Le Sev'Hotel Midi-Pyrénées

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 ...

... Roman Arch bridges and cascading waterfalls. Beautiful! I hope the pictures tell a story better than I can. For our friends who love nature I would encourage you to put this area on your list for the next trip. Today we left the area and are in Arles. Back out of the long underware and in our short sleeve shirts. We will spend a few days in the south ending up in Vence (near Nice) to visit with friends we met in South America.

... 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 ...

... to see the giant 'bridge amongst the clouds'. It's 2 ½ km long, and over 300 m high. It was absolutely beautiful day - so not a cloud in the sky to get that sort of perspective. But it was well worth a look, just the same. After this extra, extra visit it was already after 12 o'clock ... then we finally began the rest of the more than 6 hour journey through the south of France and into Barcelona. Yay!

One swim in the lake, two dips in the pool, and another beautiful historic village later, we're packing our bags to leave Rodez. JP will drive us to Montpellier where we will catch the TGV to Paris. The lake community where JP & Laurence have their little cottage is a quaint collection of mini mobile homes right on the lakefront. Many of their friends and family have cottages there as well, so there is plenty of drinking of aperitifs on one deck or another. There ...

... in the sunshine. Next was Marcillac, then Conques, the best known town in the area, mainly because of the many Catholic pilgrims who visit. Of course, there is another grand cathedral, which although large, derives its beauty more from its simplicity and scale than any ornate design. JP acted as our "super guide" (pronounced with French accent), taking us to all of the best viewpoints in and around town. At the lake ...

... 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 ...

... a hundred foot high limestone hill picturesquely set into a sharp bend in the Rhone River. This was the site in which nine popes inhabited from 1305 to 1397, although the fortified palace that stands today was built over a 20 year period from 1335. Although the battlements look like toy models in comparison to the Maltese versions (didn't have a bunch of ...