Provence - Uzès

As we were trying to sneak out the door this morning at 3.55am, Archie was up and about with a wee puzzled face, seeing the jackets on and it still being dark. I gave him a chew and left him in his bed - treats beat everything else going on. But while we were standing out on the road, he gave one bark, and a sort of howl. But that was all.

We were (JR was) quite worried about our stopover in Stansted of about an hour. She had to get her boarding pass stamped (actually, the bloke just scribbled something on it), meaning another queue to stand in. But this was done quite quickly. So far so good. And it's a big airport!

We arrived in security, and ye gads! - I've never seen so many people in queues - not since we arrived in Mexico City. I played my 'sore knees' card, and got directed into the lane for wheelchairs. Thank goodness, or I fear we would have missed the flight.

We were doing quite well, even the shoes off, frisking etc went smoothly. Too smoothly. Then my suitcase was diverted off to be examined carefully. Drat! I had to wait AGES. Those security staff are NOT to be hurried. When I eventually got it, and he sifted through everything several times even though he had discovered the culprit - my Kindle. Funnily enough, JR's Kindle was in her bag too, and slipped through.

By this time we had about 8 minutes to walk MILES to Gate 46! I was fair puggled. But we made it. Ryanair are silly - all this lark of making people who are travelling together pay for seats together, just results in everyone changing around once they're in the plane.

Bus to Nîmes, then bus to Uzès, where we have the most gorgeous wee flat for a couple of weeks. (That's our wee balcony overlooking the valley, and the view from a window).

We've been in Provence before, many years ago when we travelled round in Eric, our orange Combi (how I wish I had been blipping then!). Uzès is a medieval town, and very handy for SO many places, and we plan to use local buses (€1.50 for the 40 minute journey here).

We had a wee wander round the town, popped into a wee old French bar (French muzak!) and stocked up on some goodies. We now await our pal from NZ who arrived in Marseille and is wending her way here as we speak.

JR is still celebrating her Round-Jersey-Walk with anyone who will listen, so bubbles it is. For our Jersey pals - big crémant fans - it's Crémant de Bourgogne - 'A wine bursting with youth and audacity. Its freshness and vigour are a matter of general agreement'... sounds just right.