The public holiday is over and I have managed to find a hire car so I return to the village to find a mechanic, with a lot of strained linguistics’ we arrange to have the van towed to his shop during siesta so I return to the campground to organise our week.
Little did I know just what was in store for me, we had prepared for the worst, or at least we thought we had.
Around 4000 Euro was more than we were prepared to spend on a 20 year old van so we weighed up the options, all 1 of them as towing it back to England was also to expensive, so I began to source a new home for the van.
As it was an English van nobody wanted it apart from the motor wreckers, though he would not touch it without the appropriate paperwork which was still sitting in England due to our hasty departure.
A quick phone call to Moira in Bradford on Avon where we had the vehicle addressed to see if the paperwork was there and to pick her brains for any advice she may have regarding vehicle disposal.
The ever reliable Moira came shining through and was able to post us everything we needed, Thanks Moira you are a gem.
We spent a day with Maddy and Curl in Avignon while we were waiting for the documents to arrive, it was great to return to some sight seeing and allow Maddy and Curl to display local sights and indulge in some native cuisine.
Next day was back to reality and the motor wreckers to negotiate the disposal and towing, fortunately he was prepared to cop the towing charge and by Monday morning we had stripped whatever we could give away to a good home and waved goodbye to our home of the last 4 and a half months as she left for her new home.
A wonderful German family camped next to us became the new home for my trusty bike, I tried to give them the bike but they insisted on paying for it which was very generous as I do not think he really needed it, I tried to return the money but he was so insistent that all I could do was promise to treat the children with it, so Thank you Martin, Christina you are very kind.
Tuesday mornings task was to return the Toyota Yaris to SIXT a cheap hire car company in Europe, I would have hired another car from them but I need to drop a car at Calais and pick up another in Dover in the middle of June, but unfortunately they do not have offices in those locations. So Daniels fold up bike is put into the boot of the Yaris as it is 5 kilometers to the Europcar office from SIXT office. Has anyone seen the MR Bean movie where he is riding a bike through the French countryside in pursuit of a bus ticket stuck to the bottom of a chooks foot? Well this is how I felt as I rode this tiny bike with the oncoming traffic flashing lights, truck drivers blowing horns, workers in the fields that were tying the lats on the grape vines stopping work and staring and construction workers whistling and cheering as I pedaled past like some escaped loony fleeing the asylum.
So ends a huge chapter in our journey/adventure and the next chapter begins.
We now need to rearrange our plans slightly obviously so we have scoured the internet and found some reasonable accommodation, relatively cheap car hire and are able to research more options that suit our new mode of transport.
We have come across a self contained unit in the Dordogne valley just outside La Roque Gageac that we will be using for a week after we visit Perpignan.
We aim for Perpignan to deliver a quilt for a friend of Debbie to a family whose Daughter was an exchange student in Kyabram last year, after finding a bungalow we deliver the quilt and have 4 wonderful days touring roads the motorhome would not have survived even if it was brand new.
Driving around the Pyrenees is nothing short of spectacular.
We took a day trip into Spain to visit the towns of Cadeques and Rupit.








Rupit was like walking into a medieval fairy tale.
The moment we crossed the suspension bridge we
knew we were in for a treat as we marveled in the
architecture of the buildings clinging to the cliff faces
leaning, groaning and fighting against gravity to continue
their life where they were built.













On the way back to Perpignan we were treated to some amazing scenery
as we travelled along a mountain ridge Alp La Molina at 1800 meters above
sea level looking down at the clouds as they rained on the villages in the gorges
and valleys below.

We spent another day visiting the medieval town of Carcassone
which is one of the most Fascinating walled cities we have visited
with turrets and towers on every bend in the wall making it the
most interesting for the kids as it is the most castle like structure
we have seen so far. Decided to return via a different route
through the picturesque gorges towards the Route de Vignes
where the grape vines decorate the roadside in beautiful shades
of green and gold.


Cointha in between
the defensive
outer and inner walls
at Carcassone



I must say that we could have spent a lot longer
here and if not for the fact we have pre booked
accommodation we would have.
After checking out of Perpignon we are take the
long road to La Roqucombe Gageac to visit and
cross the Milau Viaduct the worlds highest bridge.
It is an amazing piece of engineering and we
watched a video on the construction at the visitors
centre explaining how they managed to put this
giant jigsaw puzzle together.







Milau Viaduct

The drive from Milau to La Roque Gageac was superb and and we could not have dreamed that we would see so many Chateaus in 1 day so look out for our next update and some great photos.