Getaway to Spectacular South of France | Scenic River Cruise | Episode 2 : Part 3
[Music] welcome back to Getaway where I’m enjoying the sunshine on a scenic river cruise through southern France a gourmet barbecue like this is just the fuel needed to explore the charming village of Vivier vivier is a medieval town that sits right on the banks of the Rome River this was all covered with water and it was dangerous to build houses here so the village has stayed as it is since the 13th century so 800 years nearly no change most of the houses are from that time overlooking the town is the magnificent St vincent Cathedral but it’s down amongst the cobblestone streets that the story of Vivier comes alive so this is a very special street here and you will notice that the pattern is always the same so there is one big door small door then again one big door small door usually there were workshops here either the owner of the house or somebody renting the workshop and presenting all his goods out here okay because people would never go into the workshop because there was no pavement here was earth and there was no toilet so in the morning they would pour out their stuff so you would This would have just been disgusting exactly viviier is a town of hidden courtyards and houses carved into the hillside with many secrets behind closed doors david look at that house this is a very special house and we will discover something very special in here during World War II resistance groups were active throughout German occupied France in here step in David have a look at that look at this what is this little secret corridor so during the Second World War people were hiding in there so the door that you can see on the other side didn’t exist so they were hiding from what the German invasion yeah the Gishap wow this region of France holds many secrets and about an hour away in the Ardesh National Park there is one of the biggest hide holes you will ever see the natural landscapes here in France are quite incredible you know you stand up here like this and just such an amazing view this is an amazing view yeah you are right in the art of the here so it’s a very popular place in the summer over here because people come here to canoe and there’s lots of outdoor activities and this is a place as you can see and there’s lots of limestones so the all those cliff art dot with caves the Meline caves are some of the most grand and accessible in France here we are wow this is incredible Valerie it is they were discovered in 1887 by a shepherd who was searching for his lost goat now he had to walk for a while with his candle in the dark completely in the dark did he find the goat in the end yes he did actually and found this beautiful place stallic tights and stallic mines sprout from the surfaces but it’s the Meline Caves limestone curtains that are truly astonishing they actually grow at 1 cm every 100 years wow you know we’re just passing through this place we live in 100 years and they grow one cm so if you if you see those curtains 6 m high it puts it all in perspective doesn’t it yes now if you come down to the bottom of a cave system there’s 250 steps that you need to navigate and just remember there’s 250 on the way back up as well