The Travels Of The RJs

Friday 25th October - Carcassonne, France (Day 284) I discovered on my early walk that although we’re in the town centre of today, the castle and citi, as it’s called, are a 15 minute walk to the east, though it's good for my step count. I only spot one other person who isn’t a delivery driver as I enter one of the two gates and stroll around the cobbled streets - all the cafes, museums, shops closed for now.  The citi walls, double layered plus the quality and size of many turrets mean I come back to tell the others over breakfast this may be the best castle / old town yet.  Once school work is done, that is where we head back to the east gate complete with a drawbridge to eat our lunch outside.  As we do so, preparation is underway, and runners are starting to materialise for Les Grand Raid des Cathares, a mere 161 km event over the next three days. Sienna does not find it funny when I suggest I’ve already signed us up.  We’d found at the Tourist Information centre a treasure hun

Thursday 24th October - Cabannes to Carcassonne, France (Day 283) After completing school work Sienna has another little practice of french in the bakery - I don’t speak much French, but after Germany, Austria, Croatia and Italy it feels so much more rewarding to speak some of the local language and be able to at least pick words in people’s responses. And read road signs.  We’re leaving Cabannes, continuing west on the motorway to Carcassonne. Our chosen break is only an hour into the drive at Pont du Gard.  This aqueduct is seemingly three bridges built on top of one another all with the purpose of transporting water from a spring to Nines over a 50 km length.  The 6 arches, 11 arches, 35 arches were built about 2,000 years ago and yet there is just a 2 cm drop over the 450 metre length.  Sienna and Seb are more interested in the play park we’d walked past on the way in despite the on off drizzle. During one of the ‘on’ moments we eat lunch under one of the arches as I nip out to try

Wednesday 23rd October - Cabannes incl L'isle-sur-la-Sorgue and Gordes, France (Day 282) Any day that starts with collecting four baguettes from the boulangerie is going to be a good day - collected after a little stroll through Cabannes; the mornings are noticeably darker as we reach the end of October.  Once the school work is complete we head out with our baguette heavy packed lunch, heading first to L'isle-sur-la-Sorgue, a town where the old village was built on an island created by splitting the rivers into two channels and then harnessing that water power.  We spot about 10 water wheels, most still spinning slowly as we walk a lap with a stop for lunch and a play park visit. It’s a nice little village deserving of an hour or two.  A further 15 minutes away, our host, Carole, had recommended Gordes as the most beautiful village in France.  It certainly has a very picturesque view of the village available from just across a narrow valley. The stonework and colour has an Eng

Tuesday 22nd October - Cabannes, France (Day 281) Seb’s parcel of schoolwork also included a skipping rope and the time has come to start using it - it’s a surprisingly hard technique to teach but at least Seb is willing, not least because he can claim it as ‘schoolwork’ to try and get out of other subjects he is less inclined to do (writing), or at least postpone.  Orange Grove School had tried to teach some usable Italian - asking for pizza or gelato, so taking a leaf out of their book, I try and teach Sienna the most important French phrase I know:  Je voudrais une baguette si vous plait.  She tried it out in the boulangerie which is a few minutes walk from our Loustaudemamet house and earns smiles from the baker.  Apart from school, it’s a day off so we wander to the football court I’d spied in the village where Seb starts playing with another young French kid, while Sienna does skipping of her own.  A quiet day in the French countryside.

Monday 21st October - Cabannes incl Avignon, France (Day 280) Start of week 2 of Term 4 begins with a 7 am call for Sienna with her teacher and once Seb is up, it’s schoolwork for the morning with Lego distractions - each new accommodation offers options for dens and bases and our house - Loustaudemamet - is no exception especially as it’s a two bed house.  We pack some lunch and head into Avignon - famous for its bridge apparently even though it’s only half there so we make do just looking at it with our pate baguettes.  Through the old town walls we head, through the huge main square and into the Palais des Papes / Palace of Popes. Normally this would be a ‘no go’ zone with Sienna and Seb, but I know it has a secret weapon - ipads for each visitor.   They are instantly won over without even knowing what the tablet does. It is pretty smart though - scan the code in the room you’re in and it brings up an animated reality of what the room would have looked like hundreds of years ago, in

Sunday 20th October - Roquebrune-Cap-Martin - Cabannes, France (Day 279) Only after arriving at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin did we realise just how close to Monaco we were - we could see the high rises as we descended down off the motorway yesterday.  It's only a 7 minute train ride away - so short I actually investigate driving two stops further away just to make the train journey longer - but logic prevails and after Seb has rushed for a solo swim we check out of Residence Bella Vista and hop on the train.  Many moons ago Kate and I visited Monaco as part of a southern France holiday and it’s fair to say the cars are still just as flash and the boats gaudy or glorious depending on your view.  We didn’t make it to the Princes Palace though, which is where we headed, joining a decent crowd to watch the Changing of the Guard at 11:55 am.  Unusually, the aviator sunglass wearing policeman ushers kids to come to the front and sit on the floor while Kate and I stand three rows back (and appr

Saturday 19th October - Bottarone - Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France (Day 278) Today we leave Italy and enter France (just).  We’re soon on the motorway and we can see on the screen a number of dark shadings indicating tunnels. Our guesses of how many - each one with a sign of its name and length (some as little as 70 m, some as big as 7 km) - are significantly out; we finish at 134 tunnels.  The drive is also accompanied by another familiar sound - the audiobook. Another David Walliams number, this time “Slime”.  After we hit the Mediterranean it’s due West until a stop at Savona, which says Italy on the map, but has a decidedly French feel to it.  Up into the Priamar Fortress we head, renovations on top of ruins on top of older ruins - a man is panning soil into a bucket next to us as we eat our wraps for lunch, whilst on the other side of the bench, three labourers are splashing down grey concrete making the life of future archaeologists much trickier.  We stumble into a Bonsai Tree Ex