The day began as any other. We rolled over and fell out of bed around 9:00am. Another 10 hours sleep - we will receive a huge shock back in Sydney. Breakfast of boiled eggs, toasted baguettes and croissant tasted as good as always, this time prepared by the kiddies.

We had a pretty slow morning. Around 11am, Miles, Kyra and Rory went to have a look at the market in St Quentin La Poterie, about 15km away. Claire and Richard stayed behind - Richard to catch up on some maths homework due when he is back and Claire doing next to nothing.

The market was fun and Kyra bought herself a nice new French cotton top for summer. We three enjoyed a coffee and coke before heading back to join the others for lunch back at the Gite. Baguettes, pate and a choice of three cheeses - yum.

We snoozed for a little (yes, more sleep) before heading out for a drive and our last dinner in France. We drove back through St Quentin La Poterie as it is famous for its pottery (as the name suggests). The potteries were all closed for lunch earlier. We found a particularly well known artist and chose 3 pieces which will be made to order and shipped back at some stage. Fingers crossed!

We headed towards the Rhone. We'd heard of some nice parts of Gard in that direction. We did cross the Rhone into Vaucluse briefly, but the area was a little too industrial.

We had heard of a small village in the hills back in Gard so set the sat nav and headed off in that direction. Goodness knows who programs these machines, but it sent us through tiny little villages along miles of one lane country lane with barely a soul in site. We drove up forested hills and down the other side, and passed through acres and acres of vineyards. All too beautiful for words. Eventually we arrived at our destination - a small village in the hills called La Rocque-sur-Seze.

What a gem! A tiny one lane stone bridge linked both side of the village. It was built up a hill, with a church overlooking vineyards rolling down the hills. The river was a swimming spot and, as it was over 30 degrees, Rory decided undies were good enough the swim in. He waded out over some stones and dived in near a small waterfall. A Frenchman wandered up and talked at Kyra - words she couldn't understand. Eventually, he made his point that where Rory was swimming was particularly dangerous and there had been deaths! Rory was summoned forthwith - in one piece, thank goodness.

We had heard the riverside restaurant at La Rocque-sur-Seze was a good one - we were not disappointed. It was set in amongst weeping willows on the riverbank. The sun slowly set as we ate wonderful food. We drove home through the dusk - very happy indeed with our week in the Gard and feeling like the holiday was working well on us all. As we drove home, all the kids sang alternately the last post and a Coldplay song whilst questioning the other's recollection of the words.