Blogs from Ales, Languedoc-Roussillon, France, Europe

D239B and D113 When I speak of driving in Europe, the most common question I get asked is about driving on the ‘other side of the road’. Really that is a pretty simple task. First off, I sit on the ‘other side’ of the car and from there on it all goes back to front rather simply. Roundabouts and intersections challenge me a bit as I have to remember to concentrate on looking to give way to the left rather than the right. There are many other challenges associated with driving in Europe. The main one is the narrowness of their roads. Their towns and villages were well established long before the motor car was invented. Narrow roads in towns helped as a defence strategy against invading forces. Thus it is common to find urban laneways ... read more

How quickly the weather changes - yesterday heavy rain, thunder and lightening - this morning azure blue skies, not a cloud in sight and the sun beating down. We headed south for the day our first stop Arles. A roman town with an amphitheatre. We tried to park on the town sqaure but unfortunately there was a market running full swing so there were no places to park. OUr next stop was a multi story just across the road from the town centre. The car park was full, we drove around the ground floor and found it full, the second, third and fourth floors were full. We eventually found a space on the open top deck - we thought that only mad dogs and Englishmen were stupid enough to park a car on an open plan ... read more