Artys, Les Compeyre

Took us a while to find a park last night as we were aiming to stay in Le Rozier which is close to the start of Gorges de Tarn as that was the drive we wanted to do today.

Unfortunately roadworks stood in our way and we took the next best option of the drive through Gorges du la Jonte.

Stunning is the best way to descirbe this drive. I got the ...

... with steep drop offs and no guard rails... and those are the highways!! Wouldn't want to be one of those ashen faced motorhome drivers or the poor guy in the tour bus. In the Gorge the road is also pretty narrow with many tunnels and rock cuts. Took many pictures of this wild rugged area. Not only were there beautiful rock formations but the hill towns (built right in to the rock) were very unique. Right out of a story ...

We have made it to the village of Brousse le Chateau. WOW!!!! That is the only word to describe how cool this place is. The "chateau" is actually an old castle on a cliff and the village is built beneath and leading up to it. The castle was built in 1040 and the village bridge (which is still used!) was built in 1366. There is a small mountain river that runs through the center of the village. We are staying beneath the castle in a little inn called Le Relays du Chateau. The ...

... It has become a very big tourist attraction. From Millau we made our way across beautiful open countryside of lush green hills and wonderful stretches of new, green wheat and fields of yellow flowers blowing in the wind. It was just as beautiful as the Tarn River Gorge but in such a different way. Comment- We have noticed many wind turbines being used on hilltops around the area. They generate electricity for many of the towns. France ...

We are still staying in Florac tonight, but we took a beautiful drive to this village today. The Cevennes national park countryside is gorgeous with big, green hills and hardly any homes or buildings...just countryside! We went on a 5km hike to the Chateau Roquedhouil, a nice old home built in the 1500's. There was a very tall sequoia tree that was planed in 1887 and was about 25 feet in circumference.

... coming from Bordeaux, Marseille and Toulouse, and the true celebrations officially commenced! Now, "why would anyone go to Rodez?" you'd ask yourself...Rodez is the headquarters of Nacel, American Village, the company I work for during the summer. My friend Amanda lives out there, and since she lives in a nice big apartment (and Rodez is about the central point for most of us former AmVil employees), it seemed like a convenient meet-up point for us all. All of my friends ...

Well, as you can tell from the map pin, we still haven't made it to Spain yet! We are now almost a week behind schedule ... not that there was any real schedule to follow ... and hey, I'm always late for everything anyway! We got a late start the morning after the detours to the chateaux - Ian went for a ride ... and I had a sleep in! But it was ok, cause the plan was really very simple - head south ...

... built into the steep hillside, and lack of fast food outlets. To beat the heat, we went back home for a swim, where the boys entertained us with their competition to see who could do the best "gros bomb" (cannonball). Then it was time to prepare for dinner, since some friends of the family came over to eat with us. We ate outdoors on the patio. Pierre, who owns one of the local wine shops, brought a few different bottles to sample, all delicious. We had ...

... we met JP's parents, his brother and family, and finally his youngest son. There was a round of kissing, some aperitifs outside in the sun, and then some delicious crepes made by Laurence for dinner. They were equally tasty with Nutella, sugar & lemon, or raspberry jam. We came back to the house to sleep last night, but we'll go back to the lake today for boating, swimming and relaxing. C'est difficile, mais c'est la vie!

... wedge of glass and chrome, which also lifted my spirits when it reminded me of my dream to one day write from space. Dare to dream man - dare to dream... Shaken from my reverie by an annoying 'tubular bells'-sounding announcement chime repeating itself over and over, I realised I was on the banks of the Rhone river which one hears so much about, so I got on ...