Frozen Oranges

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"Is it always this warm at this time of year?", we asked the concierge at our hotel in Avignon as we checked out. "No, normally its warmer", he said.

But the wind is getting up - the "Mistral".

"I've been in Canada in the depths of winter, and never been as cold as Avignon in winter when the Mistral blows", he said.

Well, the Mistral's a blowin' now! Forty knots, and we are in beanies despite the continuing presence of sunshine and blue skies.

We scooted up to Orange (yes, ancestral home of William, and the current Dutch royal family) via Chateau-Neuf-du-Papes which was a cute little village on a hill full of closed wine shops. We found one which served us up some filthy local product which I would have spat out if there had been somewhere to do so. A later stop found us some lovely reds later in the day.

The French are not, it has to be said, the most hard working race. They open up at 9.30 take a 2 1/2 hour lunch, then close up at 4.30 where-ever possible.

So the enormously impressive Roman theatre here at Orange was a bit of a whistle stop tour. But what with the Mistral blowing, a quick look was fine by us.

Also in Orange, a Arc du Triumphe, erected to commemmorate the Roman victories over the Gauls. More on Orange here . Wikipedia says Orange is the warmest city in France, on average. They must take the readings sheltered from the bleedin' Mistral!

Tomorrow, Beaune.

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Photos

L'Arc
A rare photo featuring both Helen and Peter