Gap

 Wednesday 23/4/25

Gap nestled in the valley with the Alps watching over.

Yesterday was laundry day so we had a quiet day around the camp, but managed to get the bikes out for a cycle through the fruit orchards around the campsite.

Today we headed North to visit Gap, about an hour away.  It was a lovely drive along a valley with mountains framing the views all the way.  It's one of the classic French scenarios, both the toll and non-toll (our choice today) sharing the same path, neither with very much traffic.

We were rather taken with the two- and three-tone stone blocks
used to construct the cathedral

We parked a shortish distance from the old town centre and walked in.  We really had the best of the weather, sunshine and no wind, before things changed in the afternoon.  

Just a gaggle of girls having a natter in the sunshine

We loved this artwork made entirely out of stainless steel wire
As usual, very difficult to capture it on 'film'

Gap is a lovely town, bigger than we had expected, but with a lovely buzz.  We could have spent much longer looking around and there is no shortage of places to eat or artisanal bakeries.  

Of course we bought some local pastries which were fabulous, as anticipated!

Loads of narrow streets to investigate

Who can resist a staircase like this one

All in all, a lovely day out.  All part of our local area research, of course, we're not just relaxing.  😉

Sisteron

 Easter Sunday

We've had a rare non-driving day relaxing around the campsite.  The weather was gorgeous this morning after a stormy night, so we took a walk to a nearby hilltop chapel.

The views more than compensated for the steepish walk up

We've been out and about getting to know the area and, on Thursday we had meeting with a local estate agent.  This was conducted entirely in French, much to the amusement of the rest of the office, judging by all the smiles we got when we left.  She was incredibly patient with us - what we did manage to confirm was that the rental market in this extremely popular area moves incredibly quickly and properties are snapped up as soon as they are posted (which we had also experienced while doing some online searches earlier this year, before we left LBC).

On the very far right you can see the lavender field right behind our campsite.

The geology of the area is very interesting - apparently limestone

She took our details and promised to let us know as soon as new properties come onto the market which will hopefully start to happen as the weather warms up.

We're still monitoring all the online searches and widening our area of interest but we are only at the start of our search and remain positive and optimistic.

The nearby village of Salignac derives its name from a nearby salt water spring.

We've had some lovely sunshine today and managed to cook, eat lunch and generally bask in it until the rain returned at 4pm, driving us back indoors.  I think tomorrow will be another slow day and then we'll see what the week brings.

Bonus pic:

The wild Irises are opening and are simply beautiful

Montbrun-les-Bains

 Friday 18/04/25

We wish everyone a peaceful and safe Easter weekend (with lots of choccies!)

Having initially decided not to drive too much on the long weekend, we realised most of France doesn't treat Good Friday as a public holiday so we thought the roads might not be too busy.  

The weather forecast was clear for the first time since arriving, so we decided to drive into the Baronnie mountains and visit the spa town of Montbrun-les-Bains.  

Dassie's done well - on the trip to Haute-Provence as well as on the mountain roads here

We had seen a house to rent online and, although we hadn't heard back from the agent (normal in France) we thought we would use the chance to explore the area anyway as are trying to get to know the surrounding villages and regions.

Traffic was much heavier than we had expected along the main road, but once we headed into the mountains we encountered very few vehicles, mainly cyclists tackling the daunting Col Saint-Jean.  This was a narrow, winding and very steep pass through the mountains; we were treated to the most spectacular views (and were glad we were not suffering the sore legs - although it's a potential future 'to do' with our bicycles if we settle in this area.) 

We passed many lovely villages along the way and Montbrun was absolutely lovely - well worth the trip.

Montbrun-les-Bains old town perched on the hill

The steep walk to the old town was worth it for the views over the valley

We decided to skip the narrow Col on our way back and took an alternative route which unfortunately turned out to be impassable, possible due to the recent heavy rains.  Our drive back ended up taking much longer than expected and we both arrived back at camp rather frazzled.

The lavender field looks like a Zen garden

A lovely day out. 

Sisteron

 Tuesday 15/04/25

Lavender field directly behind our caravan.

We had to pop out for some supplies this morning and, as it wasn't raining as much as expected, we decided to make a detour into Sisteron town centre, a short drive along the  Durance river.  This gave us an opportunity to stretch our legs a bit, something we'd missed over the past few days of long driving.

Very dramatic rock formations.

As you can see from the photos, it is a very old commune nestled against the banks of the river, overlooked by the Citadel, a 12th century hilltop fortress.  We haven't been up to it yet but a visit is definitely on the cards.

France just keeps on giving, we're not running out of stunning places to visit any time soon.

Bonus pic:

A cousin of Orthos, or someone's supper?

Sisteron

 Monday 14/04/25

A rare treat for us - our own ablution and washing up facilities.  
We got a really good deal by booking early so decided to spoil ourselves.

We set off this morning knowing that, although we didn't have a massive distance to cover, it was mainly mountain driving which was going to take a long time.  After a good start, we left the lovely dual-carriageway toll-roads and found ourselves in a long train of vehicles travelling behind a truck - with nowhere to overtake.  However  the pace was about right for us and at least we couldn't be blamed for holding up the traffic.

It looks like we are flying through the clouds...

We have passed through many tunnels along our route.

Although the weather forecast was quite grim for the day and clouds obscured most of the mountains, we were treated to occasional bursts of glorious sunshine.  The views on the way were simply outstanding.

A slightly dusty looking but atmospheric French town

We arrived at our campsite early this afternoon and have set up the caravan.  We've been warned about the Mistral wind which can blast the area and so have held off setting up the awning for now.  The forecasted weather for this week is very stormy, but we should get better spring weather after that.

We really like the area where we are now: the mountains, farms and vegetation feel very familiar and Cape-like.  We need a few days to find our feet and explore this region.

A celebratory cuppa!

Camping Les 3 Lacs du soleil

Sunday 13/04/25

As it was our wedding anniversary today (34 years!), we decided it would be nice to spend some quality time together... so we woke up early and drove all day.  

How romantic. 😂

Another almost-empty campsite

We wanted to cover a lot of ground today, firstly because Sundays are usually quieter on French roads as the trucks don't drive and secondly, we wanted to get past Lyon to avoid having to go through on a Monday morning.  As it was, the roads were quite clogged with holiday traffic so it was quite slow going anyway.

It was very grey and drizzly today so we didn't manage any photos along the way, and we're cooped up inside this evening as the weather front we have been travelling in all day arrived at the campsite at the same time as us.  Still, we have nice food, a cosy bed and gorgeous countryside, so we're not complaining!

Tomorrow we turn southwards again for the final leg of our journey.  Not a massive distance to cover but I think the mountain passes will slow us down somewhat.  

 

It's goodbye to La Basse Cour

 Saturday 12/04/25

On Thursday B&T arrived back from the UK to spend their summer at La Basse, so after spending two final days with them and the cats, it was time for us to hit the road this morning.  

We have the entire campsite to ourselves - great!

After having had the most wonderful weather for the past week, the rain has finally arrived and we are camping in the rain on our first night away.

We raised Jasper from kitten stage and have known him for 5 years.

We have, as usual left La Basse with heavy hearts, even more so as this is the last time we will be doing the winter sit, but we're also excited to be going on a new adventure.

Tiny Lily crawled into our heart - and gave us all our days!

Sundays are usually good travel days because the trucks keep off the roads, so we have our longest leg to drive tomorrow.  We are heading for a campsite just to the East of Lyon.  Hopefully the rain should stop overnight and we can start making our way southwards.