After our visit to Aix, the first excursion of this type since Berlin, Sunday and Monday were quiet and unremarkable. Except for the Mistral. Now the Mistral is an odd wind. It gusts rather than blows and is, it seems, accompanied by blue skies. The gusts rattled the awning and blew up dust so that we had to take it down. Then again, it only seems to blow during the day. Actually it does not seem to start with any degree of menace until late morning and generall...

Today we left Mondragon and travelled south towards the sea. Instead of taking the autoroute we used the old route nationalsfor some of the journey. It was certiainly worth the effort. Both in the Cotes du Rhone wine area and later in Beaumes de Venise it was extrordinary to see all of the vines, the caves and the potential for wine. A must return sort of place. Anyway we are now sitting on a nice rural campsite in a small town called Peynier. This is close to ...