June 30, 2009 – Landed in Camp Vielle Fierme - Antibes

Left at 1:00pm Sunshine all day. Visited the beach for a little tanning before leaving.
Into France we go, ciao bella Italia! We’ll miss you!!
We got off the autostrada just after Nice and promptly got lost trying to find the main road that follows the beach which our campsite is listed as being off of. Already the signage is so different I can’t understand it and either can Geoff. This is just a taste of more driving frustration to come. This is our last day of low season camping prices and this campsite turned out to be the cheapest of all at 30euros for the night. We watched French Kiss and a snippet of Ronin to prepare us for the French countryside and our visit to Arles.


July 1.09 – Parc Du Maurette –Antibes
Left the campsite and drove into Antibes looking for some sand and sea. It’s tricky parking with a large rig anywhere around here because there are height restrictions and bars blocking any vehicles that are over 1.9m and we need at least 3 m. There are a few areas where we can go and we ended up getting caught up in a maze of narrow streets going through the old section of Antibes. This was more than a little nerve racking as our worst fear is getting boxed in and having to back out with cars already behind us wanting to go forward. We drove right by the food market and finally out under the opening in the town wall. Phew!! The marina stretches for a long ways as it is full of many very fancy yachts. We were lucky and found a parking spot on the street so we put in a few hours and walked back through the area we had driven. Found some beaches tucked in little bays and decided to spend a couple hours at Gravette du plage. The water here is as lovely as the water up in Levanto. Same warm waters just a little further South. The coastal area is open to the public which is nice. Every beach has lifeguards and outdoor showers. Bought our havianas at a surf shop in the old town for the same price as home. After being baked enough we headed back to the caravan for a snack and then drove up further along the coastal road and stopped at a beach that was made up of flat stones. Had a snack and decided on our next move. Decided to stay in the area and try out the other campsite we had marked which was Parc du Maurette. It is only a couple of kilometers from where we were last night. As it turned out this site is much nicer and has an old charm about it with stone walls, outdoor bbq areas, and washing facilities housed in what looks like an old house.

July 2.09 – Camping Chantelcer – Aix En Provence

Drove up into the mountains and the deep gorge of Verdun. Extremely windy road!!!! Left our campsite at 11am. Where does the time go in the morning? We’re up at 8:00 and the hours just fly by. We drove up through Biot, small windy roads. This is the place where they make glass, but we didn’t stop. Drove a little further up to Grasse which is the perfume capital and lost ourselves on the streets for 45 minutes trying to find the highway through up to Castellane where we will head out on the road towards the gorge du Verdun. As it turned out we had to drive right up through the center of Grasse to get through to the other side. After getting boxed in on skinny roads in Antibes we were hesitant to venture into the centre ville again, but that’s exactly what we needed to do. After a frustrating time in Grasse, we finally headed North again. The road is narrow and continues to wind its’ way up and up into the mountains. The country is completely the opposite of the glamorous coastline; it goes forever with just a few dotted clusters of houses.

We turned off at Castellane and began the trek up into the gorge. We saw a few groups heading down the river in rafts and a few kids jumping into the river and practicing getting out in fast moving water. The water is silty and very grey. You drive up to the 1st viewpoint called Point Sublime that gives you a wide view of the gorge and the mountains. Quite impressive! We drove on from here following the gorge eventually stopping at the village of Moustier. A pleasant stop from hours of winding road. The town is built up on the hill and has a river running through the center of it. The church is up high on the hill with steps leading to it. A star spans the two mountain tops and shines down on the town. This is the first place I saw lavender water and essential oils. I found a favorite store where I could’ve bought one of everything! We are on the edge of lavender fields. Left around 6:30pm and
drove to Aix en Provence in preparation for an early exit to hit Arles sometime mid morning.

July 3.09 – Driving to Arles, Le Beux en Provence, then onto our campground. Arrived at 4:30pm, earliest arrival time yet. Lots of time to enjoy swimming in the Rhone River and hanging out. La Sousta campground near Pont du Gard
http://www.uk.lasousta.com/

Left campsite at 9:30am and drove to Arles. Arrived in Arles around 10:30am. Very quiet everywhere. Wandered the streets heading to the Colloseum then around to the Forum. We settled in the Forum area at Café Van Gogh for cappuccinos. Very nice. Walked back up towards the Colloseum to explore a bit further then made our way back to the caravan for 2:00pm.
Headed out towards Les Beaux en Provence, an old medieval village built into the side of a limestone mountain. Very cool looking place. We walked up and down the narrow laneways for a couple of hours then headed out towards Pont Du Gard. This would be a nice place to stop for lunch as all of the cafes are tucked away into the rocks or built out over the rock so either way you have an amazing space to enjoy.

We arrived at La Sousta Campground just before the Pont Du Gard aquaduct at 4:30pm. This is a very large campground with over 500sites on 30 treed acres. We camped near the Rhone River which was perfect for cooling off in. Today was a hot one, around 33C. There was a bit of a breeze at our site and it was a few meters from the river. Many people were floating down the river from the Pont du Gard to the site. Meg and I went for an evening run and then met mom and Geoff up at the Pont du Gard just in time for the evening light. It's a gorgeous area with the places to swim and lots of trails for walking and exploring. Just an amazing feat of workmanship to build that aquaduct-it's massive!!