Map View

This is a bit crude, based on limitations without heathers laptop. But gives an idea of where we will have been based on our accommodation. 

Sights around Figueac

Will write up some notes on this soon ...

Heathers update on trip planning

I so get why people book tours.  I spent literally hours days and weeks planning our last ten weeks around europe and getting us home. I had some guidelines such as which countries we wanted to see, what the budget constraints were and awhi saying she liked countryside and genuine village experience as well as the city highlights.  

Well having settled on countries and time periods it was then a matter of booking travel and accomodation and the best things to see and do.  No small feat with eleven countries to visit and sixteen lots of accommodation and ten separate lots of travel to book plus a 21 day road trip.

We have used bikes, buses, boats, cars, trains and planes to get around with all of them being good however awhi has started to say she might like a bus tour in another ten years just to save the hassle of parking and of course the aside remarks about being the solo driver. We have also used a range of accommodation options apartments, hostels, budget hotels, bed and breakfast and airbnb with preference probably for our own room, chance to make a cuppa and a bit of local knowledge thrown in. 

I get a little trip planner anxiety  every time we are driving in some remote area for miles on a single lane road  that i might have stuffed up the booking on this one. In most cases it works out ok.  For instance tonight  we drove around the rurals of  figeac looking for our accommodation for the next three nights however after driving around for awhile we gave up  and looked up the longitude and latitude coordinates  and the gps then sent us down a stunning valley to come to a stop at a beautiful stone villa where the women who greeted us was irish and showed us our fabulous room and adjoining lounge with wifi, views over the farm and great facilities. Whew got this one right. In fact Awhi says it's her favourite so far. 

Cats dog goats and foxes

 Le Bouyssou 

I had just been commenting to heather about what a great drive it was on the motorway (E11 from Le Caylar)  when the gps directed us to turn off at the next exit onto the D11. We can't figure why she did this, as the motorway proceeded along our route, but instead we ended up winding along for hours on a secondary road. Though a dreary misty day, the scenery was again wonderful, driving from higher alpine like scrub then down through forests of a beech type tree in full autumn regalia. 

Heather had planned to centre our next stay near Figeac, to allow for easy day tripping to nearby sights and localities. But accommodation isnt always as cheap nearest to where we plan to stay, so instead we drove through the town. It's not far on Heather reassured, as she looked increasingly anxious about where we might end up. We turned off the main road and wound down into a narrow valley, again lined with autumn trees.  Heather had taken my request for rural France very literally, but I was absolutely delighted when we arrived at our next stop. We were warmly greeted by Sharon, an Irish women with dogs cats, goats and horses, and a beautiful classic stone farmhouse. Though a bit far from town for easy meals at local restaurants we had thankfully pre ordered the home cooked meal option. The neighbour arrived later in the evening with a picnic basketful of home cooked goodies for our dinner, a tagine of vegetables and sausage, homemade bread, salad, and to finish with small apple tarts. We had already enjoyed most of the bottle of red we had bought earlier in the day, and so with full bellies the day ended blissfully as we sunk into the comfort of our lovely bed, home for the next 3 nights. 

Note - we have now finally learnt to use the latitude/longitude coordinates when going to more remote and out of the way places. 

St Guillhem le Desert

After leaving Avignon we drove on to St Guillhem le Desert. It's a tiny but popular spot built on a narrow stretch of land along a beautiful long gorge with a clear slow flowing river.  Parking is extremely limited and after two drives through, we were determined not to miss yet another visit due to parking, so located just enough space to get the car off the road and walked 20 minutes back into the town. Like so many places, this is old, charming with something extra, maybe that it climbs a small route up the cliff, with tiny lanes. We were overdue for lunch, and selected a small shop where the wife knitted and crocheted selling her wares along with other local novelties, while her husband cooked. Their tiny space could only accommodate 2 tables, but the other occupants enthusiastically confirmed the food was good, with veges and produce all grown locally and cooked fresh. We were impressed with the simple yet tasty food, it's amazing how good goats cheese on bruschetta can be when warmed, drizzled with honey and nuts ... And the glass of red Heather had was just divine. 

From here we drove on to La Vacquerie Et St Martin de Castries where we stayed with a very hospitable retired Frenchman who ran a bnb. His home was setup to accommodate 3 family rooms but we were the only guests that night, and as we hadn't had dinner, he supplied us with tea, bread and cheese along with his homemade ginger bread.

On our hosts recommendation, we drove to view the Cirque de Navacelle. This geographical point of interest can be viewed from above, and it's easy to see the road which snakes down around the perimeter to the basin below. From here we detoured for gas and a few supplies and then went on to our next stop just outside of Figeac - in the Lot valley in a fabulous stone farmhouse.

OBAVET

Just a few recent observations:

- UK and Europe - kids everywhere with dummies even older kids

- it can be tricky at times using toilets, doors that lock a million different ways, especially the automatic self cleaning ones that secure you as in a prison cell and leaving one feeling panicked if it will open again, and is the red button for exit or emergency !!

- and still on toilets, there are many more ways to get the darn thing to flush or the basin water to flow than I would have dreamed, but I now know that the rubber step on the floor might just release a stream of water, or better still a foot pump...

- lots closed because it's out of season - even though the autumn weather has been magnificent and mild

- Heather loves to watch the men greeting one another casually with the 3 kisses

- Tricky lunch orders,or any meal ordering with waiters that speak little English, we have to work hard and persist to get it right, or just give up and eat what comes

- intimate dining in pint sized areas where space is a premium so conversations with neighbours often occurs 

- lots of great cycle lanes, though not seeing the touring cyclists 

- Bruges bikes didn't require locks, and no one anywhere uses helmets

- cobblestones look great and keep the place in keeping with the period, but they are a bugger to walk on and I'm sure that's why our feet are so sore at the end of a day

- lunch times mean that all shops close up and turn off the lights for 1.5-2 hours

- I love the cool as heavy wooden doors, knockers and boot scrapers

Avignon Day 3

Our last day in the area was our best so far, with a stunning drive though hills and valleys, dry rocky landscapes interspersed with more splendid autumn colour. 

The first stop was Roussillon, a tiny hill top town renowned for the ochre soil deposits of the area that has influenced the yellow to orange to pink hues of the the houses. We did the small trail walk around the hillside, and the pictures show the amazing colours of the soil we walked through. 

Had a fabulous lunch in a courtyard cafe, selecting the la formule de midi - I had the goats cheese on toasted baguette, perfectly seasoned with herbs, almonds honey and rosemary. Heather had the spinach and cheese ravioli - the best yet apparently, followed by beef parcels and a divine lemon tart.

Our next stop was to be Gordes, another medieval hill top village, but when we arrived there wasn't a park to be found, despite driving down and up twice through the winding streets, so we just oohed and aahed at the delights and kept on driving to the Cistercian Abbey Senanque. A place where the monks still live and work in a simple life dedicated to poverty, prayer and hard work. The environment is stunning, and we could just imagine the lavender fields surrounding them in glorious splendour. 

We had a great day driving and looking, but had to hurry back to our accommodation to watch the All Blacks beat the Springboks (only just).

Gordes

On the bridge of ...

Our first day in Avignon was spent exploring the old part of the city, inside ancient walls. Lovely narrow cobbled streets, beautiful blues and greens of shutters on old stone walls, canals and more. Visited the splendid Palais des Papes and walked up to the view point to see the famous bridge. 

We had rented a small basic apartment near the university, but as we set out again after a late afternoon rest we were disspionted to find all nearby restaurants closed. It can be tricky eating out while travelling, but I was determined to enjoy some local meals of southern France. Try again tomorrow. 

More of Avignon day 2

KSo apart from the few driving tensions, it was a lovely day out, and a nice reprieve for our feet from from pounding the pavement all day. 

We started at the Ponte du Gard. An amazing feat of Roman engineering. They really were very clever. This massive structure is the highlight of an ancient aqueduct built in 40-60 AD to feed water from Uzes to Nimes. The constructors erected a massive bridge across the picturesque Gardon river valley, spanning 275 metres across the valley, and 48 metres high. Even with thier  basic equipment they managed to keep the entire bridge level to within a few centimetres. This system for moving water to the homes and baths of Nimes worked well for centuaries, until lack of maintenance allowed it to  clog with silt and it fell into disrepair. 

Day 2 - Avignon

 The plan for day 2 was to drive out of town and see  some of the regional sights. The little Yaris handles well and we drove some great roads, surrounded by quiet hills of rock, twisted old olives and small vineyards displaying their autumn glory.

It must be something about road trips that builds on the story, but the day went relatively smoothly except for a few hitches :

- Driving through a toll booth I was mistakenly under the impression it was an open lane, and only slammed on the brakes at the last minute just avoiding a bonnet ding with the barrier arm. But it was all pretty slow so except for the insurance hassle no lives would be lost. 

- then the booth failed to spit out the required ticket - but we are experienced at such dilemmas now so the first thing one does is to use the hazard lights, then it's just too bad for any sucker following me through ...

- later in the day, as we drove into Nimes to see the old roman colleseum, the stupid gps diverted me needlessly around narrow single laned cobbled streets that look like they are pedestrian only, though I've seen vehicles on them, but as I meandered my way around, cursing at the ridiculous route, we came back out onto the original main boulevard I had started on ... Go figure ... I think she was deliberately playing mind games with me.

- then to top it off, we had programmed in the closest parking option to the destination, now I realise that was our mistake, but she (the gps) ignored the fact the the road became a bus lane only area, and I was waved at menacingly by a passing taxi driver, but what could I do but go forward and hope the gendarmes weren't anywhere nearby. Once free of the bus lanes, and back on a legit road, I pulled decisevly into the next available park where Heather and I narrowly missed caving into an argument about parking to maximise the space for others - not my priority when I have just manoeuvred through ancient streets meant for Roman chariots. 

Lovely fountains and squares in Uzes

Nimes 

More sights of Bruges

Best of Bruges

We arrived via Eurostar and had three days in Bruges. Being budget travellers we had booked a room in  the Ibis next to the station and I must admit to initially being a little despondent we weren't in a cute 15th century hotel within the town wall but got over this quite quickly as the bed was great, we could watch the rugby in our room and everything worked.....just couldn't swing the cat. 

We explored this great town easily on foot and on bikes with everything in easy distance and the views amazing. This place was basically left to itself after its heyday in the 15th century and wasn't remodelled at any point as nobody considered it worthy of industrialisation and fortunately they had a German officer who saved the town from bombed in WW2. He argued with his superiors that it was too pretty to bomb so they just walked away when the allies arrived..thank heavens for small mercies.

We had lots of  highlights. The Beguinage a semi monastic community of women who sought to serve God without retiring from the world. They were not accountable to the usual religious orders and continued to work and care for the poor. It was a beautiful cloister of buildings and churches surrounded by a wall and canal with an inner courtyard of trees and apparently in spring the whole courtyard is a mass of daffodils. Loved the bike along the canal and seeing the wind mills which had been used to mill grain for the city, the Flemish primitive art in the museums, and of course Leffe beer a lovely blond ale, the Belgium chocolates and amazing buildings everywhere you look. We climbed the bell tower for views over the city but the climb down was very precarious as there was hardly any room on the winding stairwells and was made even more tricky by people coming up at the same time (wish they had read the notice that said give way to traffic coming down) but well worth it especially when the bells tolled when we were up the top. A fabulous city and must see if your in the Netherlands or Belgium.