Du Midi Salon-de-Provence

... full of huge luxury yachts. No sign of Jonny Wilkinson though...maybe next weekend! The mountain area was also very pretty, definitely motorbike/cycling country (Dad, you'd love it, Eileen, the bends and drops are scary!), but although pretty, I still find the landscape up there quite arid and hostile...wouldn't feel quite as comfortable peeing in a bush up there as I would in a gorse bush on Exmoor (don't look like that, needs must)!

And now a little bit about ...

... we were nearly blown to Marseille. Tomorrow we are going on a lunchtime cruise on the Rhone with more food and wine and before that visiting the famous bridge and hopefully we will have time to go over to see the nearby fort in the afternoon.

Then we start the final run north - first a night at Beaujolais, then 2 nights at Strasbourg and one last night at Munich before we leave Big ...

... yesterday, Saturday, and it is cooler but still nice. The trip here was spectacular with many olive groves and big mountains. Today we went on a tour to Les Beax - another medieval town with a castle - poor Graham and on his birthday too. Then we went winetasting and to the premier olive oil producers in France. The Mistrql was blowing on the tour and it was very cold but warmer back here in the camp. Tomorrow we explore Aix on foot then we go to Avignon.

... s how. From there I simply validate my account and I’m part of a network which allows me free access from many different parts of France. But I don’t understand; I still need a router and signal coming from this hotel. Why do I even need this network? And where’s my little blue ball down there? I ask too many questions. Sometimes it’s better just to take what’s given and be grateful. That ...

... and i haven't been in touch, but i'm here now.....i think i will just need to have jason drive me there before i loose my nerve....

so i was told at dinner that the ******* had plateaued off today as i did not feed him any salad. i think thats a bit of a misnomer, as plateau seems to imply level off to normal levels, but in this case, its like level off at 80% instead of 120%. so basically, i am destined to a life ...

I'm so sad that I didn't bring my camera to our special "splurge" belated birthday dinner. It was so beautifully presented! We went to a hole-in-the-wall place with 8 tables that came highly recommended. Those people were right. It was a world-class meal and exceptionally reasonably priced by French standards. I'm not sure how he's paying the bills with only 8 tables, but my hat is off to the chef/owner. It's a good thing ...

... a handy little passport with pictures, addresses and phone numbers.

My little camera ran out of power, so I only have pictures from the morning available to upload. I'll have to do the rest of the trip pix when I get home.

Tonight we are having our big dinner out at Le Tout Petit, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that comes highly recommended. We made reservations for a very early dinner at 7:15. Bon appetit!

Believe me you don't want the story but here are a few photos and videos of what was a wonderful adventure for the most part.

The bull running was a random and free event - just next to lovely beach. Camargue horses are breathtakingly beautiful in the wild.

Unfortunately no photos of characterful and cultural city of Arles because only took the camera out one day - the day we went to The Camargue obviously.

Today was the first leisurely day I've had since I started this trip two weeks ago. After breakfast, I drove down to La Grande Motte, a resort center on the Mediterranean. I used to have parishioners here when we lived near Marseille. I found the VVF - Le Ponant. It's a typical VVF center like ones we've used many times in the past, though this one is larger than many. I was shown around by the seminar assistant. The large meeting hall has a capacity of 280, and is ...