We have a big sleep-in, no reason to rush anywhere.  Head down to breakfast just before it closes and have a very nice continental brunch.  We get on the road and head for Valence where we want to stock up with supplies for our Gite (holiday home). This is to be home for the next week. We are learning that the centre of town is not the place to buy essentials.  They are preserved as historic tourist traps with expensive boutique shops.  We did find a huge outdoor market and brought veggies, cheeses and olives.  Traffic is reasonably busy and not knowing where we are going and where/how we can park is a bit of a challenge.  

We get a street address for a Commercial Centre (mall) and Tomtom gets us there.  We found the biggest supermarket we have ever been in but it was worse than that, we couldn’t read the bloody labels.  I think we were in there a couple of hours. Simple things like French for tea towel gave us a real challenge and a big laugh when they work out what we are after.  Good fun but it was great to get out of the place. Valvignere’s was a very small place, a church, smallest shop ever which doubled as the Post Office, an agricultural shop and a Resturant. I believe there is also the Mayoral office where the wedding is to take place on Thursday.

Our Gite is about 3km out of town at the vineyard where we are having the reception.  It is a good friend of Chloe. We arrive there about 5 o’clock. Chloe’s mum & dad, sister Jackie, here daughter Rita and Martin & Chloe’s daughter Nola were already at their Gite, 500 metres down the road.  They had invited us down for dinner.  Our first time to meet nearly five year old Nola. It is good when she recognses me from our odd Skype calls.