The party's over :-(

At least the holiday is and we now have to face the homeward
journey and work on Tuesday.

We have had another lovely day though, pootling around,
finishing our books and cycling to St Didier for lunch. Still find
it amazing value, 2 aperitifs, 2 three course meals, a 50cl pitchet
of rose wine, armangac and coffee, all for 33 euros!

Lunch

After our ride we had a lovely lunch, the worst bit was being
disgustingly sweaty :-(

Another fantastic day

Today we cycled to L'isle sur la Sorgue via St Didier. It was a tough
climb but the downhill into L'isle sur la Sorgue was superb. A
round trip of 26.5 miles so feel our fitness preparation for Everest
is well underway.

Not quite Ventoux

but good enough for us. Ventoux is 6228ft just a little out of our league.

For Natalie -

a quarry!

Just had a fantastic bike ride. Going from 480ft to 1347ft over 7
miles. Boy was the return, all downhill, good.

Just what's needed

to cool down after yet another busy, hot day.

Fontaine de Vaucluse this morning, followed by swimming this
afternoon. Thunder is forecast but it hasn't happened yet.

Update: it is now 9pm and still no sign of the thunder but it is
very very hot and sticky.

and here it is

The previous bites are healing. This is a newly acquired one on my
good leg!

Dr John

This is Dr John's remedy for a nasty bite :-)

Ampitheatre at Arles

Spent the day in Arles checking out all the Roman sites. I feel sure
we've seen better but still had a lovely day.

The wine buying has begun!!!

Dad's favourite part of the holiday, wine tasting and working out
what to bring home. I think he's worried because he knows we
won't be back for more next year.

Dentelles

Although still very hot there was a cooling breeze in the Dentelles
which made our 10 mile walk this morning quite bearable. Now
about to shower and change before going out to buy wine!

Le Barroux and the Dentelles

In spite of the hot weather we decided today that we would do
a walk from Lac du Paty which turned out to be superb as most
of the walk was under the cover of trees. After the walk we drove
to Mormoiron Lake as Lac du Paty is a reservoir and wasn't really
suitable for swimming. Enjoyed the afternoon at Mormoiron and
perfected my technique of throwing a ball left handed as throwing
righthanded earlier in the week hurt my bowling shoulder!

St Didier

After lunch we went walkabout and came across this fountain
which has been here since 1685.

Lunch at the Cafe de Paris

After a 'gruelling' ride to St Didier you can see we are keeping up
our fluid levels with lunch. 2 aperitifs, 2 3 course meals, a carafe
of rose wine and a coffee came to the grand sum of 29 euros 80
cents. Not bad value. Only downside was the cycle home as it
was even hotter than ever.

Why am I so delicious.....

..... for biting things? This is one of three bites on my leg, which
means I look like an elephant from the knee down :-( I hope
they stop hurting soon!

It's been another very hot day so have spent it, once again,
beneath thecover of the trees at Mormoiron Lake. Lots of
swimming and readingcan't be a bad way of spending a holiday.
Tomorrow we are going tobrave the heat and go out on our
bikes to St Didier for lunch. Fingers crossed that it cools down
a little.

It's too hot :-(

Lindsay has just informed us that it was 39c yesterday, same is forecast for today and 38c for tomorrow. Old people have been advised to stay indoors and drink plenty of fluids. Dad says he'll stay here with the wine and Leffe as fluid whilst I go out for the day. Poor old thing!!

It's hard work....

..... trying to keep cool when the temperature is 38c but we've
managed by sitting in the shade, eating icecream, drinking cold
Leffe and having lots of swims. Just going to round off a very
pleasant day with a glass of chilled muscat, on the rocks of course.

The Enchanted Tree

It has been unbelievably hot here, so we have sat in the shade
all day Reading our books. An hour ago we decided we'd been
too lazy so walked into Mazan for a beer and sat next to this tree.
We reckon that what looks like a door should open to reveal a
secret world. Is that the effects of the beer, the sun or is there
a secret world within the tree? I guess we'll never know.

Still 26c at 20:45

Hasn't cooled down much. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

I'ts now 20:45 and it's cooled to 24c. The forecast for tomorrow and the rest of the week is between 33c and 36c!!!!! Looks like the bikes will be staying in the garage :-( Hope our books last out. This blog could be a bit boring!

Le Mas Bel Air

We have arrived at our holiday home after a lovely day spent swimming in the lake at Mormoiron. A perfect way of spending the day after the exertions of our last few days. It is still very hot and we spent all our time under the trees when we weren't swimming. We are hoping that it cools off soon!!!!

Visitor

Arrived home from a very long hot walk (38c) to find this lizard taking cover under the shutters on our window. Our walk took us to an area near St May where vultures have been reintroduced. There are now about 130 of three different kinds and could be seen circling overhead. I did ask dad to lie on the ground to see if they took the bait but he declined. Can't think why, I thought he was a spoilsport. We were glad to get back to our B & B and have a swim.

Image005.jpg
Originally uploaded by Mummy_Sue

Vaison la Romaine

Walked a round trip of 14 miles to Vaison la Romaine. It was very very hot!!!! Only fools go out in the mid-day sun so that definitely makes us fools. Should really have been somewhere cool with a cold beer instead of trekking.
Image003.jpg
Originally uploaded by Mummy_Sue

We are here!

Arrived safely at 5pm to a temperature of 32c after leaving a cold UK at 3:30am. The drive was perfect. The B & B is fantastic and much to our surprise there is a swimming pool which has been very welcome. No mention of a swimming pool on the website, can't think why because it seems a good selling point to us. Walked to the village of Villdieu for supper, paella night. The paella man turns up in the village and the bar doesn't serve food that night so you queue up, buy your paella and eat it in the bar area. Perfect.


We are here!
Originally uploaded by Mummy_Sue

Getting into the holiday mood

Originally uploaded by Mummy_Sue

A well deserved pint.....

....... or two.....

Lower Hookner Cottage

This is the final photo from our brilliant week on Dartmoor. As you
can see the cottage was very picturesque and all the info on it can be
found here http://www.lowerhooknerfarm-dartmoor.co.uk/lower-hookner-cottage.htm

Can't wait to go back and do the walks we didn't have time for.

Tired feet

Not quite deep enough to dip them.

Dartmoor ponies.....

...... for Georgia x

Thai Chicken Curry

Mmmmmmmmmm

Lunch

We have stopped here at The Rock in Haytor Vale. 7 miles to get here
which means 7 back. Just waiting for lunch to be served, Thai chicken
curry mmmmm

Tramway

This tramway leads to the quarry which gave the stone for Tower Bridge
and Nelson's Column. After lunch we are going to follow the tracks and
check it out.

Jays Grave

This grave is marked on the OS map but there is no info on it to say
who Jay was. He was obviously around long ago.

Giants chair

I wish I knew why this giants chair is stood in a field looking
towards Haytor, which by the way, is where we are going for lunch.

Hollyhocks

in Heathercombe Wood on the Two Moors Way.

Tranquility

Less stress means more tender lamb for Sunday roast!

1845

The fire in the Warren House has been burning continuously since 1845
and even in June was very welcome. In 1963 the pub was snowed in by
20ft snowdrifts for a period of 12 weeks. The photos in the pub were
amazing.

Warren House Inn

Blisters aren't too bad today so We have walked over the moor to the
Warren House Inn, the third highest pub in England, for lunch and a
pint. Weather is typically Dartmoor, cool and blustery but thankfully
dry.

Dartmoor

The blisters are too painful for walking so we are in the car :-(

This panorama from left to right is Holwell Tor, Haytor Rocks, Saddle
Tor and Rippon Tor. Looks as though it would be a really nice walk one
day when we return to this cottage.

Devon lanes

I'd almost forgotten how narrow the lanes could be but could this one
get any narrower? That I'm sending this image means we didn't :-)

Blisters

Here are the blisters waiting for my TLC and it's those that stopped
the walking today. Fingers crossed they are OK tomorrow.

Dartmouth

Sat on the quay here at Dartmouth having lunch. The photo is a
panorama of the view we have right now. Off to find an ice cream
shortly, hopefully Langaga farm. Mmmmm

Kings Tor

Looking down at Lower Hookner from Kings Tor. If I was clever like
Natalie I'd do a 360 shot to show you how beautiful it is but as I'm
not, you'll have to make do with this shot.

T 4 2

Devon style. Having a morning mooching about as rain is forecast. It's
now noon and there hasn't been any yet. On our way home now to walk up
King Tor.

A Neolithic house

Grimspound is a Neolithic site enclosing lots of houses like this one.

Tending the blisters!

At the trig point on Hameldown Tor and the walk has been perfect,
apart from the blisters that is.

Dartmoor furniture

To keep us on the straight and narrow on the Two Moors Way.

Mmmmmmm

The walk was worth it. Widecombe is a very pleasant place to while
away an hour. Oh, and the beer is good :-)

Approaching Widecombe

Looking forward to a nice pint!

A beautiful day

Didn't need to gain much height to get a signal. Suddenly we don't
feel quite so cut off. The day is beautiful and we are on our way to
Widecombe in the Moor. Anyway a river to cross now :-(

Easdon Tor

This is the view from the cottage. We will take a walk to the top and
send a photo looking down on Lower Hookner.
Did a short walk before tea which was very nice.

Enjoyed visiting Dot and Jean and Mike before coming here. Woodway is
still the same but 44 looks sad. It did bring back a lot of very happy
memories though.

New skills needed.....

......if we are going to eat that is. Had a crash course on Aga
cooking on arrival at Lower Hookner Farm and I did manage to sort out
tea without burning it! This place is idyllic and certainly away from
it all, along miles of single track roads. I'd forgotten just how
narrow the Devon roads are and they seem even narrower with their
overgrown high hedgerows. Looking forward to walking tomorrow.

By the way, there is no mobile phone coverage here so will have to
update as and when we get a signal when we are out and about. :-)

We are on our way to Devon

The sun is trying to come out but who cares whether it does or
doesn't. No work for a week has got to be good.