Pretty flamingo

First things first – we are now in possession of a fully functional new water pump, expertly installed by the on-board engineer I thought to take with me.  The owner of the campsite near Aix had told us there was a motorhome dealership about 15 km away, so with the help of the sat-nav and the interweb we established where it was and that it had an accessories shop. Well, nearly right, just that the shop was decidedly low on accessories and the staff clearly weren’t expecting customers.  Although the ‘pompe’ section was bare of ‘pompes’, we found someone to ask, who ferreted around under the counter and came up with a basket of suitable ‘pompes’. So we bought one and Ray connected it up in minutes while we were still parked on the forecourt, and hey presto all the water systems are working again, hallelujah!

We had a great time at the site near Aix, it was really peaceful, the scenery was spectacular and the weather just about perfect.  We made an assault on Mont St Victoire, but the mountain won, it was just too far, too hot and too up.  But we had a great walk and completed a circular route which took in a huge dam and lake, a lot of mountain, and lots of extraordinary rock formations.  In fact we were so impressed that we stayed an extra day and did another circular walk, flatter this time, but also with lovely views, wild flowers and herby provencal vegetation.

Next we moved on to Arles, via the pump shop and then the supermarket, to replenish the fridge.  Arles is worth a visit for the Roman remains and the Van Gogh connection but for some reason we didn’t take to it as we did to Aix.  It may have been the overcast weather or the way the bus went in through a huge shabby retail park, or even, as the Rough Guide puts it, the laissez-faire attitude to rubbish collection, but somehow the whole place looked a bit unloved.  Nevertheless the Roman amphitheatre and especially the arena next door are quite stunning and there are lots of pretty squares and other buildings of note. There is a ‘Van Gogh trail’ which takes you to places he painted, marked with a board in the street showing the painting in question, at the position he would have placed his easel.  The best one was the hospital where he stayed for a while as it has a lovely flower-filled courtyard and has been kept painted in the same colours as Van Gogh’s painting.

Now we have moved a bit further south and are in the Camargue with the flamingos and mosquitos.  We are staying in a campsite at Saintes Maries de la mer, right on the coast.  It was incredibly windy when we arrived, so everything filled up with sand, but it kept the mosquitos down.  We stopped at a museum and nature reserve on the way, and saw some really top birds – lots of flamingos, stilts and glossy ibis, and a superb display of 5 or so bee-eaters flying around on the wind, beautiful iridescent colours as they twisted and turned.  We also heard a cuckoo – only our second on this trip. Yesterday was flat calm and overcast, a perfect day for a long cycle ride – a lovely route along a dyke between the marshes and the sea.  Today has been sunny and hot again, and we have been to a nearby bird reserve – Norfolk friends think Titchwell/Pensthorpe, add 20 degrees of heat and a couple of hundred flamingos and you get the picture.  Best bird today has to be the night heron which did a fly-past as we were sitting in the cafe at the end of the visit!