.: from rhön to rhône :.

 It is Monday night and after a long and very fine journey, we find ourselves on the banks of the Sorgue, l'Isles sur la Sorgue at a campsite at the wickedly green water's edge with a lot more in front of us to explore. Friday was mainly a travel day. Bonne route, bringing us through Germany and through the Loire valley and the Rhône Alps to a stopping point beween the Ardèche and the Drôme, called Saint-Vincent-de-Barres, a really magnificent village that flowed downward from a hilltop. Soon, however, we discovered that this was a very common bit of civil-planning for the region. The next morning, we went

on to explore more of the Ardèche and took a very scenic drive through the valley to see where the river and time had rounded out a very impressive stone arch. There was some really stunning views besides as we mounted the gorge, looking down into the canyon, all the time accompanied by friendly wild goats. It took some time to find a good camping spot, but beforehand, we took a glance at the fortress of Grignan, returning there the next

day to look around inside, the beautiful promotory of La Garde d'Adhemor, a vertiable ghost-town, peopled only by tourists and prestige weekend homes, before settling on a little town called Grillon for the night.

The next day, we continued a zig-zag path southward, entering into the the Vaucluse region, after seeing Grignan and environs, visiting the terranced village of Nyons with its dominating monuments and old stone bridge over the river Eyguès. The next highlight was the ancient city of Avignon, whoses old stone rampants hosted the popes in exile during the thirteenth century, with some very impressive medieval architecture as testimony.

An ancient bridge reached half-way across the river and provided some magnificent views before we explored it up close. Tomorrow's adventures, creeping closer to the Mediterranean coast promise more excitement.