On your feet or on your knees

Day 51 - Figeac to Sarlat-la-Canéda

We continued through the Dordogne region with our first stop of the day at the magnificent Rocamadour. The town rises up in stages along the side of a cliff, we drove to the car park at the top level so we could walk down and take the lift back up later.

From the 14th century cliff top castle ("The Chateau") we followed the path past the stations of the cross, to the holy city ("The Sanctuary"). We wanted to see the famous statue of the black Madonna in the Vierge Noir chapel. There was singing coming from inside but there were no signs forbidding entry so we opened the door and went in and stood at the back. The chapel was full, people had their heads bowed as they were in the middle of Saturday morning mass. We waited for a gap in the proceedings and snuck out, we did manage to see the statue but maybe we should have waited until later.

We then took the 216 step staircase called the "Grand Escalier" down to the medieval village (apparently pilgrims used to walk up on their knees). The town runs along between the base of the cliff and the river, and is your typical French ye olde medieval tourist town (souvenirs, bars, restaurants, local delicacies etc.). 

K took the lift back up to the top while M walked up (not on his knees though), going back in to the now almost empty chapel to get a better look as well as some photos. 

K still wasn't feeling great so we drove on from Rocamadour, via the town of Martel to our overnight stop of Sarlat-la-Canéda for an early check in. We arrived early enough to have a quick look at the weekly market. The town and area is famous for foei-gras, ducks and nuts, so there were lots of shops selling all of those things. The town was a great example of a well preserved medieval village, and it was very nice walking the cobbled streets and looking at the old buildings, it's the kind of thing you expect to see in France but you're not sure that sort of thing still exists until you see it yourself.

Only in France ....

Day 50 - Carcassonne to Figeac

Time to leave Carcassonne but K hasn't been feeling well, so we decided to head straight to Saint-Cirq Lapopie, apparently one of the most beautiful villages in France. 

Because we didn't take the scenic route via Albi it was tollways most of the way, driving through the outskirts of Toulouse before leaving the highway for the last 30 minutes of winding roads to the village.

We arrived and the car park was almost full. However K wasn't up to walking the sloping roads to the village so we settled for a couple of photos before jumping back in the car and driving along the Lot river valley to Cajarc a little further on.

We stopped for a coffee at a bistro, this was the first time on our trip that the staff knew no English at all, but M managed to navigate the ordering and payment process like a natural born Frenchman (with the speaking ability of a two year old). 

We continued along the Lot valley, through villages built on rock walls on the left and the clear, still river on the right, it was a very pleasant and picturesque drive.

We arrived in Figeac and checked in to a hotel a couple of minutes walk from town. We had learnt that Figeac was part of the French section of the Camino de Santiago, which we'd done part of (Leon to Santiago de Compostela) in 2019, so M went exploring to find the route, but then decided to walk up to the Monument du Cingle on a hill overlooking the town.

On the way to dinner we passed a baguette vending machine (only in France ....). It was Friday night but Figeac was quieter than other places we'd visited, it was a nice change to stay in a place that's not so tourist focused.

     

 

This all looks vaguely familair

Day 49 - Carcassonne

The funny thing about Carcassonne is that this blog says we've been here before when we were on our way to Leon to walk the Camino de Santiago in September 2019, but neither of us can remember much about it, although we do remember picking up a pamphlet on a nearby Australian Zoo. 

The walled city and castle are really magnificent, just what you would expect a huge medieval castle to be. It has a large (dry) moat, massive double walls and numerous very well preserved watchtowers. How they managed to build such huge structures in the 13 century is incredible.

K was feeling worse and starting to think she might have covid so M went off to walk the city walls on his own, it was a little before the tourist buses started arriving so it well timed and very enjoyable.

We both explored the city a little later, it's very touristy and the crowds had built up but it wasn't too bad. A little later on M exited the walled city and explored the lower city, ending up at Canal du Midi, which goes from Toulouse in the west all the way to the Mediterranean near Marseille.

The weather had to turn bad eventually ...

Day 48 - Montpellier to Carcassonne

We've had a good run in France with the weather so far - sunny days, mid to hight twenties, no rain - but it had to end some time. We had a night of heavy rain and 7am both our phones went off simultaneously with a screeching alert warning of flooding in the area. The forecast indicated the rain would stop around 11 so we delayed our checkout until then. Sure enough about 15 minutes into our journey westward the rain stopped.

Béziers was our first stop, with the Fonseranes Locks, a series of locks on the Canal du Midi that were built in the 1660's. The sun was shining as we walked up past all the locks to the top where there was a line of boats waiting to start the process of moving down 21.5 metres over a 300 metre distance. It's operated through six working locks (nine were built originally). We had lunch at the cafe while waiting for the locks to open, and it was well worth the wait, we were able to watch the process as each lock was drained of water to lower the boats, then opened to allow the boats into the next section, where the process was repeated. 

We then drove north up in to the hills to the medieval village of Minerve. The village does not permit visitor's cars inside and we had a bit of trouble working out where the village parking was, but we finally worked it out. The village was quaint and very quiet, it wasn't as amazing as we'd hoped but this was probably due to the dry riverbed and the scorched earth, so we didn't see the village at its best.

The drive to Carcassonne was on a windy road and K has not been feeling well for the last couple of days so by the time we checked in to our cute boutique hotel right at by the main entrance to the magnificent medieval citadel La Cité we weren't up to exploring, so we had a quick dinner and a quiet night.

Pretty flamingo

Day 47 - Montpellier

Autumn must finally be arriving as it's the first overcast day we've had since we arrived in France.

Today we decided to visit the Camargue region which is very different terrain to the parts of France we've seen so far. We saw flamingos in the marsh land on the side of the road as we drove to The Maison du Grand Site de France Camargue Gardoise, an eco-landscape with free entry where we could walk around and see flamingos, though from quite a distance. 

We then drove to the nearby town of Aigues-Mortes with it's massive walls for a quick lunch, before heading to Parc Ornithologique du Pont de Gau. 

We had to pay to enter the park, but here the wetland area was full of flamingos, along with herons and other birds, so many of them and we were able to get very close. This park was also a little busier, with a few people with large cameras trying to get that perfect shot. 

Camargue is also famous for their indigenous white horses who have a strong affinity for water and are used by the local cowboys with their black cattle, we saw a lot of these as we drove through the area.

Back in Montpellier we experienced the first real rainfall we've seen in France, thought it only lasted a short time. 

Sure I like potatoes, but this goes too far ....

Day 46 - Montpellier

A relatively quiet day today as we needed to catch up on some washing and make plans and bookings for our final stretch home in a few weeks.

We followed the walking route through Montpellier from the Place de la Comédie through Écusson (the historic centre), Place de la Canourgue (with some dry looking gardens), past the Arc De Triomphe and into the Place de Peyrou, with the grand water tower (Chateau d'Eau) and the Saint Clement aqueduct.

We then spent the afternoon planning and making bookings for our trip through Vietnam, which will be our last stop on the way home. 

Montpellier is very much a university town, with students making up about a quarter of the population, so there are plenty of cheap eating places, quite different to what we've seen in the more touristy towns where it's all about the restaurants and the cafes. Just near where we are staying there is a Thai takeaway, a noodle place, a chicken shop, burgers, about three Indian ("naan") places, and a restaurant that specialises in potatoes. There's also a restaurant called "Entrecote" that only serves one main dish, which always has a line of people waiting to get in, so their steak must be OK.

M decide to try a place called "Naan City", which wasn't too bad, though it was a bit strange seeing carrot and beans in a chicken biryani. 

Roman history day

Day 46 - Avignon to Montpellier

Our hotel is in a fantastic location, just inside the Avignon city walls and right next door to the Palais des Papes (The Palace of the Popes).

The Palace was the centre of the Catholic Church for much of the 14th century, after the papal court was moved there from Rome in 1309, and is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe. We walked through the palace rooms, many of them almost empty, though sections of the old artwork still remained in some areas, and up to to the top where there were good views of the town.  

We then walked to Avignon's famous bridge, Pont d’Avignon which dates from the 12th century and now only goes halfway over the river. Across the river we could see the runners finishing the Avignon marathon, the cheering could be heard throughout the old town. Summer temperatures of high twenties continuing this far into autumn would have made it a tough day for a marathon.

We left Avignon to visit Pont Du Gard. We expected to see just another bridge but instead we saw the exceptional surviving section of the Roman aqueduct that carried water to Nîmes. It was built in the 1st century AD and rises almost 50 metres above the river with three tiers of arches, with the water channel running along the very top. We crossed on the lower level, then took the stairs to the top hoping to return back along the aqueduct, but it was closed. It's a popular swimming and kayaking area for the locals, and although the river level was lower than normal we could see lots of people enjoying themselves in the water.

The village of Nîmes was only 25 kilometres down the road and on the way to our destination of Montpellier so we decided to check out the very well preserved Roman amphitheatre built in100AD. It was closed for a private function but it was still impressive from the outside. A few minutes walk away was the Maison Carrée, a Roman temple, and the Jardins de la Fontaine with the Temple of Diana, all impressive examples of Roman architecture.

We arrived in Montpellier and checked in to our apartment for the next three nights. We encountered the owner twice in five minutes, the second time it was as if we had never met before, we didn't think we were that forgettable!

Land of lavender

Day 45 - Gorde to Avignon 

Another beautiful day in Provence as we start with the best coffee for weeks while admiring one of the most beautiful views in the South of France. 

We drove to the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque, just a few kilometres from Gordes. In the photos it's surrounded by lavender but at this time of year it has all gone.

We made a quick stop at the Village des Bories but the entry was pricey and they seemed a little similar to the dry stone huts we saw in Ireland so we decided to give it a miss. 

Our lunch stop was at the beautiful (we're using that adjective a lot in Provence) Fontaine de Vaucluse. The village is built next to a spring that's depth is not totally known, but has been measured to at least 308 metres. We walked along the river to see the spring but the last 50 metres was closed off due to rock falls.

We drove a little further down the road to L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue a picturesque town with water wheels and ducks based around the river Sorgue that flowed from the spring we'd visited earlier. As we sat by the river eating ice cream we wondered how much longer this superb weather could last. Apparently the town has the best market in the region on Sundays, but we're happy we're here on a Saturday as we're not that keen on dealing with the crowds (or the parking).

We drove on to Avignon and checked in to our hotel right next to the Palace de Papes, which we plan to visit tomorrow. M went exploring, learning that the Avignon Marathon was on the next day - another major event we had no idea was on until we arrived.

Just like the postcards

Day 44 - Aix-En-Provence to Gordes

A sublime day of quintessential Provence villages. Village after village of postcard beautiful limestone walls, roads and buildings with views across the valleys to the next beautiful village.

Our first village was Loumarin where we discovered there was a market on, making Friday the busiest day of the week, and we were very lucky to find a car park right next to the start of the market.

We recognised a few of the stalls from the market in Aix yesterday. We attempted to stop for a coffee but the village was so overwhelmed with visitors we quickly gave up and drove on to Bonnieux. 

By the time we arrived at Bonnieux their smaller market was starting to pack up so it was much quieter. There were stunning views of town and the surrounding countryside, we found a cute place to share a caramelised apple crepe, along with coffees that once again had a bit too much froth. 

A few minutes drive from there was Lacoste (which we could see from Bonnieux). At the very top of the town is the castle of the infamous Marquis de Sade (whose "exuberant" lifestyle gave us the word "sadism"). The castle is in a state of partial ruin but there have been numerous attempts at renovation since the 1950s, including by Pierre Cardin. M walked up to the castle thinking it was the only way to get there, only to find a giant tour bus parked out the front. While M did this K relaxed at a cafe, seeing a blue heeler walk past at one point. We later drove up to the castle so K would also see the ruin. 

We made a quick stop at Pont Julien, an old Roman bridge (over a very dry river) dating from 3BC, then drove on to Rousillon to visit Le Sentier des Ocres (The Ochre Trail).

The short walk over red dust took us past cliffs and formations with beautiful shades of red and orange rock. K wished she had bought a plastic bag so she could scoop up the ochre under her feet and take it home to put in a glaze, luckily though the shops nearby sold ochre kits with lots of different shades, and of course she bought up big.

We pulled in to Gordes, our stop for the night, stopping at the city viewpoint before arriving at our nice quiet apartment for the night. 

We made the two minute drive to the town centre to do some shopping, though parking was problematic, especially when our first attempt was in the mayor's personal space! We found a lovely terrace overlooking the dramatic limestone cliff, it would be difficult to find a more beautiful spot, before heading back for a home cooked meal while overlooking the magnificent view from our apartment.

Everyday is Market Day

Day 43 - Aix-en-Provence

It's been six weeks since we left home and we have a quieter day planned. M walked into Aix and K followed later on the bus. 

There are markets every day in Aix, Thursday being one of the big ones. The main market was on main  pedestrian boulevard of Cours Mirabeau, starting near the central Fontaine de la Rotonde and spilling into the surrounding streets. 

There was a lot of fashion and most of it was of high quality unlike the cheap clothes that are usually sold at markets at home. There were also food, flowers antiques and arts and craft areas so it was a huge market, taking over much of the central city area. 

After the market (which started winding down around 1pm) we spent a couple of hours sitting at an outside cafe making bookings and plans for the next few weeks of travel, I guess we have to come back home sometime, right?

Planning done (for now) we caught the bus to Le Tholonet, as it was easy to get to and looked interesting on paper, but soon after arriving we realised there wasn't much to see on foot so we promptly caught the bus back to Aix again!