11 Days in Southwest France

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DAY 1: We had booked some cheap flights to Bergerac for 11 days where Hannah’s parents had a holiday house. Her dad drove us to John Lennon Airport in Liverpool and we took the three hour flight into probably the smallest airport in the world, Bergerac. It was just a shed in the middle of no-where. I got my passport stamped and we waited for a family friend who picked us up and dropped us at the house. For the rest of the afternoon Hannah showed me around the house which was an old converted barn opposite wine fields. In the evening we decided to go out and Hannah took me to a small town nearly called Eymet. We had a quick look around this tiny town and had dinner at one of Hannah’s favorite restaurants. It was an Italian restaurant and it was really, really good. After dinner we left Eymet and drove into Bergerac for a quick look around. We walked around the streets as Hannah gave me a short tour of the town then headed back to the house for the evening.

Day 2: The next day we started planning a road trip around the South-West of France. Hannah knew where to go so I left it to her to decide what we were going to do. In the afternoon we drove down to a nearby famous winery called “Monbazillac” where we explored inside the old Chateau De Monbazillac. From around the back of the château we had fantastic views of the surrounding grape vines in the valley. Afterwards we headed down to the shop and tasted a range of different sweet wines which was Monbazillac winery specialty. They were ok, but nothing amazing, we decided not to buy anything. For the rest of the day we hung around at home and got ready for our road trip, we set of tomorrow morning.

Day 3: This morning we got up early and packed the rest of our stuff into the car. We ate breakfast, got into the car and headed off to our first stop. It was around a three hour drive to reach Toulouse and we arrived around noon. We spent a bit of time looking around then went to get some lunch where we sat looking over some brochures we had picked up. In the end we decided to visit “Cite de l’espace which was a large space park with different exhibits and theatres. It was quite expensive but we found it interesting to begin with, though it quickly got boring. Afterwards we continued driving through France and eventually arrived at Carcassonne. Carcassonne was an old medieval city where the original inner and outer walls still exist today. We went inside and wondered around the beautiful city, we found somewhere to eat and had an expensive but tasty dinner. Afterwards we continued to walk around this ancient city taking photos of the spectacular view on top of the hill. But after walking and driving all day we were stuffed, we headed back to our formula 1 hotel (which was terrible) and quickly fell asleep.

Day 4: Because yesterday was such a miserable day in terms of the weather we decided to quickly head back down to Carcassonne to get some photos. I rushed in got some photos then we jumped back in the car and took the long drive to Montpellier. We stopped in a seaside town called sete, but since there really wasn’t much going on, we decided to get back in the car and continue to Montpellier. We arrived around lunchtime and went to find something to eat. Hannah recommended a steak place she had been to before. Unlimited fries and amazing steak for 16.50 Euro it was such fantastic food. After lunch we spent some time wondering around the streets of Montpellier. It was a nice city and incredibly clean. Because it was such a hot day we were both tired, we headed back to the hotel (formula 1 again) and had a nap. When we finally woke we decided to drive to Palavas which was a port city. This place was unreal, we jumped on a boat cruise and watched the sunset over Palavas while sailing on the Mediterranean Sea. Afterwards we grabbed a late dinner then drove back to our hotel to sleep.

Day 5: We woke and had a long drive past the city of Nimes and on towards a place called Pont Du Gard. Pont du Gard is an ancient viaduct which was built over 2000 years ago to transport water into Nimes. This thing was huge it was a stunning sight which still stood after thousands of years. We walked across the hiked up to an incredible viewing point where I got some great photos. We walked all the way down to the river which ran under the Pont du Gard and got some amazing photos. We eventually jumped back in the car and drove to Nimes to have a wonder around this ancient city. I was really looking forward to seeing the Nimes amphitheatre which was built just after the Coliseum in Rome but this stadium was almost completely intact. It was incredibly impressive from the outside but something strange was going on. We went to get tickets to realize that it was closed because they were setting up for a Lenny Kravitz concert later that night. I couldn’t believe it we’d come all this way and it was closed, we found somewhere to have lunch and decided we’d come back tomorrow morning. We continued exploring around the beautiful city of Nimes, we watched a 3D film in the Nimes Pantheon which was also built in Roman times. We then walked all the way to an ancient watch tower on the top of a hill. We climbed up the stairs to the very small and very crowded viewing platform to have a stunning panorama view of Nimes. We took some photos then headed back down and walked all the way back to the car near the Nimes amphitheatre. Went and got some dinner then headed back to the hotel to sleep.

Day 6: After rearranging our itinerary we set off early to go back into Nimes and try get inside the amphitheatre. We finally arrived at around noon at to our luck it was open. We went inside and grabbed a free audio tour and followed it around this incredible structure. It amazed me considering how old the amphitheatre was that it was in such good condition. We wondered around until the audio tour was finished then decided to get going as we had a long drive ahead. We got in the car and drove 3 hours to our next stop, Millau. Millau was known for a particular feature of the small town which was impossible to miss. It had the tallest bridge in the entire world. We drove across it and experience just how massive this thing was. There was a tourist information centre on the other side so we stopped to have a look around and take some photos. It was an incredible sight, it was just massive. I got some great photos from the lookout point then we headed back to the car and on our way again. We seemed to drive forever, hours and hours in the car driving. We didn’t reach Rocamadour until 20:30. Rochamadour was a small medieval city which was built into the side of a cliff, an amazing sight from the lookout point. We checked into our hotel and went up to our room, the only room with a balcony, we had amazing views. We had showers then headed out into town to get something to eat. Since this town was so tiny, everywhere was starting to close, we had to convince the waiter to let us in, as long as we weren’t too long. Dinner was fantastic, great food and amazing dessert. We had a few drinks afterwards and played some cards, by this time we were getting a little drunk. We stumbled back to the hotel room and passed out after a massive day.

Day 7: We left the hotel around 9AM and went for a look around the town. Since it was built into a cliff you could actually get an elevator up the next tier of the city, or take the stairs but we were way too lazy for that. We went up and had a quick look around the old church and other buildings which were carved into the cliff. But since there wasn’t much to see we shortly headed back down and make our way back to the car. We had a short drive to an amazing lookout point where you could see the entire town as it is, built into the cliff face. I took some photos then we drove to our next stop. We stopped somewhere Hannah had been a few times but was definitely worth a visit, Gouffre de Padirac. We arrived to a massive hole in the ground, it was amazing. We bought tickets and took the stairs down the huge hole, it was like nothing I had ever seen before. When on the ground you could look up and see the tiny people staring down from the top. We continued down into the caves where we followed the path until we reached some gondolas. We jumped on and were taken on a short gondola ride with our own personal tour guide, although I had no idea what he was saying, Hannah was also struggling to translate with his accent. When we got off the gondola we were taken around on another guided tour around inside the caves. I had been to plenty of cave before but these were definitely up there, it was incredible. Eventually we took the gondola back across the underground lake and took the lift but to the surface. Our next stop was to drive to Aurillac in time to catch the stage end of the Tour de France. Once we arrived we parked the car and went to get some lunch. I called my parents and let them know that I was at the stage end and to look out for me on television. We picked out a spot in the masses of people and waited as over 30 floats drove past us throwing out free advertising merchandise. Finally after waiting over an hour the bikes zoomed passed us, and that was it, I was there to support Cadel Evans but they were so quick it was hard to tell anyone apart. We walked back to the car and drove back to Bergerac to have plenty of rest. It had been an awesome road trip and I loved every minute.

Days 8-11: The last few days were really to have a rest and take advantage of the pool in the backyard. We spent an afternoon in St. Emillion for some wine tasting but since we were there on a Sunday there wasn’t too much going on, so instead we had a nice but very expensive lunch at an Italian restaurant setup outside. After lunch we headed back home. One of the biggest days on the French calendar is Bastille Day on the 14th July. For this, Hannah and I drove into Bergerac to watch the fireworks display. We managed to get a table somewhere and ate dinner before we headed down and picked a spot by the lake to watch the fireworks. The display was great, much more impressive than I thought for a small town like Bergerac. By then it was time to head back home and after an awesome 11 days in the South of France, we flew back into Liverpool where Hannah’s parents picked us up and took us back into Batley.

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Photos

Carcassonne
Around the historic castle town known as Carcassonne in Southern France.

Carcassonne
Beautiful medieval town of Carcassonne

Carcassonne
Entrance inside the walls on Carcassonne

Pont du Gard
The breathtaking Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman built Viaduct

Pont du Gard
Down stream view of the amazing Pont du Gard viaduct

Pont du Gard
Close up view of the massive ancient viaduct.

Nimes
The breathtaking Nimes Ampitheatre.

Nimes
Inside the incredible Nimes Ampitheatre in Nimes.

Millau
The tallest bridge in the world - the spectacular Millau Bridge in France

Millau
Driving over the tallest bridge on the planet.

Rocamadour
The breathtaking view of a town built into a cliff at Rocamadour.

Gouffre de Padirac
Street level view of the incredible Gouffre de Padirac caves.

Gouffre de Padirac
Looking up at the stairs down from the bottom of the cavern.