Locked in France

A cold, wintry start to our day today. Max, Leonie and Di walked into the village and returned with lovely fresh baguettes and croissants. We may never taste such beautiful bread again I am afraid.

We are stuck in a lock again, this time because the lock keeper is nowhere to be seen. We rang Le Boat and they contacted the navigation people, they have rung the lock keeper and apparently he operates between two locks and now has to drive here from the other. What a system! An hour later he turned up and we were on our way.

We were heading for Carcassonne today to see the old city but the next series of locks were taken up by two boats and by the time we finished getting through another hour had passed. At last the skies cleared and a weak sun broke through as we ducked and weaved under low bridges into Carcassonne. We found a grocery shop and bought supplies for the next few days and had a quick look around before we had to leave without a chance to visit the Old Cite.

The sun shone and we enjoyed the next hour or so until the last two locks of the day. The
Lock keeper was so drunk he fell out his door and then forgot the key. He leant on the control box and was still swaying and staggering around but we got through safely. The next lock was only 700m away and when we arrived he came barreling down the road in his car. He staggered out and began the operation. Things were not going well when another operator turned up and saw we were not going anywhere and came and took charge. He seemed to be telling the drunk guy off and apologised to us and a 10 minute operation became a 30 minute one, thank God he turned up. We have tied up to the bank just outside the lock, we had had enough adventure for the day. Di has once again prepared a culinary masterpiece for our dinner, and all is well. Today 11 locks and 25km

Canal du Midi

The great technical feat of the Canal du Midi was achieved by Pierre-Paul Riquet and involved transporting the water from the Black Mountain down to the foot of the Naurouze (189 m), the highest point in the course and connecting the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. 42,000 plane trees line the canal, each spaced 7 to 8 metres apart to form a colonnade. It was and is a marvel of engineering.  The banks have not changed much in all that time and it is easy to imagine the people and vessels of the past using these waterways

We woke to a grey day but it barely rained and was very pleasant mooring quietly along the Canal. We started with a scrape under a tiny arched bridge for which we all had to duck our heads and headed for the first set of locks. It turned out to be easier than we thought, but still requires attention. As you throw the rope over the bollard and hold it firm the lock keeper closes one gate and opens the next, the water level drops and you with it, keeping the rope firm but allowing it to slip down with the boat, eventually were given the go ahead and we slip the rope and head off between extremely narrow stone gateways and into the canal. Sometimes there is a series of locks and you proceed from one to the next dropping over 60 feet or so before once again sailing off along the canal.
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We found a quite bank near an old arched bridge on the edge of a village and settled in for the night. We enjoyed a few laughs over gin, beer and red wine trying to guess the names of songs and artist....we were pretty hopeless at that, and off we went to bed.

25k and 19 locks today!

Too tight in Toulouse

Today was a very stressful day. The drive to Toulouse was good, but once in the city the blood pressure rose. We had an address in the GPS but we kept going in circles with no Europcar in site. Traffic everywhere, one way streets, gypsies trying to extract money at traffic lights. Finally Bill jumped out and found the office inside a building with no signage at all on the outside. We had to take the car up the equivalent of q spiral staircase and we were so glad to drop off those keys.

Next we found the Toulouse train station to be full of gypsies either begging or watching you very closely, we did not feel safe at all. Up and down stairs with our baggage, onto the graffiti encrusted train and off we went, heading for Castelnaudary where we are to pick up our canal boat. It went very well, the girls kept the taxi and went to buy groceries, we had a briefing about the operation of our canal boat, and off we went.

We asked where we could go to somewhere close by for the night as it was already late afternoon, and Leon told us we should not head stream as there was nothing there but nature.  Of course that is the way we went. You are allowed to pitch a stake anywhere along the bank and tie up for the night. Many people choose to tie up in towns or villages with services, but we chose a vineyard and farmland and enjoyed an evening of birdsong and the peace of the countryside.

Rose Rhummerie to finish our week in Le Bugue

Today we wandered the streets of Le Bugue for the last time, enjoyed a fabulous pastry at our favourite patisserie and packed our bags, cleaned the house and went out for dinner. We went to a restaurant where no one spoke English. We had such a laugh with young Benjamin our waiter as we resorted to drawing pictures to identify the food we wanted to order. I will upload  photos when I can. Dinner was delicious and we tried local delicacies including Foie Gras, scallops, Creme brûlée and rose petal distiller rhum!  We strolled home along the Les Vezere river in the cool evening air feeling no pain at all.

Dordogne Valley

Troglodytes are people who lived in homes built into cliff faces. The rock was soft enough to dig rooms back into the cliff and put a timber and rock front wall. In some places large chateau were built, in others a village for 1000 people complete with barnyards, butchery, footpaths extending over the edge of the cliff, a church and all the usual requirements for village life. It was amazing to see and to think that there are still places where people live like this, but then again, we have people in Lightening Ridge who have built their homes in the same way, except they are underground

We came upon Beynac and Le Roque Gagerac, two beautiful stone villages built against steep hillsides that run down to the Dordogne River. We enjoyed lunch in a restaurant on the banks of the wide, clear, willow lined Dordogne that was the means of invasion by Vikings in times past. huge chateau line the river to ward off the enemy, and in one place the two chateau on each side of the valley  saw men facing off in the 100 year war between England and France.

The highlight of the day for me was the Marquessac Gardens ... 6km walking tracks through boxwood hedges and  topiary of all size, shape and description. The most amazing garden I have seen and set high on a hillside in the grounds of a chateau.

Once again we have been blessed with sunshine and a great day.

Rocamadour

In 2004 I walked into Rocamadour through a forest along with my sister and two friends. We were awe struck at the sight, and it was no less impressive today driving in. We stopped at a creperie on the hillside adjacent to this holy city and took in the sights and we drank coffee.

Max dropped us at the base and then drove to the top and we walked up the narrow streets, I found the windows for the bedroom Denise and I shared , we walked the hundreds of steep stone steps through to the church that houses the Black Madonna, a wooden statue dcredited with miracles, and continued up the steep ramps that housed one of the 14 stations of the cross at every turn. We also were able to see the cave that began the whole city, a place where a vision of the Madonna caused this to be a place of pilgrimage..  We walked out onto the battlements above the valley for an awesom view.

We were tired and hungry by then, so found a small restaurant and enjoyed lunch before our journey home along the twisting, narrow but pretty roads through the French countryside.

Market Day

Le Bugue Markets

By Max Crowther

(With apologies to every poet there ever was ...)

Pepito the prune man was rather sly

He Had his eye on Lady Di,

Bernard the basket vendor

Took a fancy to the lovely Glenda,

Andre sold pizza - pepperoni

And fell in love with dear Leonie.

Bill, Max and Bruce

Thought their women very loose!

What a laugh we had today at the markets. These are not the big, flashy, professional markets where people roll into town with refrigerated trucks, these are regional people who bring their products to town, and you buy what is fresh depending  upon the season. The streets were filled with vegetable stalls, fabulous bread, small goods, home preserves, local honeys and oils, biscuits, oysters, meats etc etc etc. we wandered, bought supplies for dinner, and posed with a few vendors from whom we had purchased our supplies. One introduced Di to his neighbour as his fiancé, another we had not bought anything from and had seen us taking a photograph gestured that he wanted his photo taken as well, we laughed so much ... Best shopping trip I've had. 

Grotte de Font de Gaume

A cave hidden in a rocky hillside amongst farmland and villages just 30km or so from Le Bugue,  shelters artworks 20000 years old. Only 12 people at a time and 180 people a day are allowed to view the works as the perspiration and humidity from our breath has had a devastating effect on other such caves and they wish to preserve this one for as long as possible.

This is the last cave with multicoloured prehistoric paintings that is open to the public. This narrow cave was discovered in 1901 and the paintings and etchings depict bison, mammoths, horses and other animals. The lifelike representations are enhanced through the clever use of the shape of the rock on which they are painted to give an almost 3D effect.

To think you are standing where people stood 20000 years ago and gaze on the paintings, some as fresh as if they had just been completed makes you feel very insignificant in the scheme of all things.

Once again our day was spent driving along narrow  roads through forests and idyllic countryside, and intriguingly, also through areas where people carved homes into the cliff faces. These we hope to visit while we are here.

Back to the villa and a big night in watching the only English speaking TV we can get here that is not a religious program, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, McGyver and Star Trek!

French sunshine, A glass of wine and Thou ...

Our villa has a terrace. The morning mists cleared and the sun shone warmly just in time for lunch. We had fresh baguettes and cheese and ham, a beautiful red wine, and the boys had decided that a few drinks were in order before lunch and had broached finished the rum, so it was a delightful hour or so we spent out there, with lots of laughs and enjoying the day. A huge white swan swam up the river to complete the idyllic setting, and then suddenly the boys were tired and headed off for 'la sieste' for an hour or two. 

Last night was eventful for us as the bed was so small I ended up coming to sleep on the couch, and just as well. Max says not long after I left he felt something crawling on him and flicked on the light to see a mouse which took off and ran up  the wall and disappeared. I would have freaked out if I had been there.

Having said that, it is clean and very comfortable in the other bedrooms, 2 large lounges and dining room and good kitchen, large laundry and beautiful little garden and tbe terrace, and almost all rooms look out on a beautiful view of the river..

Le Bugue is a town of 18th century architecture and a beautiful setting surrounded by wooded hills, built on the right bank of a bend in the river Vezere, and with 3000 inhabitants it is one of the main localities in the Perigord Noir. It is situated at the crossroads of the Perigord and dominates the entrance to the Vezere Valley.

au revoir Amboise

Yesterday we spent a cold rainy day relaxing in our beautiful old hotel in front of a log fire. We tried our hand at dominoes and cards, or just read and chatted and finished the day with a delicious meal in the hotel restaurant. We would heartily recommend the 'cite royal de Amboise' ... it has charm, beauty and a wonderful location near shopping, historic sites and lots of good restaurants.  But it was time to leave and head further south, so we were all packed and in the car by 8.15 on this cold sunny morning.

The 'D' roads are pretty good here, usually wide enough for comfortable passing but still with the occasional small village and narrow streets to be negotiated. We drove through farmland and orchards and vineyards, crossed wide and small rivers, ancient and modern bridges and arrived at about 4.00pm in the Perigord, the gastronomic and pre-historic heart of France.

Our Villa is right on the river, a view from evry window in a little village called Le Bugue. It is comfortable, and would be warm of we hadn't fiddled with the heaters!!!

We have a week to explore the region which is ideal, just hoping at tomorrow gets above 8deg C

Chateaux in the Loire Valley

The Loire Valley is lush and green and served by several large rivers. It is not too far from Paris and so the aristocracy and the wealthy of the past built fabulous castles here. We had a bright warm sunny day to visit 2 of them.

Firstly we drove to Chambord at the heart of Europe's largest enclosed wooded park, the dream of a young king, it is the largest château in the Loire Valley. It boasts a pleasure garden and a hunting park both listed as Historical Monuments. It's incredible size and detail overwhelms as you approach, and it is famous for the elliptical staircase designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Two intertwining staircases that never meet!

The colossal size of Chambord, beyond all human scale, displays a unique silhouette with its 156 metre façade, 426 rooms, 77 staircases and 282 fireplaces. The geometric layout, proportions and the imaginativeness of the rooftops spiked with turrets, chimneys and skylights fill you with wonder.  What a hunting lodge! And what a waste, reportedly the king spent only 72 days here in over 40 years or so.

Next we went to my favourite, Chenonceau, so much smaller but exceptionally beautiful, and with lovely gardens and fully furnished rooms, you truly have a glimpse into the wealth, excesses and lifestyle of past occupants. One standout feature amongst the opulence of this chateau is the floral decoration. Every room has an enormous, unique, fresh bouquet to match the decor. The scent of the flowers fill the chateau and add the the opulence and experience.

Amboise

Holidays seem to go so quickly. We have packed so much into just one day today, walking the shops, exploring the backstreets admiring the gardens and stories that are told by the timber and stone buildings, visiting the last home of Leonardo Da Vinci, and his garden, afternoon drinks in the sunshine of the hotel garden and dinner in the little restaurant across the road.

Leonardo da Vinci, he would have to be someone you would invite to dinner if you could invite anyone at all from past and present.  What a fascinating man, and to think we stood in the house he spent the last years of his life, the bedroom where he died, looked out of the window that held his favourite view of Amboise Chateau, and gazed at the desk where he wrote and sketched many things, including his will and last words. Incredible.

Also incredible is the fact that people have made working models of some of his inventions from his drawings. A device for drawing water up hill, the first shifting spanner, ball bearings, a tank that could fire automatically, a machine gun, a bicycle and the first automated car, all be it without an engine, the parachute, water wheels, a device for accurately measuring distance, etc etc etc, and all this between sketching, painting, sculpting and architecture of famous town and palaces. What a man.  The garden around his home has also been restored and a section added to display the working models.

We have had an early night as Max has come down with a cold and we need our energy for another exciting day tomorrow.

6 hours across France

We left Mont st michel early today, the mont shrouded in mist that soon turned to a thick fog. We battled the GPS and the patchwork of roads and headed across Fance on our way to the Loire Valley, a journey of about 350k.

Enroute we were forever surrounded by verdant green farmland, framed with mossy timber fences and studded with medi evil towns, some with walled battlements and all with a church and steeple from which the bell is rung every day.

The towns and villages are colourless and the fog accentuated this, stone or cream walls, slate roofs or aged tiles, and modern businesses often housed within. We stopped along the road after having our tyre repaired, at a small restaurant. The lady was surprised and pleased to see us. She smiled and laughed and was so welcoming, I don't think too many Aussies must have called there in the past. She put baguettes of the most wonderful crusty bread on the table, cheese, ham, butter and fresh coffee.  What a great breakfast, and then it was onward.

More towns and villages, and with so many 50k and 30k speed limits and because you can't check in until 4pm, we decided to stop for lunch about 2 o'clock. A non descript town called Nuelle, a small bar/come betting agency, we asked for sandwiches.  What a spread was presented to us. A huge platter of ham and salad and pickles and pate and sausage meat , great chunks of cheese and all served with the amazingly fantastic bread.

When the man found out it was by birthday I received a kiss, happy birthday music played over the loudspeakers, and it was such fun.  All the more so because it was unexpected.

Back in the car and we arrived in the beautiful little city of Amboise.  Our accommodation is charming, a very old villa turned into 20 hotel rooms, decor of antiques and red velvet. We explored the streets, lots of shops, restaurants and history to get excited about, luckily we are here for the next 3 days.  A fire was burning brightly in the sitting room, and a few gins and birthday cake and gifts  to unwrap completed a wonderful day.

Mont Saint Michel

No words I write will adequately describe what has been written about by poets and priests and pilgrims and journalists for the last 1500 years, it is truely one of the worlds amazing and unique places.

Our accommodation is 3k from the mont with a view across the famous salt grass flats. They stretch for a km or so before reaching the sea that surrounds the rocky island upon which the village and cathedral have been built.

The region is famous for its lamb, sheep that feed on this grass are herded through the village every morning from their barn and out into the fields. They return through the village each evening, it really is a sight to see.

We caught a shuttle bus from an enormous car park, just one of many which is an indicator of how vast the crowds must be each summer, but luckily for us only a few thousand people were there today.

The view is overpowering from a distance, and as you walk through the village at the base of the mont, (which Max dubbed 'thieves alley'), there are a hundred gift shops selling all kinds of cheap and expensive souvenirs.  After a steep walk through the street you arrive at the base of a few hundred steps which wind their way through chapels and halls and crypts and cloisters until you reach as far as high as you are permitted to walk today. From the battlements you can see for miles, a view which has hardly changed over the ages. Vast flats of silt and quicksand at low tide and a shallow ocean at high tide. It is easy to imagine the pilgrims coming to pray to the Arch angel St Michael, or to imagine the Normans battling and horses caught in the quick sand, or the encampments of the English in the 30 year siege.

Today it is once again a holy place, all be it, the most visited site in France.

Built between the 11th and 16th centuries and perched on a rocky islet in the midst of vast sandbanks exposed to powerful tides between Normandy and Brittany stands the 'Wonder of the West', a Gothic-style Benedictine abbey dedicated to the archangel St Michael, and the village that grew up in the shadow of its great walls. 

On the Road

Our tour guide of the last few days went above and beyond the call of duty, dropped us off at the hire car and led us through the chaotic traffic and narrow streets of Caen back to our hotel in Bayeux. It is a bit stressful driving on the 'wrong' side of the road, especially as the 9 seater van we have obstructs view of the side of the road. With lots of helpful advice, Max managed to get us safely home.

The food has been absolutely beautiful on this trip. So much flavour, unusual foods, and we have all been trying snails and welks and scallops and fish served in a variety of ways. The presentation of the food is so important and each plate is an artwork in itself, the waiters are professional and expert at their job ... I guess you can see we are really enjoying dining out.

Today we visited a tapestry that has survived since 1066. It is 70metres long and tells the story of William the Conquerer and his taking of the the English throne. Exquisite.

Bill and Di purchased supplies for a picnic and off we went, GPS in hand to wind our way along the scenic route to Mont St Michel. Scenery of green fields, rolling hills, medi-evil villages dotting the landscape, and always the two story stone farm houses with shutters. We found a beautiful picnic spot beside the river de la Vire and enjoyed fabulous fresh baguettes with hand made salami or just plain butter, fruit and a glass of red wine.

We travelled through the valley and headed for the Coast. Sadly a bit of a hiccup meant we had to replace a flat tyre. Out came all the luggage, and the boys did a gret job and off we went again. We got quite lost trying to find out accommodation which was pretty frustrating for everyone at the end of a long day, but here we are, only three kilometres from the famous Mont in a small Auberge that has good wine a great restuarant, and a fabulous view of the Mont across the famous tidal flats.

After dinner we strolled out in the darkness to the stunning sight of the lights of the Mont. 

So mixed fortunes for the start of the the next leg of our holiday, a road trip weaving our way from North to South of France.

Normandy

The last two days of our battlefield tour have been in Normandy. Not so much Australian context here as our troops had been called home to defend Australia from the Japanese. It has been days of looking at beaches and gun emplacements and bunkers and hearing stories of ingenious planning, heroic actions by individuals and small groups of men, and unrelenting pressure on the Germans to finally break through and win World war 11.

To see the farm houses and villages that were occupied by the Germans, to hear stories and see recorded images and stories from the people who had to live under occupation, and to visit the enormous monuments and cemeteries has brought the facts of the war together for me, but I cannot say I can understand at all, the fear, courage, hardships, strength, of all involved, it is beyond me. 

I would recommend this tour with BackRoads to anyone, it has been an education and enlightenment and has given me so much more appreciation for the sacrifice of those who were involved.  You see commemorations everywhere for those who die, and rightly so, but I saw engraved on a memorial today something I think should be repeated on every war memorial ...

The dead shall not be forgotten,

The veteran shall be forever honoured.