A week in South-West France

Click Here for All the Photos

A week in South-West France

We're Back!!! What a fabulous trip!

The driving turned out to be quite easy once I got used to it. Eventually even Janet had a drive. The car was VERY economical.

We saw some wonderful things and visited some incredible places.

We were having a look around the St Nazaire church in Carcassonne when a bunch of classical French singers arrived and gave an impromptu concert. The sound was just incredible.

A few hours later and we had hiked up to the top of a hill at Chateaux des Lastours to see the view from an ruined albigensian castle, along the ridge to 3 more castles. The view over the valley village of Lastours, with it's Roman kilns, pretty stream, and quiet museum.

A few hours drive and we passed through the city of Minerve, built on a rocky outcrop with deep ravines all around.

The next day started with breakfast in St Guilhem de Desert, a pretty little village under the watchful eye of more castle ruins in a rocky valley, seemingly a million miles and several thousand years from anywhere.

Later in the day we crossed the Rhone and visited a colosseum and an interesting cloisters in Arles.

The next day found us at a practically complete castle in Tarascon, Pont du Gard, and Palace du Papes in Avignon.

After a night in St Remy de Provence we drove up the road to a little visited monument to 2 sons of a founding father of Provence, only to spend the next 2 hours wandering around a huge roman village at the base of a small valley headed by a sacred spring reputed to have healing powers, with building dating from Gauls, the Hellenistic period, and on into post J.C. Roman times, just across the road.

Later the same day we were in Orange where, strangely enough we could not get a fresh orange juice for love nor money, but there sits one of only 3 complete Roman theatres left in the world. Some 30 meters high and a similar distance across, the amphitheatre is dwarfed by the back wall of the stage. Studded with niches which must once have held various sculptures and, right above central stage, a massive niche containing a free standing sculpture of the Roman Emperor (apparently with changeable head, depending on news from Rome) just to remind everybody who was boss.

That afternoon we wandered the streets Aix-en-Provence, visiting the Cathedral St Sauveur. Unfortunately the St Madeleine, with its Rubens and such, was closed (I was looking forward to that), but it's a pretty little city with lots of pretty streets. Next morning we came in from our hotel to the Cours Mirabeau for a lovely brunch.

That just left the trip back to Montpellier to an airport hotel for the night before we flew out early, but we still managed to slot in a side-trip to St Maries de la Mer for a fruits de la mer lunch within view of the Mediterranean sea.

Almost everywhere we went there were cats. The record was 5 in one day - In Carcassonne we saw a tabby running around, an elderly black cat eating scraps left on a window-ledge, while a ginger cat watch it from inside, and a lovely black tortie at the gates of the chateau, and a black and white cutie at Lastours. I missed a photo-op at St Guilhem with a lovely tabby (that I did get a photo of) and what was either a Ragdoll or a Birman, but it moved too quick and it was off into the bushes before I could get the camera out.

We didn't buy much. We did the cheap thing on EasyJet, which is to only have carry-on luggage. The problem with that is you can't bring much back. Next time we might check in an almost empty suitcase, so we can buy food, drink, and other bits. Within the E.U. you can move food around willy-nilly. There were all sorts of things we could have brought - cheeses, spices, wines, etc. Janet discovered a local red wine in Carcassonne that she would have loved to buy more of, but we just couldn't. There was a cheese shop in Aix that we could have spent a fortune in, but couldn't.

Our cats were fine. Natalie did a good job of brushing those who wanted it. They didn't seem put-out or anything. They seemed happy to see us, but could take us or leave us. Natalie left a note to say she will miss them, so we hope to get her back next time :-)

Click here for lots more photos.