Monday 21st
Time to move again, this time to a place called Remoulins. As it wasn't far, Mike had planned that we take a scenic route and had shown it to me on the map. Well, with the French road signs vastly lacking in road numbers and the locations that were going to several pages away on the map, we never did see the scenic route and by the time we had gone down our umpteenth narrow road we'd had enough and headed for the toll road. I'm a good map reader and navigator but when the road numbers (when you see them) don't correspond with the numbers in the map and when they do they change just a tiny amount down the road, there is no hope. I really felt a failure at navigating. But, I’m not sure anyone else could have done better (yes, when it comes to navigating my head is quite big).
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| Chateauneuf du Pape |
When we arrived at the site, we had a well earned cuppa then headed out on our bikes down the road to the Pont du Gard, the well known and recognised Roman aqueduct. It was lovely and just the tonic to dispel our stress that had built up. I actually dipped my toes in the Gardon river flowing under the bridge.
We thought there weren’t any flies here (it has been quite windy) but there is! So we battened down the hatches and decided to watch a film.
Tuesday 22nd
Onwards again, this time towards the Med. We thought that as we are down this way it would be unthinkable not to dip our toes in the Med. Mike had found a really good site just a few minutes walk away from a beach called Portiragnes Plage. When we first got here, there was a French motorhome waiting along the road side and the man came to us and spoke in French. We gleaned that the barrier wasn’t working and no-one was going in or out. We pulled in and yes the barrier didn’t work for us. Mike got out and looked at the machine which said there was an interruption to the internet so the machine wasn’t working. Mike then phoned the contact number and spoke to the lady on the other end, it doesn’t look as though they knew about the problem. Anyway, the lady let us have a code so that we could get in. Mike then told the French bloke to phone the same number. As we were going into the site an English bloke came over and asked Mike how we got in as no-one had been able to get out all day! Later on, we saw a small works van with a man at the machine fixing it.
After setting up, I donned my swim suit and we set off to look at the beach. It was sunny and sandy and the water was lovely! It was quite shallow so I had to duck down to get covered and swimming was a bit of an issue as I hit my feet on the bottom but I can say I have swam in the Med this year. We walked along the beach collecting shells (I think I’ll make a stained glass piece with the shells and call it Med Memories or something like that) and taking in the view of the Pyrenees in the distance.
Walking back, we saw a jellyfish at the edge of the water wafting with the waves. Mike mentioned that he thinks that it was a Portuguese Man-O-War (without its long tentacles). I’m glad I had a dip before seeing that!
There is a bar/restaurant on the beach which we know to be closing at 5pm (I don’t know what times they keep over here). As we had decided to go for a beer we then decided to get something to eat there too. And it was lovely! We both had grilled Chicken and chips. The chips were cut so they curled up along the long edge and the chicken was cut into pieces (skin removed thank goodness) and rolled in breadcrumbs then fried. They were presented on skewers alongside a chilli dip and lettuce with dressing. It all went down rather well with our beer.
In the evening, because we’d eaten early, we were wondering what to do and as the flies were out (and they are big buggers) we closed the doors and watched a film. Of course there were a 2 inside which we tried to catch (kill) before we went to bed but they are too fast for us. I felt I had to keep covered up during the night, thus didn’t have a particularly good nights sleep. In the morning we discovered 4 flies!
Wednesday 23rd
It's my brothers birthday so Happy Birthday, Paul! Yesterday, we had decided to hire sunbeds and make a lazy day lying in the sun and swimming but the morning was cloudy. We were wondering what to do when all of a sudden the sky was bright blue and not a cloud in sight! Back to plan A. The sunbeds are 15 € each for the day, which is kind of expensive but we decided to do it anyway. We had a very lazy relaxing day on the beach. I was going to go in for a swim but as I was wading out I spotted a blue jellyfish and decided not to take a full plunge. Maybe I’m a wuss but I didn’t want to chance it. We had a few drinks there but no food. I bet they wondered what we were doing for food but we hadn’t taken any with us so will be hungry by dinner time.
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| It can't get much better! |
When we returned to Daisy, I felt like a little walk so took myself over the road to walk part way around the lagoon. Unfortunately it smelt a bit, probably due to the low water but I did see sheep grazing nearby, a heron, indications of fish near the edge and actually saw fish jumping out of the water. I took a different path back and walked through wild fennel growing alongside the path. Now for a shower and some dinner!
Thursday 24th
On our way again but before that we had to get rid of grey and black waste. We were going to top up with water but it looked like people had been using the water tap to wash out their toilet cassettes. It has been the worst services we have encountered.
On the road and we past several instances of charred trees that had obviously been among the recent fires due to the hot temperatures. You could still smell the wood smoke.
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| Carcassonne in the distance |
During the trip, we could also see the Pyrenees in the distance. Passing Narbonne I had to try to take a photo of the cathedral as it looked rather impressive, even from the toll road. We stopped at St-Antonin-Noble-Val, an old mediaeval town. It was absolutely beautiful and had a lovely atmosphere. We had a drink in the square then I went for a bit more of a look see.
I came across an old bull/cow holder (Ox shoeing stock). I also saw a dried opened out pig's head on a gate. That was rather gross.
Once back at the site, we had dinner then sat out until 9.30 as there were no midges, well none that we could feel. The following morning I found a few new bites - and they itch like mad! The camping car-park is next to a few petanque courts and I watched a few people playing. I still can’t understand the rules or scoring.
Friday 25th
Onwards again, this time not so far but the road we took was all twists and turns and up and down so took longer than we had anticipated. The road looks nothing like it actually was on the map. The campsite is just outside La Roque-Gageac, another very picturesque place that is very touristy, the main pull being the trek up the 140 steps to the Fort de la Roque-Gageac, a section of cliff that has been worn away and used as a fort and storage place in times gone by. It was quite interesting and the views from there were amazing but I was expecting a little more.
While I was doing that Mike was doing the washing - well trying to. He had to download an app then it was in arabic. When he went to the reception (it was in the campsite next door) they said there was a black screen that you have to tap to give instructions about the wash. It wasn’t very obvious at all but eventually he managed to get it going and had set the dryer going just before I got back. It had taken him that long.
When it had finished, we both went to the bar at the next door site for a beer. There was also a swimming pool that we could use so I took advantage of that on a hot day. Mike couldn’t because he didn’t have any budgie smugglers which are a must when using a public pool in France. My dip was so lovely and I had a refreshing shower when I got back to Daisy. It has been a very full on day and very hot too. I may have had too much sun so I won’t be late into bed.
Saturday 26th
Travel to Les Eyzies. I love the houses along D57. Many are in an ochre coloured stone. Some really old, some new but keeping with the old look. Château de Beynac on the hill top.
Some old houses have a round tower to them but they are definitely not a chateau. Not tall just slightly higher than roof. Gives them an authenticity for the area. Again quite hilly as you can imagine given the roque homes. We wanted to stop at a supermarket but there was a height restriction. Luckily we saw it in time so managed to miss it. Luckily we found another close by. Mike has been doing all the horrible jobs such as emptying the toilet and grey waste, filling up with diesel. I am doing a bit like filling the water and cleaning inside now and then but I don’t feel like I’m doing my fair share of the ‘dirty’ tasks.
We get to Les Eyzies and are welcomed with some stunning cliff faces with buildings within them.
The village looks lovely and the Camping Car-Park is not far from it. We arrive earlier than most people so we have the pick of the spots. We park up near to the river and have lovely views when we sit out.
It was cloudy when we arrived but after lunch, a very uninspired croque monsieur from the supermarket, we walked into the village to look around and visit the tourist info place. There was a walk up the cliff a little way but with what I did yesterday, I decided to keep to road level.
There are a few places we would like to visit in the area but one, Grotte de Font-de-Gaume, (the main one we wanted to get to) didn’t have any available tickets. It only allows a small group of people in at a time due to the original cave paintings and there aren’t any tickets left until we are about the reach Blighty. Such a shame. So, we decide to visit La Roque St-Christophe and Lascaux, both of which we have seen before but we want to see some cave paintings whilst here. The Lascaux paintings are a replica of the originals so more people can see them. We had to get tickets for both sights with a tour taking us around.
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BBQ for dinner and sit out (midges allowing) during the evening. We did sit out until it was really dark but even then it was only 8.45 but then we are an hour ahead over here. Mike thought he had read somewhere that the clocks in France go back 1 hour night so we were looking forward to an hours lie in.
Sunday 27th
When I woke up at 8.30, Mike was already awake and told me the clocks hadn’t gone back. we hadn’t got any plans so we took our time getting up. I decided to go to the local boulangerie for fresh bread. It happened to be a patisserie but they did have some croissants and a baguette so I got them and we had our breakfast outside. The local baker was very surprised at me only wanting 1 baguette!
Whilst I was doing a little bit of washing, Mike got our bikes ready for a cycle ride. It was a lovely ride along the river Vezere.
We saw so many things from chateaus on hill sides to really thick bamboo growing at the side of the path to a walnut grove. We also heard the dogs across the river in the forest that were in a hunt. We went along the cycle trail to a village called Bugue where we stopped for a look around and had a Croque monsieur at a local hotel/bar.
The main street in Bugue had colourful umbrellas across the road as street decoration. There was also an old washing place that was still apparent although definitely not used any more.
We returned the same way as it was lovely and quiet and not along any roads. We got to the end of the trail above Les Eyzies, the footpath on the bridge was built to be undulating like waves. It was great over them on the bikes. I managed to get a picture of it after tomorrow's jaunt.
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| You can just see the footpath beyond the grey barrier |
By the time we got back we had clocked up just over 17 miles without battery power so we thought we had earned a beer. We saw a few other couples, also on bikes, either come in for a beer or pass us in the street.
Monday 28th
We went to the market in the morning. It was only a small market with fruit and veg (Fruites et legumes) and fromage, miel, cassoulet in tins and jars and tablecloths and tea-towels (torchon). We bought a torchon as they were only 5€ whereas everything else was really expensive, 12€ for a pot of honey!
There were only a few stalls so we returned to Daisy and had breakfast there. We had previously booked tickets for Roque St-Christophe so took Daisy there. We were glad we did as previously, we were going to cycle it. The road was very up & down and twisty.
The Roque itself was very impressive and is the largest neolithic settlement in Europe still in existence. It has also been used by the Vikings and in mediaeval times and the models of the buildings there are also impressive.
We have been here before but around 40 years ago, so we didn’t recognise much of it and questioned whether it was actually this place we went to. When we came back down, we had lunch at the restaurant there and ordered a baguette each. They were huge! Neither of us finished them so took the rest back to have another day (maybe).
We took a circuitous route back to Les Eyzies going up to Montignac. We would have stopped to have a look around had we been able to park but all the car parks were small or didn’t allow camping cars to park. Their loss.
It was still early by the time we returned and we managed to get the pitch we were originally in. I took myself off for a walk and went the opposite direction from our bike ride yesterday. I ended up on a very sandy shore of Le Vezere There was a group of people swimming and also playing a drum whilst listening to the cascading water from a tributary to the river. It was a lovely place. I wanted to take a picture but the people swimming were topless so thought I better not.
We went for our obligatory beer at the same restaurant. Mike went in to order them and the bartender/owner recognised him and knew what we wanted. All the time we have been here, I have been wanting to get into the river but it has either not been the right time or looked a little stagnant but this time I went down to it not far from Daisy (it was a steep bank and after a beer too) but I got down. There were large stones there which made it relatively easy to get in the water. Ahhhh bliss! It was wonderful!
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