All posts by Ray

France

Mont Ventoux

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Tuesday 10th October 2017

Today the plan was to drive over to Mont Ventoux, the famous mountain in Provence, topping out at 1912 metres above sea level. The mountain has been climbed many times by the riders of the Tour De France, with stage finishes there numbering ten. The wind at the top has been measured at over 200mph at times but we were lucky as the wind was relatively calm, and the temperature was a balmy 8 degrees as we reached the top. The temperature as we started the climb was 22! On the way up we enjoyed some excellent autumnal colours of the trees.

Autumnal Colours of Mont Ventoux
Autumnal Colours of Mont Ventoux

As we continued to climb we passed a number of cyclists pursuing their dream of climbing this mountain. How they endure the stress of the continual 21.8km climb at an average gradient of 7.43% is beyond me. This must be an extremely welcoming sight to them all.

The Summit

As you climb, the trees start to thin out and the terrain starts to resemble the surface of the moon.

Virtual Moonscape

At the peak there is a weather station, constructed in 1882, but it is no longer in use.

Weather Station

We wandered around the peak taking in the superb views for a while, then rewarded ourselves with a coffee & madeleines as we watched more & more cyclists complete the climb. On the way down, whilst using engine braking to save our brakes, we were overtaken by one keen descender, he must have been doing 50mph! Chapeau!

On the way home, because we are huge fans of the regions work, we detoured to pass through Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the famous wine growing village & region. The whole of the surrounding area is dedicated to growing grapevines, an amazing sight.

Super Sunset by The Rhone

Back at the caravan we enjoyed a marvellous sunset with a cheeky G&T while watching the bats overhead.

France

The Daily Bombardier 415 show

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Saturday 14th October 2017

Everyday, at totally random times, since we have been at Camping Lou Vincen, we have had the chance to watch the firefighting water bombers refill their tanks by skimming down the Rhône river running alongside camp, The Daily Bombardier 415 show. 🙂

Bombardier 415 banking to start fill run
Filling from the river
Almost Full!
Climbing Away

The aircraft are Bombardier 415s. It is quite an impressive sight as the aircraft have to do some quite steep turns to position themselves for their run as there are a lot of power cables in the area.

Once in position the aircraft skims down the river and it is possible to hear the water rushing in.

At the end of the run the now very heavy aircraft slowly climbs as the excess water is ejected.
It is quite a show, and the sound of the aircraft coming overhead has campers rushing for their cameras every time.

Apparently, it does not always go to plan though!

France

A Simple Moving Day – Not!

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Tuesday 17th October 2017

Today the plan was simple, to move on from the Campsite Lou Vincen in Vallabrègues to Campsite Le Neptune in Saint-Mitres-Les-Ramparts. This is another Camping Card Site and is  €15 a night and was chosen as a base to visit Marseille. It is a trip of 61km, easy.

Campsite Lou Vincen

We had really enjoyed our stay at Lou Vincen. We intended staying four nights, to visit Avignon & Nimes, and stayed eleven nights. The welcome we got from the owners, Hélène & Myriam, and the friendliness of everyone we met there and in the nearby village made it an easy place not to move on from.

Hélène & Myriam

We had taken down the awning the previous night so preparation for the move was rapid and we were ready , after saying our goodbye to the girls, to move by 10:30. The route was put into the Ford GPS and as usual Kim monitors the route on Google Maps. All went well for about 7km until we entered the town of Tarascon. Ford said right, Kim said left. Doh! It was too late to take the left so over the bridge to Beaucaire we went. I turned right into a street with the idea of turning around but this was impossible in the narrow street. Then we faced a very narrow bridge with a sharp left turn after to get back to the main road. Not fun.

We managed to weave our way through this then came up behind a truck unloading outside a bar. No way to get by, we watch him unload for 15 minutes before being able to proceed. This is the point where the drivers sense of humour failure occurred.

Another 15 minutes meandering through the tight roundabouts of the town brought us onto wider roads and progress was being made, albeit in silence.

17.10.17 Route

Towing Kilometres – Today: 61 – Cumulative: 4,020

After 30 or so kilometres, we stopped for a coffee break. Kim, sensing my stress, and the chance of a win, set up a game of Scrabble in the van. Her plan worked a charm. She won, and the silence was broken 🙂

After the break we made good progress without navigation problems to Campsite Le Neptune. Job done, I thought.

The reception was closed until 17:30 and it was only 15:00 so I wandered around the site while Kim waited with the van. I have to admit I wasn’t much impressed with the location of the site and went back to Kim to break the news. Kim noticed there was another site just down the road. With time to spare we went to investigate this.

We travelled down the very narrow road to the site gate, only to find that the site closed for the year 2 days previously. I now had the prospect of a half kilometre reverse with the caravan back down the street.

Just before sense of humour failure could occur again, a lovely lady opened her large garden gate enabling us to separate the caravan and motormove it out of the way and turn the car around. Very kind, and very lucky.

We went back to Campsite Le Neptune and reception had opened early and we were greeted by a very friendly chap who directed us to a pitch and returned later to check all was well

Campsite Le Neptune, Saint-Mitres-Les-Ramparts