Mobile Geriatrics
Roger and Wendy Joined: April 9th 2007
Logged in: January 1st 2012
Logged in: January 1st 2012
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Travel Blog Posts
The windy beach at Equihen Plage
17 October 2011 The first task of the day was to visit the boulangerie in the adjacent village of Sourcelles to buy some bread. It turned out to be a wonderful shop with handmade chocolates and lots of other goodies. So instead of spending €1, all our purchases came to over €40! We drove the final 475k to the northern French coast and used the cliff top aire at Equihen Plage just south of Boulogne. Having got used to warm sunny weather for most of the trip the cool wind which greeted us in this exposed position came as a bit of a shock. During the night it got worse, rocking the van quite violently and was joined by rain so we had quite a disturbed sleep. ... read more
The walls and moat of Angers castle
16 October 2011 We drove 250k northwest to the city of Angers which stands on the river Maine. Our daughter Emma did a French exchange there when she was 15. Angers has a huge castle and within its mighty kilometre long curtain wall is a 1950s building containing the outstanding 100m long Tapestry of the Apocalypse woven between1373 and 1382. Unfortunately Wendy was unable to make out most of the tapestry detail because as a preservation measure it is kept at low light levels. We also went to see the Plantagenet style cathedral but were couldn't look around inside as a mass was taking place. The aire we stayed at was in a super position on the banks of the Maine in the village of Villeveque just north of Angers. ... read more
The cathedral from the botanical gardens
15 October 2011 We finally tore ourselves away from the wonderful hospitality at Les Loriots just before lunch and in the afternoon visited Limoges where we looked around the Cathedral, the adjacent botanical gardens and an interesting collection of enamelware extending over several centuries in the Municipal Museum,. The night was spent at an excellent France Passion site in the village of Chamboret 25k north of Limoges. Wendy had a long chat in French with the friendly owner. ... read more
St-Yrieix-la-Perche
14 October 2011 Tom and Sue showed us round their local town of St-Yrieix-la-Perche where it was market day and then the delightful medieval village of Ségur-le-Château where we had a tasty lunch in the pleasant surroundings. In the afternoon we had a guided tour of the impressive 13th century chateau at Jumilhac-le-Grand and finally looked around the Romanesque church at Ladignac-le-Long, one of many in the area. We were impressed that there are so many beautiful and interesting places to see within a few kilometres of Les Loriots. ... read more
Our lunch stop in a pleasant village square
13 October 2011 We started to head home with a 400k journey north west to visit Tom and Sue Coker in the village of Ladignac-le-Long in the attractive Haute Vienne area 30k south of Limoges. They run a Chambre D’Hote from their house, Les Loriots (www.lesloriots.co.uk), which is situated in enormous grounds including two beautiful lakes. ... read more
Gorges de Kakuatta
12 October 2011 We continued westward along the Pyrenees through forest covered hills to the Gorges de Kakuatta. The narrow steep sided gorge gave us an exciting two hour walk along cantilevered catwalks and rough slippery paths. From there we drove along the final section of our Pyrenean traverse to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port, an attractive town on one of the major roads giving access through the mountains into Spain. We had last stayed on the municipal campsite in 2007 on our way to Portugal. It very conveniently placed close to the centre of the old town. We had a pleasant evening meal in a small restaurant talking to a Belgian couple who over the last two years had walked to St-Jean from their home in Liege. Next year they are planning to complete their Camino pilgrimage to Santiago ... read more
A typical view, sorry about the pylons
11 October 2011 After a long delay sorting out a puncture on Wendy’s bike, in mid afternoon we set off to cycle the Voie Verte, an 18k route running south on an old railway track beside the Gave de Pau river from Lourdes to the village of Pierrefitte-Nestalas. It turned out to be excellent with mountain views all the way and a smooth tarmac surface. ... read more
A Calvary at the entrance to the complex surrounded by crosses carried there by groups of pilgrims from all over the world
10 October 2011 In May 2007 we saw the devotion of the pilgrims at Fátima in Portugal. Today we were equally moved as we joined the many visitors to the Grotte de Massabielle in Lourdes. The Grotte was the place where in 1854 a local girl, Bernadette Soubirous, had the first of 18 visions of the Virgin Mary. Since then it has become a major Catholic pilgrimage site, two large Basiliques and several other churches have been built. ... read more
Gavarnie
09 October 2011 The morning was spent looking around the village of Gavarnie and then driving up through the neighbouring ski area to the Spanish border at about 2000m where there were great views of the peaks surrounding the cirque. From there we drove 65k north through the narrow Gorge de Luz to Lourdes where we found a pleasant camp site on the edge of the town. ... read more
The attractive church at Ste-Marie-de-Campan
08 October 2011 We watched France beat England in the Rugby world cup and thereby get revenge for the English victory 4 years ago which we saw at Rocamadour in the Auvergne. Then we tackled the Col de Tourmalet (in the van not on the bikes), at 2115m the highest in the Pyrenees and the site of many Tour de France epics. There are signs every kilometre telling cyclists the height they have reached and how far they have to go to the summit. I don’t know if this is a help or not. From the summit the exposed roads drops steeply to the ski resort of Barèges and then to the spa town Luz-St-Sauveur. From there we drove south up the valley to the village of Gavarnie which is spectacularly situated below the 1500m high ... read more
