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Published: September 13th 2008
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It felt great to be on our way again as we headed into France once more. We enjoyed the drive along the rugged Costa Brava and then a brief visit to the tiny fishing village - now a major tourist mecca- of Coulliour. This village was famous for it’s anchovies which have to be skinned and beheaded by hand due to their delicate flesh. We sampled some at a local restaurant and were suitably impressed.
Next stop along the way was the ancient Cathar Fortresses in the Roussillon region. These fortresses were built before Cathar times but are well known as the places of last stand for this religion, all of it’s people being killed in the early 1700s. Clancy coped well with a very steep climb up to Peyrepertuse, one of the bigger fortress where we spent some time exploring the old castle ruins perched high up on the hill.
We stayed for free that night along with loads of other tight ass motor homes at the base of the old city in Carcasonne. The city walls, castle and fortress providing a lovely dinner backdrop. Explored the old city in the morning (hence beating the tourist crowds) before
Awesome Mont Blanc
The view from the summit of the Aguille De Midi cable car heading up towards Millau and Parc Naturel Regional des Grande Causses. Stopped in at Roquefort to quench Kirstyn’s cheese cravings and did a tour of the caves where they mature blue cheese made from ewe’s milk. It was very delicious and we came away with yet more cheese than we could possibly manage (although we did somehow manage…always the way!). Made the obligatory stop-off to gawk at and photograph the highest bridge in the world (it actually was a great sight) then headed up the Gorge du Tarn to find a campsite for the night.
The next day was spent driving along the Gorge du Tarn with a stop off to view the vultures which had been reintroduced to the area. It was a spectacular sight to see vultures circling above us…probably waiting for one of us to die but today wasn’t their day!
Cramming lots into one day we also managed to visit a snail farm to purchase some snails. Kirstyn was keen to try her culinary skills and the lady in the shop was very helpful with recipe ideas. We had hoped to do a tour of their farm but as it was all in French
that day so we figured it probably was not worth it (despite our great French linguistics so far) so headed further south stopping at the Pont du Gard. This is an ancient aqua duct which had been built in Roman times, part of it is still standing and includes a magnificent three level viaduct across a valley.
Stayed the night near Pont du Gard before heading down to Arles to have a look at the town that Vincent Van Gogh found pretty enough to paint. Enjoyed looking through old streets, markets and roman ruins here as well as finding the places that Van Gogh painted before hitting the motorway to get as close to Switzerland as we could.
We spent the next day in Chamonix at the base of Mont Blanc and took the world’s highest cable car, the Aigulle du Midi, up to 3842 metres. From here we marvelled at the panoramic views of the French Alps and the massive Mont Blanc. Our first taste of chilly weather for a while was a welcome change from the heat…hope it doesn’t last too long though! Next stop Switzerland……
Something a bit fishy
Anchovies in Collioure
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