Paro and the Tiger’s Nest Monastery

Bhutan National Museum

After checking in to my hotel in Paro there was time for one last quick visit that day to the Bhutan National Museum. This was housed in a very interestingly-shaped round building located on a hill above Paro’s dzong and had once been a watch tower. The museum housed a quirky jumble of archaeological remains (old pots from Bhutan’s prehistory), religious articles like faded thangkas (paintings on silk or cotton), displays of items linked to everyday life in the country, some nature displays with stuffed animals…and, bizarrely, a collection of stamps donated by a past king. Stamp collecting seems to be still a big thing in Bhutan and until I changed it, the tour agency’s original proposal for my schedule had included a visit to the post office in Thimphu to buy some. The exhibits were not particularly interesting, but I had a lot of fun exploring the maze-like inside of the museum, with its multiple levels and many dark corridors. I exited just as the sun was setting and admired the view of the Paro valley.

Bhutan National Museum, former watch tower

Inside the museum

Shopping in Paro

After the museum visit, my guide Sonam took me to the centre of Paro for some free time, shopping or coffee. It was one of the rare times he left me alone to wander round and explore by myself; at any religious site he always kept discretely close, probably worried that I might commit some blunder like taking a photo or leaving my hat on in a temple. Paro was small and had one main street lined with traditional houses, nearly all of which were now souvenir shops or restaurants. A steady stream of traffic both ways made crossing the road hazardous, especially for a little teddy bear like me. I wandered around looking in the shops but to my disappointment found that most of the things for sale were cheap goods made in China.

Having seen enough of Paro, I asked to head back to the hotel; I needed an early night since Sonam wanted to start for our trek to Tiger’s Nest Monastery the next morning at 7 am. On the way back I was rewarded with a fine view of the dzong, which was lit up at night.

Paro's Dzong at night

Tiger's Nest Monastery

I retired to bed early and woke up for the 7am start. We were very soon parked at the start of the path leading up to the Tiger’s Nest Monastery, probably Bhutan’s most famous tourist attraction. Sonam told me that it was now high season and there would be lots of visitors – when I asked how many, he said around 300 per day, which seemed like a very small number to me compared to major attractions anywhere else. From the parking area, the monastery was just about visible, clinging improbably to the cliff face of a distant mountain. It was not so far away – maybe 3km – but 900m above the start of the trail.

A steep walk to the Tiger's Nest Monastery

Beautiful autumn colours

The path led steeply uphill, through some very attractive forests where the leaves were just beginning to display beautiful autumn colours. As we ascended, we caught glimpses of the Tiger’s Nest through the trees until roughly at the half-way point was a café with a panoramic terrace, where we stopped for a reviving coffee and to admire the view. After that the path continued steeply uphill. I trudged up on my little legs, accompanied by other tourists and many local pilgrims; the climb to the monastery brings considerably merit to Buddhist believers, and Sonam considered the fact he made the climb many times per year to be an important perk of his job. The sun had now fully risen and it was getting hot; bright sunlight began to creep across the cliff face and started to illuminate the monastery, so I just had to stop for a selfie.

A very brave little teddy Bear!

At the monastery itself visitors had to leave their bags and phones in a locker – a sign threatened that anyone taking pictures inside would be prosecuted. The monastery was founded in 1692, but its religious origins go back to the 8^th century, when legend has it that a powerful guru flew here on the back of a tiger to subdue a demon. The guru then settled down to meditate, and the site has probably been a religious centre ever since. Though initially built many centuries ago, during its history the monastery has been destroyed twice by disastrous fires, most recently in 1998. What you see today is a careful reconstruction completed in 2005. The complex had many different temples and is very much an active centre of worship, with monks chanting and local pilgrims prostrating themselves before the statues of Buddha and making offerings. Despite being a major tourist attraction, it retained an intimate and spiritual feeling, benefiting enormously from the ban on mobile phones and photography. I spent about an hour there, soaking up the atmosphere, before it was finally time to set off on the long trek downhill.

Kyichu Lhakhang

My speedy climb and descent, despite my little legs, had somewhat surprised Sonam the guide and Sonam the driver. Including the hour spent at the temple, I had made it out and back in about five hours, meaning that now I had time for both a good lunch and one more temple visit – to Kyichu Lhakhang. This is Bhutan’s joint oldest temple, having being built in 659 by the Tibetan emperor Songsten Gampo, who is credited with building 108 temples around his empire in a single day in order to subdue a mighty ogress whose body spans the Himalayas.

Small but stunning place

The prayer wheels all around the temple

Unlike many other Bhutanese temples, this one has never burned down, and the original 7^th century temple can still be visited. Its walls were black the centuries of smoke from yak butter lamps, and I felt a very special energy from the place. The temple is quite small, but there were almost no other foreign visitors, so I could soak up the atmosphere almost on my own. A second, larger temple was built adjoining the initial building in 1968 but to me it rather lacked the charm and magic of the original. Having seen the temples, I wandered around the walls of the complex, watching the local pilgrims paying their respects and spinning the prayer wheels. Kyichu Lhakhang was a fine way to end my tour of Bhutan, reflecting the deeply religious, mystical and peaceful nature of the country. The country has a few magnificent tourist sights, like the Tiger’s Nest, Punakha’s dzong and the Dochula Pass, but I also loved the scenery with its gentle, rolling hills and distant snow-capped mountains, and the very different philosophy of life of the local people, which values the spiritual rather than the material. I wish the Bhutanese every success in preserving their unique culture and hope their king’s project of building 108 stupas for world peace is a success.

View of the countryside in Paro: rice fields and mountains

From here I will head back to the hustle and bustle of Kathmandu in Nepal – but that is the subject of a future post!

6th November 2026 2

Into the centre of Bhutan and back again

The next day we continued our way east into the centre of the country. The landscape was pretty, with mountains, neat little houses and rice fields. There were also many small streams that tumbled down from the mountain and then under the road. Often, these were harnessed to make a water-powered prayer wheel. The Bhutanese never missed an opportunity to practice their religion; in the regions with less water but more wind, like Paro, they installed wind powered prayer wheels instead. Pretty prayer flags fluttered from hills all around the country.

Gangtey Temple

Our first destination was Gangtey Temple and its monastery, yet another important religious centre, founded in 1613. As usual no pictures were allowed, so I offer my readers just these two shots from the outside.

After the temple visit our guide proposed a big lunch in a traditional farmhouse, accompanied by as much “ara” as I wanted. I had to limit myself, since we were now at an altitude of nearly 3,000m and I had to be on form for the short walk planned that afternoon.

Tasting ara at the farmhouse

Phobjikha Valley

The walk took us through some more pretty scenery, and past more prayer wheels, to the Phobjikha Valley, renowned as one of the places where black-necked cranes come to spend the winter. In Bhutanese and Tibetan culture, the crane is seen as an auspicious messenger, bringing peace, prosperity and good harvests. Strangely, when the cranes arrive in autumn, they circle Gangtey Monastery three times clockwise, as if paying their respects like human worshippers. The valley has a Crane Protection centre, devoted to preserving and studying the cranes, which we visited briefly. Unfortunately, it was not yet November and most cranes had not yet arrived, so all we could see were two lonely stragglers who could no longer fly, housed in a cage - one had been saved from a pack of wild dogs, the other rescued after a collision with a power line.

A water prayer wheel

Stupa on the way to the valley

View over the valley with its rice fields

My hotel for the night was once again built in local style and was located in a pretty valley. I thought about going for a walk, but as soon as the sun set, it became very cold and even with my extra layer of fur I would have frozen. Instead, I had dinner by a blazing wood fire, and then snuggled up in the warm blankets of my bed.

View from my Balcony at the ABC lodge

Chilli drying on the roof

The next day we made the long drive back to Paro. There was not much to do except relax and admire the scenery. We made a couple of stops for coffee in places with great views of the mountains and another stop at Dochula Pass to admire the 108 chortens one last time, before driving past Thimphu and arriving in another fine traditional hotel just outside of Paro.

More prayer wheels on my way back to Paro

5th November 2026 2

Deeper into Bhutan – Dochula Pass, Chimi Lhakhang Temple and Punakha’s Dzong

Dochula Pass

Today we set off at the very civilised time of 9 am and headed east out of Thimphu. We were soon climbing a steep mountain road with lush vegetation and finally reached Dochula pass located at an altitude of 3,100m. There, a magnificent view of the Himalayas opened up, including Bhutan’s tallest mountain, Gangkhar Puensum (7,500m). Behind these mountains was Tibet, annexed by China in 1950. The border with Bhutan has been closed ever since, leaving the country totally dependent on trade with India.

Amazing view over the Himalayas

The view was enhanced by a remarkable modern monument – a series of stupas or chortens built on small hill. There are 108 in total - an auspicious number in Buddhism, corresponding to the number of sacred Buddhist texts. The stupas were constructed over 2003 to 2004 to mark the fourth king’s victory over a group of heavily armed Indian separatists that were using Bhutan as a base to raid their home country. Now they are one of the most beautiful modern monuments I have ever seen, perfectly complementing the stunning mountain scenery. The current king has his own new stupa project, constructing 108 stupas within one day at a location in the south of the country. This is due to be done on the 1^st November 2026, so by the time you read this, Bhutan may have another major new attraction. The new stupas are being built to encourage world peace - let’s hope it works.

Dochula Pass and its 108 stupas

Chimi Lhakhang temple, the temple of fertility

Once I could finally tear myself away from looking at the mountains, our route took us steeply downhill towards the centre of the country. We stopped at the Chimi Lhakhang temple, famed as a place that can cure infertility. Visiting women wanting to have children have to carry a large wooden phallus (proudly on display inside) three times clockwise around the temple and then receive a blessing from a monk. The temple was founded and built in 1499 and became a centre for the honouring of Drukpa Kunley, also known as the “mad master”, a yogi from Tibet. Kunley was as much renowned for his like of alcohol and womanising as his teachings, and advocated the painting of large phalluses on the walls of temples and people’s homes in the belief that this brought about fertility. This practice has really taken off in the region – many houses were decorated with large penises, and the souvenir shops were full of painted wooden, metal or even woollen knitted examples of the male member. Since my blog is popular with children and families, I won’t show any of this crudity here and instead just show a photo of the outside of temple. It was quite pretty but small, and because it was very popular with local worshippers and foreign tourists, it was the only place I visited in all of Bhutan that felt overcrowded.

Temple of Fertility

Punakha's Dzong

Next, we headed on to see one of Bhutan’s highlights – the magnificent dzong at Punakha, the capital of the country until 1955. It is the second largest and second oldest dzong in Bhutan, dating from 1637, and makes a spectacular sight, sitting at the confluence of two rivers. Although the capital has moved to Thimphu, and Punakha is now a small and sleepy town, its dzong retains much of its previous importance. It is the place where Bhutan’s kings are crowned, and where the central monastic body resides over the winter months. Access to the dzong is by a very pretty wooden bridge, and we were soon standing in front of the entrance, which has three steep sets of stairs – of which the central golden steps are reserved for the king or the chief abbot when they visit.

The Dzong in Punakha

Inside the dzong are three beautiful courtyards decorated with rich carvings. Like other dzongs, half of the complex is for use by government workers and half by monks. The religious half of the dzong has a remarkable temple, whose richly painted and carved interior was one of the most remarkable things I saw in Bhutan……..but, sadly, as with all Bhutanese temples, no photos were allowed.

Magnificent temple

Beautiful wood carving

The chortens at Dochula Pass and Punakha’s dzong had been two highlights of a memorable day in Bhutan, but more was to come – my hotel. It was a beautiful traditional Bhutanese house, sitting on a hill with a view of the dzong. The room was spacious and richly decorated in the local style, the staff were friendly and the food was excellent. I was beginning to like Bhutan a lot.

View from our hotel

View off the Dzong at night

31st October 2026 0

A bear in Bhutan – the lost kingdom in the Himalayas

From Kathmandu to Paro: Flying over the Himalayas.

Today I got up unreasonably early to go to the airport for my flight from Kathmandu in Nepal to the little-visited country of Bhutan. This must be the most spectacular scheduled flight on earth, and soon after take-off the plane was cruising past some of the highest peaks of the Himalayas. The mountains rising up to the plane’s left got bigger and bigger, until roughly half-way into the flight Mount Everest appeared on our left, accompanied by Lhotse – the world’s tallest and fourth tallest mountains. A few minutes later we passed Kanchenjunga, the third tallest. I remained glued to my window for the whole flight until it was time for landing.

Mountains just after leaving Kathmandu airport

Mounts Everest and Lhotse

Kanchenjunga

From these massive peaks the airplane descended rapidly. The approach to Paro airport is supposed to be very challenging for pilots, and I could see why – we weaved our way along a valley, with mountains close on either side, before the airstrip came into view and we safely landed. The airport had many immigration desks, where they checked my visa paperwork but (sadly) didn’t stamp my passport, and a spacious baggage return hall, with quirky models of famous Bhutanese monuments in the central space between conveyor belts.

Baggage collection at Paro airport

I had soon collected my bags and went outside to be greeted by Sonam, my guide for the next few days, and our driver – also called Sonam.

Me with Sonam the guide (left) and Sonam the driver

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Bhutan, a small, relatively poor, isolated country sandwiched between India and China in the Himalayas. I knew it was devoutly Buddhist and somehow managed to measure Gross National Happiness instead of GDP. I knew it sought to limit the numbers of tourists by imposing a charge of $100 US per day for each foreign visitor (recently reduced from $200 per day), and that visas are only issued to people who sign up for organised tours. This makes Bhutan an expensive destination. If I am really honest, my main reason for visiting was the exoticism of going to a place that very few other people reach. I had expected the country to be very quiet and very poor, and maybe a little dull – let’s see.

First stop at the Tachog Lhakhang Temple

Tachog Lhakhang temple

My first impressions were surprising. The place Bhutan most reminded me of was……..Switzerland. There were pleasant green mountains, similar to those of the Alpine foothills, dotted with neat traditional houses, which resembled chalets. Sonam explained that any new construction in Bhutan has to follow traditional designs, one of very many laws aimed at preserving national traditions from outside influence. Like Switzerland, Bhutan was also very clean – amazingly so for a developing country. The grass was green, the sky was blue, the air fresh and clean, and there was very little traffic – a big contrast with Kathmandu.

Tachog Lhakhang temple and its iron bridge

Our first stop was the temple Tachog Lhakhang, built in the 14^th century by a Buddhist master who travelled from Tibet to promote the religion in Bhutan. He also constructed several iron suspension bridges around the region to make travelling easier for pilgrims, one of which crossed a ravine leading to the temple. This was to be the first of many monasteries I visited in Bhutan. They all had strict rules – no shoes or hats, and no photos or filming. Sonam told me that once a tourist had taken photos inside a temple and published them on social media when he returned home – the Bhutanese authorities saw the pictures, identified the tourist……and punished their guide. So here is a description in words of this temple, which applies to almost any other temple in Bhutan – an altar with a large statue of Buddha in the centre, flanked by his two disciples; a statue of the Tibetan master to his right, and one of the goddess of compassion, with eleven heads and one thousand arms and eyes to his left.

Thimphu's Folk Heritage Museum

Folk Heritage Museum at Thimphu

From the temple we drove towards Bhutan’s capital Thimphu. Just outside the city was the Folk Heritage Museum devoted to demonstrating traditional Bhutanese life. I was greeted with a bowl of the local rice wine, “ara”, which helped make the series of mini-shows that followed even more entertaining. First was a demonstration of two men pounding mud to make a wall, whilst singing a prayer to apologise to any worms that might be hurt in the process. The two lads performing seemed to find this idea just as funny as I did.

Apologising to worms......

Next there was a display of local handicrafts, then Bhutanese cooking, classical dancing, and finally archery where tourists would shoot at and miss a target before a local man would effortlessly hit it and then perform a celebratory song and dance.

National Memorial Stupa

The folk museum was very kitsch but still put me in a good mood as we headed into Thimphu, a dusty and not particularly attractive place where we visited the striking National Memorial Stupa, devoted to Bhutan’s third king and finished in 1974. It is a popular place of gathering for locals, particularly elderly people, who perform a traditional clockwise walk around the stupa whilst spinning its many prayer wheels. Bhutan’s royal family is relatively recent, the people having chosen a king in 1907 to end fighting between different regional groups. Today’s king is only the country’s fifth, and he and his family are held in great respect and retain considerably influence over Bhutanese society.

The National Memorial Stupa at Thimphu

When a policeman is a tourist attraction

Thimphu’s other main attraction was a policeman directing traffic from a booth in the middle of the city’s main crossroads. Sonam explained to me that Bhutan was the only country in the world not to have any traffic lights; I had also noticed that road signs controlling driving were extremely rare, but that despite (or maybe because of) this, the standard of driving was very high.

Policeman directing traffic in Thimphu

Thimphu's Dzong

I was rather underwhelmed by Thimphu, but the day ended on a high with a visit to the city’s dzong, or ancient fortress. These impressive buildings were constructed around the country as defensive structures, but outside of war time they served and still serve as a centre for the local administration of the region and the local Buddhist abbot. This mirrors the way Bhutan is governed, where a constitutional monarchy with king and parliament share power with Buddhist religious leaders. The dzong was a spectacular large building dating from the 17^th century but looking very modern, since it is continuously and carefully restored. Inside were large courtyards surrounding by intricately carved woodwork. One side of the complex was devoted to religious matters with a very pretty temple, which we visited; the other was devoted to local government and not open to tourists. Sonam said that it housed modern offices.

The dzong, Thimphu

The temple inside the dzong, Thimphu

Wall painting, Thimphu dzong

My hotel was a modern tower block on the edge of the city. It had the maximum five floors allowed in Bhutan (because of the frequent earthquakes) and probably the minimum amount of pretty traditional Bhutanese architecture the builders could get approval for. Fortunately, I was to stay in much better places later on during my tour. After a typical tourist buffet dinner of curry, vegetables and rice I retired to bed and reflected on a day that had started over sixteen hours ago. I had seen the highest places on earth from my plane, and then experienced nearly a full day in remote, isolated Bhutan. At the end of my first day, I couldn’t decide whether the country was fascinating, dull, or just plain odd – the day’s activities had provided examples to support all three viewpoints. Over the next five days’ travelling I would come down firmly on a verdict of “fascinating” – keep reading!

29th October 2026 6

The Ardeche – Saint-Montan, Balazuc and the Gorges again

Today is the last day of my short trip around the Drôme, Vaucluse and Ardeche regions. My original plan when I had booked these holidays was to spend today canoeing on the Ardeche river, admiring the gorges from the bottom and passing under the famous Pont d'Arc. This was something I had done long, long ago when I was just teddy bear cub. But due to some minor health issues that I won't go into, this was not possible on this trip, so I had to improvise. In the morning I explored the place I was staying in, Saint-Montan. At first sight, it looked like just another incredibly pretty small French village - with its church and castle.

The pretty village of Saint-Montan

Saint-Montan village scene

Saint-Montan village from the window of my gite

However, when I visited the local museum, the caretaker told me about the remarkable history of the village, which was progressively abandoned from the time of the French revolution onwards, until in the late 1960s it was compeletely ruined and almost uninhabited. Then a local priest had the idea of restoring the church, and shortly afterwards the "Association of the Friends of Saint-Montan" was formed to restore the rest of the village. This project has been ongoing for over sixty years now, and is totally funded by donations from well-wishers, with no support from the state. Two schools were built and families started to move back to live there. Today the work is nearly complete and Saint-Montan is a thriving community, noticeably busier than other places of a similar size and boasting several restaurants.

Saint-Montan's castle

Balazuc

After a fascinating morning exploring Saint-Montan I took to the road to visit Balazuc, a popular destination built on a cliff overlooking the Ardeche River. Unlike most of the other places I had visited on this trip, Balazuc was firmly on the main tourist route, and had no fewer than four car parks at its entrance for visitors, the first two of which were full. Perhaps I had already visited too many pretty village, but I found Balazuc slightly disappointing; it indeed had a view of the Ardeche river, the usual winding streets, and a Roman church, but seemed to lack some of the charm of other places I had been. There were lots of shops selling touristy things, and some cafés, two of which were closed - it seemed that the owners were rich enough to be able to take their own holidays during the early part of tourist season. I finally found a place that was open for a much needed coffee and some ice cream.

Balazuc

The Valley of the Ibie

From Balazuc, I decided to follow a recommendation in my guide book and explore the valley of the Ibie, which has a number of attractions. But the past weeks it had not rained, and the waterfall mentioned at the deserted (but still pretty) village of Rochecolombe was dry, and the level of the Ibie river was very low. Another attraction - the Trou de la Lune - turned out to be a modest circular bathing pool with rather too many visitors to be enjoyable. Slightly disappointed, I headed back to the D290 panoramic route along the Ardeche for some final views of the magnificent gorges. The air seemed slightly clearer than yesterday, so I revisited the best belvederes and took more photos.

Back to the beautiful Gorges de L'Ardeche

The Ardeche River meanders

Farewell to the Ardeche - for the moment!

It was late afternoon, and I thought briefly about visiting another limestone cave to escape the heat (after all, bears like caves!). But finally I decided to head back to my gite and simply relax on the terrace with a drink, before heading off to have dinner in a nearby restaurant - after hearing the story of the village, I wanted to support a local business.

Over a dinner of steak tartare and a beer, I reflected on this trip. I had managed to pack an incredible variety of things into just one week. The famous Gorges de l'Ardeche, Aven d'Orgnac cave, Mont Ventoux, countless (maybe too many) pretty villages, lavender fields, Grignan Castle, some spectacular mountain roads and the truly unique Palais Ideal du Facteur Cheval. There had been surprisingly few tourists, since many of my destinations had been a little off the beaten track, and the prices for accommodation, food and drink had been very reasonable. This is one of very few places in the world I will come back too - it is so easy to get here from London, and after all I still have to do my canoeing trip down the Ardeche. Next time, I will come in early June when it will be a bit cooler and when more of the lavender fields will be in bloom.

12th July 2026 2

The Gorges de l’Ardeche

Today I woke up late. The previous night I had enjoyed attending a typically French marriage in a chateau just outside of Grignan and surrounded by lavender fields.

Lavender fields near Grignan

Le Poët-Laval, pretty village.

My hosts offered me yet another excellent breakfast, and then it was time to hit the road again to spend a couple of nights in the area of the Gorges de l'Ardeche. First, I made a small detour to visit yet another pretty village - Le Poët-Laval. This place was quieter than many others I had visited, and had only one restaurant, which didn't want to serve me a coffee unless I ate lunch.

Le Poët-Laval - yet another pretty village

From Le Poët-Laval, I headed southwest to Saint-Martin-d'Ardeche, where I got a first glimpse of the famous river as I crossed over to its right bank. Shortly afterwards I made a stop at Aigueze, reputedly one of the prettiest villages in France and found what I was looking for - a café with a large shady terrace, which was quite happy to serve me a double expresso and some delicious ice cream (two of the local flavours I particularly liked were lavender and verbena). Refreshed, I made a short tour of the village, which apart from the usual ruined castle and church, had great views of the Ardeche river.

Aigueze...the castle

...the church....

...and the Ardeche river

The caves, Aven d'Orgnac

Although I would have liked to, I didn't have time to dawdle in Aigueze since I had booked a mid-afternoon tour of the famous caves, Aven d'Orgnac. The Ardeche region is mostly made of limestone, and as a result has many caves, some of which have spectacular mineral formations, and some of which were inhabited by stone age people. Aven d'Organic is technically a sink hole rather than cave, since the entrance is from the roof of the complex. It was first explored by the great French speleologist Robert de Joly in 1935. Over many years a series of galleries stretching 6km were discovered, of which the first three are open to tourists for a one-hour guided visit.I was led down a series of steps into the first gallery, called La Salle de Joly, a vast space decorated with spectacular stalagmites.

Aven d'Orgnac - la Salle de Joly

The tour continued down to the second gallery, La Salle de Chaos, which was even prettier, with red and orange colours. Our guide pointed out small urn nestling in the middle of a rock formation resembling an organ. This contained the ashes of de Joly, who asked to be buried underground in the cave he had discovered. Not a bad place to spend eternity!

Robert de Joly's ashes rest in the Salle du Chaos

"Curtains" in the Salle de Chaos, Aven d'Orgnac

The visit ending in Salle Rouge (Red Chamber), where we watched a sound and light show before taking a lift back up to the surface. When the lift doors opened I was hit by the baking heat of the Provence afternoon sun, and was very glad I had spent an hour in the cool of the cave complex.

The Red Chamber, Aven d'Orgnac

Vallon-Pont d'Arc

I hurried to reach my car and its air conditioning, before continuing my road to Vallon-Pont-d'Arc and then south east along the panoramic D290 road that follows the river gorge. The first stop along this scenic road is perhaps the most famous - the Pont d'Arc, huge natural rock bridge spanning the Ardeche River. It was so popular that the nearest car park was full, and I had to drive down to a second parking area and walk back in the baking sun to admire the magnificent spectacle.

Pont d'Arc - verso.....

...and Pont d'Arc recto

D290 - The Gorges de l'Ardeche

Just after Pont d'Arc the most spectacular part of the D290 begins. Eleven scenic belvederes have been built along the road at the places offering the very best views. I was lucky that the full tourist season had not yet started, and it was relatively easy to park and admire the views (not always the case apparently in July/August).

Gorges de l'Ardeche - the river meanders

Since I returned to this road the next day, I will show just one of the photos I took here - more pictures coming tomorrow! After being blown away by the splendour of the Ardeche Gorges, in the early evening I reached my destination for the next two nights, the fascinating Saint-Montan. This was not only just another beautiful village, since in addition it had a very unusual history which I will also cover in my next post.

11th July 2026 5

The Vaucluse and beyond – Les Gorges de la Nesque, Mont Ventoux, Crestet and Grignan

Today I woke after a good night's sleep to an amazing breakfast prepared by our hosts - eggs from their chickens, fruit from their garden, and home-made jams. I was soon on the road again heading towards one of France's most famous landmarks - the Mount Ventoux. The mountain was soon visible, but from a distance looked unremarkable - rather flat, without a nice pointy summit.

Mont Ventoux dominates the surrounding area

The Gorges de Nesque

I took a slight detour to drive along the Gorges de la Nesque, as recommended by the gite owners. I had never heard of them before, and indeed it seemed that they were off the main tourist track, but they were even more spectacular the well-know Combe Laval route that I had done a couple of days before. Even better, they did not have the steady flow of supercars and motorbikes that more popular mountain roads suffer from.

The Amazing Gorges de la Nesque

Narrow Roads carved into the cliff....

...like the Combe Laval but without the traffic

Mount Ventoux again in the distance

The Mount Ventoux

After a long, slow drive with lots of stops for photos I was on one of the roads climbing up Mont Ventoux. I passed a lot of cyclists - the climb is a classic challenge for experienced athletes, and often features in the Tour de France race. Initially the route was a bit of anti-climax compared to the Gorges de le Nesque. Only when I got to the very top was the true majesty of Mont Ventoux revealed to me - grass and occasional trees gave way to an utterly bare mountain peak made up of brilliant white rocks that contrasted with the deep blue July sky.

The summit of magnificent Mont Ventoux

I have not been able to find out for sure why the summit is bereft of vegetation - I had imagined that it might be due to the extreme winds and cooler temperatures there, but Wikipedia says that the mountain used to be forested, but its trees were cut down to supply local industry.

The abandoned weather station on Mount Ventoux

Right at the summit there are two weather stations - one abandoned, and one modern. A sign listed some of the unusual meteorological features of the site, including the fact that the strongest recorded wind gust there was a staggering 320km/h - enough to blow a small light teddy bear like me to Paris! The views over the surrounding mountains and plains fully justified the effort of all those cyclists to get there (and my much smaller effort in my car!).

Spectacular views from Mont Ventoux

Proof I was there!

The Pretty village of Crestet

Having soaked in the majestic panorama and the eerie, unique feeling of being on a totally barren mountain peak, I set off again, down the mountain and northwest. The road passed a little place called Crestet, which my gite hosts had mentioned, so I made a small detour to visit. It was another typically beautiful French village - very small, but still with its obligatory church and ruined castle.

Beautiful, quiet Crestet

Nyons and its ancient bridge

Unlike most of the other places I had visited on this holiday, Crestet was almost deserted. I saw a couple of other tourists but there was no sign of anyone living in the village......and consequently no café to give me my mid-afternoon caffeine shot. For this, I had to continue my route to the town of Nyons, whose history dates back to Roman times, with an ancient bridge to prove it.

The Roman bridge in Nyons

The highlight of the town was a small chapel with a remarkable ornately carved spire, which I bumped into almost by accident.

Beautiful small chapel in Nyons

Back to the Drome Region: destination Grignan

It was time to move on to my destination for the next two nights, Grignan - back in the Drome region - where I was due to attend a wedding. I had enough just time to explore yet another remarkably photogenic French town. Its most striking feature is its castle, perched aloof on a rocky outcrop overlooking the town and visible from afar as I approached in the car.

Grignan Castle

Although I have been to castles with prettier interiors, the visit was still very interesting due to the story of the Adhémar family that lived there from the 13th century until their lineage died out in 18th century. This included a connection to the famous French woman of letters, the Marquise de Sévigné, who was a frequent visitor to the castle after her daughter married François de Castellane Adhémar in 1669.

Grignan Church

The view from the Grignan Castle ramparts

The town of Grignan also proved to be great fun to explore, with the usual church, winding lanes, and many busy cafés - in one of which I ended a busy but extremely enjoyable day exploring provincial France. Another large plate of cheese and charcuterie, more cheap but good local wine - France outside of the summer season is a tourist's dream.

Bon appetit!

10th July 2026 3

Saillans, Crest, lavender fields and the Vaucluse

Saillans

After waking up, I flung open my bedroom windows to be greeted by a great view of the area around Saillans. I spent a final half and hour exploring more hidden passages and admiring the backdrop of the mountains surrounding the town on all sides.

Looking out over the roofs of Saillans from my bedroom window

Saillans' square in the morning light

Another dark passageway with imposing mountains in the background

Crest

Then I got back in my car and headed to the next impossibly pretty town of my trip - Crest (pronounced "kray" in English), famed for its tower - possibly the tallest stone keep in all of Europe. Indeed the Tour de Crest was visible for miles from the road as I approached the town.

La Tour de Crest - The Tower of Crest

I parked my car, strolled through the town and then up an imposing set of steps to visit the tower. The building has a long history; it was originally built in 1394 and was part of a castle complex, and then a prison from the 1700s to the mid nineteenth century. I worked my way steadily up through a series of rooms with displays about the tower's history until I reached the roof, which offered wonderful views but which was swept by a strong wind - the famous Mistral - which made me worried I would be blown away.

So many steps for my little legs!

The view from just below the Tower of Crest

After visiting the tower, I had a coffee in the town's main square before continuing my drive south along a pretty road. Occasionally I passed fields of lavender - the harvest that year was unusually late, and a few fields were still in bloom. I stopped to breath in the scent and admire the hundreds of butterflies visiting the flowers.

Lavender fields in the Drome region

....and butterflies

Vaison-la-Romaine

My route took me further south, past Nyons (which I would visit on a different day) and on to Vaison-la-Romaine in the Vaucluse region of France. This ancient town was once a major Roman city and many ruins remain to this day. I summoned up just enough energy to explore them in the heat of mid-afternoon sun.

Roman ruins in Vaison-la-Romane

Vaison-la-Romane also has a medieval area with a Roman bridge, which is supposed to be pretty, but it was very hot and I didn't want to arrive at my gite late, since I wanted to spend a bit of time chilling beside their pool after two very busy days of sightseeing. I stopped at a roadside shop selling food specialities of the region and bought some bread, olives, cherries, cheese and wine for dinner.

My lodgings were wonderful - a small bed and breakfast which had been bought as a ruin by a couple, who had then stylish renovated it themselves (the husband was formerly a builder by profession). I spent the evening by the pool enjoying the food I had bought - including probably the best cherries I have ever tasted - and watching the sun set over the nearby Chateau du Barroux.

Looking out from my room to the Chateau de Barroux

9th July 2026 4

South of Lyon, France – an Ideal Palace, cute villages and La Combe Laval

The Palace of the 'Facteur Cheval'

Back on Road! This time I am in France for a week, attending a wedding but also taking the opportunity to explore a bit at the same time. My first stop is Hauterives, about an hour's drive south of Lyon. It is a pleasant village, but one which would have remained totally anonymous had it not been for "Facteur Cheval" - the village postman in the late 1800s. Not content with a mail round covering some 40km on foot, Ferdinand Cheval became interested in the different rocks he found in the countryside, began to take them back to his house in a wheelbarrow.......and in 1879 started to build a monument in his back garden, using the samples he had collected plus small amounts of purchased chalk and cement. Totally self-taught and unaided, he carried on building for thirty three years. He let his imagination run wild, helped by pictures on the postcards and magazines he was delivering to other people every day. He finally finished his project in 1912, aged 76.

The North facade of the Palais Ideal du Facteur Laval

The incredible monument soon became a tourist attraction. Some people considered it a remarkable piece of architecture in the naif style. Others called it an ugly folly built by an uneducated peasant. One of the early visitors nicknamed it Cheval's "Palais Ideal" or ideal palace, a name that the postman liked and adopted for his creation. A different early visitor took photographs without authorisation to make postcards, causing Cheval to bring the world's first ever court case for visual copyright, which he won.

My first impression on approaching the palace's north facade was one of puzzlement. At first sight the art work was indeed basic and bizzare, with sculptures representing scenes from the Garden of Eve including a crudely represented Adam, Eve and snake. I wondered why I had made such a detour to look at a bunch of rocks roughly held together by chalk and cement. But having made the effort to get here, I decided to give the place a chance and wandered around its outside before diving into a tunnel passing through its heart and then heading up to the roof.

Inside the Palais Ideal

After a short time, the "palace" began to grow on me. On the west side were reproductions of architecture from around the world - a house in Algers, a swiss chalet, a mosque, a medieval european castle, even an attempt to represent the White House in the USA.

The West facade of the Palais Ideal

Inscriptions at the Palais Ideal

The "White House" is on the left in case you didn't recognise it.....

On the east facade were three strangely-chosen giants from past history - Archimedes, Vercingetorix and Caesar. And all over the palace were inscriptions reflecting a deeply personal, humanist view of the world.

Giants of the Palais Ideal

Saint-Antoine-l'Abbaye

When it was finally time to leave I was enchanted by what I had seen and very glad I had come. The Palais Ideal is a remarkable creation, unique in the world - the work of a single man, uneducated perhaps, but with a strangely haunting vision of architecture.....and of life.Inspired, happy and with a strange peaceful feeling, I headed onwards, south to Saint-Antoine-L'Abbaye, a small village located in the Isere department of France, which won the title of "France's favourite village" in 2025 - a coveted award made annually.

Saint-Antoine-l'Abbaye from below

I left my car at the foot of a steep hill and clambered up to the 900-year old gothic abbey to find a sun-drenched village square and some beautiful old buildings. After wandering around in the heat, I discovered a wonderful small shady garden in an inner courtyard and sat down to enjoy a fresh breeze whilst the sleepy village baked in the midday sun.

The steep walk up

Saint-Antoine-L'Abbaye's main square

Beautiful Building in Saint-Antoine-L'Abbaye

Vercors and the Pont-en-Royans

Feeling very relaxed, I decided it was time to move on again - this time south to the Vercors, a rugged mountainous area of France famous as a centre for the resistance against the Nazis during the second world war. The gateway to this region was another impossibly pretty village called Pont-en-Royans, with curious suspended houses hanging over the side of a small river.

Pont-en-Royans' hanging houses

Pont-en-Royans

Combe-Laval

From there my path headed up steeply into the mountains to the Route Combe Laval, a famous mountain road carved into the face of a cliff and reputed to be one of the most exciting drives in Europe. It was indeed a spectacular road, with narrow tunnels cut in the rock and sweeping views of the mountains.

La Combe Laval

Descending from La Combe Laval towards Die

Passin by the City of Die on my way to Saillans

I continued to the French city of Die, where sadly I didn't have time to stop except to do a short tasting of the local wines in a cellar just outside of the centre. Die is known for its sparkling wines made from a unique local grape, Clairette.......but unfortunately I found that this style of wine was not really to my taste. I carried on to my overnight destination of Saillans, a small town in the Drome region, which was barely mentioned in my guide book and which I had only chosen because its location was convenient for the next day's driving. However Saillans turned out to be a very positive surprise - its compact historical centre was packed with an unusually high concentration of bars and restaurants, which serviced a local population that seemed unusually young for a small French village lost in the countryside.

The main square, Saillans

A sign in the town's main square proposed an interesting short walking tour, which led me through narrow passageways shaded by frequent arches........

Shady passageways in Saillans

.......and strange cul-de-sacs. In one of these the owners had left an amazing collection of toys, with a sign encouraging parents to let their children play there. The town had a young, bohemian and arty feel - quite unlike the usual sleepy provincial French village.

A children's playground, Saillans - spot me, Trouspinet if you can!

After the walking tour I settled down to eat and drink at one of Saillans' busy cafés. 15€ bought me an enormous cheese platter which was almost too much to eat, so I had to order some of the local red wine to help me wash it down. The Drome is not France's most prestigious wine area, but its produce was perfectly drinkable and at 4€ a glass, who cares. When I paid for dinner I had the unusual experience of being pleasantly surprised by how small the bill was, and headed off to my room to digest my meal and review the day's events.

France is a remarkably rich tourist destination - in the space of just one day I had contemplated one of the world's strangest architectural works, visited the two stunning villages of Saint-Antoine-L'Abbaye and Pont-en-Royans, done one wine tasting, driven one of Europe's most spectacular mountain roads and ended up in the interesting small arty town of Saillans. I don't think such a variety of attractions in such a small area exists anywhere else on earth.

8th July 2026 3

Our last day in Tanzania – Arusha National Park

Today was our last day in Tanzania, and we had chosen a low key, less-visited attraction to end our time here – Arusha National Park. This is located a short drive away from Arusha, on the way to Kilimanjaro Airport – so very convenient for our evening flight. After the very long day we had just had stuck in traffic jams, we arranged with our guide Estomih to start the day late, at 10.00. After half an hour of driving we were already at the park’s main gate and visitor centre, from where we got a brilliant view of Mount Meru. At 4560m, this dormant volcano is Tanzania’s second highest mountain and a popular four-day trek for climbers.

Mount Meru as seen from Arusha National Park

Indeed, the visitor centre was quite busy with groups preparing to climb Mt Meru, but once we had passed the gates into the park itself, there were almost no other tourists. Unlike more popular destinations, Arusha National Park has no lions or cheetahs; it is supposed to have some leopards but Estomih said he had never seen one here. The park also has quite dense vegetation, making spotting wildlife harder. But as we found out, despite the lack of big cats, there are lots of other interesting things to see here. Just after the entrance we came across a group (or “tower”) of giraffes in a clearing.

A “tower” of giraffes, Arusha National Park

We then drove along a bumpy track towards one of the park’s main attractions, the Ngurdoto crater. Along the way we found a group of black and white colobus monkeys, but they were so high up in a tree that it was hard to see them properly.

When we reached Ngurdoto we found a volcanic crater about half the size of Ngorongoro. It was pretty, but empty of animals except for a few buffalo. There was a viewing platform and table, which made for an excellent spot for lunch.

The Ngurdoto Crater at Arusha National Park

After our usual meat stew, vegetables, rice and wine we set off exploring again. The fun of this park was spotting elusive small animals, like the shy bushbuck.

Our route took us to the Momela Lakes, one of the park’s other highlights. At the Big Momela Lake we found large flocks of flamingos. Although we had seen these birds several times before in Tanzania, this time we were lucky since for some reason they decided to put on a spectacular flight display for us. It was the first time we had seen a large group of flamingos in the air, and it made for an amazing sight, a bit like an aerial display by an elite fighter jet team.

Heading back towards the park entrance, we finally got a up-close view of magnificent black-and-white colobus monkeys….

….with some smaller vervet monkeys keeping them company.

We reached the large clearing we had first seen at the beginning of the day. This time the giraffes were close to the road, including this cute baby with its mother.

Soon, we found ourselves back at the park’s main gate; our time in Tanzania was now at end and it was time to drive to the airport for our night flight back home. To my readers it might sound like that Arusha National Park was a bit of an anti-climax after the wonders of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro, but actually we found that its low-key, quiet atmosphere was the perfect way to end our trip. It left us feeling happy and reflective as we sat in the airport lounge having one last bottle of Kilimanjaro beer. Tanzania had been a wonderful experience. We had been very lucky with the range of animals we had seen, but I think we had made also good choices around the timing of our trip, our itinerary and our local tour company, Safari Soles. Back home, I will reflect on this a bit more and write up some thoughts on tips for travellers on the “Tanzania” page of this website.

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2nd February 2026 4