Three days without a proper blog entry means there’s some catching up to do since we left Sisteron, so the abbreviated version goes something like this:

Tuesday was just 37 miles to Digne-les-Baines where we stayed in a beautifully wooded area with 25 other vans (no Brits), the sound of the wildlife would have been marvellous but for it being ‘drowned out’ by the rain hammering on the roof of the van for hours on end!

Wednesday we continued the 37 miles theme, this time to Sainte-Croix-du-Verdon, what an absolutely stunning lake, the colour is amazing and so clear. The aire is high up overlooking the lake so I donned the wetsuit, fired up the e-mtb and rode down the very steep hill to the shore, gathering strange looks from anybody who was unfortunate enough to see this strange sight. The lake was surprisingly warm at 16c and is the most beautiful lake I have swum in since Annecy. Oh how I chuckled to myself riding back up the hill looking like a stick of liquorice on a bike!

What followed next is the result of that dangerous cocktail of people being able to converse with each other accompanied by an endless supply of alcohol. It is only the second time on this trip where we have met another English couple. It started in the afternoon with Nic and Stuart saying “Would you like a glass of wine or beer”? You can guess the rest!

Thursday morning there were no early risers, although apparently Nic had commented that the birds were particularly noisy with their dawn chorus! They headed north whilst we ended up doing a ridiculous 80 miles to the hilltop village of Gourdon, overlooking the Côte-d’ Azur. We drove the stunning scenery of the Grand Canyon du Verdon and later through more beautiful scenery en route to our aire.

Stuart firing up the barbie