This blog will be uploaded late, although the year is 2014 it appears that in some hotels it is considered acceptable not to have excellent WiFi broadband available in every room. Or anywhere else apparently.

The good news is that our car is completely free of vampires. On Saturday at the market in Montpellier Mrs Sixwheeler bought a bunch of garlic. I blagged a plastic bag from the vendor to wrap it in and back at the hotel put it into another. This morning I put it into yet another bag but it was still making its presence apparent; then I found a black bin bag and I think it’s now under control; of sorts.

Reluctantly we bade farewell to the Hotel du Parc in Montpellier this morning. I would recommend this hotel to anyone; quirky and charming with very helpful staff, excellent breakfasts and comfortable rooms. Perfection.

Our first stop was Sommieres

where we walked along by the river

and into town through the old town gate with it’s bell tower above.

As you can see from the pictures the town was closed for the day, but we enjoyed a coffee in the square

and looked at some of the charming little narrow streets before moving on.

Our next stop was at Uzès, a pretty town famous for it’s towers

and with a very pretty main square for lunch,

before moving on to the Pont du Gard.

The Pont du Gard was built by the Romans as an aqueduct to supply water to the city of Nîmes. To my mind it is a structure of outstanding elegance built on three levels of arches. We visited it as a family nearly thirty years ago. In those days parking was free and so was the Pont; to Mrs Sixwheeler’s horror our two daughters and I walked across the top of it, less than a yard wide, with a drop of about one hundred and twenty feet straight into the River Gard on one side and slightly less onto the road the other.

Things have changed a bit. Now there is a huge car park and it costs €18 for parking and entry; you can’t actually go onto the Pont and the road is closed. But you do get good access, a very good visitor centre, lavatories, shops and a restaurant; overall we thought it good value. Here are some shots of and around this historic UNESCO World Heritage Site.

And the money shot.

After that we headed off to Avignon where we are staying at a very nice hotel (apart from lack of WiFi) on an island in the River Rhone.

12 May 2014