There were very strong winds and heavy rain overnight and, despite the fact that they had not cleared, we decided to head off early anyway before it got any worse. And it was just as well, because the first part of our trip was on lowland rural roads that we had come in on last night, and some were approaching the flooded situation this morning. So we were very glad to get out early and back onto the main highways. The rain continued for another hour or so, but as we headed north we moved out of the rain belt.

Today we were headed for Tournon-sur-Rhone, a town we had visited, and enjoyed, on the barge in 2018, so now we would see what it was like arriving by road in Vanumbra.

Once the rain stopped, the trip was fairly pleasant, as we were often in sight of the River Rhone, and the traffic was fairly light.

We arrived in Tournon in the early afternoon, and were lucky to get a great campsite on the banks of the Rhone with views of the Hermitage vineyards on the far side of the river.

In the afternoon, we went for a walk in the town, and crossed the old bridge, which is now a pedestrian bridge. On the other side of the river, a Cruise Ship, similar to what Craig and Ginger had recently been on, was moored

We thought this boat was big, until we saw another freight barge cruising down the Rhone. Now, this is a barge!!

Since the weather was a bit threatening, we headed back to our side of the river, and stopped for a drink in a cafe frequented by dog-owners. It was interesting to watch the interactions between the dogs, and between the dogs and the children of the dog-owners. After we left the cafe, we stopped at a newsagent that also had laminated place-mats featuring headlines from your year of birth. We bought several as gifts for friends, and also two for ourselves. Now I know that me, Richard Gere and Lego are the same age.

Once back in the van, we had salmon for dinner, followed by a couple of games of Yahtzee, and then we watched a few programs from the ABC on their Iview platform (using our VPN software).

That evening we were again hit by a strong thunderstorm. It seems the seasons are achanging.