French Holiday

I’m sorry for the recent lack of posts but HID and myself have been to France for a fantastic couple of weeks holiday. The only caveat to this break being we didn’t go on the bike but flew into Marseilles and hired a car. Touring France in a Renault Modus 1.5 litre diesel, hmmm you decide. As we have been to France in our motorhome, stayed in hotels and camped we decided to try Chambres d’hote, or bed and breakfast French style for a change.

Our first stop being Le Mas de Foulara in Cruis, a spotlessly clean converted farmhouse at the foot of the Lure mountains run by a charming French couple by the name of Richard and Odile Hartz. The place is motorcycle and bike friendly although access is via a gravel covered farm track for half a kilometre. Richard has a trail bike which he rides in the surrounding mountains and is happy to allow motorcycles to be parked in the barn attached to the main house. The rooms are in a separate building, are a decent size, en-suite and have really comfortable beds plus the guest quarters have a kitchen, dining room, lounge and covered balcony. Mme Hartz will provide an evening meal if there are more than two guests and it is pre-booked, believe me, they are very good with ample food. The roads in the area are pretty good with very little traffic and M. Ventoux and M. Lure are both excellent ride outs and Sisteron is worth a day trip.

From here we headed in the direction of Digne les Bain  to pick up the famous N85 or Route Napoleon as it is known thanks to his epic winter trip north. Our next Chamres D’Hote, Le mas du Verdon, nestles in woodland on the outskirts of Castellane, a small town located at the eastern end of the Gorge du Verdon.