Friday 30th: The drive through the Ardeche is absolutely stunning; everything is green. The roads were a bit scary in some places though as the rocky cliff edges stuck out quite far in places and we had to steer over into the other lane to avoid Beluga (The name we call our van because its front bulges out) from being hit and it always seemed to be on a bend which was scary in itself and scarier even when you saw the sheer drop down praying that we wouldn’t meet another vehicle coming from the other direction. Luckily we didn’t!
We stayed in a beautiful campsite called Le ventador which was right on the river. The receptionist was lovely and very friendly and the scenery was epic! It had a rocky section in the river where the water flowed over into a lagoon type bit where people were diving in and swimming around. So of course we parked our van right in front of it so we could see it when we opened our curtains in the morning.
There also happened to be a park right next to us too and a restaurant which we dined at that evening whilst our fussy little eater of a daughter played on the park where she very quickly made friends with some French kids. The pizza was delicious and just to my liking with a very thin base. Perfect! I also had a glass of rosé!
Afterwards we took our son to join his sister on the park but unfortunately it didn’t last very long. I put him on the roundabout thinking he was safe enough on the inside of it holding on as I gently pushed him round following him all the way and then stupidly I stood in one place whilst watching him (because I had pushed a few times already and he stayed still, grinning) when he decided at that moment to climb onto the seat and stand up! I couldn’t get to him in time as I watched him do it and sadly he toppled over as he tried to grab onto the bar in front of him. It was one of those awful moments when everything seemed to happen in slow motion. I honestly felt sick as I watched him fall, twisting his head in an awful way as he hit the ground. I was terrified that he had broken his neck or something as I rushed to scoop him up (not the best thing to do if he had- which he hadn’t) but obviously it’s the first thing you do as a parent. I clung him to me as he sobbed his little heart out whilst I was quietly beating myself up about it and thinking what a terrible mother I was when I finally pulled him from me to have a look at him. Well, his nose was pouring with blood and it had dripped all down my back and in my hair! I quickly dashed into the motorhome to mop him up and check him over thoroughly. He soon fell asleep from the pain but kept waking up and crying- we later found out it was also because he was teething and his teeth were ready to cut any day. I went to bed that night feeling terrible.
The next day was gloriously sunny and our little boy was feeling much better from his ordeal the day before unlike my husband who was still not feeling very well and pretty much slept most of the day. The kids were getting fed up of being stuck in the van because I wouldn’t allow them out until I had found our sun lotion which seemed to have vanished. I located a shop that was a 20 min drive away and was fully prepared to walk the distance but my husband found enough energy to pull himself out of bed and drive us there so I could purchase some more. We had just got back to the campsite when the wind started blowing quite heavily. There was going to be a thunderstorm, you could just feel it and sure enough a few minutes later it began. Luckily it didn’t last all day and so when it had stopped myself and my little girl went out for an adventure whilst our son slept.
Safe in her wet shoes from the rocky river ,we went upstream to explore. We saw many frogs, even a red one, a rock pool full of tadpoles, lots of grasshoppers and even a few lizards along our walk. We even made a little stone pathway between two of the rock pools as it was too far a leap for our little girl so she helped me find big flat rocks to help make a bridge for her to step over. We reached the end and decided to head back and do the other side but first we would check in on the other two. Our little girl ran back full of excitement and tales of our adventure as my husband opened the door upon hearing our approach. It was so warming to see her having a great time after spending most of the day tucked inside. Thankfully our little boy had woken up too so I strapped him in his carrier and slung it across my back so he could join us on our next adventure on the other side of the rocky outcrop in the river. Our daughter wanted to walk across the rocky ridge to the other side of the river and so we did. She was very brave and very good at listening to my instructions when we got to some tricky parts and so in doing so we made it to the other side safely. This side had a narrow wall that went along to some more rocks but we decided to turn back upon inspection as I didn’t feel safe enough with little man on my back whilst also trying to help our daughter cross when I was on my own. We pointed out lots of fish and more frogs as we clambered our way back to the beach where we would finish off with a small walk along the edge of the lagoon bit before going back to the van.
We were walking through the shallows of the water when our little lady started to chase a frog that she had seen by gently putting the tip of her foot near it so it would jump. Obviously frightened, it jumped into the safety of the river where she pursued it further (she’s only a child and means no harm) when it swam onto the edge of her foot! She stayed very still bless her whilst it clambered onto her foot completely (obviously in need of a rest bless it) and then she very gently lifted her foot out of the water. Well, she found this absolutely hilarious and was laughing her head off before slowly lowering her foot back into the water where the frog swam off and she left it be. She was so excited from her adventure that she again ran back to tell her daddy all about it. It wasn’t a complete waste of a day after all and so it was that I went to bed that night with a smile on my face.
K.E.E.N Explorers 