Wells Tour de France

Our last stop off in France before returning home was to visit the D-day landing beaches in Normandy. We based ourselves in Bayeux for three nights doing the war tour one day, and a day trip to Mont St Michel a second day. Bayeux was a lovely little town with a massive cathedral, and well set up to cater for the American tourists. We arrived at the little train station and found no taxis around so started to walk towards our hotel (less than one kilometre away – but we now have numerous heavy bags). Before we got far we noticed a small pub with the Tour de France playing so we stopped to have a drink and watch it. We’d been following progress live via internet on the train and it was in the last ... read more

Pont Aven is an attractive town of artists. It was the home of Gauguin and a lot of his paintings are of the area. The town is now full of art studios – and tourists. It has a pretty little harbour and river with water wheels. A lot of the houses are white plaster with large grey stone window and door surrounds, and a few thatched roof houses like the one we’re staying in. (Ours is a bit more modern and up to date on the inside thankfully) The weather has not been the best for us, but I like to think it’s acclimatising us for home. We suspected it may be a bit wet here, as were warned by Adeles family, saw how green if was here, and every second stall at the market was ... read more

Finally we get to meet Adeles family, and see Adele again after two years. I got to the station first and the whole family were there to meet me. It was quite emotional. We had a drink while waiting for Gerard, Olivia and Sophia who arrived 45 minutes later. Adele had said her parents didn’t speak English, but they certainly knew quite a bit and we didn’t have too much trouble communicating. Adele hasn’t changed a bit, apart from now being able to drive which seemed weird. The week has been amazing. Francoise and Thierry are lovely lovely people and we get on so well. Thierry has a dry witty sense of humour that I love, and Francoise is so caring and enthusiastic. They are both so generous and welcoming. We have so much in common ... read more

To make full use of our remaining time in the South we selected a few key cities/towns/villages to daytrip to before we leave. First up was Nimes which was well known for it’s roman architecture and history. It had the worlds (apparently) best preserved roman arena built in 2AD. It was really impressive and mostly intact – a lot more so than Rome’s colluseum. The best part about it was the audio guide and displays throughout. They did such a good job of telling us of, and getting us to imagine being there throughout its history of gladiator fights, circus’s, slave killings, military base, and bull fights. There were sound effects setting the scene on the audio guide, video displays, and costumes and weapons on display. They still use the arena today for two annual bull ... read more

Our days are now spent reading, writing and school work, planning meals, shopping for food for meals, cooking and walking through the vineyards either early morning or evening or both (its too hot during the day). We go out every second day or so to look at the sights, shop, or just to the pub in the next village, which is our closest wifi access, to do our internet stuff. I’ve been enjoying cooking here. After eating out at restaurants for two months it’s nice to have home cooked food. I’ve been trying out lots of French recipes from an excellent recipe book that was in the house. The weather has been in the high twenties to thirty this week with no rain, so very pleasant. It can get quite breezy at times, which is welcome ... read more