Travel Disasters; Chapter 5

From Cabestany we had a quick drive through the city of Perpignan before heading west, aiming for Carcassonne. The countryside was spectacular, with the Pyrenees on our left (their highest peaks still covered in snow) and a smaller range of hills to our right. Vineyards dotted the landscape and the sun was shining brightly.
	We followed the valley of the river Aude through ‘Pays Cathare’ - the Cathar Country. These days the long-dead heretics are a huge focus for the local tourist industry. We drove through a beautiful gorge and stopped in a road side rest area for a jolly good healthy lunch by the riverside.

 

We had just left the gorge when a motorbike overtook us. The man on the bike is waving his arms wildly … is he trying to tell us something?  He’s wearing blue clothes – is that important?  I start to pull over, and dammit there’s another person in blue clothes on a motorbike … , then I see “Gendarmerie” on the nice blue clothing.   Yep, you are nicked !   “Madame … did you know you were doing 76km in a 50km area !!!???”  I’ve always thought that to be a bit of a pointless question myself.  Only the French would a) not put up a sign that says 50km  b)  have a 50km zone on open road and c) spend all day cruising back & forwards through a stunning gorge collecting copious amounts of revenue from unsuspecting tourists like us.  “So Madame, that will be 90 euros,  instant fine thank you. Make sure you give me the right amount, I will not give you change”.  I tested their sense of humour by saying that if they cancelled the ticket, we would not beat them at rugby, but no, that wasn’t gonna get me out of this, even though they chuckled. They turned out to be nice guys and once we’d coughed up the fine, they were happy to have their picture taken.