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Now with a pleasant experience of the local aires we travelled on to Aigues Mortes and intended to stop overnight in another aire. Aigues Mortes was recommended to us by John and Iris whom we had met in Peniscola on our way down. Be sure to go into the town Iris had said.  When we arrived we were amazed at the walled town from the outside. When we went in through one of the fortified gateways we were quite spellbound by the beautiful, mediaeval town inside. We had never heard of Aigues Mortes but what a find. It is built on the salt marshes of the Camargue region.

The town walls were huge and intact on all four sides. These two photos are of the eastern wall which was just the other side of the river from our overnight parking area.  The fortified gateway mid right in the left hand photo can be seen to the left in the right hand, night time photo.  Below is a small selection of the many pictures we took of the town inside the walls.

Next day we were on our way again heading towards Port Grimaud where we planned to stay for at least a week. En route we stopped overnight in a campsite, Camping St. Victoire, near Aix en Provence. It is a lovely, friendly little campsite and the walks around it are just wonderful.

We were the first to arrive at the Port Grimaud campsite and for the first two days we were on our own. Camping La Marina is a top class site where you have use of an individual shower and wash room which is both spacious and heated.  Time to catch up on the laundry and give Priscilla a wash.  There are photos of Port Grimaud in our 2008 adventures.

On a windy Monday we took a bus ride to St. Tropez for the day. It was very quiet but the crews were busy preparing the huge yachts for the summer season. The town was very much closed for the winter but we enjoyed strolling around the quaint streets without the bustle of the summer.

Enough of this lazing around in the Mediterranean sunshine—it was time to take Priscilla skiing. We headed due north along the Route Napolean and after a night stop in Castellane we arrived in Vars (just south of Briancon).  Again we were on an aire. There were toilet facilities, fresh water, views to die for, 20 metres from the piste and it was free parking!  When we arrived on a Thursday it was fairly quiet but at the weekend the parking filled up with Italians squeezing in the tightest spaces!

The snow was excellent and plenty of it! Vars turned out to be a really good choice. It has a variety of ski runs to suit all tastes and it was still sunny!  The only downside was that the car park was a bit muddy but we could live with that!

Time to move on again. A short hop up the road to Briancon and to a small village of La Vachette for an overnight stop.  We were on our way to Montgenèvre but as it was the weekend and we needed electric hook up for Desnée’s hair dryer, so we decided to stop at a small campsite. A delightful little village just below the steep climb up to Montgenèvre.  Again, it was hot and sunny and we took a walk along the river on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Monday morning it was back into Briancon for provisions and fuel and then a quick climb to Montgenèvre. The book said there were 280 places in the aire so we expected a large crowd. When we arrived there were just 25 of the spaces taken and to our surprise enough electric hook ups for everyone. This was truly a magnificent aire and only just across the road from the piste. Spot on again!

Montgenèvre village from our window. The piste is just by the red marker posts.

The end of another lovely day! Montgenèvre village

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The local aire at Colliure—very pleasant!

Colliure town centre

It was lovely to come back but the prices had gone up quite a bit since last year.  We spent the time chilling out, walking, cycling and eating a few crepes!  George cycled into Sainte Maxine on the Sunday. It was busy with day tourists, bright sunny and warm and had a lovely atmosphere.

Click on the arrow to see our 2008 photos of Port Grimaud