Category: France (Page 2 of 2)

It’s been a while since I posted anything, but, we have been busy! Plus I have had an issue with the website, Gremlins invaded so I’ve had to change things a little; archive pages will be added but the site shows our travels going forward from the Summer of 2018.

A summary of the two months of July and August before we continued with our travels around the South of France………. we had two weeks in the Toulouse area, drove back to the UK, took a holiday, drove back down through France and rejoined our trailer and our travels!

La Romieu, Toulouse

After leaving the Biarritz area  of France,  we moved inland for 2 weeks to stay in the Toulouse area,  in a small village called Le Romieu.  In our second week we met with an old friend Louise, her three children and parents and we explored the local towns.  David excelled in the BBQ area, coping with cooking for 8 people and still providing cold drinks on demand!  Louise, Dylan, Tyler, Isis, Jill and Ivan were lovely company on this rural campsite, it was a brilliant week.

BBQ at Chez Samson with Jill, Ivan and Louise, Chef David is hiding!!

Cooling arrival drinks for Jill, Ivan and Dylan.

Free evening of music and fireworks!

La Romieu has it’s own history in the form of a collegiate cathedral built by a local who became a cardinal, as he realised the town was on the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostella in the north of Spain.  He built the church and it’s surrounding buildings in SIX years, quite a feat considering the average time to build a cathedral is 70 years!

View from one of the Cathedral towers.

Grounds of La Romieu.

The grounds of the church displayed a collection of photographs of local people, this lady is a local farmer’s wife and is 101 years old!

Samson at night.

Le Romieu at night.

A local village house.

Our nearest towns were Condom (yes, really!) and Lectoure.  Condom is the home to a famous resident, D’Artagnan, one of the Musketeers as well as a fabulous cathedral and a river, where we took a boat ride one sunny day.

Making friends with D’Artagnan and his pals.

Condom’s church has a complete stone quire, very rare.

Exterior of Condom church.

Lovely parents Ivan and Jill!

Boat trip on the river.

Happy days xx

Lectoure is a more traditional hilltop town, traditional local produce markets,  ancient Roman remains including a natural spring fountain and beautiful narrow cobbled streets.

A traditional old house.

View from Lectoure.

We took a day trip into Toulouse and explored the city by tourist bus, the best way when it’s hot outside and time is limited.

Toulouse main square.

We also spent some time with the owner of a cognac distillery, where he explained how it was produced, showed us his private collection and let us taste his wares.  We wandered around his estate to work off the effects of cognac at 11am before purchasing a bottle or two.  The owner only makes a batch every 6-8 years, when the harvest is a good quality and does not sell to the commecrial sector, only private individuals and visitors to his farm.  He was entertaining and informative and quite charming, well he would be after a few bevvies!! !

I know that England is having a heatwave, well, so are we in France!! Finally the weather has improved, not without the odd evening thunderstorm, but the temperature is up and the sun and blue skies are a more common theme these days.

France has struck us as being very English, the rolling countryside resembles the South Downs, English language and accents are common in towns and supermarket queues, lots of British people live and holiday here, the residential gardens are kept full of roses, hydrangeas and lavender, and tea is drunk here more than coffee! They have bric-a-brac markets and supermarkets are full of British products like marmalade, Tetley tea and familiar cereals. The language is easier for me than David, having sat O Level French at school some of it occasionally comes back from a tiny corner of my brain. The only difference is that British people are friendly and willing to provide a service, unlike the French!

However, before we left the coast for Gers, we visited a few local places nearby.

Urrugny

We stayed at this campsite just outside St Jean de Luz, below Biarritz, for 2 weeks. We explored the area, drove back 10kms over the border into Spain and topped up with cheaper fuel and fridge contents!

Sunset over the lake at Larrouleta campsite.

David considering the lake….

The fabulous heated pool.

The local church was an eye opener, traditional design outside, inside it was almost theatrical in design with a heavily decorated ceiling, three wooden balconies around the edges and a spectacular art deco organ added in 2000.

We visited a local chateau, where the latest generation of the family who built it still live in attached accommodation but the main house is now used as a hotel, or a museum, although the house is used for family functions. Most of the walls were decorated with old tapestries and paintings of the head of the families that had lived there. The gardens were full of herb beds as well as beautiful pink hydrangeas and roses and a perfectly manicured lawn!

The local privately owned Chateau.

The family dining table, complete with crystal glasses and one of 15 magnificent wall tapestries.

This is an original water fountain, pumped up from a well, into a lobby off the dining room.

The lounge, with Louis Vth chairs, old Piano, family portraits and another tapestry.

A portrait of the current owner’s great grandfather hangs above the fireplace. The wording engraved into the fireplace reads “We Gather, We Warm, We Cheer”.

The Trophy Room is full of local deer and antique furniture.

We visited another Chateau that was built in 1860 by a scientist with an interest in astronomy; he built himself a gothic style triangular shaped property which contained an observatory tower in one corner and a private chapel in another. As the building was perched on a hill there was no light pollution and just open skies. The day we visited was French only tours, so no point in paying out money to listen to something we did not understand!

Bayonne

This lovely riverside town was deserted on a Saturday when we visited, later in the day we realised why – everybody was in the next town Biarritz, at the beach! The riverside architecture was stunning, tall, wooden houses showed there was wealth in the area from a long time ago, and the River Nive which divided the town gave the old and new a separate feel; the old town was full of stone properties dominated by the Church; the new part was full of modern tasteful blocks of glass and metal apartments surrounded by greenery and cycle paths. On the bank of the river, we came across a beautiful old carousel, with some unusual characters as seats!

Biarritz

We revisited Biarritz, having been there September 2017, and found the beaches heaving with sun worshipers, surfers and swimmers. We sat in the same seafront bar as we did last year and had a drink, last year breakfast with fruit juice and coffee and pastries, this year a long cold drink!

San Sebastien, Spain

We also revisited San Sebastien just over the border into Spain, We had been there several times before but had not explored the tourist area around the old cathedral and “old town”. This time we meandered through the old streets admiring the cathedral, the architecture and of course, we had to stop for tapas lunch!!

Top, l to r: minced raw beef and mayo (David said it was awful!!); sardines and tomatoes; battered chicken and veg balls. Below: Mini croissant with ham; baguette with bacon and tomato; chorizo sausage in pastry; potato tortilla.