Both worn out after the hectic 3 days in Switzerland. We probably didn’t make the most of Annecy! It was scorching by the time we arrived. So we wandered down to the lake to suss out what was what. The campsite had direct access to the lake, with their own private beach area. We stumbled upon a municipal beach only 5 minutes from the site, so decided we would give it a try the next afternoon. As the weather was so hot, we chose to take the bus to Annecy rather than cycle. However both the bus & the city were packed out. We had timed our visit to clash with the Annecy Animation Festival, with 12,000 people attending. As a side note, our neighbours on the pitch next door, were 3 young lads from Devon, attending the festival. The city was picture postcard pretty, with lots of interesting architecture & shops to explore. We spent about 3 hours there, then called it a day due to heat & hectic. Managed to squeeze in a crepe before heading back. A couple of afternoons were spent at the beach & took a dip in the “refreshing” lake, found a beach bar around the corner & went for a cycle along the lake. We spent 3 night in Annecy before moving on , we had to start making our way down to the south for G to get his flight.
Our 1st stop was a quick overnight visit to Remoulins. Thought it was worth popping to see Pont Du Gard, the Roman aqueduct built in the 1st century to supply the city of Nimes with water. Managed to fit in a walk around the old town of Remoulins as well. It wasn’t a hectic day & we had managed to cover off a 1/3 of the journey south. We stayed over in one of the Camping Car Parks, it was our first stay with them an a bargain for just over £12!
2nd on the list was a last minute find in the Provence region, Valensole & opted to spend 2 nights here. Journey down wasn’t great as the SATNAV had another wobbler & took us right through the centre of Avignon & a tunnel that had a 2.8 metre height limit! After that fairly straightforward apart from the toll roads. Back to Valensole, it’s on the northern edge of of the Verdon Regional Park, with 300 days of sun per year it’s the perfect place for growing lavender & wheat. With one full day there we explored the small but perfectly formed town before getting our the bikes to cycle through the lavender, wheat & clary sage fields. Absolutely beautiful, however we were surprised that the lavender didn’t smell as strong as expected. Back in 1965 there was a famous “Alien Encounter in Valensole & this has been depicted by a piece of wall art in the town. We can safely say that Valensole would be on our “Return To” list.
3rd stop & our final journey for 7 days was Villeneuve-Loubet. A short train ride away from Nice, Monaco, Antibes & Cannes. Journey was much the same as the last one! Took us over some very interesting small mountain roads & through tiny villages, the journey was just about 100 miles in distance but took 3 hours. We saw a lot of Provence though. G is travelling back to the UK for Luke’s stag do, therefore M is “home alone” for 3 nights. Selected the site due to it’s great transport links to other places, it has a swimming pool & is a 5 minute walk to the beach.
