This map shows you where we were supposed to go today. It was only a short drive to our first stop: Valence, considered to be the end of the Northern Rhône wine region.

We farewelled the land of “elegant Syrahs” and headed towards “Grenache country”. The climate is described as Mediterranean, with milder winters and hotter summers.

Valence looked like it had not woken up yet. We went for a walk through the centre part of town and although it was after 10.00am, there were few people around.

We had a hitch with charging our car yesterday and had decided we would wait until today when we stopped in Valence, as we knew there was a fast charger there that would accept the EV charging card that I had.

Rather than spending a few hours in Valence, we decided to head to Montélimar, the second largest city in this department.

We arrived there as shops were shutting down too, for lunch, and we were hungry.

We found a nice brasserie opposite a park and enjoyed fish and chips for Mick and freshly cooked duck breast for me.

Near where we parked, there was this statue in front of the Marie.

Next stop was for a wine tasting. I had read that this domaine was worth visiting. So we headed off for a 60-minute drive. And at around 58 minutes, I stopped the car and said we could go no further. The road had turned into a goat track and it had been very bad for at least 4 kilometres. We were on the wrong road, and this time it was not Google’s fault. It was mine. I’d put in the wrong address – just a couple of kilometers out, but it made a HUGE difference. After trying to maneuver a very difficult reverse three point turn on this goat track, we headed in the correct direction and found what we had been looking for, and it was well worth the effort.

At Domaine Montine we tasted some excellent wines from the Southern Rhône, and we were so surprised at the prices; they were so much cheaper than wines from the Northern Rhône. And Mick was very happy to be able to taste some grenache-based wines.

Then we headed to Vaison-La-Romaine, where we will spend five nights, to meet the owner of our accommodation and again I had made an error in typing the address. We were only a few kilometers out of town when we realised we were not going in the right direction. Again, my fault not Google’s. Mick was bighting his tongue.

And I was very grateful.

We eventually arrived at a very busy location, filled with lots of pedestrians, to unload our suitcases. And while Mick went on a tour of our accommodation, I parked the car down the hill somewhat.

This location and this accommodation look awesome.

The arrow I have drawn shows where our apartment is.

We opened that bottle a few hours later and it was undrinkable. A nice thought on behalf of the owner, but it made us think he might not drink wine himself. It smelt like a piggery.

We walked across the little road around 5.30pm for a drink and some tapas, which turned out to be dinner, as we were still both full from lunch.

Could be dangerous!