Avignon South of France

Another memorable day.
It started near Macon in quite heavy rain so the hood was up and the headlights on. The motorways are never nice in rain. After a couple of hours the rain stopped for about an hour so we had a break and a coffee.
I have a battery isolator under the dash in easy reach so I tend to use it a lot. As I switched it on and started the engine there was a loud bang from under the dashboard. I said what was that noise and before Mandy has time to answer smoke started pouring out from under the dash. So much that I couldn't see the foot well. I reached under and switched off the breaker which stopped the engine and whatever was smoking. We both got out of the car and the car parked next to us drove off in a hurry. When the smoke cleared enough to see I noticed the device I wired in the provide 2 USB sockets was just a melted lump of plastic. Strange that the fuse didn't blow. I unplugged it and threw it in the bin, walked into the shop and bought a USB sockets which plugs into a cigarette lighter socket. That is spare because the Garmin sat nav was unknowingly supplied with no euro maps. So problem solved but the car is still smelly tonight.
If that wasn't enough we then drive into a horrendous thunder storm. All the traffic slowed right down as lightning flashed around us and the rain was so heavy the motorway was like a lake.
It cleared for the last half hour into Avignon. I was pleased to reach the hotel which overlooks the river Rhône just by the bridge.
We walked into town and to the papal palace which is huge. It was once a fortress then a palace used in the 14th and 15th century to house the Pope. I'll attach photos. It is one of the largest and most important medieval gothic buildings in Europe.Read more