Birdsong all around and the bread Ali ordered last night has been delivered and left on our chair by the door. As we eat breakfast one of the Dutch dogs chases a red squirrell around the park. We linger at this lovely site longer than we should and finally leave at 11:30. A few miles on we reach Le Chatre, a beautiful little village with a rose garden around its church. After more miles on long straight roads we stop at a bakery in Bouese and get something fo...

We've loitered in the south a long time and now we have a few long drives ahead. We said goodbye to Nick and Grete when they left at 10:45 and we left 20 minutes later. After a short time on country lanes away from the site we join the main D902 and at Fix St Genys we start a long descent; 9.5km at 5% gradient. Down and down passing farmlands, a lot of which appear to be Charolais cattle, and rolling hills. At one point Nick thinks Mary*Lou is losing powe...

Much cooler morning but still sunny. We leave Pradelles at 11:15 heading for LePuy en Velay. After yesterday's challenging roads this morning is a relaxed drive through rolling landscapes with stone walls and small clumps of trees. Grete radios to say it reminds her of the Scottish lowlands. We reach Le Puy at midday and find free parking in the centre. Le Puy is an old city dominated by the hilltop cathedral with its huge red statue of Madonna. It is also ...

After another good night's sleep, we awake to another bright hot morning and we are in no rush to leave. Ali spends a few minutes chatting to the elder Madame who tells her about life in the village where there is no trouble and all is calm! We set off at 11.00 loaded down with more goodies and head to Uzes for fuel. It is Market day and school is finishing for the morning making it very busy. From Uzes the roads are fairly flat but with views of the Ardeche...

Beautiful bright and sunny morning. We ring to change our ferry booking to give us a few more days, there is a surcharge of £1.10. Bargain! Ali did a small bit of washing and hung out and then went down for the degustation with Nick and Grete. Les Tourettes was built in 1930 and is now a family enterprise producing wine and oils from olives, truffles and raisins. We leave at 12:20 and enjoy a relaxed and pretty ride along the flat valley floor with the huge...