Delayed for 16th September….we made our way north east towards the Luberon and found a campsite overlooking the stunning valley and hills beyond. Getting there was interesting as the sat nav has recently developed a cheeky desire for off roading. Actually on this occsion (appart from the potentially puncture inducing road surface) it did us a favour. Taking us down a very pretty country track surrounded by corn fileds and blue sky – my favourate 20 minutes of road of the trip so far! But was made it to the campsite unharmed…Having suddenly hit the French off season we were one of only three other people on the large site – both a brilliant and slightly creepy experience. We used our two days extremely fruitfully by washing everything we owned, sunbathing, cleaning out the camper from top to bottom, sunbathing, washing the outside of the camper to get any remaining sea salt off, sunbathing and using up all of the bits of leftover food we had stored away…..and sunbathing. Apart from the buzzing electrical line overhead the campsite instilled calm and rejuvenation and leaving with a spotless camper really gave us a reinjection of love for the camper and the trip ahead.

On Sunday we moved west a few miles to visit my friend Katie who, ahead of her Provence wedding in three weeks, was over from her new home of Hong Kong at at her mothers house near Forcalquier getting everything sorted. Having never been to her house it was a lovely Provencial winding road that lead us up to the stunning stone building with the traditional yet timeless chalk green shutters. The house was picture perfect and we couldn’t believe the size of our room let a lone the bed – luxury!! With so much going on ahead of the upcoming wedding we very grateful to be invited for a visit and especially as Katie had arranged for this to to be a rare day off from planning and more a pool, wine and food day! The house held endless suprises of swimming pool, tennis court, boules court, outdoor terraces, a delicious supply of rose and a rare moment of television! After 4 months happily without any tv we found ourselves rather excited at the prospect of Downton Abbey to end our weekend especially after a dinner of duck and roast potatoes (food from an oven….wow!) We were honestly spoilt rotten by both Katie and her mum and in such a stunning setting – hope to rent the villa in the future with the rest of my French loving family! ://www.lejasdescannebieres.com/. Thank you ladies (and Kats for my much needed hair cut!) and can’t wait to see how beautiful you looked in that dress!

Monday morning….we had planned to visit a market in the morning with Katie before heading off. Sadly though I was not well overnight (a developing migraine) and so after a slow morning with a green faced me we got back on the road. We needed to make it to Perpignan airport for 14:00 on Tuesday to meet dave’s mum who was coming for a well missed cuddle with her eldest son! With a big chunk of miles ahead of us we made good headway. Travelling past Montpellier we continued down to a campsite on the Etang du Thau set next to a very sweet medieval village. We were up early to get back on the road via some supermarket supplies to the airport. After a lovely welcome at Perpignan – there are no barriers to you can practically meet the person off the plane! – we loaded up our new passenger and went to a Gite we had rented for a couple of nights. This was essentially the beginning of a very spoilt two weeks with friends and family – so don’t judge us on the slight lack of camping in this period! While the sun was still shining (most of the time) during the day it was getting increasingly cold at night and so we were grateful for the very comfortable Gite in Villeloungue-de-la-Salanque and our kind host Jeni.

Having not had much sun throughout the summer in the UK we were grateful for its appearance for Jacinta the following morning and, despite the wind, encouraging a day of reading, unsuccessful badminton and swimming. Me and Dave also enjoyed the company of a two little kittens (yes more cats!) The following day we heading into the local coastal town and the market….a slightly disappointing market by French standards which was a shame but this was a null point once we had taken in the stunning coast line ahead. Perpignan has miles and miles of sandy beaches partnered with an endless blue horizon and as long as you don’t look at the 1970’s hotels behind you – you could be somewhere tropical! We love being by the sea and so it was nice to have another view of the med to remember. Dave’s mum, braver than both of us, actually made her way into the freezing sea and enjoyed her first ocean swim of the year….as us wimps waited towels aloft for her to make her way back out before heading for lunch!

That night Dave cooked us yet another delicious dinner (both of us still over excited at the sight of an oven for cooking!) and we sadly toasted our last night before taking Jacinta back to the airport. It was a lovely visit and we are really grateful for the effort in coming all the way to see us. Having waved her off on Friday morning we headed north towards Bezier….for the next round of family visits!