Avignon! Dancing to a Rhythm of Life in the Slow Lane.

Im sitting here in Avignon and just realised I missed everything. 

I missed Angry Greta Dumberg at the UN; I missed Richard D (for Dipshit) Natali's speech; I missed the latest Drum Rant; I missed SCOMO's ticket to Mars; I missed the NYT's latest EPIC FAIL; I missed CNN's ratings drop below Cartoon Network re-runs of Yogi Bear; I missed the Democrats Self Destruct at another Town Hall; I missed Brexit and Nigel being a Nigel; I missed Clueless Jacinda impersonating a World Leader at the UN; I missed The Donald continue to Win Bigly and I missed the World's Lamestream Media go another week burying the Yellow Vest Protest here in France.

Apart from the last one, Totally Worth it.

The weather here is brilliant, hot days cool nights and we're in Provence; 

Life is good. 

We took the bus to Saint Remi for the day and wandered around one of Vincent's haunts. A beautiful little village that still hold the charm of its former times. Cool narrow streets that wind past cream and ocher coloured walls where modern life hides behind time faded powder blue shutters. Small plazas shaded under ageless trees that filter a dappled light onto intimate Cafe tables where time passes to the the sounds of birdsong and water spilling into weathered fountains. Only the intrusion of distant traffic breaks the spell. A truly wonderful time-warp.

Avignon is a great base to visit the surrounding towns and villages of Provence. It is easy to do day trips by car, bus or train from here at incredibly inexpensive prices. We decided to leave the van at the camping ground and just go by bus or train for the week. 

Our next sojourn was to Nimes by train at the staggering cost of €7.50 each Return. 20 minutes on a fast train and you step back to Roman glory. You are greeted after a shaded walk along a wide tree-lined boulevard with the most complete Roman Arena in Europe. Two Millennia ago Gladiators fought here and less than a half century ago it was being used for Bullfights. Now that's what I call longevity. The rest of the old city is breathtaking with the ancient, medieval and modern in a pleasing melange of culture and commerce. A meal and drinks in vibrant Horloge Plaza is a must. 

A short walk along the Rue de l'Horloge brings you to one of the most outstanding pieces of Roman Architecture still standing, The Maison Carrée. This perfectly preserved temple was dedicated to Gaius and Lucius the grandsons of Augustus Caesar. It has been refurbished to the point where it almost looks brand new. From here we walked beyond the now vanished old city walls and along the Quai de la Fontaine to the Fountain Gardens. The original Augusteum and Roman Baths have long disappeared replaced by the fountains and gardens in the 18^th Century. It's a nice respite from the hustle of the city nearby but not as impressive as some of the outstanding gardens along the Loire Valley. We finally made our way back to the Gare and headed back to Avignon.

By the time we leave on Sunday we will have been here over a week. The longest we have stayed anywhere on any trip to Europe. Tomorrow is Saturday and we are off by bus to Uzès a small village West of Avignon that has one of the best Saturday Markets in France. It has got to be good if it is better than the one in Arles that extends up to 2 kilometres every Saturday.

We love this place. Avignon has a magnetic charm that draws us back. We just love being here and wandering the ancient streets, discovering new nooks and surprises every time we return. But its time to move on. Spain is calling and Margie's Mountains are waiting. 

South to the Sunshine and Provence

We left Basel Friday morning and headed for Challon sur Saône, we bypassed Besançon and its newly renovated Museum. It's taken over 3 years to complete what is considered the second after the Louvre. It will keep for another trip. The rain followed us most of the way. We reached the Challon junction on the A6 (The Autoroute to the Sun) and decided to bypass it as well, as we had made good time on the road. By the time we reach Dardilly just north of Lyon where we stayed the rain had gone and the sun was shining. Our first stop in Lyon was a coffee in a little Cafe on Place St Jean next to the Vieux Lyon Metro and right in the centre of the old town. We wandered along the ancient cobbled streets through the old town. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and heady aroma of newly baked pastries fill the cool morning air. We left the old town with its pastries and potpourri of specialty shops, cafes and restaurants and stepped out into the bright sunshine along the Saône and across the Pont de la Feuillée that leads to Place des Terreaux and the beautiful Bartoli Fountain. It was being renovated two years ago and it is still not finished. The entire plaza is now being upgraded with new paving (but more of that later). We kept going passed the massive Hotel De Ville to Place de la Comédie, the large plaza in front the Town Hall and the Opera. And guess what? It was cordoned off and under paving construction as well. But wait there's more. We headed down Rue de la Republic, the pedestrian retail street and the entire length of it is, you guessed it, cordoned off for paving works. The Lyon Mayor has found a creative way to stymie the Yellow Vest Protest in the centre of his city and give it a new look at the same time.

After suffering the squeeze of shoppers corralled between the construction fencing and the shop fronts we headed across the Rhône at Pont Lafayette and along the concourse to the Les Halles de Lyon and our favourite lunch stop the Fer à Cheval (the Horseshoe). Croque Monsieurs, beer and wine. Best ham and cheese toasties in the world. We spent the rest of our time here wandering through the massive Parc de la Tête d'Or(Golden Head Park) with its huge lake and Zoo. It is also the location of the Modern Art Museum. After that we headed up via the funicular to the Basilica above the city and around to Lugdunum the ancient Roman Museum and two well preserved open air theatres. After that we collapsed and were ready for the next sojourn.

We left Lyon on Sunday, our favoured travel day. I seems the ban on trucks on Sunday has been extended to France. We headed South down the Autoroute du Soleil and branched off at Montélimar. We climbed steadily out of the RhôneValley and over a ridge of the Central Massifs and down into the Ardèche Valley and on to the Chauvet 2 Cavern. This is an exact reproduction of the original discovered in the late 1990s, very similar to the Lascaux 2 cavern in the Dordogne. The remains and cave art has been dated to 36,000 years ago. The tour is very dim much like the way it was originally found but the illuminated art is outstanding in its technique and accurate reproduction of Palaeolithic Fauna. Truely amazing.

We stayed the night at the nearby village of Vallon Pont d'Arc famed for its large natural arch on the Ardèche River. Turning East the next day we crossed over the A7 and found our way to Vaison la Romaine, a former Roman town and Medieval Bastide. The Roman Ruins are interesting but the true feature of this place is the Old Fortified HillTown overlooking the new village and ancient ruins. It is beautiful if a little care worn. It is mainly the home of artists and artisans and it is pleasing that the usual suspect that festoon places like this with streets busting with souvenirs and overpriced tat have been kept out.

Our next stop was Le Isle sur la Sorgue a picturesque village in Vaucluse. The town is built on an island in the middle of the river Sorgue. Canals surround the town and it is noted for the many water wheels along the canals. It is also famous for antiques especially vintage toys. The road along the main canal has many beautifully presented store fronts.

We left the island town early and set out for Gordes one of the many “Plus Beau Villages” (the most beautiful villages in France). It is another fortified hill town or Bastide. It is quite pretty with spectacular view of the Vaucluse countryside. It is charming but very popular with bus tours and we managed to be leaving as three arrived. Not far away was our next stop The Sénanque Abbey. The road in to this secluded little valley is nerve racking as the downhill section into the abbey car park is one lane with refuge lay-bys. Heart stopping, brake pad smelling, just squeezing by with mirror retracted, terror. Never again in a Motorhome. This is the place you see in virtually every promo of Provence, long lines of flowering lavender stretching out before the Abbey as a backdrop. The lavender had already been harvested but it was still worth the wild ride to get there.

We exited by another way that was much less stressful and made our way to where we are now. Aix en Provence. The home of Paul Cézanne. This is a beautiful city that is laid out like a lopsided spider's web and a rather drunk spider at that. Everything radiates from the Rotunde a huge circular plaza. The main thoroughfare is the wide Cours Mirabeau that was covered in market stalls the day we were there. Most of the streets run off this in a haphazard way but you always seem to find your way back to the Rotunde or Mirabeau. The streets are narrow and cool in the hot Provence sunshine. The more popular ones are lined with shops, bars and restaurants but many others are peaceful and quiet and relaxing to just wander along and admire the “lived in” architecture. This place is truly beautiful. By the time we got back to the van we were totally drained. We crashed for a whole day and just vegged. 

Next Stop Avignon.

You Have to Take The Good With The Bad

We arrived in London to a bleak and wet morning, but after our ritual COSTA coffee at the expansive forecourt of the Virgin Atlantic Terminal and sorting ourselves out in the Hotel at T4 the sky had turned an unfamiliar blue (for London). The whole country here is fixated on Brexit. You can't turn the TV on without watching a gaggle of balking, squawking, talking heads moralising about the effect it will have on everything from paper clip in the public service to rat dropping in the Outer Hebrides.

Whichever way it goes Britain is fucked.

The once bastion of western democracy and common law is now reduced to a Orwellian Nanny State where criminals are treated better than victims. A place were the police dance in the street or entire squads troll the web for thought crimes while victims of real crimes are assaulted or are dying in the streets. A place where the political elite refuse to respect the will of the people. It would qualify as a Banana Republic if not for it latitude.

It is like some twisted reality of the Twilight Zone where the Tories have become 

Green. The Greens are now Fascists, Labour now represents the UrbanElites and the Lib/Dems are neither liberal nor democratic. Farage is the future but history tells me the Brits are too fucking dumb to see it. Thank god we are only here for two days and by the time we get back in November it will be all over. Maybe.

We landed and Frankfurt and picked up the Van in Mannheim. Red is the new Black and it's not your usual bland coloured Motorhome. Enzo would be proud of this shade of Ferrari Red. Our first stop after topping up with food was Heidelberg. We were here 42 years ago but the memory is faded. The day in town was cold and wet and to ruin any chance of quietly exploring ancient memories the place was full of river cruise tourist speaking mangled english (US version) and several other latin and slavic dialects. Not happy (insert name here).

We are heading for one of our favourites next, Colmar in Alsace France, then to Basel in Switzerland.

We drove South all morning from Heidelberg in rain. Mostly light but heavy in patches. Sunday is a great day to travel here as everything is closed. Businesses and Retail don't work Sunday all over Europe and Trucks are banned from the Highways in Germany too. BLOODY BRILLIANT! It should be the rule everywhere back home.

We always seem to return to Colmar, we love It. Alsace has many beautiful towns and cities from the historic Strasbourg with its wonderful cathedral and marriage of old and new, to the quaint and picturesque Riquewhir and Eguisheim that dominate postcard space at every souvenir shop. Colmar is our happy medium. We would love to come back for the Christmas Markets sometime in the future and spend the Christmas/New Year in Alsace.

Our first trip back to Switzerland in 4 decades was less than expected. We had never been to Basel before and had high hopes given its reputation. But we were a little underwhelmed. We stayed in a little campground right on the Rhine in Huningue on the French side of the River. It is right next to the 3Pays/3Lands Bridge. You walk across the bridge to Weil am Rhein in Germany and from there you get the tram to Basel in Switzerland. 3 Countries in a day.

Basel is a beautiful city but for us just didn't have the charm or charisma of other places like this we have been. It's a bit bland to be blunt. It also doesn't help when the premier site, Marktplatz is dug up for roadworks, over a dozen red Mechano cranes tower over the city and street art on the many construction site hoardings is by the well know collagist William Posters (he hasn't been prosecuted here yet). It is also incredibly expensive.

That's not to say it doesn't have its high points. There are tree shaded river walkways, spectacular river views from the Basel Munster balcony and many quiet tree covered nooks and parks to sit and just reflect. And it does have a pretty awesome Christmas market in the massive square in front of the Munster cathedral. So don't be put off it just wasn't for us. We head for Lyon and the South of France next.