05/10/09

Day 27 – October 5
The illuminated chateau from last night wasn’t even visible this morning, the cloud was so thick and the rain was so heavy. We had a slow start, taking full advantage of the unlimited hot water for showers on the campsite and set off late morning to explore the chateau at Saumur. Having done this we decided that as the weather was so poor we would carry on to Abbaye de Fontevraud as much of this is under cover!
We passed through true vineyard country on the way, resisting the roadside invitations to taste and buy direct – not a recommended pastime when having to manoeuvre a 6 metre motorhome! There are a huge number of troglodyte dwellings in this area carved into the soft white rock, and even a “cave du vins” cut into the rock.
The Abbaye is a huge abbey complex dating to the 11th century with masses of original features retained despite a huge restoration programme. It is also allegedly the final resting place of Richard the Lionheart, but there are many other places in France that make the same claim, so a pinch of salt is needed!
After the abbey we drove through Chinon, which has strong associations with Joan of Arc, after passing through vast swathes of open countryside where the corn is currently being harvested and the grapes are weighing heavy on the vines.
We ended the day on the aire at Azay Le Rideau, a real fairytale chateau set on a moat, which we will visit in the morning.
Happy birthday Nick for the 6th. Have a great day - we'll raise a glass (or two!) to celebrate!

04/10/09

Day 26 – October 4
Today was always going to be a difficult day because of our decision to visit Oradour sur Glane. You have probably never heard of this place, and neither had we until a couple of years ago, but on 10 June 1944 it was the scene of an SS atrocity that took the lives of 642 townspeople in the most brutal way. The men were herded into separate areas of the town and simultaneously shot, and the women and children were barricaded in the church and then burned alive.
What makes this town special is that the whole place has been left exactly as it was, and it is in reality an open memorial to all those murdered that day. You can wander the streets amongst the burnt out buildings and see cars abandoned on the street, a set of scales and a coffee bean grinder in the grocers shop, metal furniture frames and prams, all rusting away but exactly where they were left. The tiles are still on the wall in the butchers shop, and the bread ovens are still visible in the bakers. What struck me too, was the number of sewing machines in many houses – we forget that almost every home had one all those years ago. There is a cemetery memorial to all those who died, and what really hits home is the number of victims all with the same family name. I won’t go on about this any more, suffice it to say that it is a very emotional place to visit.
We are staying at Saumur tonight, on the Loire, from where we are going to visit some of the chateaux along the river (much to Peter’s delight!) Our pitch is right by the side of the river, looking across the river to the chateau high up in the opposite bank. It looks amazing!
Sorry about the lack of updates over the last few days, but there is a dearth of McDonalds in the area we have been in (is that possible??) so we have paid out for wi-fi on site tonight to bring you all up to date.

03/10/09

Day 25 – October 3
The mist was lying thick and low over the river this morning, so we were shivering at the thought of wearing shorts today – but our perseverance paid off and by the time we had been on the road for half an hour the sun came out to play!
First port of call today was Sarlat la Caneda. I particularly wanted to visit this town but the last time we tried we hit market day and couldn’t park anywhere – and history repeated itself today! We did eventually manage to park in a side road about 15 minutes walk from the town, and my wait was worthwhile! Whilst being very touristy with lots of English and American voices to be heard, the town itself is medieval and has some beautiful original buildings and squares, all bathed in the autumn sunshine and giving off the now familiar warm golden hues. The market is huge and sells everything from horsemeat and foie gras (the local delicacy) to jewellery and cocktail dresses!
We made our way from Sarlat to Montignac, another picturesque medieval town on the river, but arrived here at 12.30, just as everything closed down! We wandered around the tiny narrow streets anyway, just enjoying the atmosphere and the sunshine.
From here we took all the B-roads and ambled along enjoying the views across this beautiful countryside.
Autumn seems a long way off here, unlike further south where the trees are turning, and all the flower planters in the towns are still full of summer blooms and the leaves are not yet showing signs of turning or falling. We are in the Limousin region now, which is largely an agricultural area. We have passed orchards, fields of rich green vegetables, pastures with lovely clean, golden brown cows and calves grazing and dozing in the sun – and some absolutely gorgeous farmhouses and properties! It makes us wish we had been brave enough to take the plunge and move here years ago!

02/10/09

Day 24 - October 2
Whoever said country life was peaceful?? We were both kept awake for most of the night by a barking dog and a hyperactive owl twit-twoo-ing and screeching, and an insomniac cockerel that crowed repeatedly well before dawn!
We set off for the Dordogne region immediately after breakfast. Peter has planned today’s route, which took us first to Villereal. This is one of the “bastide” towns, which were a series of fortified towns built in the 13th and 14th centuries as frontier towns to separate the English and French territories. They were built within gated walls in a grid plan systems, centred on a market square which usually included a roofed timbered “halle” as cover for the stalls. Those that are still standing are a fascinating study in carpentry! The next towns we visited, of Belves and Monpazier, are of the same design and they occupy stunning hillside locations offering fabulous views across the area, with the Dordogne snaking its way through the rich lands surrounding it. The agriculture here is mainly fruit of all types, planted in the same neat rows as the vineyards, and we drove for miles along roads twisting through orchards, enjoying spectacular views of chateaux nestling in distant forests and lovely red-roofed and shuttered farmhouses set in lush landscapes.
Beynac et Cazenac is one of the most photographed and beautifully situated towns in this region. As we rounded a bend in the river the town appeared before us, clinging to the cliff face and topped with a most impressive chateau once occupied by Richard the Lionheart. The town is built in the same beautiful honey-coloured stone typical of the region, and all the buildings and archways along the steep cobbled ascent to the chateau have been very carefully restored in total keeping with the history of the place. The views from the top are stunning.
Our final visit today, and our overnight stop, is La Roque-Gageac, again on the river. This village is a continuous winner of France’s prettiest village title, and it is easy to see why. The same honey coloured stone buildings run along one side of the road across from the river, climbing up the imposing cliff face to troglodyte dwellings set into the stone.
This is a great time to visit these places – the weather is still warm and sunny but the crowds have gone! We have been to this region before in the height of summer, and you can hardly move.
We surprised the Hymer today – we took her to a car wash! We managed to remove all the dead flies from the bonnet and generally get rid of all the dust and grime she has accumulated in the last three and a half weeks. We reckon she deserved a treat! I must say, she looks much better for it!

01/10/09

Day 23 - October 1
Well, here we are on the first day of October and shock horror! We were woken in the early hours by rain on the roof, so maybe that tells us it is time to move on from Biarritz and leave it to the surfers.
We left there in cloud and moved inland, following brighter skies and potentially better weather and before long were rewarded with more sunshine. Today we aimed to cover quite a distance to make our way towards the Dordogne for the next leg of our journey. We made it as far as a very small aire on the banks of the canal that feeds off the River Garonne at a tiny village called Caumont sur Garonne. The location is idyllic, taking only five motorhomes but with only three occupants, and is so very quiet and peaceful. We had lunch of bread, cheese and – of course – wine, on an adjoining picnic bench under plane trees on the canalside. The village is very quiet, we took a walk through and the only signs of life are a café that closed on 16 September and a post office that is only open in the mornings! The occupants of both neighbouring motorhomes are French too, so no nightlife or gossip tonight!
In the hedgerows we found wild miniature cyclamens flowering alongside vivid yellow crocus, and there are masses of butterflies and tiny lizards still darting around, so summer is far from over here at least. But having said that, the leaves are starting to fall, the village square is full of fallen conkers and there is a definite change of colour in the leaves on the trees. Yet we sat out in strong burning sunshine on the banks of the canal, just as hot as the coast yesterday – and still wearing shorts!
Today’s photo, if it works, shows that we are both actually on this trip, not just me doing all the writing!

30/09/09

Day 22 – September 30
We spent the whole day on the beach from 11.00am and came off at 5.30pm, sunshine all day long – end of!

29/09/09

Day 21 – September 29
We’ve been to Spain today – just because we could! When we woke this morning it was very grey and misty, which was a bit of a shock to the system. We thought that we’d move on to try to gain a day or two as we have now loosely planned our route back to Calais, with heavy hearts. We wish we could just carry on now, having had a taste of just how good this way of life is.
Our first proposed stop today was St Jean de Luz, which is a very attractive and historic town that I particularly wanted to visit – the only problem was that it is a totally motorhome unfriendly place which makes no provision whatsoever except for a very small aire for about 15 sandwiched between the major road bridge in and out of the town and the railway track – heavenly! We decided to carry on and thus we ended up in Spain!
There is no border control here and initially the only way we knew we’d crossed was by the shop signs. However the differences between the two countries soon became apparent and we were amazed at the change. This is another strange language zone, where the fiercely independent Basques of northern Spain conspire to make things as difficult as possible for tourists!
We stopped at a town named Hondarribia, which dates back forever, and is beautifully kept and restored in keeping with its famed history of having been attacked on many occasions over centuries because of its strategic border position, but never having been taken. A wander through the old town within feet-thick city walls bears testament to these attacks – the walls of the Paradour in the centre are heavily pitted with indentations made by cannon balls.
From here we went on to San Sebastian and were somewhat shocked by the urbanisation – it was all too much for us and so we hightailed it back to genteel Biarritz – such cowards!
The plan is to spend the last day of September on the beach 2 minutes away taking in a last fix of ozone before we reluctantly turn inland for our inevitable journey home.