13 May - Today we drove into the Central Mastiffe over several Cols and many alpine villages and got lost at the stunning Aubenas, a town set on the cliff tops. We got a shock when on a narrow road we reached a sign saying tunnels 3.1m. We had measured “Lefty” for just this eventuality at 3.2m! No turning back we slowly negotiated the tunnels. Fortunately the French man that measured the tunnels had been generous with his clearances.
We stopped at a camping ground at Sampzon for laundry, power, and internet. Still have not managed to connect our computer to the WiFi. It seems to be an IP address problem. Still raining so the washing is hanging under our awning.

14 May- We have decided to stay another night at this camp. The weather is slightly better. We off loaded the bikes and rode 25km return (including some tunnels) to the Pont d’Arc Natural. This is a gorge area with a spectacular natural arch across the Ardeche River. The sun eventually shone (first time in a week) and the washing dried.
We have decided to see the Millau Viaduct on our way to Spain.

15 May – Sunny at last. We drove thru beautiful Provence and had lunch at the Roman Aqueduct, Pont du Gard. It was built in 5 years around 57 AD. Awesome!
Back up into the Mountains of Provence and we are at lac de St Croix tonight. We are in an “Aires” park with about 20 other campers above the blue lake, next to a little village clinging to the hillside.
In the mountain area of Provence, they grow lavender. Acres and acres of it. Do they use it for anything other than perfume?? They must grow the world supply here!

The drivers in France are very courteous. During our bike ride yesterday they waited behind us at the narrow sections with great patience. They follow our slow pace in the camper and seem to not get greatly annoyed. We have only been honked at two or three times!

16 May – The weather has come right! – We drove thru beautiful Provence villages built on the hills. They seem to build their villages in the hardest places – either on step hillsides, cliffs or over rivers. I suppose it’s to do with using the best land for fields. Eventually found an “Aires” park in a village called Le Motte. We are very close to the Mediterranean now.

17 May – Drove thru ever increasing urbanisation to a camping ground about 10kms from Nice. The GPS gave us grief today taking us down some hairy roads. We are starting to dread the “recalculating” message!

The camping ground is great. We had our first swim today in the camp pool. The area outside the camp seems to be a bit seedy however. We will use the train/bus to go to Nice, Monte Carlo, and Cannes from here. We have our WiFi working at last. It must have been an issue at the last camping ground.

18 May – Another sunny day. We caught the local bus to Nice. (1 Euro) and walked thru the old city. Narrow alley ways with the buildings almost touch each other above and then opening into sun filled squares. The shops are in the alleys and restaurants are in the squares. We had lunch at the beautiful Place de Rossetti with a man playing a piano accordion.
We walked up the hill to great views of the marina, port, and beaches.

Lots of people on the beaches and many swimming although we thought the water was freezing. Nice is a beautiful city!!