Whatever I may have said about the room, I did have a much
better night’s sleep here than in the oppressive heat and awkwardness of
Girona.
Waking up to much-improved conditions outside than we
arrived in, it didn’t take much to motivate me to throw my bikini on, grab my
sarong and walk out to the beach. I had
a lovely swim in the med. The beach was
beautiful with soft golden sand and clear, calm waters in a protected bay. I only had an hour until we
really had to hit the road again so I savoured every moment. Simon eventually ventured out to join me but
I’m not sure he relished the fresh Mediterranean waters as much as I did?!
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| My view out to sea.... and below, the view back to the house |
We didn’t exactly rush away from Montpellier. We spotted a flock of flamingos on their stilt-like
legs off the approach road as we arrived last night and I wanted to practise my
nature shots with my new camera.
Needs some work….
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| The flamingos were a little far away... luckily this heron was closer: |
Finally, off we went, pointing the car North-East, away from
the coast in as much of a straight line towards Milan as possible. I say it was in a straight line, but the
roads themselves were anything but straight.
We both enjoyed some winding mountain roads. It’s always best ragging a car round tight
bends if it’s not yours to worry about!
Totally at random, we wound our way to Avignon for a late
lunch-time. You know, the place famous
for its pont (bridge for the non French-speakers out there) and the song about
said pont! What a stunning city to happen upon.
We had limited time so just grabbed a
baguette from a patisserie and strolled around in awe of some remarkable
buildings. Of course, we also made the detour so that we could say we had seen
the bridge, even if we did not have time to actually go ‘sur la pont
D’Avignon’!
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| Those people are sur la pont D'Avignon, we are mere bystanders... |
The scenery became even more delightful as we continued the
day’s drive into the Alps.
 |
| Got stuck behind a bloomin' RV winding it's way around... road hog! |
We were delighted that we had avoided the
toll motorway. The roads that we
experienced instead led us through quaint little villages and towns full of
character that we would have otherwise missed.
Finally, we reached our next Air BnB, right in the middle of
the village of Embrun.
Having tackled
the language barrier in order to meet the contact securing our entry into the
flat it was, for the second night in a row, somewhat disappointing. The whole place smelt of damp and there was NO
bedding or towels supplied whatsoever, and NO kettle! Another mark against
using air BnB… but this one was very cheap and very convenient to explore Embrun. The ambient temperature was suddenly a lot
cooler here, up in the Alps, and we found ourselves donning jeans and fleeces
for the first time since we left the UK. We headed out to find somewhere for
dinner, opting for a cheap option at Jack’s burgers after which we went to a
vibrant local bar and played cards whilst drinking a bottle or two of lovely local
red wine. (It’s not important but I lost very badly at cards).
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| Embrun Square late at night |
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