 |
| View from Aiguille du Midi |
We then left Chamonix & headed south via Albertville
& Grenoble to Peipin which is close to tomorrow’s Tour de France Stage 16.
The drive was over a pass then through a gorge then river flats – a pleasant
drive.
Stopped for a quick look at Sisteron – a town on the banks
of the Durance river & sandwiched between a castle perched on a cliff &
further steep cliffs on the opposite bank of the river.
Le Tour is one big marketing & promotional exercise.
From our vantage point at Laragne-Monteglin we watched a procession of service
& official vehicles, then the “Caravan” which consists of 180 vehicles
dressed up as floats like Moomba with loud music & spruikers pushing their
wares, many threw samples to the crowds who went crazy. This went on for about
an hour before the riders actually arrived & the crowd went even crazier.
The riders passed in two groups – a breakaway of about 25 & then the
peleton – it was all over in 10 minutes. But quite an experience.
We packed up & drove along part of the race course
before heading to Sault, a really lovely town perched on a hill overlooking a
valley full of lavender, sun flowers, corn & other crops – very colourful.
View from Sault
From Sault we headed toward the Camargue in southern France
via the Gorges de la Nesque – a deep & rugged gorge with the road hugging
the cliffs or running through tunnels. We visited the Pont du Gard, the highest
Roman aqueduct, an engineering masterpiece. As we approached the Camargue we
finally found ourselves on flat plains with not a hill in sight for the first
time in ages.
Gorges de la Nesque
Pont du Gard
The Camargue is a vast area of flatlands & swamps on the
Mediterranean coast between the mouths of the Rhone & Petit Rhone Rivers.
It is a haven for birds & famous for its horses & bulls & has very
popular beaches. We visited the Ornithological reserve which had many thousands
of birds including – flamingos, storks, herons, ibis, avocet, stilts & many
more. The birds shared their wetland home with horses & ragondin (looks
like a beaver). After a hot morning of twittering we had a dip in the
Mediterranean to cool down & a cooling beer.
The Camargue
Then off to the Canal du Midi – packed our boat with stores
& headed off from Negra (near Toulouse) & headed towards Argens (near
Carcassone). We had 6 days to negotiate 118kms of canal & 66 locks. The
Canal is beautifully located in a farming area & we floated by magnificent
stands of ancient Plane trees. The locks have been interesting & tested our
boating & rope skills but we managed OK. Some have a lock keeper to assist
& some are automatic (Anne jumps off & operates the mechanism &
ropes whilst I try to avoid hitting the sides of the lock). By the end we were
a well oiled team.
We have bikes on board so have been able to moor the boat
& ride into the quaint little towns along the way for coffe, baguettes & other supplies & to see
the sites. We enjoyed a visit to the quaint little towns of
Avignonet-Lauragais, Bram & Villesequelande as well as the larger
Castelnaudary & Carcassone with its magnificent castle.
A most enjoyable & mostly relaxing week
after the efforts of Mont Blanc.
Our little Canal boat moored for the night
Anne at the helm
The beautiful canal
One of many canal bridges
