Time to Reapraise

After much discussion and assessing of our options, we decided to stay put and make the most of it. It would after all be quite costly to find somewhere else for a month. So our search for the wild flowers and in particular, the wild orchids of the Languedoc began and we headed out to search the limestone pavement near Rennes Le Chateau.

First Impressions and Initial Doubts!

The first alarm bells about our choice of gite rang in my head when we discovered that the last three quarters of a mile up to the gite were on a rough, unmade track. It was passable with an 'ordinary' car, but it really needed a vehicle built with off road in mind. I was far from comfortable with the workout the suspension on our Citroen was getting from the approach road. Alarm number two went off when we got to the perimeter fence of the estate where our gite was situated. It seemed that the estate was totally enclosed and had only one electric gate for access. With an eight foot high fence around the rest of it, walking out into the mountains wasn't going to be possible. The third alarm bell went off when we discovered the interior. I'm not going into detail here, but suffice to say it wasn't what we had been lead to expect. Probably the most alarming bell of all was the fact that I spite of what was claimed in the property description, there was no internet connection at all in the house. The owners didn't see this as a problem as we were welcome to go into their house at anytime to use theirs. It wasn't what we had in mind. One of the most important prerequisites for us was to be in touch with our family and to be able to share our experiences by blogging on a regular basis. It's not about being addicted to social media, it's just the way we live now. We use the Internet for so much now and not having that level of access to information feels quite debilitating.

There is absolutely no disputing that the views from the gite were stunning. From the view down the Gorge de Galamus and the layers of mountains disappearing out into the distance, to the snow capped Mont Canigou. Spectacular views. It was the views that carried us through the next three weeks, because the accommodation was somewhat testing, but we were determined that it wouldn't spoil anything and we got on with the things we had come to do. Albeit in a somewhat different fashion to that which we had imagined. It appears that we had booked into a hunting estate. The owners bread wild boar, deer and wild sheep, only to let huntsmen pay for the privilege of bringing their dogs up into the mountain for several hours hunting. Again, I won't go into detail as the more you know, the worse it gets. The perimeter fence was three kilometres from the house and the ground all around. Was churned up by the sanglier (wild boar). If you can imagine what pigs do to the ground, then it's just the same with wild ones. So there was no chance of discovering any wild flowers on our walks around the estate. So the walking had to be from further afield and down the bumpy unmade track.

Sanglier, destroyers of the earth!

France. The journey continued.

We left home on Tuesday morning and now, on Saturday morning, we were leaving Souillac and heading for our destination in The Languedoc. It didn't seem long before we were on the ring road taking us around Toulouse, home of the European Space Agency, the aeronautical capital of Europe and the home of Concorde which made it's maiden flight here fifty years ago. As we headed southwest on the periphique we could see a very distinctively shaped mountain in the direction we were travelling. It was unmistakeable the Pech de Bugarach, the mountain at the head of the valley where we were going to be staying for the next four weeks. It felt like we were arriving at last. The road signs indicated the route to Carcassonne and soon we were leaving the Autoroute and heading across country to Limoux. This was home territory, The Aude. There is always a stop for our first big shop at the Leclerc super arches in Limoux, though on this occasion we already had a car full of our possessions, so we had to exercise a little control. The road from Limoux heads up the upper Aude valley until we reached Couiza, where we turned up from the bottom of the river valley and struck out over the Corbieres mountains to our final destination in the hills high above the small village of Cubiere sur Cinoble.

Gite Canigou, our destination and it was to be our home for the next month.

The views from Gite Canigou were quite simply, spectacular and to arrive on such a clear and beautiful day was breathtaking.

Tarn How's (once more)

We never tire of the walk up to Tarn How's and around the tarn. There are various routes and all are enjoyable for different reasons, especially at this time of year when the wild orchids are just coming to their best. The three photos below were taken on this morning's walk ant the northern end of the tarn, they were all taken within a few feet and within a two minute spell. Wonderful!

Day 2 in France

After a brilliant breakfast we hit the road. Down through Rouen and on towards Chartres. We passed very close to Illers Combrai which is twinned with Coniston. I wish I had realised earlier so we could have diverted for a quick visit, but by the time I had realised, it was too late. So by mid afternoon we were arriving in Beaugency. This is the view from our town centre hotel, L'Ecu de Bretagne.

Beaugency is a beautiful old town on the banks of the river Loire.

The ancient bridge that crosses the Loire in Beaugency. We had a walk along the river before dinner and sat for a while watching the power of the river, the arctic terns and sandwich terns, the Martin's, swifts and swallows as a snowy egret fished in the edges of the fast flowing river.

It is always exciting to cross the Loire, particularly on the journey south. The next day's driving would take us from the Loire to the Dordogne, through the areas of Creuse and Limousin. So with the destination of Souillac on our minds, we returned to L'Ecu de Bretagne, happy to be in the heart of France with so much more to come. On day three we drove across the 14th century bridge that spans the Loire at Beaugency and headed down through the heart of France towards Limoges and on to Souillac. I have to say that the fabulous motorway network in France makes travel so easy. We were covering the distances with ease, a great change from the past when it always seemed to take much longer than expected. The advantage then was that you got to see more towns and villages than you do from the motorway. It's a choice, speed, or variety and interest and sometimes a bit of both makes the day more interesting. We arrived in Souillac early afternoon and checked into a lovely small hotel in the centre of the town. It was built in the 15th century and had some beautiful features, including a grand stone staircase. The Pavillon St Martin was run by a very nice couple who couldn't do enough for us. Which brings me very neatly to breakfast, which was about as amazing as breakfast can be. A very full choice, including the first crop of this year's strawberries.

Not the best picture of the Dordogne, but it's the only one I took on our brief stay there.

Seven Weeks In France

The long anticipated journey into France began on April 5th with a stop over in Oxfordshire. We had planned to travel down to Folkstone in one go and through the channel tunnel on the 6th, but we were ready, so why not make the journey easier and set off a day earlier. we had never used the tunnel before, but it was an easy, seamless and enjoyable experience, delivering us straight onto the French motorway system with ease. Within 45 minutes of our arrival in France, we were in the town of Montreuil Sur Mer, our chosen stop off point for the first night.

Les Ramparts, which incidentally, was also the name of the hotel we stayed in. The plan was to drive down to the Languedoc where we had booked a cottage for a month and then to spend another couple of weeks or so, before making our way back north. The whole stay would probably be seven or eight weeks, it was totally flexible, according to what we wanted to do. It was good to be back in France, we had stopped off in France a few times before, but many years ago. A walk around the town, or more specifically the ramparts reminded us of how long it had been as much of it was unfamiliar. However, we were looking forward to the next day, which would take us to the Loire valley.

One full day in Wales.

After our walk onto Cadair Idris we were mindful of the fact that the weather was likely to go downhill. So in the afternoon we decided to try some photography at the Cregennan Lakes. It's a beautiful place, but the afternoon is not the best time to be taking photographs. However, we had little option but to make the most of it.

The beautiful Cregennan Lake.

A short walk up onto the nearby ridge of Pared y Cefn hair is rewarded with a wide panorama and excellent views of the lake.

And further out to the south and west the view looks out over the sea near Barmouth, the Mawddach Estuary and Fairbourne.

To the north are the mountains that make up the Cadair Idris group.