Hotel Le Commerce Mende

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 ...

... and white snap dragons, and wild hyacinths in pink, purple, and yellow. This area is really a nature lover's dream come true. From here we continued deeper into the canyon and followed the road along the river. There are two small villages on the opposite side of the river that are not connected with roads and are only accessible by hiking trails, boats on the river or by a "basket" that carries you across the gorge to the village!!! (see photos ...

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.

... up the mountainside and within minutes wrap around me as if pulling a comforter over my head in bed. At sunset the peaks stay lit after most else darkens. |An extrordinary image of a mountain peak appears above me as a soft window breaks open in the white clouds just a sunset is happening in that 'other world' above the clouds. I have to fight the tendency to always pull out my camera. It is all beautiful. It is all ...

... day in June we were limited to the Cevennes, but that was spectacular enough. On the way we passed the Abime de Bramabiaou, where a river literally spouts from the side of the cliff to join the main stream. The second day was a mind-boggling trip down the Gorges du Tarn. This is perhaps the most well known of the French Gorges, and rightly so. Mile after mile of winding river ...

... place really has the best looking crags I have ev** seen and we will surely continue to visit them for years to come. So we are going to head back to the canyon wh**e we have a B&B about 5 minutes from loads of rock and we only arrived yest**day. We will be eating duck liv**, truffels, sheep intestine, snail, smelly cheese, frog legs, and pig snout ov** the next few days. So wish us luck, for th**e is a Warburton on board and we know ...

I go to Marseilles and visit at night, I was also lucky enough to find a cheap hotel (20 euros per night for a single room with shared toilet). I went to see a french comedy "Prete moi ta main" definately worth it! the next morning I have a tough decision, do I go back to brussels to visit Marie-Christine or do I ...

I arrived after a 6 hour train ride, 5 hours of waiting, and a 1.5 hour bus ride to my favorite French exchange studentīs house from the US. The entire experience was awesome! I stayed for 3 days visiting the sites, canoeing, and eating spectacularly every night. I canīt thank Emmanualīs family enough for their spectacular generosity.

... trying to get you to come to their show. However, the people and the constant party left the city dirty and smelly, which was only worsened by the very HOT weather! At any rate, the festival made our visit pretty lively, and this atmosphere was augmented by the World Cup craziness. In case some of y'all in Ohio weren't aware, France played Italy on Sunday night in the final game. Mom and I were convinced that we were the good luck ...