Ibis Le Puy en Velay Centre Le Puy-en Velay

Left St Eloy fairly early and lunched at a motorway aire (with free electricity to cool the fridge, and services for the van's wastes) at La Fayette. On to Le Puy with fantastic volcanic mounds with statues and churches atop.

Coubon a small village with the site 7m above the Loire (unexpectedly this far south), but showing signs of having been 2m underwater in the winter.

... eens kijken. Ze was echter gesloten en gingen we maar naar het andere restaurant. Ik denk dat er maar 2 restaurants waren maar goed:p. Na een steak friet, taart/nougatcreem en koffie/pinke geraakten we wat aan de praat met iemand in de bar. Hij stond in voor het ruimen van de wegen en hij had 14 à 15 uren werk per dag met het ruimen. Hij was 'exceptionel' dat er nu nog sneeuw lag. Dat moest 10 jaar geleden zijn. We hadden ook geluk met het aantal skiers/snowboarders. De ...

... in Vieux Lyon, which was uber cool. We found lots of cool restaurants. We went in one (Le Banana's) to grab a crepe (a Princess crepe for me) made from chestnuts...yummm...and also some cappucinos. It was a much needed break; my feet hurt! We went in some stores here in there and peeked in restaurant windows as we made our way back to the hotel. It was an exhausting, but very fun day.

... We walked around town a little bit as we had some time before dinner. There were some nice shops nearby and even a little farmer's market with produce and fresh goat's cheese. We found this little shop that sold tiny little baguette sandwiches to tide us over until dinner. Again communication was tricky, but we did ok. We then went back to the room and showered to get the travel grime off of ...

... them into shops and restaurants, and i'm still loving the food. i love how everyone just shuts down at lunch for two hours and enjoys the break, although a bit of a pain when the smaller shops shut. oh, and i've discovered the joy of vin chaud, warmed wine served with orange or lemon and sugar or honey. luckily the french don't drink like the australians (i'm sure it's not just me!).

... le Puy-en-Velay to look at the churches on top of the rock cliffs and it was impressive. We made plan of buying an old truck and drive the world... just a thought plan. Then later by nightfall indeed we arrived at Christian's place after having had the chance to drive on the scenic road by dusk. Christian had invited his son over to bring some food and his girlfriend, to talk and have a meal. He also called the neighbours and ...

... came up to me and we had a bit of a chat, and he offered for me to go up the tower for free, which Amanda and I had already done. There are way too many stairs to do it again! The thoughtfulness of strangers has really touched me. Nicole is doing her best to keep us busy and I'm doing my best to just have some chill time. I'll keep you posted, and will include photos once I can.

Ouf 8 jours ca passe vite et c'est fatigant. Autant j'avais hâte de terminer les vendanges g déja hâte de recommencer. Petit arrêt aLyon, ou c'est moi cette fois qui fait visiter. Puis hop j'ai la confirmation de pouvoir faire les vendanges a nouveau. En Alsace. Youppi. Bon je vais aller faire un petit tour a Dreux avant de revoir du raisin.

... l'Eglise. J'ai aussi appris que la ville est tellement vieille qu'il y avait des romains ici. Pur preuve j'ai vu mon premier théatre romain..des ruines. Bon pour les connaisseurs il est pas fameux mais moi j'ai trouver ca super. Je me suis promenerdans les petits couloirs (je me rapele plus le nom) qui sont entre des maisons et qui mènent d'une rue à l'autre la ou les civiles pouvaient ce ...

... had been malinformed what type of walk it would be, and had been very upset with the guy for taking us out at such a late hour in that wild area without proper shoes and pants in order to protect ourselves from whatever snake we might have startled. INFO The Ardeche was a region already populated over 30000 years ago, attested by the Chauvet Pont d'Arc cave paintings that were discovered in 1994 (it holds the oldest paintings to date), and the Gaul tribe of Helvii ...