Cat'Hotel Bourg-de-Peage

And we're back! Internet was pretty much non existent though the french countryside; so sorry for the late blog posts. At any rate; we decided in order to see the wine regions of France you have to drive, so yep, we rented a car! Freedom from bus, train, and metro schedules is amazing. Our first stop out of Provence was Orange, the gateway to the Rhone Valley. But as it was a Sunday, and a holiday, there wasn't much to see, so we took off to drive ...

... de Claude Frère. Et surtout, il y a la chambre Amélie de Laurencin qui aurait, dit-on, fait battre le cœur de Bonaparte, alors jeune lieutenant en garnison à Valence.
Et avant de refermer la lourde porte, prenez le temps d'un petit déjeuner servi dans la salle à manger ...

... le gros œuvre allant jusqu'à fabriquer de la fausse pierre. Diane s'est chargée de la décoration. Le résultat d'ensemble est impressionnant surtout lorsque l'on considère le soin apporté aux détails. Petit clin d'œil à l'histoire : chacune des chambres porte le nom d'un ancien occupant de la maison. On trouve ainsi la chambre Laurens ...

... the back of the house and the bird life is quite fantastic - we will need to get a book I think as I have no idea what most of the birds are. There is a stream at the bottom of the drive where the rocks are covered in moss and the trees reach right down into the water - some small pools for swimming ( the water is FREEZING) and lots of clambering and exploring places for the children.

... and swimming (lovely cool fresh water from the Alps and
the Massif Central). This huge flat valley, surrounded by beautiful
mountain ranges on both side I imagine would also be an ideal location for a family holiday.
The Chateau itself is really lovely and the 63 acres of grounds include
a forest, private 'mountain' with 100 mile ...

Le Temp Libre Fond Rozier
f-38150
Bougé-Chambalud
tel 0033 (0) 4 74 84 04 09
fax 0033 (0) 4 74 84 15 71
camping.temps-libre@libertysurf.f r
http://www.campings-franceloc.fr

We stopped here to crash out for a night 400 miles driving is enough after a 3am start from the UK but thanks to the Ferry ...

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... his friend Beatrice and sharing crepes and cider at the crepe "hut" near the top of the mountain. Lots of fast driving up and down mountain roads barely wide enough to pass each other on. The backseat view down the side of the mountain is spectacular but scary!

... went to her friend's place for a party. We started at her friend Gail's and then joined the whole party a little later. There I met all of Celine's soccer friends, who, I must say, are a lot of fun. Hanging out with friends is also something that I miss while I am traveling. This is the type of scenario that I could never find myself in if I didn't have friends here, and I am so thankful for it because it was a lot of fun...so long as you can catch a crepe coming at your face.

Terrific location but staffed by odd, rude and uninformed people. Odd: arriving in the city I phoned to get more specific directions and as we neared the hotel was told to go in the wrong direction of a one way street. "Don't worry if you see any police", said she. At our arrival, the same person was beside herself with everything and seemed confused in general. Rude: we experienced the same rude man in the evening as others posters have mentioned here. As if he was doing us a favor ...