Tuesday September 20, Orange, France

Ryanair to Marseille

 
I am really out of routine of writing my daily blog since we are no longer in the motorhome, apologies! So a bit of a brief catch up of another few busy days.

After saying a final farewell to Steve and Kathy on Monday, we were on the road to Manchester at 9am. With the Queens Funeral being broadcast live and a public holiday and all businesses closed the roads were just so quiet making for a really enjoyable drive. We opted out of taking the motorway and followed a route that Steve suggested that took us around the Peak District. Apart from a few wrong turnings, it was a very enjoyable drive, passing through beautiful countryside and small villages. I really wasn’t geared up with my camera and didn’t get any photos!!! Arrived at our hotel at Manchester airport mid afternoon, and so impressed with their service, nothing was too much trouble. They are storing our bags that we don’t need in France until we return ready to fly to NZ. We unloaded the car and then returned the car to Enterprise, and a taxi back to the hotel. It was time to put our feet up and relax for the rest of the afternoon, before a meal at the hotel and an early night.

Had a great sleep and after breakfast got a taxi to the Airport for our flight to Marseille. We flew with Ryanair and had heard that they weren’t such a good airline, but apart from the flight being an hour late, we couldn’t complain. The flight was under two hours and really enjoyed the views as we came into southern France, the skies were so clear. The queues were long getting through Customs, but all went well. Stopped for a coffee and some food before walking to Sixt to collect our rental car, a Renault Kadjar (I think) which is a little bigger and easier for Ian to get in and out of. By the time we had sorted everything out it was getting into rush hour traffic and it turned out to be a bit of a nightmare with the navigator not doing her job properly a few times. The driver did an admirable job and finally we got onto the motorway to head north.

In the meantime my brother had messaged to say that the hotel we were all staying in turned out to have really difficult access, it is in the medieval town and the roads are so narrow and you need to park some distance away. It was getting onto 7pm so we made the decision to stop in Orange for the night. We were both feeling very weary. Found a hotel in the town, and after negotiating streets and a few wrong turnings to park, we got there. It is a really quirky hotel, quite old but very good. After settling in we went downstairs for a meal and a well deserved wine. It has been a long day.

Marseille

Looking down the Rhone to the Med

Outside the hotel in Orange