La Camargue

After spending a week in La Côte d'Azur, we moved to La Camargue, in Saintes Maries de la Mer. It's an ideal place to observe all kinds of birds, wild horses, steers, insects, beavers, turtles...One day we went to Arles to visit the arenas. As Steven decided to walk round the arenas and take more photographies, Imogen and I thought a pause in a cafe would be beneficial! 
First she mentioned having a pancake but soon it turned out that the milkshake was more enticing!

Some places in La Camargue were ill-famed for the amount of mosquitoes. Recently dragon-flies were introduced and the result is excellent!

Late afternoon, we visited Tourrettes-sur-Loup, a picturesque village not far from Bar-sur-Loup where my cousin Catherine and my auntie Rolande (my mum's sister) live. If you are not used to mountain roads then take it easy when you drive there. 
The 'native' French driver being fiery, you may just want to keep tightly on your side of the lane, i mean of the road! 

We were just exploring those medieval streets when we heard the thunder and had to rush for shelter. 
As it was not just a shower, we gave up and returned to Bar-sur-Loup.

There are two ways of access to St Raphael, the motorway and the coastal road which is much more scenic but as windy as the one to go to Tourrettes only wider! 
It took us an hour to get there from Cannes, including traffic and avoiding cars badly parked along both sides of the road!

Here we are with my auntie Rolande in the hospital in Nice. A few days before we were due to leave England, she rang me to let me know she had a mini-stroke and was undergoing an EEG, blood tests and various scans..
She is better now and back home still monitored for her sleep apnea. Please pray for her as she is slowly recovering.

On the way to la Côte d'Azur we stopped in a campsite near Beaune, in Savigny, a deligthful place that happened to be surrounded with well-maintained vineyards and caves. 
In the campsite, we talked to other tourists like us on their way south or others who were on their way north, only staying one or two nights. We also stopped there on the way back.