Last day

Oh woe. But at least the weather had repented of its bad manners yesterday morning. By the time we got to Luçon for breakfast the sun was shining brightly across the marshes. Good coffees as usual set us up for the long slog to Roscoff.

We detoured via the Passage du Gois and Port du Bec opposite Noirmoutier. Last time we were there it was drear and rainy but today all was clear and sparkling.

The tide was in so no cars were crossing which meant we could  walk down to the first refuge post and watch the birds.

Curlew egret, sanderlings, golden plover, turnstones.

Then up the coast to St Brévin where hooray - the Airbus ship was in.

The serpent somehow looks less menacing when the tide is out.

He’s more scary emerging from the deep! The rest of the journey was unrelenting up through Brittany.

We didn’t stop until Guingamp because we wanted to get up to the coast in daylight. So we were ready for a break! This odd sight greeted us as we drove into town. We deduced it was Head in the Clouds! Roscoff was pretty deserted with most shops and restaurants closed, including our dear Surcouf. So that was a shame. But we ate a reasonable meal elsewhere and are now sailing out of port on Armorique.

And now into Plymouth in a rosy dawn. Absolutely flat crossing extremely comfortable. What a contrast to the way out! Just got home via a mega Waitrose shop and need a cupoftea!

A day of two halves

For some reason we were up and out of Ibis Budget by 7.30 again even though it is Sunday and we knew no bars would be open before 9. Habit I suppose. Buffalo Grill next door had not tempted us out last night even though it was heaving. We just had clementines and crisps. It was a foggy morning as we meandered into Bergerac. No one about really but we had a quick look round the centre, bought croissants and sandwiches then exited in the direction of Ste Foy. Still no bars open... but we spotted lights in one as we passed, and rerouted ourselves round the town centre to get back to it. A winner! Full of men doing the Sunday gambling. I think I was the only woman there. But super coffee with actual jugs of hot milk.

Adam’s and my next objective was to visit the château of Michel de Montaigne, the famous lovely 16th century essayist. We wanted to see where he’d lived and the tower where he did his writing and it was sort of on our route. However it was so foggy we could hardly see our way. Down some narrow roads and through vines and then we saw the entrance. A rough track to a vineyard that didn’t look promising. But there was a light on in the building and notice saying ring the bell.

We did and a girl appeared who said she’d open the gates to the château down the drive. Magic!

The grounds were informal and fairly unkempt and the tower and château shadowy in the mist. After about half an hour we left and continued our journey through Entre Deux Mers, Puisseguin, Lussac and other famous names. A lot of it scarcely visible! Then gradually onto the Gironde Estuary when, miraculously on the dot of midday the sky cleared and the sun streamed through.

We pulled up by the beach at St Georges de Didonne to eat the copious sandwiches and enjoy the grey brown waters and views of distant lighthouses.

St Georges has one, now unused.

Cordouan sits way out at the mouth of the Gironde.

Adrian’s main objective was the lighthouse at Coubre, north of Royan.

We drove along the promenade past Royan’s 50s seafront and the outlying resort suburbs of Vaux and St Palais. So many smart beaches and apartments! But very genteel. We like it!

It’s just miles of golden sand everywhere here backed by national forest and nature reserve.
Even the campsites are discretely hidden.

Coubre lighthouse is in danger of being washed into the sea one day.

In fact it already has been! This is a new one with the remains of the old one on the beach in front..

We had a walk on the sand in the winter sun. Reminds me a bit of Formby actually.

This ship coming into Bordeaux looked so close to shore but it wasn’t really.

Sanderlings zipping about on the water’s edge. All quite fabulous. But we had to make tracks for La Rochelle... The marshland between Royan and Rochefort is a birdlife haven and we saw storks, egrets, heron and even I think, an avocet. And coypu - sadly rather a lot of squashed ones.

Got into La Rochelle about 4.40 and went straight into town before it got too dark to see. Apéro opposite the Maritime Museum on the terrace. Then back to hotel and pizza next door. What a nice day. Sorry there are so many photos! Even more on Google!

Winter wonderland

Sunset over Millau

And so we left Millau at 7.45 under  thick cloud. All we could see of the Viaduc were its red navigation night lights blinking. They changed to daylight yellow running as the cloud lifted and we drove away into the hills. But a residue of white fluffiness lingered for a long time so we failed to get any more proper views.

And then, up on top at over 1000 metres it had snowed. Roads became slippy looking and we were in a Christmas card. Tentatively we edged down the bends to Salles Curan by the lake, hoping for breakfast. There was a small market and a single open bar and a fabulous Pâtisserie. We took our croissants and ordered three coffees. I thought the lady serving didn’t sound quite French and indeed she wasn’t - English but living here for 15 years. I didn’t ask why! It is such a remote rural spot. As we were imbibing we watched the TV weather. It looked terminal!

However we were spared for a while longer until near Rodez when we hit fog again. Or maybe it was just cloud. In any case we decided to go lower and drive along the Aveyron into Villefranche past the old copper mill we saw a few trips back.

There was a cormorant perched in a tree somewhat incongruously. They certainly get around.












The plan had been to have dinner in Bergerac but by now the rain had started in earnest and we needed a break. So in Preyssac on the Lot just past Cahors we pulled into the square and were rewarded by the sight of a proper restaurant serving real food. I had a huge portion of cod fillet in red pepper sauce and the lads had cèpe omelettes. Pudding of warm walnut tarte with salt caramel ice cream.Not cheap, but delicious. At the next table there were two Chinese chaps and interpreter plus local vigneron having The Works! Much bowing and scraping and photos with the chef and owner. I suspect they were on a buying trip! They left with no money changing hands and vigneron went to join his fellows at another table saying they (the Chinese) were moving on to another domaine. But throughout the meal one of the men kept getting noisy Facetime calls from excitable children and (presumably) spouse. No manners!
The rest of the journey to Bergerac was pleasant enough, but very wet and we decided to skip the town today and maybe go in for breakfast tomorrow. No one is hungry now in any case but there’s a Campanile across the road if we weaken!

Fog, Sun, Snow

Photos now added. More on Google

A real trifle of weather. We got up very early to pack the car and close up the poor battered house. No rain, weather all calm as if butter wouldn’t melt! But quite foggy across the Plan de Dieu. We were off at 7.30 and in Orange by 8. And there we sat jammed on the roundabout with Police directing (or not) traffic pouring off the motorway. Big signs saying access to Lyon direction was blocked. Nothing was getting through the toll booth. After a while we used local knowledge to get out of town on the smaller roads and rejoin the A9 near Tavel. All the way we could see kilometres and kilometres of tailback, mostly lorries. It really shows how much European freight there is when you see them en masse.

So breakfast in Sète was a bit late - 9.30 ish. But delicious croissants and good coffee sitting in the sun by the canal. Two rowing boats full of folk not exactly in the first flush went by. A cox at the stern. Not really gigs and not really triremes! Just big multi oared wooden rowing boats.

Then we drove round the corniche to The Beach - the one that runs the full stretch from Sète to Agde.

Just for a little walk in the sand by the waves.

Marseillan was too tempting to ignore. We love it out of season and it is a perfect little jewel on a day like today.

Much signs of beautification with even the old wine cave on the port being turned into flats.

But alive and sparkling. If only we hadn’t already bought sandwiches for lunch!

One of Santa’s Little Helpers obviously had had too much Picpoul de Pinet last night!

Regretfully we headed north to the A75 and zoomed up the dramatic valley onto the Causses. It was like another world up there. Still bright but the road suddenly became snow-lined! And the temperature plummeted. Sandwiches eaten inside the car!

And so into Millau stopping first for the view naturally. We arrived in good time for a walk round the town, which is charming and bustling with proper shops.

Ibis gave us a room with a balcony. Oh my! Glimpses of the viaduct too.

After a stroll down to the river to look at the ancient bridge we had a warming drink and a flop in our comfy room.

Then at 7 went off to La Mangeoire for a truly scrumptious meal. In a vaulted remains of the ramparts and cooked over a huge open fire. Simple and delicious. Salmon a la plancha for me, filet of wild boar for them then carpaccio of pineapple with the best ever coconut ice cream. Oh and an amuse bouche of courgette soup. Hah! Like no courgette soup I’ve ever tasted...heavenly.

More weather

Well what a day. Poured and poured all morning then the wind got up. We took Jen and Gerard to Roaix for lunch, which was good. Then back home through the deluge past vineyards looking like paddyfields. The wind was ferocious now and around three o’clock there was a terrific crash and one of our ridge tiles flew past the window, bounced on the parapet and broke into pieces. One of which ended up on the road by the lavoir! I retrieved this at some personal risk. Then both emailed and phoned Mr. Fernandes. Bless him he said not to worry he’d come as soon as possible either tomorrow or next week. He’s already got our keys to do some other work on the roof. Then we braved the gale to go up to Deb and Gary for tea, passing on our way several broken tiles from other rooftops and a bit of drainpipe from the large house on the corner. D and G have a hole in the wall type terrace. Awash. Their somewhat flimsy glazed doors onto it were bending inwards with the gusts and a terracotta planter with pansies rocked scarily on the ledge!
We’re a bit shellshocked after all this. It’s not all wine and lavender here you know!
Oh and the church clock has gone haywire, chiming all sorts of odd hours.

Weather

Eek. Wot a wet day! We are off to Roaix for lunch to say goodbye then to USA for comforting tea and ‘cookies’ (sic). All packed and house cleaned.
Yesterday was a cold clear crisp day but we only popped into Vaison for money and hot choc. Adam walked down from Séguret on the way back.
We leave around 8 tomorrow and the forecast is for sun again. Fingers crossed.

Grignan

Another bright as a button day with no cloud but definitely a bit windy. Adam requested Grignan and so we were off before 10 in that general direction. Somewhere around Visan I had an awful realisation. It’s Tuesday. On Tuesdays, Monuments Historiques are Fermés. Too late - we were there. But there was a compensation because in the street up to the fountain there was a market. A nice one. Not too big, but full of tasteful stalls and produce. A lady was selling Peruvian Alpaca jumpers. I bought one!

We trudged up to the château just in case but as feared all was bolted against us. Still we were able to get pretty good views from the perimeter walk so were not too disheartened.

Down at the church we could hear much sawing and drilling going on. Adam and I ventured in to discover a group of local chaps busy constructing the Christmas Crèche.

They welcomed us to take photos. Such a lot of work goes into these displays.

I love the line of sheep coming off the hillside.

The lady herself is buried in front of  the altar.

And we continued down to the Jardin Sévigny where there is what we always took to be a real maze. It is in fact just the letters of the name Sévigny in the form of a 17 century maze! But there's a good view of the château.

It was lunchtime - well almost. I’d seen a nice looking resto in the corner by Mme de S’s fountain but it was too cold to sit out and the others were less than enthusiastic so we ended up in the crêperie! A strange place but good galettes and crêpes if somewhat overfacing. I could hardly move when we left. Back via Richerenches.

For once the Commanderie was open and they had yet another exhibition of Mireille Vanson’s wooden sculptures.
This is a lime-tree trunk. Well it was.

The usual garments but also some nice fruits.

Returned over the hills between Visan and St Maurice.

Fabulous long views, hardly a cloud in the sky. It was warm out of the wind but once you walked round the corner of the shelter belt...wow! Icy blast.

And here’s another mystery snowy mountain. We’ve worked out that yesterday’s was way north on the edge of the Vercors. This one looks even higher.