The gorge from above, troglodytes and Orange

Today we’ve started our journey south towards Nice where we have tickets to see Wales play Portugal in the Rugby World Cup on the 16th. We started by driving along the top of the Ardèche gorge, along which there are lots of viewpoints to stop at. There were lots of goats around, including a herd creating a hazard in the road. The kids were very cute, despite their goaty smell!

The gorge is just as stunning from above as it was from the river at the bottom. It was lovely looking down at where we’d paddled and seeing tha the trip was as far as it had felt to my aching back and upper arms. No wonder we felt small and insignificant, bobbing along surrounded by the huge, dramatic cliffs and wild landscape.

We’re glad we chose to to the trip during the week. Today was Saturday and, at one point John counted more than 50 plastic sit on kayaks in one small section of the river!

Our next stop was Barry, a picturesque troglodyte village situated on a forested hillside. We had trouble getting to it because the sat nav tried to send us along a road that no longer exists, but we got there in the end and had a lovely 3 kilometre walk. Once again, it was very hot, but I managed by walking slowly and staying in the shade as much as possible.

The troglodyte village was continuously inhabited from neolithic times until the beginning of the 20th century when, apparently, just one widow and her servant remained. It is made up of caves and stone buildings built into the hillside overlooking the Rhône valley and the huge Donzère-Montragon canal. The views from the top of the hill were amazing.

The village was being restored and there were several signs warning visitors to keep out but we ignored them… we’d come a long way to see it and won’t get another opportunity! Plus it was Saturday so there were no workmen around. In fact, we didn’t see anyone else as we wandered through the village.

It was interesting to see how the caves had been expanded to become bigger dwellings, and how structures such as sinks, fireplaces and steps had been carved into the cliff walls. We enjoyed exploring before returning to Bertie to move on.

Our next stop was meant to be Fortress Mornas, which is perched high on top of a cliff. However, we had more navigation problems, with both the sat nav and Google maps attempting to send us up a road with a no entry sign at the bottom. Despite the 2 French men trying to help on different occasions, we didn’t find anywhere suitable to park and decided to move on to Orange.

Orange is a pretty town that is famous for 2 of the finest Roman monuments in Europe, the Arc de Triomphe and the Théâtre Antique d’Orange. We just visited the first of these today, saving the theatre for tomorrow. The 20-metre high triumphal arch was originally dedicated to the victories of Julius Caesar and his Roman legion but was later redesigned to celebrate some of Emperor Tiberius’s victories. The carvings on the arch are wonderful.

By now it was time to get to the camping aire that John had booked. We received a very warm and friendly welcome from Michel, who made sure we had everything we needed, as well as bringing us a bag of ice and selling us some wine from a local vineyard. The wine is from a vineyard just across the road from the Chateauneuf du Pape vineyard and, because it’s from outside the controlled area is much cheaper but should be of similar quality… at 7 euros, it’s worth a try anyway!