Au revoir to La Route Nacionale 7

If you've been following our journey you might recall that we had earlier abandoned the Route Nacionale 7 at Valence so we could get to our hotel pool in Aix-en-Provence. Leaving Avignon, therefore, we followed some of the missing part of the route in reverse up to Valence. This section of the route is very easy driving and quite fast. From Avignon, take the D907 via Le Postet towards Sorgues and all the way to Orange. You'll pass an Arc de Triumphe, then continue on the N7 via Montelimar to Valence. Looking at the late July traffic jam heading south on the A7, this could actually be a quicker route!

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As we made our way back to the UK to give MoneyPenny a well-earned rest, we spent two nights in Lyon. Le Royal Hotel at Place de Bellecours https://www.hotelsone.com/lyon-hotels-fr/le-royal-hotel-lyon-mgallery-collection.html was amazing & we would happily stay there again. A lovely valet who appreciated MoneyPenny and her adventures helped. We tried out the bike share 'Velo V' and visited Le Musee des Confluences - another example of a well-thought-out French museum with interesting exhibitions on Zombies, Dancing Animal Rituals from Mali, Death and Funeral Rites, Photographs from North Korea and more.

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We then drove about 4.5 hours to Reims (Best Western Hotel - did not pre-book parking so had to use public parking across the street), revisited the Cathedral and went to the Museum of the Surrender of May 7, 1945. The museum is in the actual building and contains the map room, table etc where the Germans signed their surrender to The Allies in 1945. Worth visiting.

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We have stayed before at Chateau de Cocove near Calais (another 2.5. hours drive from Reims) https://www.chateaudecocove.com. It's a very civilised way to end an amazing holiday and is only 30 minutes from Le Shuttle. MoneyPenny has been a real trooper on this trip. She didn't break down once and her airconditioning worked (although does struggle when the air temperature gets to be over 35C - c'est normal!). She's had a few washes along the way and absolutely hums along the autoroutes. We look forward to planning our next adventure with her.

A bientot France!