try the historical fiction of Sharon Kay Penman. (https://sharonkaypenman.com/book-category/us-editions/) Penman’s books cover eras and characters made popular in various TV shows, plays, and movies, such as “Cadfael”, “Richard III”, “Robin Hood”, “The Kingdom of Heaven”, “The Lion in Winter”, and many others.

We enjoyed a wonderful (full menu) lunch on the square before touring the Abbey.

The Clos des Cordeliers is part of France Passion, so we were able to spend the night. We enjoyed a great tasting and chat with the staff and we learned that the harvest had just finished, so everyone was happy!  We bought several bottles and moved the camper for the night.

In Saumer, the aire was on an island in the middle of the Loire. A quick pop across the bridge on the bike and you were in the old town. And now, reaching Amboise, we parked on yet another island in a very dry River Loire. So we got on our bikes and popped across another bridge to reconnoiter.

We had come to Amboise specifically to see the Clos Lucé and the Parc Leonardo da Vinci. We found it and, the next morning, returned just as it opened.

The chateau Clos Lucé was originally a fortified residence. Unusual in that all you can see from the road is a nondescript gate.

Leonardo da Vinci spent the last three years of his life here, at the invitation, in 1516, of Francois 1 of  France, and so left a treasure trove of possessions. 

The house itself was fascinating and included Leonardo’s bed chamber, a “loggia” or gallery, the Oratory of Anne of Brittany, with frescos painted by some of Leonardo’s students and other fascinating rooms. The whole effect was light and airy.

Leonardo’s workshops were a series of three rooms, each concentrating on his various interests.  Denise liked the painting one best, it included a copy of the Mona Lisa, which is easier to view than the one at the Louvre!  Leonardo’s easel and paintbrushes, workbenches and his last drawings including a cat series that Fred liked especially.

There was a clever display of Leonardo receiving a visit from the Cardinal Luigi of Aragon. The latter made an extensive journey though Europe. The journey was detailed by Antonio de Beatis, his secretary and it is a fascinating story for anyone interested in the famous painting, the Mona Lisa, or simply European life at the time. Read more here: https://monalisa.org/2012/09/08/the-travel-journal-of-antonio-de-beatis/

In the basement were exhibits of a number of Leonard’s inventions, including mockups and miniatures.

And he also built a windup, spring powered car as well as a paddle boat with flywheels to smooth out the power. And, of course, a helicopter! As with so many of his ideas, the problem was the lack of any kind of real motor, a problem that didn’t really get solved until the invention of the steam engine.

Then in the Parc we were able to see them full size, including moving bridges and Archimedes Screws and such.  A fabulous visit. People talk about a person being a “Renaissance Person.” Leonardo Da Vinci was the whole renaissance in one person.

We also visited the Chateau of Amboise, which is an interesting juxtaposition of fortification and more modern chateau. 

It was confiscated during the French Revolution and returned to the one remaining (surviving) member of the family that had owned it afterwards.  Needless to say, it required restoration.  The main floor contained medieval furniture and the upper floors Regency furniture as it was restored post Revolution.

Fred also got a very nasty flat caused by sharp flints (silex), which are everywhere in the region.  Fortunately he found a great bike shop to help him fix the flat.

Our final stop in the Loire Valley was the Chateau of Chenonceaux.  We felt a need to see at least one well visited and well known chateau!  In actual fact, we benefited from summer weather and fall crowds (that is – none!) so we had an excellent day.  We had planned to go to an Aire right beside the chateau entrance, but the access was so narrow, we parked in the free parking just outside.  (And besides, we had already touched a railway crossing sign trying to make the first turn. Grrr! Annoying, as had we come in through the chateau entrance, as opposed to the GPS direct route, we would have made the turn easily. As we did the second time!)

It was an easy walk to the chateau. We started by admiring a row of Citroens of all different ages.

There are hundreds of chateaux in the Loire valley, but Chenonceau (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Château_de_Chenonceau) stands out because it was built on the site of a fortified mill (!!) on a tiny river island and later expanded with a bridge out over the water. It was also the home of a number of powerful and competing women. (https://www.chenonceau.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/guide-2018-UK.pdf)

And, with that, we headed back for dinner.