Campsites,France #11of16

We drove up the hill to the left of the Lourdes Cathedral, around one hill then up the next one. The campsite office was in a very old stone house, and all around was hilly and green with many trees. This campground was in a pleasant location, with a wonderful view. A large number of tourist busses transport hoards of people in and out of Lourdes with great efficiency. There are restaurants and small hotels galore, some larger hotels, and a castle on the hill in the midst of town.

One night was spent with other RVs in the parking lot just outside the wall of the phenomenal Crusades city of Aigues Mortes. Just imagine looking out the “bedroom” window, and seeing floodlit 800 year old walls, walls that protected members of the Seventh and Eighth Crusade as they set out to liberate Jerusalem, all those centuries ago. Well, we were sure impressed. That marvelous floodlit view just can’t be beat.

The weather was nice, but the campsite in Perols left something to be desired. They were in the process of closing for the season, so we should have looked further, but we didn’t want to bother. As we checked in, the man at the gate collected 50 FF ($10) including electricity — expensive in 1988. Later the owner came and said he wanted more money. Finally he went away in a huff, but without more of our money. (In 1995, $7 was the least we paid, anywhere, in eight countries.)

We were just a few miles from St. Martin, and the next day was market day, so we moved to St. Martin’s campsite. We were told the marketplace was just a short distance from the campsite, but found we had to walk a mile at least. This market is not all it was cracked up to be, but we did see big trucks with large tanks of wine where people could fill their own bottles, for very little money. St. Martin’s has a clock that strikes the hour, then a few minutes later strikes the hour again with a different bell.

Our campsite was just below the old town of Peille, which was perched on the very tip of a mountain shaped like a loaf of bread standing on end, with the town covering the top like a knit cap. The first road-sign said seven lacets (curves), the next said four more, and we had to stop and back and turn again to make some of the extremely steep, twisty, ungainly curves. A breathtaking little town where we walk up here, down there, then walk around and around. A picture of Peille is worth a thousand words, a visit to Peille is worth a million pictures.