We had a lazy start to today with a tasty French brunch of cheeses, pates and fresh French bread. This afternoon we drove up to Mont Ventoux which is a dizzying 1912m above sea level. The views were breathtaking, literally. The wind was so strong it felt like it was sucking the air out of our lungs. The temperature dropped from...
read more
Today we went to the nearby town of Orange to view the Roman Theatre. It was pretty spectacular and as Annelies & I sat in the stalls that could house 8 to 10,000 people
read more
01:20 – Wow … we’ve just come in off of our balcony after spending 20 minutes watching the biggest thunderstorm I’ve ever seen. It’s been going now for about 5 hours and looks set to go on throughout the night. 11:38 – Storm is over and the gorgeous Provence weather has returned. We must have had...
read more
After last night’s storm we had a leisurely breakfast (which lasted the whole morning!) until the afternoon wind seemed to waft back the warm Provence weather. We decided to go back to Vaison La Romaine again to see the Medieval part of the town. It was well worth it. The Medieval town was built on the opposite bank of the...
read moreTaranis, god of thunder of the ancient Gauls, is displeased. After days of sunshine and almost stifling heat we’ve had continuous thunderstorms, lightening and torrential rain all last night and through this morning. However I have to say I find it rather refreshing and invigorating.
read more
Provence’s proximity to Italy has meant that, even before Julius Caesar conquered Gaul and added it to the young Roman Empire in 58 to 51BC, it had already come under Roman influence. Today we visited Vaison La Romaine, a beautiful Provencal town with oodles of interesting Gallo-Roman history. There are two major sites that...
read more
Spent the day lazing in the sun and around the pool. Ahhh … this is the life…
read more
Well here we are again in the Provence. We were here 3 years ago a little further south in Isle sur la Sorgue. This time we’re in a place called Valreas, quite near to Orange … of William of Orange fame … so a nice Dutch connection there. Our Gite is absolutely gorgeous set among the vineyards, olive trees and...
read moreToday we left our Cornish chalet a day early so that we can travel on to “La Belle Provence” from Southampton airport tomorrow. Again our trusty guide Jane directed us unerringly the 192 miles to our overnight hotel. However not before I put in a slight diversion to Charmouth beach on the Dorset coast when I realised we...
read more
Cornwall, in addition to its seafaring culture, is well known as a centre for mining tin and clay. Whilst the tin mining industry has all but disappeared china clay mining is thriving. Close to the site of the Eden Project, itself built inside a disused clay pit, is Wheal Martyn, a museum located on the site of two old china clay...
read moreToday we motored on down to St Ives and then on to Lands End. St Ives is another picturesque Cornish fishing village. However it’s also been an artists hub for a long time and is the location for Tate St Ives. This was our main motivation for going there and being the ‘cultural barbarian’ that I am I’ll let...
read more
Today we visited the impressive ‘Eden Project’. A trip Annelies has been positively salivating over since we planned our trip to Cornwall, and it didn’t dissapoint. Over to Annelies ….. “At first site Eden looks like an amazing futuristic scene with its big bubble-like biomes nestled into the valley...
read more
