Our last view of France

There she goes, disappearing into the distance as we sail out of Caen.
Home in six hours after a pretty good holiday.

Thanks for reading, more when I'm next on holiday. Adios.

Ferry port, Caen/Ouistreham

The facilities at Caen are not very special. Or, in other words,
they're similar to a motorway service station in the UK; grotty.

Brick bridge in Montauban

If you want to build a bridge from brick, this is the wah to do it.

A device for lifting cows, possibly

I can't be certain but I think this is a device for lifting cows.
Exactly why this might be necessary is unclear.

The last supper; Cormery on the Loire

Our last night in France finds us in Esvres sur Indre, a stone's throw
from Tours and within striking distance of Caen for the ferry home.
The B&B took some finding but we're here (http://maps.google.com/?q=47.2833%2C0.7877
) now and it's pretty good.

Just returned from dinner in nearby Cormery at Auberges du Mail. Good
food and good value; recommended.

And so ends our time in the Dordogne

And our time in the Dordogne ends with a relaxed sunny day where
inactivity has been our most eagerly pursued objective and laziness
our most fervent desire; in both of these we succeeded.

Tomorrow we start the long trip home, stopping overnight near Tours
before heading on Monday for Caen (I think). England beckons, and we
come.

Random river with collapsing buildings

This was taken from a bridge over the Dordogne, so the river is
probably the Dordogne (geography isn't my strong suit).

A quiet day in the country

What do you do in rural France when you just want to relax? You go for
a coffee and a cake but, because this part of France is very rural,
you have to go quite a long way. We had a decent coffee (no idea
where) but no cake, unfortunately.

When you return to the apartment you can have an ice cold Coke. Or
not, if you forgot to move the cans from the freezer (where you'd
placed them the previous day for a bit of rapid chilling) to the
fridge. Coke doesn't take well to freezing, and neither do the cans.
In fact, Coke in the freezer is a recipe for coating everything else
in the freezer with a thick layer of frozen Coke; not advised.

Doors of the covered market, Sarlat

Doors are seldom impressive and these ones are pretty bland. If it
weren't for their sheer scale they'd be completely uninteresting but
they're the largest doors I've seen for quite a while.

Sarlat, in the Dordogne

Sarlat isn't too bad. It's in the Dorsogne (here: http://maps.google.com/q=44.8879%2C1.2172
) and, if today is any guide, plagued by flying ants. And a piper, of
some sort; unfortunately he's making no impression on the ants.

Beynac, on the Dordogne

Cooler today (27 degrees, or therabouts), but climbing up fro river
level is still warm work. Nice village; more photos posted later - I
think they're being mangled somewhere in the system.

The weather breaks, a bit

Till yesterday we had had an unbroken run of fine weather with temperatures most days of around 33-36 degrees. Yesterday's thunderstorm, which was pretty impressive, broke the run, although it cleared up later in the day.

Today started grey and humid but is now brightening, hinting at an afternoon of hot and humid. Can't wait. I think, maybe, that I'm not entirely at home with the heat.

The bike has arrived!

And what a bike it is! A red Gitanes hardtail with the elegance and
sophistication of a brick. And probably the speed of a brick. Time
will tell, but I strongly suspect that it will prove to be a less than
satisfactory ride; should have brought my own, dammit.

Dordogne by canoe

15km in two and a quarter hours in the blazing sun. All good, except
for sunburnt knees.

Hot, damn hot. Hotter than a hot thing on an oven

I have no idea where we are (http://maps.google.com/?
q=43.2824%2C2.5822) but it's rather warm (and it's been this hot all
week).

Minerve and her bridge

Minerve is very pretty, with abridge and a part-time river.

Carcassonne - medieval town on a hill

Carcassonne is undeniably impressive. Big walls, lots of towers,
medieval streets; the place exudes charm and offers as many tourist
traps as one could dare to hope for in a small town.

Monotonously good weather

Another day dawns and it looks like it will again be sunny and hot (mid thirties yesterday, possibly warmer today). Today we finally reach Carcassonne (photos to follow).

Milau Viaduct - photo

And here it is, the Milau Viaduct. From the (not yet complete) viewing
point you get quite a good view of the bridge, and most impressive it
is. The picture doesn't really do it justice.

Day Four - to the South!

It's been a long day but we are now within spitting distance of Carcassonne, having travelled the length of the spectacular Tarn Gorge, over the impressive Milau Viaduct and along the motorway to Rieux-Minervois (http://maps.google.com/?q=43.3284%2C3.0445).

I now understand why people rave about the French motorways; they're well made, convenient and fast. There are, however, two things I don't understand:
1) There are no catseyes, and
2) The road-numbering is rubbish.

The road-numbering is particularly strange, since it seems such a simple thing to get right, but roads change their numbers, switch from "A" to "D" and can't be relied upon for more than for few miles. Most frustrating.

Hear that? The peaceful sound of a valley

I'm just playing with my phone now, I admit, and I've no idea if the attached audio file will reach you intact, but here it is in any case; the sounds of the valley.

Another beautiful sunny day

Day four dawns with bright sunshine, blue skies, clear mountain air
and bird song. It's all very picturesque.

Tarn Gorge, north-eastern end

The end of day three finds us at the northeastern end of the Tarn
Gorge, comfortably close to the Milau Viaduct. Tomorrow we head down
to take a look but, in the meantime, here is the view from the window
of our (very superior) B&B, looking roughly southwest-ish.

Saturday morning; volcano time

Theyr'e a bit quiet, truth be known, and not all that big, but they're volcanos nonetheless and Saturday morning finds us at the top of Puy de Dome (a disused volcano) at the end of a long climb (drive). The cloud is low but the view is broad, stretching across the volcanos and hills where they make Volvic, a special kind of water (apparently).

We're off to the Tarn Gorge later to see a bridge (hopefully, although we might save that for tomorrow).

The start of the second day

Early morning and we've just had a very nice breakfast of coffee and
croissants at out B&B (monsite.wanadoo.fr/prieure-epinay/index.jhtml).
It's still cool but the sun is up and the sky is clear so we expect
the day to be rather warm.

B&B, nears Angers

Our first night in France is at a B&B in an old priory a few miles
west of Angers. Fantastic location and very friendly hosts. We've had
an excellent dinner and lots of wine.

Angers Castle

The chateau in Angers is pretty impressive and this is the view from
the top of one of the towers.

Breakfast, Mont St Michel

Coffee and croissant, outside in the sunshine. Nice and warm, no wind.