Friday 7 June 2013
We're parked up in the motorhome parking area (no facilities) at La Couverteraide. It's been a sort of crap day - I damaged the van by hitting a low bollard in a narrow street (at very slow speed as I was stationary and then slowly moved forward). As it was so low I just didn't see it. I feel upset, ashamed, sorry and ready to just come home, but I'm going to try and put it behind me and not mention it again.
We left Vallon after emptying and topping up - I finally managed to work out the mini-Relais to buy some water - then we stopped at the Intermarche for food and fuel. The drive today was mainly on winding mountain roads. We stopped at a lovely spot for lunch, sitting at a stone table with stone stools and a fantastic view down the gorge. We even had our napkins out. We had planned to find a swimming spot, but earlier events prevented that, so instead we headed for our night stop.
La Couverteraide is a large 12th Century fortified village built by the Knights Templar. I'm fascinated by their short existence and history and always try to visit sites where they lived. This site is large and very atmospheric. You can just imagine them being around the site 900 years ago; it must have changed very little. Unfortunately we arrived quite late so we didn't spend much time there. A few hours sat on a very old step soaking up the sun and atmosphere would have been just the job today. Instead it was 7 hours in the van. There are very few vans parked here, there's no artificial light and it's all quiet except for the birds and cicadas. It is a good deal cooler than Vallon though. We've eaten and cleared up and I've decided to have an early night to put this day behind me. Tomorrow we'll continue to head north west, and hopefully a happier day.
We're parked up in the motorhome parking area (no facilities) at La Couverteraide. It's been a sort of crap day - I damaged the van by hitting a low bollard in a narrow street (at very slow speed as I was stationary and then slowly moved forward). As it was so low I just didn't see it. I feel upset, ashamed, sorry and ready to just come home, but I'm going to try and put it behind me and not mention it again.
We left Vallon after emptying and topping up - I finally managed to work out the mini-Relais to buy some water - then we stopped at the Intermarche for food and fuel. The drive today was mainly on winding mountain roads. We stopped at a lovely spot for lunch, sitting at a stone table with stone stools and a fantastic view down the gorge. We even had our napkins out. We had planned to find a swimming spot, but earlier events prevented that, so instead we headed for our night stop.
La Couverteraide is a large 12th Century fortified village built by the Knights Templar. I'm fascinated by their short existence and history and always try to visit sites where they lived. This site is large and very atmospheric. You can just imagine them being around the site 900 years ago; it must have changed very little. Unfortunately we arrived quite late so we didn't spend much time there. A few hours sat on a very old step soaking up the sun and atmosphere would have been just the job today. Instead it was 7 hours in the van. There are very few vans parked here, there's no artificial light and it's all quiet except for the birds and cicadas. It is a good deal cooler than Vallon though. We've eaten and cleared up and I've decided to have an early night to put this day behind me. Tomorrow we'll continue to head north west, and hopefully a happier day.
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| Great lunch stop |
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| Knights Templar castle at La Couverteraide |