The French Alps

After the heat of the South and the high level of organization of the tourist camp ground in Anduze, we left for the French Alps. If the Cevennes is a beautiful area, the Alps are stunning. Besides the beauty of the area, the atmosphere was also quite different. When we arrived at the camping
(Camping Municipal in Choranche), there was no warden,

just a little note telling us that the warden is present every day between 1900 and 1930 and that we’re invited to pick a place. No organization, paperwork before you can set up your tent, no documents to show…..just a small note to welcome us and invite us to feel at home!

The French Alps also proved a nice place to try some hiking. Let the pictures show that we did hike!

Of course, the Alps are still the French Alps and also have sufficient places where one can enjoy a good lunch. The choice was made for Grenoble,but no restaurant yet. That proved to be easy. In the shades of a church we found restaurant with a simple (but excellent) lunch. Too bad we forgot to note the name of the place ….
Forgot to mention, it was a completely non-smoking vacation for me!

Cevennes: South-East France

Travelling through Europe is not something I have posted on a lot. But then, for the past eight years, I've been to Europe during my summer holidays. The place we’ve been to the last six(!) times is a camping site called Cevennes Provence near Anduze in the South of France. The first time we went to Cevennes Provence, we fell in love with the place, and since then we’ve just been going back. Either going to the camp site after a bad experience somewhere else, or as a starting point for discovering some other part of Southern Europe. However, every year, we’ve had a different place for our tent. The best thing about the camp site is the amount of privacy you have at the vast majority of places. Of course, there is a ‘pull-hut’ (caravanning) area in the flat lower part of the camp site. This is where the places are nice, orderly and where the people are nice and orderly. Our site, was not so orderly, like we are not so orderly.

Camping is nice, but one needs to eat as well. Eating in this sense, is more than just using the rudimentary camping kitchen tools. Our favorite tool for selecting restaurants is the Guide Rouge, or the online version at ViaMichelin. This time, we selected a simple restaurant near Ales: Auberge des Voutins in Mejannes Les Ales. However, the restaurant is a Bib Gourmand (), which is the Guide Rouge's indication that you get a good meal/menu for a decent(relatively low) price. While Anna enjoyed her lamb, I enjoyed duck breast and a fish soup. We finished of course with a selection of cheeses and a beautiful dessert!

However, even North Europeans looking for a warmer climate can become climate change refugees. When the weather forecast predicted a couple of days with 36 degree Celsius, we decided that warm is good, but hot is probably a little too much. Especially for our poor dog. So after a week we left the Cevennes again and moved to the French Alps.