After Dijon we headed for Strasbourg - International city and all that, only to arrive on the annual market day, where every disreputable travelling marketeer and tout converged on the central island. We had wandered around Ancient Colmar and had lunch there, before making our way to Strasbourg. There was no parking at our hotel, so we ended up at one of many multistories, where it cost 18 euro for 2 nights. Returning to the island, we discovered that security ...

Given that we arrived in Dijon on a whim - we were testing the satnav and Dijon was vaguely in the right direction, it was wonderful. Never realised it was the seat of the Dukes of Burgundy and amazingly old. So we spent a large part of the day wandering around the ancient alleys and houses of Dijon, following the mark of the owl. The Ducal palace had free access, so we went in there to enjoy the air conditioning only to be blown away by the stunning cenotaphs t...

So we have finished our cycling trip in the Ardeche. Ross got to the top of Mont Ventoux, a personal goal, and rode most days around Le Cheylard through the beautiful and mountainous region around the village. Temperatures are up in the mid thirties, which isn’t entirely unexpected during summer, but it does not inspire vigorous activity until after 9pm or before 10 am. We collected a Citroen wagon at Lyon airport, where the rest of our tour group were deposit...

When a plan comes together .... the ride on the cable cars from Oi on Oisons resort to Alpe d’Huez was fabulous. So spectacular, with the snow capped peaks all around glistening in the sun. We arrived at the top of the village at about 9.30am, leaving us 8 hours to entertain ourselves on the mountain, until the race finished at about 5.30pm. We wandered down to the lower reaches of the village amongst the elaborate wooden finished chalets, and stopped for morni...

The rain held off for Bastille day, and we dined at the cafe in the square, fabulous food, fun company, and finally at 11 the dancing kicked off. We wandered home about midnight, quite magical in the dark. The next day, We watched Le Bleu win a little competition called the World Cup and then the town went off, honking horns and people in the street celebrating. Fortunately no tear gas required here! We moved on to Vizille- the itinerary said Vif, but unfortun...