Having clocked up 10,000 km in Italy, Sicily, Greece, Italy again, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and more of Germany, it didn't seem too much of a challenge just to cross France from the north-east to the south-west to look at a couple of stone houses.
First stop after leaving Stuttgart was the Alsace wine region of France, way up in the north-east on the German border.
Colmar is in the Grand Est region of northeastern France, near the border with Germany. Its old town has cobblestone streets lined with half-timbered medieval and early Renaissance buildings. The city is on the Alsace Wine Route and local vineyards specialize in Riesling and Gewürztraminer wines.
Colmar and its surrounding wine villages were really lovely. The old town was built on a series of canals.
It's called 'Little Venice'.
This is the original indoor market hall, now with a modern dining deck but still a very elegant building.
The Koifhus. The former customs house and the oldest building in Colmar with a roof typical of the region.
Next stop was Dijon the capital city of the historical Burgundy region in eastern France, one of the country’s principal wine-making areas. It’s known for its traditional mustard, vineyard tours, autumn gastronomic fair and building styles ranging from Gothic to art deco.
Dijon was lovely - elegant and quiet. This is the gothic church of Notre Dame de Dijon.
And here is the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, now the fine arts museum.
From Dijon we couldn't resist a couple of hours in Beaune. We stayed here for a week some years ago with good memories of wine, snails and an excellent haircut.
Beaune is a walled town at the center of the Burgundy winemaking region in France. Surrounded by the Côte d'Or vineyards, the cobbled town is renowned for an annual wine auction held at the Hôtel-Dieu (Hospices de Beaune). Pictured above, this 15th-century former hospital is now the Hôtel-Dieu Museum.
Beaune is incredibly well preserved - probably reflecting the long time wealth of this region. After all, it is the heart of Burgundy.
We passed through Lyon and watched the traffic on the Rhone.
Lyon is the capital of France’s Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, and sits at the junction of the Rhône and Saône rivers. Its centre reflects 2,000 years of history from the Romans, medieval and Renaissance architecture to the modern Confluence river district.
Our next stop was neither planned nor welcome. We hit a small concrete gutter projection at speed and ripped a great hole in the front right tyre, possibly damaging the rim as well. This meant an unplanned overnight stop in Montauban while the Citroen dealer sourced a replacement tyre. Luckily the rim survived.
House hunting on hold, we headed across the country once more, stopping in Nimes to visit the new Museum of the Romans which is right next to the ancient Roman amphitheatre.
Nîmes is in the Occitanie (former Languedoc) region of southern France, and was an important outpost of the Roman Empire. It’s known for its well-preserved Roman monuments such as the Arena of Nîmes, a double-tiered circa-70 A.D. amphitheater still in use for concerts and bullfights.
Heading east, we stopped for a night at Aigues-Mortes on the Mediterranean coast in the Camargue.
Aigues-Mortes is in the Gard department in the Occitanie region of southern France, formerly Languedoc. The medieval city walls surrounding the city are well preserved.
Our week on the Med coast to catch the last of the summer sun was a lovely village of Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer across the harbour from the port of Toulon, with a fishing port of its own, tucked into a small inlet.
We had a local wedding at the restaurant on the corner on the Sunday. The bride and groom drove around the whole village standing in the back of the little Citroen and waving. And everyone waved back and cheered - of course.
Toulon was a surprise.
After a week on the water doing absolutely nothing, we were off again. This time skirting the majestic limestone peaks rolling down from Provence to the sea, around Marseilles.
Our next week was in the Luberon region of Provence, staying in Ménerbes. That is Mont Ventoux at 1912 metres, on the skyline.
Mont Ventoux has become legendary as the scene of one of the most gruelling climbs in the Tour de France bicycle race, which has ascended the mountain fifteen times since 1951.
Ménerbes had the best community gardens I've ever seen. Fruit trees, vegetables, chooks, ducks, bees. composting, hot houses.
A typical cafe in the square at Loumarin in the Luberon. Loumarin was a lovely village.
Beautiful stone flanked with green, everywhere you look.
Vines flanked by woodland, everywhere you look.
The red ochre earth of Rousuillon in the Luberon.
Pierre Cardin's restored fortress/castle- the Chateau de Lacoste. The former owner was the Marquis de Sade.
The source of the river Sourge bubbling up from the ground springs at Fontaine de Vauclause in Provence.
And here we are now - at our little apartment in Sablet, in the Cotes du Rhone wine region.
Sablet is located west of Mont Ventoux at the foot of the Dentelles de Montmirail.
It's an authentic Provencal village built on top of a mound in the middle of a plain but we are in the middle of a vineyard.
The view from our deck. Sablet is a round village, characterised by the fact that its streets and houses wind in a spiral around the church. Three trips into the village to the boulangerie have had Paul looking for shortcuts to avoid these one-way circular streets which have you going round and round to connect with a street that takes you to the shop you need.
All fun.
