The Loire Valley

The Loire Valley. July 31 - August 2.

Our B+B in Amboise was beautiful. I am not sure what the buildings once were, but there were 2 old stone buildings set in about 5 acres of parkland right on the edge of Amboise. The owner – Annick, was very welcoming and chatty – she apparently runs the joint on her own, and her 2 daughters do little to help! Also roaming the property were 2 horses, 3 cats and 2 dogs, also a number of frogs and lizards. Rebecca was very happy! Unfortunately we were all in one room, but it was quite large and the bathroom was big and had a real shower! We also had our own outdoor table and chairs and a guest kitchen area with a fridge!!! Not many of accommodation places had provided a fridge for guests – cold beer is not a priority in this part of the world.

We walked into town to enquire about hiring bikes, but the place was closed, good old French labour laws. You must not work more than 35 hours per week and most places close at 7.00pm. So we wandered towards the Chateau D’Amboise and the centre of town, where there was a small market set up and some plastic tables and chairs had been set up. After a good look up and down we decided that would do for dinner tonight. I had a chicken and rice dish – with African origins, Rebecca got a French version of a hot dog, Courtenay a pancake type thing and Brian was going to get some sausages – until he smelt the smell – TRIPES!!!! Once bitten twice shy. He went for a local dish of mushrooms and ham – which he then swapped with mine because he does not like mushrooms! We also bought a bottle of locally produced wine for Euro5.00.
An American couple sat down next to us also with a bottle of wine. We made small talk and they asked the ages of the girls, and commented that they ahd children of a similar age, who were off sulking somewhere. We concurred as ours have had their moments! They left and a couple of French blokes sat down. The girls had gone off and come back with marshmallows on a stick, dipped in hot chocolate. They laughed at them licking every last scrap of chocolate. They spoke a little English and were obviously in the tourist trade as they knew the hot air balloon operators and the Kayak/canoe operators. I had picked up a brochure on the Kayak adventure and we decided that we might do it. They gave us a glass each of their bottle wine – which was better that ours, so we bought another bottle and enjoyed the warm evening and great French ambience. The girls were kept happy with several more chocolate marshmallow sticks!

Time to get bikes and do some cycling at last. We visited Richard cycles – and some of my best French to date we hired 4 bikes for 2 days. Let’s just say they were not quite the standard or style of bikes we usually ride. If only the DOW riders could see Brian now!

We had bought a map of local cycle tours and off we all went. The maps were not very detailed and the instructions were in French, and the bikes were not the best!!! I will say no more. But we clocked up about 30km, felt like we had ridden a hard 100lm and arrived back at Annick's with seriously sore bottoms!

We had nothing booked for dinner, so Rebecca and I walked into town, while Brian and Courtenay cycled – there was no way I was getting on that bike seat again today! Amboise has many, many restaurants, and unfortunately for us they were all full. Eventually we found one – beware of the only restaurant in town that is not booked out. Crap food at tourist prices best sums it up!

Yesterday we cycled along the north side of the Loire and did not see any really spectacular château’s – which was quite disappointing. So today we are going to the River Cher and probably one of the most photographed of all the Loire Chateau’s – Chenonceaux. The first meeting of bike seat and rear end was not a happy reunion! I felt sorer than the day after “around the Bay”. The château was a hilly 12 km away. We arrived around 10.30am and it was already quite crowded – bloody tourists!
Inside was even more crowded – and as we have seen a lot of castles we did not linger too long, but had a good look around. It is quite interesting, but the gardens and overall view of it sitting over the river Cher probably its best feature. I guess we may be getting a bit castled out.

We bought some baguettes in the village, ate them on the river bank opposite the main entrance – (one advantage of being on a bike), then went back to Amboise. Courtenay and Rebecca spent the afternoon relaxing and Brian and I went for a ride down to a small town called Vouvray – stopping at a couple of wine caves dug into the river banks on the way. It would have been quite pleasant if we had not been riding something the weight of a German tank and into a 40 knot head wind!!! But at least we had the tailwind for most of the way home.

Tonight we had booked a restaurant in advance, and were looking forward to a slightly more upmarket French dinner. We had chosen well and it was very French and quite intimate – a pity we had the children! I decided to be adventurous and order duck breast – cooked medium. Medium in French I remembered all too late is what we would call rare – very rare! I ate the outside bits and gave the rest to Brian who had worried down a feed of snails followed by Coq au Vin.

August 2nd.Today Annick has given us a special early breakfast so we can go kayaking on the Loire before our drive to Paris. It is a beautiful day with a cloudless sky and no wind. We have hired 2 kayaks and 1, 2 person canoe. The tour company drives us 20km up stream to Chambord – the home of another famous chateau. We hit the water with Rebecca and me in Kayaks and Courtenay and Brian in the canoe. The Loire is magical – flat as a pancake and very quiet. We glide past the chateau and after a couple of km’s pull into an island and swap vessels. A few more km’s and we drag the kayaks and canoe ashore and scrambled up the bank for a bit of wine tasting at a “cave”. We buy a couple of bottles for Euro3.00 each and back to the water. The Loire is the last truly “wild” river in France and meanders its way to the coast. It is very wide in places and has lots of islands. It is hard to describe, but the experience is wonderful. We arrive back in Amboise all too soon. We could of easily done another 20km – as long as it was downstream!

Time to drive the 200km to Paris and farewell the Renault!

Bordeaux

Bordeaux – July 26 – 30.

5 Days in Bordeaux – Brian is excited. There are a lot of famous wineries in the various regions of Bordeaux. But first of all we are going to see the departure of “The Tour” from Pau. We had a copy of the day’s paper and could tell that big things were happening, especially regarding Rasmussen. Unfortunately everything is in French! But I have figured out that for some reason his team have sacked him, another rider has tested positive for testosterone and Cofidis have been kicked out also!!! I think that was the press conference we had seen.

It is all happening at the start line. A lot of spectators, cyclists and media all mingling. We hoped to be able to get close to Cadel to give him a cheerio, but just missed him. We got a good position just past the roll out line next to some other Aussie’s and as the Peleton rode past gave them a loud rendition of Waltzing Matilda, much to the amusement of some of the crowd and several of the European riders, but Cadel heard it and looked up at us with a quick smile.

Off to Bordeaux and our cottage via the Motorway. The cottage is on the outskirts of Bordeaux and is semi rural and is set in the grounds of a Chateau. It looks just like the picture on the Internet and we are looking forward to our 5 nights, and being able to cook our own meals – a little easier on the wallet too. The guy who owns the Chateau is a wine dealer – quite a successful one I think judging by his house and car collection. I had done all the bookings through his wife, who was away when we arrived. Didier was very polite and showed us the ins and outs of our cottage, but we got the impression that he did not often deal with the “common guests”. But he was very helpful and gave us several wine maps of the region and advised us not to visit the Medoc region on the weekend as they are all lazy and do not open on weekends.

We decided to visit the Medoc region on Friday, have one last look at the Tour de France on Saturday, and have a rest day on Sunday and visit St. Emillion on Monday

Friday was nice and sunny – something of a rarity this summer in Bordeaux France in general is having a very poor summer, with many cloudy days and quite cool temperatures. The beach resort people were all complaining. We have been quite lucky apart from the first few days in the Haute Savoir region.

We started the day the French way with a visit to the bakery that was only about 100 meters away. Fresh croissants, baguette and coffee. We are on the north east side of the city of Bordeaux and the Medoc region is west of the city, so the trusty GPS was used to guide us through the city. Soon we were amongst rows and rows of very neat vines. Our first stop was Margeaux, followed by Pauillac. Some of the famous wineries around here are Mouton Rothschild, Chateau Latour, Chateau Margeaux and many more. Brian is the expert here and at one stage the girls though he may actually start drooling. Unfortunately as these wineries are so famous and their wines sell all over the world for hundreds and in some cases thousands of dollars a bottle, they do not need Mr and Mrs Average like us, and do not open to the public. Mouton Rothschild is probably the most famous, and the only exception. They do guided tours that are booked on site. The only English speaking tour that was not booked out was the following Tuesday, so it looks like we will be coming back. The Artisan wineries (small family owned and operated wineries) were running a long weekend promotion and we collected a tour route from the Office of Tourisme, and visited a couple. They all had some lovely wines – most of them only made 2 – 3 varieties, and only produced 10 – 20,000 bottles a year, and they were really cheap – only about 7 – 10 euros per bottle. A good opportunity to stock up on some wines for drinking each evening for the rest of our stay in France, and to maybe get a couple to take home.

We had also promised the girls a trip to the beach – wine tasting is not really their thing! I was also looking forward to the chance to dip my toe into the Atlantic. It was nearly 4.30 when we got there, but the beach was still very busy. It was a very long straight strip of sand, and this one even had waves! But like the Mediterranean the bathers did not actually get in – preferring to stand knee deep in the water, and no boogie boards – what is wrong with these people.

We stayed only about an hour as we had promised Courtenay that she could visit the chocolatier we had seen and have a chocolate tasting. It was back in Margeaux, but by the time we got back there it was closed – she was not happy!!!!

Saturday, and off to see if Cadel can achieve a miracle, and knock 1.50 off Contador’s time and take the lead in the Tour. We decided to try for a spot near the finish in Angouleme. It was only about an hour’s drive from Bordeaux, and we got there and parked just before the caravan arrived – another large collection of freebies. We were still 4 km’s from the finish, so Rebecca and I walked in that direction while Brian and Courtenay tried to park a bit closer to the finish. There did not seem to be a lot of people around, so a spot close to the line looked promising. Sure enough we made it to the 50 metre line and in front of a big screen so we could see what was happening. Brian left us 3 there and went off to visit the nearby town of Cognac, and the staring point for the time trial. As the afternoon wore on the crowds increased and so did the excitement level. Leipheimer was obviously pulling out something special – we could tell from the screen, and the pitch of the course announcer’s voice. The commentary was all in French, so we only had those 2 factors to rely on. Cadel seemed to be doing quite well and was gaining time on Contador, but Leipheimer was the worry. To take the lead Cadel needed to win and get the bonus 20 seconds. The excitement level was at fever pitch and you could not help but get swept up in it. As Cadel rounded the corner for the final straight we all started yelling, even though he was about 1000 meters away still. He put in almighty effort, but unfortunately was 23 seconds too slow. I saw him about 15 minutes after the finish and he looked absolutely stuffed. You could tell as he came up the home straight that he had given it everything that he had. Although the world will not remember who came second in the 2007 Tour de France, we will!.

Sunday was a bit drizzly and we wandered off into the city of Bordeaux for a look around. It is a very historic city, with a lovely big park in the middle off it. We had a wander around a couple of markets, but were not really in the mood for doing much, so went back to our Cottage to watch the end of The Tour and a relaxing evening.

Monday was our visit to the medieval village of Saint Emillion, which is also a premier wine area. The village is on the top of a small hill and has very narrow cobblestone streets. It was established in the 7th and 8th century by the Saint “Emillion”. We took a tour of the catacombs and monolithic cathedral, which was built in the 12th century. It was surprisingly well preserved, though the bell tower had begun to damage to “sag” a bit so the columns supporting it had been reinforced with a steel “corset”.

We shouted our selves a proper French lunch. The food was OK, but the service was lousy – disappointing as the Frogs are supposed to be good at this stuff, and lunch is their big thing!. Brian left the restaurant after his main to go off and explore the wine “caves”. The girls and waited 30 minutes to order dessert and another 20 to get it. We have worked out that you are supposed to order dessert when you order the rest of your meal if you are ordering A-La-Carte. Brian returned from his wine explorations just as we were finishing our dessert and we had another 15 minute wait for the bill – we were very tempted to just walk out.

We drove home via the Dordogne, which is the “foodie” area of France and the home of Fois Gras and snails. We did not stop for either, although Brian has had some Fois Gras at various times during the trip and will have some snails before the trip is over. I intend to have neither. I don’t like Pate so Fois Gras is not even an option and the thought of snails is just plain Yuk – very boring I know, but that is the way it is.

Tonight we had to do some laundry. Not exciting stuff really, off we trotted to the “laundry room” that we had been shown earlier – obviously one does not have a laundry within ones chateau, but rather a separate building for the servants to take care of such menial tasks. There was a washing machine and a dryer, but all the instructions were in French. We got the washing machine to go – all front loaders over here, but could not figure the dryer. We thought we had it figured and went back 1 hour later; only to find that the clothes had not dried at all – there was no heat So we gave up and spread them over couches and chairs in the cottage – they were mostly dry in the morning. What a drama – just for a bit of washing!

Tuesday July 31, and time to move on. First, our booked visit to Mouton Rothschild. We made it just in time. It was very interesting – first a short film narrated by Baroness Philippina Rothschild about the history of the Chateau and winery, then a tour of the wine making areas including the great barrel hall that holds 100 oak barrels. The climax of the tour was the tasting of 3 wines from the 2006 vintage: d’Armailhac, Clerc Milon and Mouton Rothschild. Mouton Rothschild sells for $600.00 per bottle + depending on the vintage. 2006 was considered a “difficult” year – you never have a bad year, but it tasted just fine to us – even though it would not be bottled for another year, and 15 years before it was considered ready to drink. All in all, very pleasant and interesting - in my next life I think I might like to be a Baroness and the sole owner of one of the worlds most famous wineries!

Time for our next stop – Amboise and the Loire Valley!

Aramits – July 23 – 25.

3 nights in one place. When we arrived last night it was quite late and the supermarket had closed, so we had to travel about 15kn into Oloron St. Marie for dinner. After driving around we found a Pub that was open and they had Euro12.00, 4 course meals. Starters was a local soup called Grubere – made from Pork, cabbage and potatoes. Doesn’t sound that great, but it is sensational! It came in a big tureen and we ate the lot – it was 9.45 and we had not eaten for about 8 hours! Next was a choice of salads – also good, followed by a selection of mains. I had pork, the girl’s steak and Brian duck. Dessert for me was Crème Brulee, ice-cream for the girls and Fromage for Brian. The reason I mention it, is that the food was really good and the price only Euro12.00 each.

The 24th July is Brian’s birthday, which also coincided with the rest day for “The Tour” in Pau. Due to our busy schedule, and late arrival the night before, we had not managed to get him a present or a card – although I did buy the Raybans. So we made cards and the girls got together a lovely collection of “Tour de France” caravan freebies and wrapped the beautifully in that days addition of “le”equipe” I had carted Steve Waugh’s book with me half way around the world (actually Brain had, as it was in the heavy suitcase, and he had already seen it in there and asked what it was), so gave him that. Possibly one of his more unusual collection of presents.
Pau was about 40km away, so off we went in search of someone familiar or famous or both! It also has a famous castle. We did not find anyone famous, or even familiar, but we had a good look around the castle. We also had a look at the huge media contingent that follows “the Tour” and stuck our heads into the media centre, before being asked to leave. Someone important was giving a press conference, but we could not see who it was. It was hard to keep up to date with the news of “The Tour”, but we had worked out that storm clouds were gathering over Rasmussen and that Vinakorov had been kicked out over blood doping.

We went back to Aramits and out to dinner in another nearby village called Arette. The meal was much more expensive than the previous night, and no where near as good. It was a bit of a let down, especially as we wanted a “special” dinner for the birthday boy. Can’t win thjem all I guess.

The 25th dawned bright and sunny, which was a bit of a change as the lat couple of days ahd been quite cloudy, with a few showers of rain. Although the Tour went close to us we decided on a day of sightseeing. Europes highest train line goes from a place called Artouste which is quite close by, and as most of the people in the area would be watching the Tour as it was the final mountain stage, it should not be too busy we figured. It was hard getting through the traffic at Laruns, which is at the bottom of the Col de Aubisque, but eventually made it. We were in Basque country and these people really love their cycling – and wear a lot of Orange!

The Pyrenees Atlantiques are stunning – especially on a clear sunny day. To get to the “Petit Train”, you leave from an altitude of 1000 meters and take a gondola up to the top of a mountain at 2000 meters. From there the little train winds its way deep into the Pyrenees and up to about 2300 metres, from there you walk to a small lake that is brilliant blue in colour. It was quite breathtaking. We climbed up a goat track
Above the lake, and on the way down I slipped on some loose rocks and landed very hard on my left buttock! I hobbled back to the train – knowing I would be sporting quite a bruise.

After leaving Artouste we drove over the Col de _____ and into Spain again, past numerous ski resorts, along a pretty valley, through a 8 km tunnel and back into France!
We had decided on a BBQ tea, and purchased all the necessary ingredients at the supermarket. The B+B com0plex had a BBQ for the guests to use, so we finished off a lovely day with a good old Barbie! Some of the ski runs looked really good, so a return visit in the winter one day is not out of the questio

St Girons to Aramits

St. Girons to Aramits. July 23.

After the excitement of yesterday, we could not wait to get a spot on the side of a mountain for today.

We decided on Col de Portet d’Aspet just out of St Lary. The only problem was, when would they close the road? After some initial hold ups by some very confused Gendarmes, we managed to make it almost to St. Lary, by driving around some back roads. With a GPS and Michelin map book you can go any where. We parked about 2 kms out of town – (they wouldn’t let us go any further), and walked into St. Lary to await the “Caravan” We had found out they slowed down in the towns and you got more “stuff”. A couple of cyclists stopped near me ( many, many cyclists ride the stage, or part of it) I noticed they were wearing cycling jerseys from a Hobart bike shop. Sure enough they were from Tassie and had bought 2 bikes they day before for Euro156.00 each. Good bikes – NO! I was told. Crappy gears and they were really heavy, but they said it was a bit of fun and they would sell them in a week or so.

Our information about the caravan was correct. Rebecca picked a spot on her own, on the opposite side of the road to most of the others, and soon had a huge collection of stuff. It could just get to washing machine - we were accumulating plenty of washing powder samples. Lots of keys rings, quite a few hats and some little sausages called “Fagots”

Once the caravan had passed we walked about 2 km up the mountain. Bugger riding up it – it was quite hot, and walking was hard enough. We found a spot on a corner at the top of quite a long straight stretch and only 2 other groups of people were their. We had bought our French “esky” with us and had a picnic – the usual Baguette, Jambon and fromage. ( Bread ham and cheese for the English speaking), washed down with a couple of strange tasting beers. We think it had Tequila and lime in it.

The usual helicopters and motorbikes announced the riders. No Cadel in the first group – not good! But we gave them a good “Allay, Allay, Allay”. Then a big group – this one had Cadel. So it was “Aussie Aussie Aussie – go Cadel. He passed really close to Rebecca and looked up when he heard the “Go Cadel” and Australian Accent. That made her day!

A long walk back down, a “natural” stop on the way – work it out, and we were back to the car. Off to Aramits. I thought it was about 100km away – a map check revealed it to be about 200km away. Never mind it was a lovely day and the scenery very easy on the eye.

We eventually got to the village of Aramits – drove around it twice. Aramits is not a big place. No sign of our B + B. A check of the booking did not help – no address. Just the name of the place, Aramits and a phone number. After asking several people and no- one having heard of them we had to make a call. I remembered from their website that they were up on a hill overlooking the village, but of course did not know which hill, and there were quite a few. Fortunately they answered their phone, and came to meet us – it is on a hillside out of Aramits and we would never have found it on our own – lots of little roads and no signs!

The place is lovely – it was once a farm and they have converted the main Farmhouse into a collection of guest rooms and have converted one of the barns into a games room, 2 little flats, and a dining area. They also have a pool! It is owned by “retired” English couple who I think are not short of a quid. We had booked the rooms in the Farmhouse. The girls even had a room each! Quite a change from the many nights we had spent all in one room.

St Girons

Ax Les Thermes to St Girons – July 22.

One good thing about our itinerary stuff up – we can see a stage of the Tour that we didn’t plan on!

Today’s stage is due to finish on top of Plateau Le Beille – about 15kms away. We had seen lost of Tour vehicles the night before and as we drove into Ax Les Thermes at about 9.30am people were already lining the sides of the road, even though the cyclists were still a good 6 – 7 hours away. One problem though the road was due to close in 2 hours, and not re-open until later that night. So we drove to Les Cabannes, which is where the cyclists turn and begin the final climb up Plateau Le Beille. We park the car past the turn off point – actually quite a long way past as there was cars and camper vans lining the sides of the road for several km’s. We had to walk about 2 km’s back to Les Cabannes, and after a quick lunch in a hastily set up restaurant in what looked like an unoccupied shop – the food came from the restaurant across the street, ( the Tour brings a lot of revenue to these small towns) we began to walk up the mountain. We only went about a km as we needed to get away quite quickly after the cyclists came through. The road by this age was lined 3 deep by this stage. We spotted an Australian flag and settled in beside 3 blokes from Tassie! The fever and hype was building and the 2 hour wait passed quite quickly before the first vehicle of the “caravan” passes through. The Tour De France caravan has nothing to do with cycling! It is a procession of 200 vehicles tooting horns and throwing out freebies of everything from hats to laundry liquid. It was quite funny watching grown men scrapping over a free key ring! Soon we had gathered quite a little collection of booty, and a yellow cloth bag to put it all in. After the caravan comes, a spasmodic stream of media vehicles, then the hum of helicopters – the cyclists were close. Around the bend came a car and about 6 motorbikes, and just behind them 3 cyclists. It was quite steep where we were and we noticed 2 things: 1. These 3 guys were all very small and wiry, 2. they were going quite fast! Loud cheering and shouts of Allay, Allay Allay, and the first group were gone. Where was Cadel – another group was approaching and he was in it! Come on Cadel you can do it. In about 40 minutes the tailenders had passed and we began our walk back to the car. We had no idea who had won, or if they had even reached the summit which was about 5 kms away, but it did not seem to matter – we had been part of “The Tour” it is hard to explain, but you get very swept up in all the hoopla.

Ax Les Thermes

St. Louis to Ax-Les Thermes: July 21.

We slept well in our cupboard, and were up and about at the respectable holiday hour of 9.00am. Breakfast in the village – the usual fresh baguette, croissants, deux grande café noir and deux chocalat sho.

Today, a drive through the Pyrenees Orientals on the Spanish side, into Andorra and out again back into France.

The Spanish border crossing was quite uneventful – like Switzerland we barely realised that we had. The Spanish architecture is very different to France. A lot of river stone and wooden houses.

The drive to Andorra took about 2 hours, and then we hit a border delay. Andorra is one of these strange little tax free havens that seem to dot Europe. The police were searching a lot of the vehicles going in – not sure why, but we were glad they did not search ours as we have accumulated a lot of stuff and the Renault is chockers!

Andorra seems to consist of a series of duty free shopping centres. We stopped in the “capital” city – La Vella. Brian was looking for new Raybans and this looked like a good place to find them. It took awhile, but eventually he made a decision – who said women can’t make up their minds! I got a new pair of glasses! All you smokers out there – read this and weep – a carton of smokes was Euro10.00 (about AUD16.00) A lot of people smoke in Andorra!

Andorra is also up in the Pyrenees and La Vella nestles in a steep valley. We went into a café for lunch, just as their was a huge clap of thunder and it began to rain – a torrential downpour!!!. Soon water was streaming down the cliffs and the narrow streets were awash. It lasted about 15 minutes and within half an hour the street was dry again. Petrol is also cheap, so we filled the car with gazole, bought some beer – also cheap, and waited to cross back into France. This was also quite a delay. Once again we did not get searched.

As we began our descent into the valley floor and towards the small town of St. Girons, were we had pre-booked accommodation – ripper no more searching for a hotel room for the night. Our discussion turned to the Tour de France, and the next days’ stage we were going to watch. I said that the stage would start in Foix and we could watch it depart, then drive a different route to see one of the climbs. Brian made the comment that the stage on the 21st did not start from Foix – alarm bells began to ring! If the stage did not start from Foix, we were not booked into St. Girons tonight. A quick search of the itinerary I had done revealed that we had made a small mistake. The night of the 21st was supposed to be spent in Spain. Bugger – I had though as we drove through the Pyrenees that it would have been good to spend a night - Gerona has been a place of interest for awhile as quite a few professional cyclists live there – including my favourite Lance Armstrong at one stage. But too late now. Where would we spend the night? The Tour came through this area the next day and I knew that accommodation was very scarce. The first major town we came to was Ax Les Thermes – no luck here. Pretty place but due to the Tour De France finishing on one of the nearby mountain tops everything was ‘Compleat”

We even tried the camping ground – desperate times call for desperate measures! No luck – minimum stay in a cabin was one week. We drove out of town, and saw a hotel sign for 2kms over the river and up a side road. The proprietor spoke no English at all, but after some sign language and a little help from a man sitting nearby we secured 2 rooms for the price of one – and I also helped a couple from Invercargill in NZ get a room. They too had been searching for some time.

Fleury to the Pyrenees: July 20

Another great feast for breakfast! Elaine – if you read this you have the award for best breakfast!

Today our journey takes us from Fleury to the French border, with a visit to the medieval walled city of Carcassonne.

We say goodbye to Elaine, Julian, Tom, Alice and Daniel. We have really enjoyed our couple of nights with the family and would love to have stayed longer. The kids all got on well too.

Carcassonne is quite a famous city, but we have been warned that it can get very busy in the “Haute Season” (now). The warning seems justified when the first 2 car parks are closed because they are full.

We park a small distance away and walk to the entrance to the walled section of the city and the castle. The draw bridge dates back to the 14th century! Inside the walls are lots of very narrow streets – unfortunately filled with restaurants and kitsch souvenir shops, and packed with tourists. We walked around the edge, through the middle twice; before we decided we had seen enough. Maybe it is better at night?

Back into the car and off in the direction of Spain and the mountains. We have stayed off the Motorway and travelled through lots of beautiful countryside and pretty villages. We stop in Limoux and try some sparkling wine. If you can’t afford Champagne (which of course comes from Champagne) the next best thing is sparkling from Limoux. Courtenay is impressed because the lady in the wine shop also gives her a glass to taste. We make a purchase – you can never have too much good sparkling!

Unfortunately the weather has deteriorated a bit and most of the mountain tops are covered in low cloud. This is a pity, as I think they would be rather spectacular. Some of the valleys are really narrow, and we go over several quite high mountain passes. Our stop for the night – a small town high in the Pyrenees Orientals called Mont Louis. Once again a 2 star hotel – all 4 of us in one room. This room has the smallest bathroom I have ever seen! We have an in room picnic for dinner consisting of baguette, ham, cheese and tomato.

Mont Louis has the remnants of an old Fort which we decided to explore after dinner. We did not get far. Most of it is all locked up as the French Army use it. Another very historic and pretty town. By now we have decided that there must be thousands of quaint little towns and villages across the length and breadth of France, as there is now way we can just have lucked in on the best ones!

We stopped in at the hotel bar where we are staying for a nightcap. After a quick drink we tell the barman to add the drinks to our room tab, and get a very curt “It is impossible – we are closed – you must pay now! – including the room” I am not sure what he would have done if we had not gone into the bar for a drink – but we got the impression that he was not a fan of the English – and did not care that we were in fact Australian. I hesitantly enquired about breakfast – also impossible – they are closed in the mornings – just leave the key in the door. I guess you get what you pay for – the room was quite cheap!