Ardeche

Barjac

Morning run

Gite

La Bastide de Muriers

Malataverne

Malataverne

Eating and Drinking in

Ardeche Gorge

Kayaks in the Gorge

Clints and Dykes

GR4 Long Distance path

Aigueze

On a perfect day we drove from Thuirs across Roussillon to the Ardeche. We had a late lunch in the square at Sommieres, a beautiful town north of Montpellier which will be remembered for the giant rats swimming in the river. We had intended to stop in the Cervennes but at Ales the commercial development that swamps the town and the traffic chaos determined us to drive on.   We headed for Barjac, an unspoilt town at the edge of the Ardeche, just below the limestone plateau where we would be staying for the next five days.

We found a typical house in the square for B&B and after a circuit of the town and drinks in a cafe found a local restaurant providing local fayre. The next day saw us heading west to Le Van for the Saturday market before making our way back to Malataverne to a gite adjacent to the exquisite chambre d' hotes, La bastide des muriers . We also had access to the pool and the afternoon and evening sailed on by. The driving was over, we had enough food for 24 hours and the owners, whom we had stayed with on previous visits brought us some of their excellent wine and a large basket of figs. What could be better. The night skies were devoid of any light pollution and the silence was complete.

The next few days were perfect late summer days and after a morning run and swim, it was walking time before an afternoon reading and in and out of the pool. It was total relaxation on the back of 10 days travelling in lesser known parts of France.  We made the odd trip to Barjac, Uzes, and managed a long 15km walk to the Maladrerie des Templiers overlooking the Ardeche Gorge, a walk over limestone pavements, narrow paths in an oak forest, part of the GR4 and with a perilous descent to the gorge where dozens of kayaks and canoes were riding the gentle current below the soaring limestone cliffs.

And finally home, via Aigueze and Tournon on the river Rhone where Aileen had worked in a hospital in her student days.  We lingered too long over a last lunch in a typical cafe in Tournon and then had the usual charge on the motorway to Lyon and the trauma of finding some fuel before the car rental drop off. Easy jet on the short return to Edinburgh was just that.