To Friends, Bikes & Minervois

Day 9  Tuesday 1st October 2013

Waking up in Albi after a surprisingly undisturbed night considering that we we were in a city, the day dawned with a red glow to the sky, weather on the change autumn was not far away.  Anyway, it was warm & with the GPS set to Carcassonne we set off on our way.

Once again we avoided the autoroutes, heading instead due south towards the Pyrenees.  The route through the Tarn  was fairly quiet with very little traffic being encountered, passing through the rolling countryside of woodland, sunflowers & maize. However, after driving through the slightly narrow streets of the picturesque town of Mazamet, the gateway to the Montagne Noir, we encountered a slight problem in the form of a Diversion.  Our route should have taken us through the town centre & out onto the D118, but, as in all good traveller's tales, the road was closed, ferme.  Great. After a highly complicated reversal move, which incidentally was then copied by several other motorhomes who had come to a grinding halt at the barrier, we retraced our tracks turning a very sharp right onto the D54 which had  a 3500kg weight limit.  

So, there we were, on a fairly narrow road, the only open route south.   The diversion route was, well interesting.   The road started fairly well, running alongside a fast flowing river in a narrow gorge that must once have housed tanneries & mills, the buildings were still there in fact, though not in the best of repair it must be said.   By now there were 3 other motorhomes behind us, then the signs & sat nav directed us right across a bridge & on up through the forests.  Ok it was very twisty, it did become narrow & it reminded us of the narrow lanes around Leaholm & Egton on the North Yorks Moor.  Eventually we returned onto the D118 & thankful that we had not met any vehicles coming the opposite way.  The scenery was amazing, all lush green forests & the smell of mint was almost overpowering when we stopped for lunch in a tree-shaded picnic area.

The sun climbed higher & the temperatures rose.  Once back on the road the route took us to the summit, then as we began to drive down towards civilisation the countryside changed.  In the distance the Pyrenees dominated the horizon, whilst the landscape became that of the Mediterranean, hot & dry.

The GPS took us over the Canal du Midi past a busy lock with pleasure craft waiting to pass through, then on around the outskirts of the city, causing husband to 'oh' & 'argh'  at the first sight of La Cite.  Camp for the night was to be at the Camping La Cite, only a few hundred metres from the ancient walled town.  The site itself was not busy but with the weather being very hot, around the 30C mark so we were told later, we rolled out the awning & sat in the shade until the temperature dropped.

The site was within walking distance of both the town & La Cite, so, late afternoon we walked along the banks of the Aude, past families feeding the ducks & up to the main entrance of the medieval city.  This was husband's first visit.  I have been a few times now, several times with my parents then again several years ago when l came over to help a friend to move house.  Although it was now October, the place was still full to bursting point with visitors from all over the world, with the tourist shops all hoping to part them from their cash to buy a souvenir sword, a Cathar relic or some interesting items of tat.

As we moved on through the narrow alleyways, the squares & lanes became less busy so by the time we left by the Porte l'Aude we were the only people there.

By early evening it was still pretty warm as we set off on our bikes, along the canal bank, crossing the Pont Vieux & heading off to the Place Carnot to meet up with one of my friends, who just so happens to be the proprietor of a rather bijou B & B,  No 11 Carcassonne.

So there we all sat, supping ice cold beer, catching up on all the hot gossip whilst watching the world go by. Bliss.  As the sun sank behind the buildings, & fortified by the thought of food, we all sped off like demented grannies on bikes down the Routes Barbes then across the Square Gambetta whose plane trees were alive to the sound of thousands of roosting birds.

The end destination was the Restaurant Le Passage, just across the Vieux Bridge, thankfully it was open so there we all sat, giggling & drinking Minervois, tucking into a selection of mouth watering tapas that included a most fabulous dish of moules, yummy.

As we took our goodbyes & then discovered that our bikes didn't have lights we headed off along the well lit canal path back to our motorhome without too much of a hiccup, though l must confess l do seem to be having a problem with the bicycle basket that is attached to the handlebars, l seem to be, at times, a little out of control.

Today's mileage = 75 miles

vendange & stepping stones

 Day 8 - Monday 30th September 2013

After the exciting weather patterns of the last few days, Monday morning got cracking with a bright start, ideal for today's drive through the Dordogne & the Lot to this evening's planned stop near Albi.

Taking the back roads once again, we re-crossed the river Dordogne to pass through, or should l say under, the perilously perched  La Roque Gageac.  The drive through the village was hampered somewhat by traffic lights thanks to work being undertaken to reinforcement the road & river bank due to what looked like undermining by the strong river currents.  

The route to Albi meandered onward through picture perfect villages of mellow stone, deserted roads & broad leaved woodland.  As we left the Dordogne for The Lot , the properties & villages became   noticeably less pristine despite having similar countryside to that of its neighbour.  The thought was that there was less wealth here & fewer Holiday homes?

After a quick re-stock at Cahors, notably a few bottles of one of my favourite French wines, we continued on our way,  Interesting, the roads around Cahors seemed to be popular with motorhomers, mainly Dutch & German; it did cross my mind that they were avoiding the motorway tolls.  The nearest we got to an actual autoroute was driving under the  A20 at Caussade.  From here the road was near deserted, the only traffic being agricultural involved in the automated vendange which was now in full swing.  No romantic hand picking of the grape harvest here thank you very much!  

The planned overnight stop was to be at the Domaine Vayssette, a member of the France Passion scheme  . We turned off the D564 & drove down the sweeping drive, bordered by vineyards just dripping with grapes. On ringing the bell, Madame nipped out & directed us to the motorhome parking area, a car park with a seriously fantastic view, a real wow factor with the the most amazing views across the countryside but, despite the welcome, we decided not to stop as they were so very busy, l know what it's like during harvest here, but would love to return at a quieter time of year. 

A quick rehash to plan B.  The GPS set to Albi & the camping site Albirondack Park.  The site was fairly easy to find thanks to the sat-nav.  In France we use the GPS settings as opposed to postcode, so as long as we remember to listen to The Voice at junctions it's hard to get lost, well that's the theory any way.  The Voice guided us through road works to a residential area, 'simples'.  We duly arrived at the barrier.  It looked rather smart.  It was as though a little bit of America had dropped off into French Suburbia all Yellowstone Park.  

Now, normally when you arrive everything is, well, pretty laid back really but here er, not so.  After waiting for signs of life in a large reception area & restaurant resplendent with resident moose head & totem poles,  I was whisked off in golf buggy, to be shown a pitch which was available for one night & another that was free for two nights.  Eventually l was deposited back at reception & able to return to husband who was looking a little peeved at being locked outside for what must have been almost half an hour.  

The site itself has been massively re-furbished, as in  all very new & money no object.  The campsite was set amongst mature fir trees & mainly packed with log cabins, a few airstreams for rental then probably about 10 motorhome pitches.  The staff were very helpful & it was rather funny watching them whizzing around in their buggies taking new arrivals to see the available pitches.  Extra facilities included in the pitch fee included a heated outdoor pool & spa facilities, which l did try out later that evening.   

Later that evening, we perambulated along the Echappee Vert  down to the old town via the 2km trail that ran through managed woodland doted with various bits of imposing sculpture.  Unfortunately however, we didn't quite get there due to falling light & my habit of wearing flip flops or 'jandals' making the crossing of the Caussels stream by stepping stones a bit of a non-starter.  

Today's mileage = 111miles

The night of the Lightning Storm

Day 7 Sunday 29th September 2013

It started to rain, heavily, on Saturday night.  By midnight the sky was illuminated by sheet lightening.  For most of the night rain pounded onto the roof like a stampede of wildebeest whilst night turned into day with a Son et Lumiere of nature's making.  I'll admit it was a little scary, being in an exposed position at the edge of the 'field', close to, but not underneath trees but worryingly near to what had been a small fast running river the previous day.  You read stories in the news about flash floods & we fully expected to be afloat in the morning.

On opening the blinds on Sunday morning, the sky was blue & the field, was well, green.  No floods, no puddles, nothing. The site was, it turned out, on a free draining, sandy soil & the river very rarely flooded.

Seeing as it was a Sunday & the weather looked to be good plus the fact that we were suffering from a lack of sleep, we decided to stop here an extra night which would enable us to explore the immediate area by bike.  The castle itself we had visited back in 2002 on a family holiday to the area.

With today's chore of clothes washing out of the way,  l packed up a picnic of fresh bread, pate & some extra stinky goat's cheese, which is where my new purchase of wire bicycle came in useful, we peddled off down the tarmacked cycle trail down to the village of castelnaud en chapelle & the banks of the Dordogne.

So here we sat in the Autumn sunshine tucking into bread & pears whilst watching the world slowly float by. 'Grey Brigaders' negotiating the 'rapids', a golden retriever showing off his swimming skills, a group of English students wading across the river to an island before reloading their canoes with their belongings rammed tightly in waterproof containers & pushing off heading to, well no idea but guess they could, perhaps reach Bordeaux.

  

After lunch, with the weather still holding up, we headed back along the trail, past the camping site following the route further up the river valley for several miles.  The path wove its way through picturesque villages with some very expensive looking holiday homes, past walnut orchards, small wild flower-filled paddocks of grazing Limousin cattle with calves at foot all very relaxing & peaceful.

On returning, we spent the remainder of the afternoon watching rock climbers dangle precariously from the rock face just above the wooded slopes opposite.

As evening approached, it began to rain but with none of the previous night's fireworks!  When travelling, we try to keep abreast of the local weather forecast, & tonight's showed a large low pressure system swirling in across the Bay of Biscay heading for south west France, but, & it was a but, the weather looked OK further south down towards towards the Languedoc & Mediterranean.

troglodytes, geese & rivers

Day 6 Saturday 28th September 2013

After a fairly leisurely breakfast of fresh croissant & summer flower honey washed down by some pretty strong coffee, it was time to move on after setting the GPS for Castelnaud la Chapelle on the river Dordogne.

Today's drive took us well away from the main roads opting  instead for country lanes that passed through the perfectly preserved ancient villages of Sarges & Cubjac, through acres & acres of broad leaved woodland &  passing elderly French gentlemen on the hunt for wild mushrooms.

Being Saturday we called in at the Carrefour supermarket in Thenon, for supplies & fuel - no Sunday opening in this part of the world,with the car park having the most amazing views across rolling patchwork of small fields & wooded countryside.  

Our journey continued on via Montignac, on to the Vallee de l'homme.  We have visited this area before back in 1976 & again in 2002, but this time decided to stop for a lunch of freshly baked, crusty artisan bread topped with sun-ripened tomatoes, a rather pungent soft cheese & a brawn pate with pistachios, in the empty car park below the ancient fortified rock dwelling near Tursac.

The afternoon was very warm however once inside the Maison Forte de Reignac [this link does contain sound!]  it was deliciously cool.  The house was fascinating if a little spooky, seemingly unchanged since the 17C & was not full of tourists, l guess most head for Lascaux?

After the culture stop, our route continued  past farms producing foie gras with large flocks of geese enjoying the afternoon shade.  All the farms had some sort of farm shop selling their produce which were fairly busy with people buying this luxury but controversial delicacy.  

After some interesting tight turns in various villages, we rejoined the main Bergerac to Sarlat road at St Cyprien.  The main road hugged the river Dordogne, passing the cliff hugging village of  Beynac en Cazenac & its chateau, made famous as one of the locations for the 2000 film, Chocolat staring Johnny Depp & Juliette Binoche.  This tourist village was a serious honey pot of a place, immaculate & full of visitors.

By mid-afternoon, we left the main road crossing the Dordogne into Castelnaud de Chapelle under the watchful eye of its Chateau.

The site for the night was just the other side of the village, Camping Maisonneuve, set on a lush, flat pasture with a 10 minute bike ride via a cycle track back to the river.  The site itself was pretty quiet with only a few vans, English, visiting.   When we arrived there was no one 'official' about, so we were kindly shown around & pointed in the right direction by a couple from the Lake District who had been regular visitors here for the past 40 years.  We finally parked up close to the small river Ceou, giving us views across the valley to the cliffs opposite.

Miles travelled = 71

markets, bikes & honey

Day 5  Friday 27th September

The weather is improving, the temperatures getting higher but that didn't mean there was no dew first thing.   Now that it felt like summer again, we decided to stop an extra night here at Brantome, a decision wisely taken as it was to prove.

Once we had demolished breakfast, we set off the 500m along cycle paths into the town.  Our bikes, mountain bikes, are of the classic era & in the 'olden days' we were keen mountain bikers on the North Yorkshire Moors, but after a few ski injuries involving cartilages & torn anterior crusciate ligaments, cycling has now become more of a holiday pursuit.  Anyway, the town itself is surrounded by rivers, making it l guess an island.   Crossing the footbridge over a clear river, pausing to watch visitors enjoying a boat trip, it became pretty clear that there was something on.  There were people everywhere.  'It's market day' l shouted.
 

Brantome is a truly beautiful town, so beloved by the English.  The cool creamy stone of the buildings, lush flowering baskets adorning windows & walls drew visitors to the market square.

Blue skies provided plenty of photo opportunities whilst the market was a cross between Farmers Market & Craft Fayre.   Stall tables groaned with Artisan breads, golden honeys, fresh fruit, jams, plants, fish & of course foie gras, the sounds & smells that us Brits so love!
 

This is a real foodie mecca & extremely busy, gosh there were so many English there, it was quiet funny really watching them stare at the Poissonier & his stall, or trying to sound knowledgeable about foie gras or talk very loudly how cruel it was to force feed the poor animals.

It pretty much goes without saying that we did purchase some goodies for lunch, some wonderful bread, creamy, golden honey, some rather smelly cheese & sun-ripened fruit all carried back in my new-for-2013 bicycle basket!

if you go down to the woods

Day 5 Thursday 26th September

A quick look outside this morning confirmed that there was to be yet another warm day on the horizon.  Is this normal weather for late September l ask myself?

We were last to leave this morning, the other 4 Dutch motorhomes had left a good hour before us, obviously they had deadlines to meet & places to visit, us, we're on holiday!

 

The sat-nav was set for Brantome, which, according to the guide books, is the Venice of the Dordogne.  The avoid motorways option was set as we trundled down the A1 equivalent, the fanatically straight N10 to Angouleme then the D939 to our destination.

The route took us through rolling countryside of woodland, arable & grassland with a slight detour to the small picturesque village of Edon for lunch, parking in a small square under plane trees.  The village also boasted a very early Romanesque church which warranted a closer look, though external views only as thechurch was closed.  Interestingly, the only cars that disturbed the peace were English ones.  So where were the locals then?

When travelling, we try to keep overnight stop options fairly open.  Another France Passion site was pencilled in, this time at Mareuil, a foie gras producer, but as we passed the farm gate early afternoon, we kept driving.  Whilst driving through woodland we noticed that there was a fair number of vans parked in gateways & rides, occasionally you caught sight of its owner, usually elderly & male clutching baskets & bags behaving in a somewhat furtive manner.  Staring hard at one such wizened old chap as we subtitly   slowed down revealed that he was clutching a basket full of an interesting looking variety of mushrooms.

Today's trip ended at the Camping Brantome Peyrelevade, & after a quick empty & fill up at an unusual find on a camping site with a water filling station you would normally find on an aires-de-campings-cars, parked amongst the trees on the banks of the river dronne.  

The temperature was around the 28C mark so after cracking open a couple of bottles of well chilled kronnenburg, we sat back & seriously chilled.  The only sound was that of a lesser spotted woodpecker banging the hell out of a tree & an English-owned dog woofing about in the river.  There were a few English here by the way.

The site itself was very pretty, set amongst the trees on the river bank, only a short walk or cycle ride from the town centre.  The site not only catered for camping & motorhomes but also offered 'glamping' in large safari tents or log cabins for the less adventurous.  Extras here included a heated swimming pool & small sandy beach [man made], whilst the owners were very pleasant & helpful.

Before tea, salmon with fennel sauce, stephen nipped into town & returned a short while later with tales of bridges, caves & abbeys.

Today's Milage:  114miles

of dragons & history for the 21stC

Day 4 Wednesday 25th September

lunch

Clear blue skies this morning, the mists seem to have gone.  After a quick visit to the market in the town square, we head southwards again, this time for the 12C castle at Chinon.  This is an imposing chateau built largely by Henry II but somewhat down graded in my opinion, by the addition of rather large, sun-faded dragons curling from the windows & ramparts.

can you see the dragon?

To add to the sense of surreal, someone, with more money than sense, had installed state of the art touch screen technology that proceeded to show the computer literate visitor all about the history whilst for those whose pulse races at the thought of all things high tech, there were artistically place fabric screens onto which the lives of those who once lived here were projected.  So much for historical artifacts & one's imagination.

The views down from the battlements onto the old town below were fascinating, narrow medieval streets, higgledy pigeldy roofs cluttered with precariously perched chimneys you could almost smell the street life of the 13thC.

From Chinon we took the road to Poitiers via Richelieu, stopping for lunch a a very pretty, shaded aires du camping car at Champigny sur Veude.  Driving through the hamlet, on the left, we had noticed the rather over the top chapel of  Sainte-Chapelle de Chamigny-sur-Veude, flanked by a small chateau, moat & crumbling walls, all this suggested that further investigation was required.

Approaching the gate, a rather round lady seated under the shade of a Pernod sun umbrella, collected our euros in exchange for a laminated card in English giving a guide to the 11 brilliantly coloured stained glass windows.  This chapel's stained glass would give York Minster's windows a run for their money!  The pictures depicted saints doing holy things & members of the Bourbon family all looking suitably angelic! 

The gardens & grounds themselves were not much to look at all lawns gravel & box, but l would guess the medieval gardens would have looked pretty similar to those at Villandry.  Our ticket included a visit of the chateau's interior, but how to get in proved a little difficult as the Ticket Lady had wagged her finger at the door with the words of entree.  During our attempts at breaking & entering, a group of elderly, well to do French visitors began to congregate under the shade of a tree, whilst a small sun-burnt man collected tickets.  We began to feel lucky & after handing our ticket over joined the tour group as it entered the  guest wing.  The house was owned by Americans who visited perhaps about 3 times a year & this was the guest block.  The wing was extensively furnished in expensive, bespoke furniture that just shouted $$$$.  The ladies clock room had utilized a horse stall from the coach house & now stylishly painted in a Farrow & Ball paint.  We all agreed that it was nice to see a chateau that was being used as opposed to being a museum.

The drive through fields of sunflowers & maize waiting to be combined, sleepy hamlets with no signs of life bat the village cat, the exception being the moated & walled town of Richelieu, took us to our overnight stop at Camping du Futor, Avanton, just to the east of Poitiers.

The site was pleasant with the added advantage of wifi  which would only work on iPhones!

Today's mileage: 58 miles

chateau & roman towers

Day 3 Tuesday 24th September

Woke this morning to a morning mist seeping from the river covering everything to waist height, however by 11 the mists had retreated back to the river & the sun was emerging with promises of a lovely day ahead.

chateau d'Azay-le-Rideau

First on the day's agenda was the 500m walk to the 16thC chateau of d'Azay-le-Rideau.  The entrance is approached from the village, bringing you across the moat & into the renaissance building.  The architecture both inside & out is seriously impressive although there was little furniture inside the building.  Loads of fantastic photo opportunities outside thanks to the fairy tale chateau framed by clear blue skies, it seemed that all visitors were busy clicking like mad with their cameras & phones, reflections of the chateau in the moat seemed a particular favourite!

looking towards the entrance from the 1st floor windows

Some of the interesting points here included plaited sea grass wall coverings that smelt like door mats whilst the cedar timbered roof space housed a large display of 'dungeons & dragons'.

By the time we meandered back to the camper, it was warm as in 'put the Levis away'; a leisurely lunch of fresh pain complet [brown bread], an extremely ripe soft cheese all washed down by ice tea was taken outside, yummy!  

Once lunch was woofed down, plates washed & doors clipped shut, the GPS was set for the Chateau & Jardins Villandry a 20 minute drive along country roads away.  This was a serious tourist 'hotspot', cyclist, campers, coaches in abundance.  we parked under some plane trees in the aires du camping car & headed to the entrance of this late renaissance chateau & it's superb fabulously restored gardens.

the ornamental garden

The afternoon was hot, a contrast to the cool interior of the house.  Windows opened onto fabulous panoramas of sunken knot gardens, vast colorful herb & vegetable gardens faithfully re-creating 16C designs.

the kitchen garden

The pottager garden was amazing, crisp, sharp box hedging, gorgeous orange pumpkins sat to attention on their individual tiles, shiny purple aubergines glistening in the bright sunlight, caterpiller-free ornamental Japanese cabbages, a variety of herbs, french beans, ruby chard, fruit trees both standard & step-over, cavolo nero plus many more varieties, all planted to dramatic effect.  

the amazing pumkins

 From the pictures you can see that visiting at this time of year almost guarantees the gardens to yourself, although we did hear some English explaining to someone or other, how marvelous Castle Howard was.

box hedging with lavender in-planting

After a refreshing ice cream, [salted caramel at 2 euros per scoop], we headed across the Loire to the extremely tall & imposing Gallo-Romaine tower at Cinq mars la pile.  A quick hike up the footpath took us to the base of this 30m high pile of bricks.  A bit of a folly this, no one knows what it was for, there is no means to access it,  though you do get some pretty good views across the Loire Valley from the base!

la pile Gallo-romaine de cinq-mars-la-pile

A good sight-seeing day all in all, a second night here at Azay-Le-Rideau, loads of photos taken & probably just the right amount of chateau viewing without going into overload, 'leave some for the next visit' l think!