Marvellous Moustiers Sainte Marie and Gorgeous Gorge de Verdon

My favourite waste of time

So we stopped in this aire below a village on a cliff and across the gorge was a chain with a gold star in the middle.  I spent ages explaining how it got there.  We climbed to the top of the gorge.

View from the top

And there was a really beutiful chapel there with my mate in it.  Mama said it nearly made her believe in God.

Upto the chapel

The next day Mama found a hike for us to go on and we walked and walked and walked.  I skipped a lot of the way. 

The walk

We could see a huge lake in the distance and there was a big rustling in the bushes which Mama said was wild boar and daddy said deer and I said bear.

Don't jump

We got to the very top and I ate pistachio nuts.        

The top

Mama said she would take us for a fancy meal when we got back so we went in this restaurant overlooking the gorge which was all tinkly glasses and white cloths. Daddy could see a snake in the water below.  When the waiter came over to ask what we wanted to drink Mama said un kir and daddy said une biere and I said an agua con gaz and then I did a little buff.  Mama and I ignored it but when the waiter left I said he could bring the agua and I would add the gaz.  And then we all rolled about laughing for about an hour.

Pudding

The food was very nice.  I am a big fan of tapenade.  The black one.   The town is great.  There are loads of fountains for me to play in.  Mama and Daddy love it here too.

The town

We spent a few days here and then left to drive round the gorge.  Gosh it was cold.  It was high too. Mama says it is Europe's largest canyon.

The gorge

I noticed that Mama didn't go too close.

A long way down

The water was this amazing green colour and we saw an eagle.

More view

Daddy parked the van up and we walked part way down but didn't get to the bottom.

Our lunch view

Daddy said it was some of the best scenery he has seen which is big stuff coming from Daddy.

A day in Provence - Fountaine de Vaucluse and L'isle sur la Sorgue

The town

 Mama decided that she wanted to see the mysterious source of the River Sorgue and so daddy drove us up into the mountains.  Mama said that it is the world's fifth most powerful spring and that Jacques Cousteau tried to get down to the bottom.  Whoever he is.

The light

Anyway it was beautiful.  Everything was the greenest green I've ever seen.  And water came gushing out of the rocks.          

Gushing water

 But it was very strange because higher up the river was dry and the water disappeared until we found it again in a deep dark cave.

The source

 We spent quite a while by the river and then drove into L'isle sur la Sorgue for the night. 

Mama said it was like living the French dream.  The town was full of arcades and yellow tablecloths and water wheels and shops selling strawberries and straw hats and olives and lavender and Mama said oh.  Why have not been here before?

An Arcade

 She bought some tapenade and a box of strawberries and a small slice of saucisson and we ran out of money.  Mama said maybe that was why she'd not been here before.     

Me and my hat     

 So I picked her some flowers. 

Flowers

Spring is here and it is gushing forth.

And so to St Jean de Luz.  There is a great campsite there with a heated pool.  Mama likes to sniff at the sea.

A cliff

It was strange to be back somewhere where we were 7 months ago but it is a really beautiful place.  It smells of the sea and it is green and damp and has wild strawberries and brambles and damp air.
We spent a week on the campsite and then headed off to see Tatie Suzy in Capestang.  On the way we stopped at this amazing Parc Prehistoire at Tarascon sur Ariege.  It was wonderful.  There was trackjing.  I love tracking.  Footprints and animal poo.

Is that a bear coming?

 And they had old huts.

An old hut

 And cave painting run by a very nice lady who knew a lot about cave painting.  When I asked her where I could paint she said anywhere so I started painting on her easel and she said not there.                 

Cave painting

 But the very best thing was hunting.  I got to throw a spear at a plastic rabbit.  I missed but I am now on a spear mission.

Hunting plastic rabbits

 There was a great big whirl pool which was black with tadpoles.

The whirlpool

Tadpoles

 Mama was a whiz at catching tadpoles.  She let me hold to spawn too.  It vibrated like electricity was running through it.  Mama said she thought it was toad spawn as it was in long tubes.                  

Wooly Mamoths

 There was a fabulous wooly mamoth which wasn't very wooly and lots of cave paintings too.

Me in a cave

 Mama said it was a replica of the Grotte de Niaux and that they were really beautiful paintings which were painted 2km underground in the dark.  I preferred the plastic rabbit.  We spent the night in their car park and it was a beautiful place surrounded by mountains.                    

Morning Walk

In the morning we found an artists trail opposite the carpark and found loads of bits of pieces in a field.                  

Art in a field

 Mama thought it was great but I had very wet feet and the cows kept staring at me.  Daddy said that you always get artists in mountains.         

Our parking place

Aires and Graces El Burgo de Osma and Sierra de Cebollera

Another view of a Cathedral

So we stopped the night in an Aire at El Burgo de Osma.  Another old town.  Daddy saw Mama reading a sign about the town.  She was reading it for about ten minutes.  When she came back he asked her what it said.  She looked blank.  Just a load of dates and names she said.

Cold

It was very cold here too.  And empty.  And in the middle of nowhere.  But pretty amazing.  

Amazing

 Daddy said that if it were the only place we had visited in Spain, we would have been blown away.  Mama said yeah yeah yeah.  Take me to a bar.

The pub

We went in a bar which was just like an English pub.  All dark furniture, fruit machines and adverts for Coca Cola.  (Mama is horrified that even though I have never drunk it and I don't watch television I can point out Coca Cola from a mile away). The place even smelt of wee and air freshener.   Mama said take me to the sea.  So we set off for St Jean de Luz.

On the way we stopped for lunch

Sierra de Cebollera was just beautiful.  A mountain village with snow and rushing gushing steams and sheep with bells.

But it had a playground

Mama wanted to stay here but Daddy said you wanted to see the sea so get back in the van.

Bye bye Mountain Village

Bye Bye Spain.  We will miss you.  Adios.

Super shivering Segovia

The beginning of the aqueduct

They said that Segovia had an aqueduct.  So I got in it.  It was just a drain at the beginning of the town.

Then it grew

And it grew

 Until I couldn't see anything but aqueduct.

Aqueducts are us

It was an amazing thing.  Segovia was an amazing place.  Mama said it looked like it belonged somewhere else and not Spain.

Oh a bit of sun

But it was cold.  And I moaned and moaned and moaned.  It took Mama and Daddy 3 attempts to get me to walk upto the castle.

Another cathedral

A No nose Sphinx

They eventually got me there by telling me that Walt Disney based their castle on this one.  And I know Walt Disney because I'm a big fan of Jungle Book.  But when we got there it was covered in scaffolding.

Looking for my fairy tale castle

So back to the aqueduct it was.

The aqueduct

But forget about the aqueduct.  We had the best cake in Spain.

Best Cake in Spain

Jerte. Things that stop Mama's Heart

When we left Plasencia we had stopped at a supermarket to do some shopping and it was so late in the day we decided to have some lunch there too and then after lunch Mama and I sneaked into the bed at the back for a little snooze. We basically spent a full afternoon in Aldi carpark.  So by the time we drove up the Jerte in the Squirty valley to do some walking it was quite late. Daddy parked at the Reserve Natural Garganta de los Infernos or something like that.  It was full of woods and rivers and water falls and surrounded by mountains full of snow.

I can see our house from here

I galloped up the mountain to the top.  I was the trail blazer and the tour guide and ran a full 6 kms. 

Me galloping

And then we sat by this very beautiful waterfall.

The waterfall

 I wanted to go swimming but Mama said look where the water is coming from and I looked and saw a mountain all covered with snow.  Brr.

View from our van

The next day we woke up and our quiet little car park was packed full of people.  They were arriving in by the coach load to watch Mama having a scratch.  I think they had come to see the cherry blossom.  The Jerte valley produces most of the cherries for Spain. Mama and I were sad that it was only the blossom because we prefer the cherries.  Mama and I once ate a whole crate of cherries when I was a baby and then she worried we were going to be ill because we ate so many.  But we weren't.

Cherries and snow

We walked along the river in the bottom of the valley to the town of Jerte where Mama had the worst meal of her life.

More walking

I didn't do any more trail blazing and complained most of the way about my legs hurting.  Mama pretended she couldn't hear me but I could tell by the way her mouth was moving that she could.

Big Jumper

 We found a big insect on the road.  Mama said oh good.  Why don't we invite him back.

Cherries

 And then they dragged me up a mountain again.

Having a rest