09 October 2013 The campsite was nearly empty but we were told the restaurant was opened at lunchtime. We wondered way so decided to try the cheap set lunch which turned out to be delicious. We got there just after twelve, it was already fairly busy and soon filled up with a terrific atmosphere. It turned out that a TGV office was close by and the workers obviously treated the place as their works canteen! Nimes also has a very well preserved Roman arena used today as a bullring and it was interesting to compare the city with Arles. Arles has a very crowded feel with its monuments being crammed in amongst ancient narrow streets running down to walkways along the banks of the river. Whereas Nimes exudes space with newly renovated wide boulevards, huge open ... read more

07 October 2013 The weather improved and we made the most of it. After a stroll around Florac, we drove the Corniche des Cevennes with tremendous views of the national park of that name. On route we did a 30 minute walk up to the summit of St-Pierre and having worked up an appetite took lunch in a small restaurant in the town of St-Jean-du-Guard. The rest of the day was spent visiting one of our planned destinations for this trip, The Pont du Gard, a bridge crossing the River Gardon which was built by the Romons in the first century AD as part of a 50k aqueduct supplying water to the city of Nimes. It was every bit as spectacular as we had expected and looked beautiful in the early evening sunshine... read more

05 October 2013 After a night’s rain the day was mostly dull but in became sunny in the later afternoon. We had a most enjoyable time wandering around the streets of Bourges with their many fine stone and half timbered medieval buildings. We bought some supplies from the Saturday market; visited a couple of small museums; and finally admired the beautiful inside of the 12th century cathedral with slender columns accentuating its immense height and incredibly detailed original stained glass depicting biblical stories and the lives of early saints. In the early evening we drove another 100k south and stayed at the small spa town of Neris-les-Bains.... read more

03 October 2013 Having been to Buckingham palace earlier in the trip we thought we ought to visit the French version at Versailles. Parking was difficult as the palace is in the centre of the busy town but we were very lucky in finding a free disabled space on the street a couple of hundred metres from the entrance. So the blue badge saved us again. The palace is ridiculously ornate and set in huge grounds which include many lakes and fountains and several buildings constructed as ‘summer retreats’. The whole estate was built by Louis XIV and XV in the 17th and 18th centuries and was occupied by the Royal Family until the Revolution in 1789.... read more

01 October 2013 In the morning we went into the pretty Arras town centre which has been sympathetically reconstructed with two grand arcaded Flemish and Dutch style squares one of which contains an imposing Hotel de Ville. In the afternoon we continued our exploration of the World War 1 sites and moved on to the area of the Battle of the Somme which contains many small cemeteries and several imposing memorials. We visited Beaumont-Hamel, Thiepval and Poziers. We stayed at a lovely camper stop in the village of Conty just south of Amiens.... read more