I had just set off down the road from my hotel, walking down towards the old citadel of Carcassonne again, when I had a phone call from the Renault garage-great news !-they had fixed the van, both the wheel bearings and the brake line, well ahead of predicted schedule, having managed to get the necessary part .
I had planned to occupy my day with a walk round old Carcassonne walls,and had worked out that I could hire a bike to cycle down the Canal du Midi towpath.The prospect of moving on was much more appealing,however,as I’d already spent a long afternoon and evening in Carcassonne the day before.I managed to cancel the 2nd night that I had booked at the hotel,and packed up and headed on my way.
I was off to Avignon,a drive of some 250km.To get things moving I decided to take the motorway.Despite the fact that it was a toll road,it was much more busy than Spanish roads,and more akin to UK driving. There were an especially large number of lorries on the road.Apart from French ones I noted Spanish and Portuguese, and also a lot of Polish lorries.I was driving through the vineyards of the Pays de L'Herault region.
I had a bit of a shock when I hit the first toll booth after 140km-,19 Euro.So about 10 pence per km.I suspect I am paying higher rates for my van than I would in a car.It is all done automatically, there are no manned booths. A ticket comes out of either a higher or lower slot, mine came out of the higher slot so the system must be detecting the size of my vehicle as I approach. If you pay by cash, however, the change comes out of the lower section of the machine-presumably lorry drivers never pay by cash ! It is a real contortion, first unbelting, crossing to the passenger seat, leaning right out of the passenger window to feed in the ticket and the banknote, and then grovelling for the change while hanging out of the window.I did come off the motorway after that but got stuck in so much traffic going through small towns that I went back on again and got stung for another 5 Euro.
My first stop was just before Avignon to the the Roman aqueduct,the Pont du Gard.This fed the city of Nimes with water and crosses the river Gard.I hesitated to go and see another aqueduct after the impressive one at Segovia,but it is also a World Heritage site,and actually it was definitely worth it-it looks stunning in its setting crossing the Gard valley.The French seem to have their tourist attractions sewn right up,though ,because I had to cough up 18 Euros to get into the carpark just to look at it, although there was a posh visitor centre.To be fair,the price would have been the same If I’d had a minibus full.
I had planned to occupy my day with a walk round old Carcassonne walls,and had worked out that I could hire a bike to cycle down the Canal du Midi towpath.The prospect of moving on was much more appealing,however,as I’d already spent a long afternoon and evening in Carcassonne the day before.I managed to cancel the 2nd night that I had booked at the hotel,and packed up and headed on my way.
I was off to Avignon,a drive of some 250km.To get things moving I decided to take the motorway.Despite the fact that it was a toll road,it was much more busy than Spanish roads,and more akin to UK driving. There were an especially large number of lorries on the road.Apart from French ones I noted Spanish and Portuguese, and also a lot of Polish lorries.I was driving through the vineyards of the Pays de L'Herault region.
I had a bit of a shock when I hit the first toll booth after 140km-,19 Euro.So about 10 pence per km.I suspect I am paying higher rates for my van than I would in a car.It is all done automatically, there are no manned booths. A ticket comes out of either a higher or lower slot, mine came out of the higher slot so the system must be detecting the size of my vehicle as I approach. If you pay by cash, however, the change comes out of the lower section of the machine-presumably lorry drivers never pay by cash ! It is a real contortion, first unbelting, crossing to the passenger seat, leaning right out of the passenger window to feed in the ticket and the banknote, and then grovelling for the change while hanging out of the window.I did come off the motorway after that but got stuck in so much traffic going through small towns that I went back on again and got stung for another 5 Euro.
My first stop was just before Avignon to the the Roman aqueduct,the Pont du Gard.This fed the city of Nimes with water and crosses the river Gard.I hesitated to go and see another aqueduct after the impressive one at Segovia,but it is also a World Heritage site,and actually it was definitely worth it-it looks stunning in its setting crossing the Gard valley.The French seem to have their tourist attractions sewn right up,though ,because I had to cough up 18 Euros to get into the carpark just to look at it, although there was a posh visitor centre.To be fair,the price would have been the same If I’d had a minibus full.
 Oh no ! Not another Roman aqueduct! |  The Pont du Gard |
The view from the campsite Next stop 25 km away was Avignon.I installed myself in “Camping Pont d’Avignon”, which seemed an appropriate haven.It is on an island in the Rhone,and right opposite the bridge and the Papal palace, although annoyingly the bridge is out and I had to cross over another one 5 mins walk down the road!!
(Ed: The bridge collapsed and was abandoned on the mid 17th century!)
Avignon is yet another walled city, but it has much more going for it than Carcassonne,bigger, with lots of nice streets, interesting shops and restaurants and it seems much less blatantly touristy that the old citadel in Carcassonne, and of course there are masses of historic buildings and museums .I just had time to go round the Papal palace, built in the 14th Century when the Popes and cardinals were French dominated and were based here. The building is huge, but little remains of the splendour that must have existed here in those days when all the luxuries that money could buy were here. Some tantalising remains of frescos are all that remain to suggest the extravagances, otherwise the building is bare, though impressive.
(Ed: The bridge collapsed and was abandoned on the mid 17th century!)
Avignon is yet another walled city, but it has much more going for it than Carcassonne,bigger, with lots of nice streets, interesting shops and restaurants and it seems much less blatantly touristy that the old citadel in Carcassonne, and of course there are masses of historic buildings and museums .I just had time to go round the Papal palace, built in the 14th Century when the Popes and cardinals were French dominated and were based here. The building is huge, but little remains of the splendour that must have existed here in those days when all the luxuries that money could buy were here. Some tantalising remains of frescos are all that remain to suggest the extravagances, otherwise the building is bare, though impressive.
 The eponymous Pont. The hill in the background with snow is,I think, Mont Ventoux,1909 metres |  The Papal palace |
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