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Published: November 3rd 2009
Carcassonne
Spectacular views across the medieval city of Carcassonne - It had been ages since Hannah and I last had a decent break from work so we decided to go with some friends to Hannah’s parents in Bergerac, southwest France. I was so excited because I love coming here and especially this time of year for Bastille Day. There were 7 of us altogether and we all arrived roughly at the same time so Hannah and I gave a tour of the converted barn. For the first few days we spent most of our time sitting by the pool enjoying the relaxing atmosphere in the beautiful weather. We cooked delicious meals together and spent the nights playing games and drinking loads and loads of local wine.
The 14th July was Bastille Day, a French national holiday where they celebrated all over the country by lighting fireworks. We headed into Bergerac as a group to explore the town and have a few drinks before the celebrations begun. There were already thousands of people in the streets of this small but beautiful town so we decided to pick a good spot before it got too busy. There were plenty of temporary stalls and bars which we took advantage of
Carcassonne
Stunning views across Carcassonne, views from the inner wall of the medieval city drinking loads of beer and wine waiting for the show to begin. Eventually it began, fireworks lit up the sky in time to the music being played over the loudspeakers. The show was fantastic, really good fireworks and very interesting to watch. We stumbled back to the car, Hannah drove us home and after a few more drinks we all headed to bed.
The next day a few of the guys packed up their gear ready to fly back to England, but luckily Selina, Ash, Hannah and myself we staying for the remainder of the week. So once they were on their way home, we began to plan a short road trip to see some of the sights. We spent most of the day deciding where to go and also where we should stay but eventually we had our itinerary. We ate another fantastic meal and got our gear ready to set off tomorrow morning.
16/07/2009 - We all woke up early ate breakfast and packed the car as quickly as we could to avoid driving for too long in the heat. It was around a three hour drive before we arrived in Toulouse. We parked the car
Carcassonne
Guard Towers on the perimeter of the city and explored the narrow streets as we enjoyed a perfect day in South-West France. We found the impressive Toulouse Cathedral and decided to have a quick look inside. It was again another beautiful Church, but nothing I hadn’t seen before. We began looking for somewhere for lunch and settled on a lovely café not far from the main square. After a lovely lunch and a little more of a browse around then decided to make a move and head back to the car to continue the drive. It was another 2 hours before we arrived in the beautiful medieval city of Carcassonne.
We drove to our budget hotel, checked in and left the car there as we walked to medieval Carcassonne. I had visited Carcassonne around this time last year but even still it was an amazing place to see. We decided to buy tickets which allowed us to walk around the perimeter which was something Hannah and I were unable to do last time as we arrived too late. We had fantastic views across the medieval city as well as the city around it. We continued to explore around the streets of Carcassonne and spent the entire afternoon
Carcassonne
Beautiful Carcassonne at night wondering around. We found somewhere for dinner then had a few drinks over a game of cards before eventually walking back to the hotel.
17/10/2009 - We woke early again this morning as we had a lot of driving to do. We checked out of our hotel and met Ash and Selina downstairs ready to head off. We decided to save some money and have more time relaxing that we would skip staying an extra night somewhere and instead make our way back to Bergerac tonight. We got some breakfast and jumped into the car on the drive back. We decided on the way to visit some of the famous caves in the area but before we did that we just had to stop by Rocamadour to show Ash and Selina. But since it was a miserable day there wasn’t really too much to see. We continued on towards the caves and stopped at a small town for some lunch. By this time it was pouring rain and not very enjoyable but we found a warm and quiet café and enjoyed and delicious French lunch in the shelter from the weather.
After lunch we jumped back in the
South France
View at the entrance of the caves while it was pouring rain car and drove to one of the caves not far from the town. We parked the car, bought tickets and headed inside. Although most of it was in French Ash, Selina and I could still appreciate these impressive caves, however they were nothing compared to Gouffre de Padirac where Hannah and I visited last year. After exploring the caves with our French tour guide we made our way outside where the rain was even heavier. We ran back to the car and were once again on our way. One of the reasons we decided to head back early was so we could do a canoeing trip down the Dordogne River. However once we arrived at the meeting point in Limeuil we realised they must have closed due to the hideous weather. After a bit of a miserable day we drove back to Bergerac and towards Hannah’s Parents place. Finally we were home, we made dinner had a few drinks and went straight to bed after a massively tiring day.
18/07/2009 - The next day, which was our last full day here in France, we rushed off back to Limueil in hope that we could canoe today. The weather wasn’t
Limeuil
Looking down the Dordogne River with our canoes lying in the foreground much better than yesterday, but it wasn’t raining, even wet so chances are we’d be able to do it. Once we arrived we were glad to see that it was open and also quite busy, I couldn’t wait. We were unsure if we wanted to do 2 hours in a canoe or 4 hours. I was keen on doing 4 hours since we had loads of time but eventually settled on the 2 hour trip. Shortly after we jumped into the van as the guy dropped us off quite a while away and we had to make our way back. We pushed our canoes into the Dordogne and were on our way. It was fantastic fun, we were all enjoying it so much, so relaxing. You could actually see the bottom of the river in most places and also loads of fish swimming around. We paddled for ages and ages, I was quite glad we didn’t opt for the 4 hour trip. After a few hours we eventually arrived back at Limeuil and returned the canoe’s after an awesome day out. We headed back to the car and drove back to Bergerac.
There wasn’t much left of our holiday
Limeuil
View across the twin bridges where the Aquitaine River and Dordogne River meet now, though it had been a fantastic break from the routine of work. We had all really enjoyed the break. On our last day we were frantically cleaning the house before getting a lift to the airport to catch our flight. We arrived back in London late in the afternoon, grabbed some dinner at a service station before heading home and ready for work again the next day.
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