The Lascaux cave is one of the highlights of this road trip. It is a visit so much awaited that I counted the days until the visit of this one. If the visit of Chauvet 2 impressed us a lot, we expect no less from Lasvaux IV, the most recent replica of the Lascaux cave. Note: this blog article is part of the “Road Trip in France” made in August 2020. To read the previous parts, click here : #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19 and #20 Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1:…

Just before our road trip departure, while the road trip itinerary is nearly established, “Capital” releases a documentary with an exceptional focus on the Dordogne. The week before, it was a rerun of the report on the Ardèche gorges. We can see on both reports that it’s crowded, Covid or not. This worried us a little before coming. Note: this blog article is part of the “Road Trip in France” made in August 2020. To read the previous parts, click here : #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18 and #19 Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips…

We are in the Dordogne Valley, which we didn’t know at all. The planning of the itinerary in the area was very difficult because everything is too pretty and deserves our attention. We will spend two nights near Terrassons Lavilledieu, in order to radiate in the surroundings. Seeing the signs indicating Rocamadour, JB suggests that I go there the next day. It was smaller and it’s very beautiful, he tells me. Note: this blog article is part of the “Road Trip in France” made in August 2020. To read the previous parts, click here : #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15,…

While it has been 130 years since tourists have been allowed to explore the Padirac Abyss, it is only in 2020 that we hear about it. For the road trip in France, I tagged all the “must-see” of all the regions of France listed in my Lonely Planet guide, and when I saw the picture of the Padirac chasm, I reworked the itinerary so that we could go there. Note: this blog article is part of the “Road Trip in France” made in August 2020. To read the previous parts, click here : #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16 and…

I warn you: Carcassonne is one of the highlights of our road trip in France. Seriously, I asked myself : why nobody told me about it ? Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Note: this blog article is part of the “Road Trip in France” made in August 2020. To read the previous parts, click here : #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15 and #16 Part 1: Travel Diary Probably because no one went there either. It’s so far away. I just watched: by train, Paris-Carcassonne, it takes 5h29, with a change in Narbonne. I get train sick from…

Aigues-Mortes is a fortified city right next to the Camargue National Park. Tourists come here to see its salt marshes as well as its ramparts. Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Note: this blog article is part of the “Road Trip in France” made in August 2020. To read the previous parts, click here : #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14 and #15 Part 1: Travel Diary Salins du Midi d’Aigues Mortes If the medieval city is very small, the saltworks are outside the city and are enormous. One extracts there 500 000 tons of salt per annum! Apart from…

I had a very National Geographic vision of the Camargue: I imagined pink flamingos flying over my head, wild horses running on deserted beaches, bulls being caught by the French version of “gauchos” on horseback. And then we went to the Camargue, and I wonder where all these images come from because the ratio expectation vs. reality hurts a bit. Note: this blog article is part of the “Road Trip in France” made in August 2020. To read the previous parts, click here : #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13 and #14 Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel…

After having scratched the car because of a too narrow passage, we say to ourselves that we are a little tired because of the rhythm of the trip and that it will be necessary to go a little softer. So, instead of making stops in all directions, we remove the ancient monuments from our itinerary, namely: the Ancient Theater of Orange (before Avignon), the Arena & the Blue Museum of Arles ( after Avignon). Without these visits, we have 2 full days in Avignon. Note: this blog article is part of the “Road Trip in France” made in August 2020. To read the previous parts, click here : #1, #2,…

When we learned that we were in the Ardèche gorges, C., JB’s great cousin and tour guide, strongly advised us to visit the Chauvet 2 cave. Without her encouragement, we probably wouldn’t have taken the plunge because we had planned to visit Lascaux IV and had planned to visit only one cave. Finally, we did well to visit the two caves which are very different. Note: this blog article is part of the “Road Trip in France” made in August 2020. To read the previous parts, click here : #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11 and #12 Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips…

I am very excited to discover for the first time the Gorges de l’Ardèche. I’ve heard so many good things about them that I wanted to see them with my own eyes. Note: this blog article is part of the “Road Trip in France” made in August 2020. To read the previous parts, click here : #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10 and #11 Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary Route Clermont-Ferrand – Gorges de l’Ardeche We make a stop at Le Puy-en-Velay (see the travel diary), then a stop for lunch at Pradelles, a “most beautiful village in France”,…