Canal du Midi

There is one other thing Carcassonne has going for it … it is right on the Canal du Midi, the great 17th-century engineering project which linked the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, meaning French boats could avoid the long voyage around the bottom of Spain. These days it is only used for pleasure craft. We had a very pleasant afternoon on the Canal, with our tour boat traversing two of the many impressive locks along the way.

 

As we were coming back into port we spotted a boat with a New Zealand rugby scarf proudly displayed in the window. We invited ourselves on board to say hi to fellow Kiwis, and ended up staying an hour for a beer and a gossip. Our generous hosts (from Tauranga and Tokoroa) were doing a week-long cruise up the Canal. I think they were glad to hear some familiar accents! (Thanks for the beer guys – hope your dinner wasn’t burnt.)

Carcassonne

We now had four days to get to our next pre-booked place in the Dordogne region over in the southwest. We decided on two stops of two nights each, the first in Carcassonne, famous for its old walled ‘city’. Actually the rest of the town is not very exciting but the medieval walled bit, heavily restored in the nineteenth century, is a tourist magnet. Like many of the really popular destinations we thought it was too ‘touristy’ for our taste … more like a medieval Disneyland than a real town. But it had some wonderful photo opportunities, all the same.

Two faces of Carcassonne

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.

Calligraphy Exhibition

We saw an ad for a small calligraphy exhibition in Cabestany, a suburb of Perpignan. It wasn’t far off the main road from Collioure heading back north, so how could I not go? This post is for all my NZ calligraphy colleagues … excuse the bad photos – the lighting was ill considered and everything was under glass, but anyway, here’s how they do it in France …

Collioure, Côte Vermeille

As our next main destination was to be the Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain, we had originally thought we would base ourselves there for a few days.  We are enjoying France so much that we had a change of heart about staying in Figueres, re-examined the map, and decided to book somewhere in Collioure on the Côte Vermeille, just about the last stop in France before crossing into Spain.  A great decision it was.  Côte Vermeille – Vermilion Coast, I believe named because the dominant colour of the landscape is terracotta of the roofs and walls of the houses.  There is just something fantastic about the Mediterranean that is hard to put into words.  Collioure turned out to be one of our very favourite stops so far, and we have therefore justified lots of pictures.

View of the Mediterranean from our hotel, Les Mouettes		They love their window sills
		Intriguing rock formations
Collioure street view		Colourful ceramics shop with mosaic counter
	There are a great many artists’ studios in Collioure and they are all interesting

Béziers

Our last day trip from Pézenas was to Béziers, about 40km away.  The town has a dramatic history surrounding the massacre of the Cathars (an heretical religious group) which took place in 1209.  Linz talks about this subject in one of his lectures so he’d always wanted to visit.  We had a very pleasant restaurant lunch and a long chat to the owner who has directed us to several excellent but “affordable” restaurants to visit in Paris.  We’ll find out about the affordability when we get there, no doubt.

The newer part of town is built around this attractive open pedestrian space

The Cathedral & Bishop’s Palace dominate the old city

Early morning winos not delighted to be photographed

Perhaps the winos used to be church wall builders

She caught me zooming in on her life in an old high rise

Montpellier

Another day trip from our base in Pezanas took us to this beautiful old city, home to one of the world’s oldest medical schools and universities.  The main square buzzes with activity and interesting people.  We tucked into an appetising “Galette” for lunch – BUT delicious as it was at the time, it caused me grief for the whole of the next week.

D & L make a bee line for the first attraction they see		Elegant old buildings on the main square
It has its own Arc de Triomphe, older than the one in Paris	Interesting gargoyles	Sadly, way too many buildings have graffiti and it really spoils the city

Millau Viaduct

From our base in Pézenas, we went 100km as a day trip to drive over and view the amazing structure that is the Millau Viaduct.  It spans the Tarn River and is a few km’s west of the picturesque town of Millau.  It was the last link in one of the main motorways between Paris and the South of France, ending chronic traffic congestion in peak periods through the town of Millau (think Orewa or Kopu Bridge times 10).

World’s highest road bridge 345m tall at the highest point 2.5 km long 13 years of research 3 years construction 30 years from approval to completion More than 1 million people visit the lookout point each year

A small part of the town of  Millau

View from the Eastern side

Pézenas

The house at 28 Rue Joseph Cambon in this lovely little Southern French town was our home for a week.  We found it and booked it on the internet the day before we arrived there, and what an excellent decision it was.  We read the guest book and some people stayed for 6 weeks and came back for 7 years running and we could see why …

The dining room with original stone wall, recessed shelves (all crooked) and original fireplace

A bonus for the thighs was 3 flights of narrow killer stairs

A very French thing to do – ours is the one with  the washing hanging out.  A pair of my knickers fell to the street and was kindly returned by the neighbours (cringe).

What makes our trip very memorable is the characters we meet.  Here are a few of the residents of Pézenas

I am playing my silly piece of wire and begging

Beautiful older lady who had ridden in to the weekly market from the rural edge of town

Shopping List: Nappies Poultry Dog

These three little darlings took the cake on Market Day – I think they were just waiting for their parents who were inside the building on the right.  They were enjoying the sun and each other’s company and had just finished singing to themselves as we approached.  Their voices were so sweet, I asked if they had another song, and after one second’s hesitation the one in the middle said, “ok, for 2 euros” !  Spontaneous Initiative – love it. Yes, of course I donated the 2 euros – if only to buy the time to chuckle to myself.