France 2022

After two years of delays due to COVID we are finally getting ready to head off to France. We are combining some independent travelling with a walking tour through Southwest France. Read more

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France 2022 Traveler
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Leaving Conques in search of truffles.
September 29, 2022 in France ⋅ 🌧 11 °C
We left the delightful town of Conques and settled in for a 90 minute drive to Limogne-en-Quercy. We arrived a little early, so walked around the town and found a place for a coffee. The resident dog - a French bulldog- was extremely friendly, wanting lots of attention.

We then headed a bit out of town to the Truffle farm to meet Marie-France and her trusty dog Caline (a 4 year old beagle). Marie-France has about 1,000 trees on her farm. They were planted by her grandparents and, on average, only 10% of trees will yield truffles in any given year. It can take up to 15 years before you see any results and there are many other factors that come into play such as the weather, especially rain and heat, the health of the trees and just plain luck! The largest truffle Marie-France has ever found was around 300 grams and it was the last truffle ever produced by that tree (its swan song). Strangely, she didn’t sell it, and keeps it in a jar to show the tourists.

There are many rules and regulations that need to be followed regarding the growing and selling of truffles. Marie-France also informed us that they pay tax on the number of trees they have not the size of their yield, which seemed unfair to us, but she replied that is how it is.

Selling truffles is done at an open air marketplace during the truffle season - the best are the ‘winter’ truffles found between December and March. You have your truffles in a basket and a buyer will approach you with a written offer which you can accept or reject so, again, chance and luck play into it. Once you have agreed on a price you cannot then take a better price if one is offered. Marie-France said she did do that as a 15 year old selling truffles for the first time, and was allowed to get away with it, but was warned it would not be acceptable going forward.

At the end of the market, you take your basket of truffles and your slip of paper to the buyers car where the exchange of truffles for cash takes place. The best truffles are black or black and grey, followed by the brown and grey ones. Marie-France said there are truffles that don’t cut the mustard and are sold at a cheaper price to be used as ingredients in other products such as pâté or saucisson.

Marie-France did mention that Australia is producing some very good quality truffles, and that China produces a lot of truffles but their taste, perfume and general quality is inferior. Marie-France told us the best way to use truffles is freshly sliced or grated and added to the meal at the last minute. She also told us to place eggs in a container with some slices of truffle and leave them for 24 hours so that the flavour will be absorbed by the eggs and then make omelettes, these are known as a poor man’s omelette.

The last part of the time with Marie-France was a live demonstration of Caline finding truffles. It was amazing how well she did at finding them. All dogs must be trained to become truffle hunters and many breeds of dog are successful. Years ago they used pigs for the role of truffle hunter but they became too large and difficult to manage and also, unlike dogs, love truffles so you had to be quick to take the truffle from the pig before they ate it!

Following the demonstration we got to sample truffles on fresh bread with butter and also on warm toasted bread with cheese. We also drank a glass of truffle wine, which was delicious.

After the visit concluded we headed back into town to have lunch at a cafe before heading off along the smaller roads to Rocamadour.Read more
TravelerYum truffle flavours! The orchards are so picturesque as well.
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Traveler what a clever doggy
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France 2022 Traveler
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Limogne-en-Quercy
September 29, 2022 in France ⋅ 🌧 12 °C
After the visit to the truffle farm, we headed back into town to have lunch at a cafe as the weather was not conducive to the picnic which had been the plan. Instead, we had kebabs, chips and a glass of red wine in a café playing reggae music, which went down a treat. We also did a little wander around the town and got our passports stamped at the local church. We then jumped back in the bus and set off for Rocamadour. Jerome took smaller roads which meant we were treated to a wonderful scenic drive through some beautiful villages. The French countryside is just so beautiful and even though they have had a very hot summer there has been some rain which is turning the countryside a lovely green.Read more
TravelerI loved this impromptu moment for lunch. It was such a cute little village and this little cafe probably rocks the hood in the evenings!
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Traveler noice
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France 2022 Traveler
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J’adore Rocamadour
September 29, 2022 in France ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
We left Limogne-en-Quercy, travelling the picturesque back roads towards Rocamadour. The weather continues to change on a regular basis and we experienced pouring rain through to blue skies and sunshine. Before driving at our hotel, Jerome stopped outside the city near a viewing platform so that we could get our first view of this beautiful town perched high on a cliff. For about 1,000 years this town has been an important pilgrimage destination as it was built on the site of a shrine to Madonna. The “healing” powers associated with this have drawn pilgrims, and the town flourished as a result.

We arrived at our fabulous hotel after Jerome skilfully manoeuvred the bus through one of the four narrow town gates. (Ed - centimetre perfect!) We check in and then met Mary and the rest of the group to climb the Great Staircase up the side of the cliff, visit the Sanctuary - made up of 8 chapels including the Chapelle Notre Dame - and the “Vierge Noir” statue which was carved from the wood of a walnut tree in the 12th century. Above this, the 9th century iron bell is said to ring on its own when somewhere in the world the Virgin performs a miracle. Many recorded miracles are linked to sailors in peril at sea, hence there are boats hanging from the ceiling. Next to the chapel against the cliffs lies the Basilique Saint-Sauveur, built in the Romanesque-Gothic style, and the medieval city is also home to the crypt of Saint-Amadour, just below the basilica. As an act of penance in previous times, pilgrims would do the 216 step climb to the Sanctuary on their knees. We climbed the steps but using our feet!

We also visited the 12 stations of the cross that are part of a lovely shady walk from the Sanctuary up the cliff to the castle. This was built to defend the village’s Sanctuary in the Middle Ages and sits at the top of the village in an extraordinary balancing act. We climbed up onto the castle ramparts which afforded us breathtaking views over the village and the Alzou Valley. Even though we didn’t do a walk today we ended up doing more than 10,000 steps visiting this site.Read more
Traveler Looks a bit Harry Potterish
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TravelerYes it was a bit like that - the whole place is just gorgeous and quite magical. When we woke the next morning the whole village was shrouded in mist.
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Traveler well done
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France 2022 Traveler
Montcléra to Frayssinet-le-Gélat
September 30, 2022 in France ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
We left the beautiful village of Rocamadour, which was shrouded in fog and quite magical, and drove through the French countryside to arrive at the village of Montcléra for our first walk of the day. The fog cleared and the walk was delightful, through forests and farmland. The walk took about 2 hours with us arriving in the picturesque village of Frayssinet -Le-Gélat, that Mary calls her second home. The village is lovely, full of character and very well kept. We popped into Mary’s house for a quick refresh before Jerome picked us up for the short trip to Madame Murat’s for lunch.Read more
TravelerLooks so inviting - that was a lovely woodland walk.
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TravelerSuch an idyllic walking day - temperatures and blue sky… a favourite day
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France 2022 Traveler
Madame Murats, Pomarède
September 30, 2022 in France ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Following our morning walk we had built up an appetite, which is just as well, as our next stop was Madame Murat’s restaurant for lunch, located in a village next door to Mary’s. This restaurant has been run by six generations of women. It is currently run by Sylvie and her husband Phillipe. Madam Murat is still with us but isn’t mobile enough to come to the restaurant anymore. Mary wrote a book about the history of this restaurant and the family called “Lunch at Madame Murat’s”, and also did a television series to celebrate their 100 years anniversary.

Mary was welcomed most warmly by the family and we had a wonderful time. We arrived at noon and the place was soon full of predominantly locals. The restaurant traditionally served workers who, in France, used to get 2 hours for lunch. The food is hearty and delicious.

For our lunch we started with vegetable soup, then some charcuterie, followed by roast pork served with frites and peas with lardons - it was all delicious. Then there was a cheese course. The cheese used to be presented on a large board and would be passed from table to table. That tradition has stopped because when Mary brought in a group (of Australians) a number of years ago, they assumed this large platter of cheese was just for them and wrapped the cheese up and put it in their bags! Can you believe it - poor Mary was mortified. So now each table gets smaller pieces of cheese. We were served Cantale (a local regional cheese), Camembert and a Catalan Thome. They were all delicious. Then we had dessert. There were several to choose from:- A pear and chocolate gateaux, apple pie, crème brûlée, pannacotta with berries and ice-cream, and everyone was very happy with their choice. We finished off the meal with a shot of Eau de Vie (plum flavour) which is a bit like rocket fuel!

After lunch we walked through the forest back to Mary’s place (to walk off our lunch!) and then we were off to Cahors.Read more
TravelerLove the pics - especially us all together outside, at the end.
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TravelerMurat family continuing for this long in a single business is very unique. Food was wonderful!
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France 2022 Traveler
Afternoon delight
September 30, 2022 in France ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
After lunch finally wound up, we headed back to Mary’s village. It was a great afternoon and it was very pleasant to walk through the forests and surrounding area. I even spotted what we think was a weasel in one of the fields. Back at Mary’s lovely house we were able to chill for a bit after touring her small village, and hearing about a tragic event towards the end of WW2 when the Nazis were retreating but slaughtered a number of men, women and children from the village. There is a moving monument outside the church that lists all the families. It has been a delightful day. We have walked through some wonderful landscapes, our bellies have been filled with traditional delicious French fare served by Sylvia and her team and, after an aperitif at Mary’s of Truffle wine, we are off to Cahors.Read more
TravelerIt was shocking to hear about the missed communication between towns (with bells) and how villagers were punished for taking up arms against the nazis….
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Cahors
September 30, 2022 in France ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
We arrived in Cahors early enough to explore the city centre. Our hotel, the Diovola Great Western Plus was fabulous and we had views of the beautiful bridge and river. Cahors is a much larger city, but is beautifully maintained and quite picturesque. It is naturally protected on three sides by a bend in the river, and used to have a wall on the other side, parts of which you can still see. The bridge is in great shape and is considered the second most beautiful bridge in France. After exploring the bridge, we headed to the city centre where we stopped for coffee in their large square, before heading off to wander through the narrow laneways of the old city.

Cahors is a lovely city with nice flat terrain. We walked across to the other side of the city centre to where the river had bent back around, walked along this part of the river for a bit, then slowly wound our way back through the narrow streets to our hotel. No dinner tonight as we were so full from the generous meal at Madame Murat’s.Read more
Traveler Beautiful shot
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TravelerThanks I was trying to be a bit artistic
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Traveler Picture perfect
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To Market We Go
October 1, 2022 in France ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Our guide Mary wasn’t feeling well so she rested for the day, and we had an alternative bus driver as Jerome was having a day off - he lives close to Cahors. After breakfast, we headed off to the Saturday markets in the centre of Cahors to pick up supplies for our picnic lunch. It was already buzzing with locals, but not many tourists.

The produce was a feast for the eyes. We bought cheese - Brie, Cantale and Comte - all delicious. We bought baguettes, figs, olives, raspberries and plums - quite the feast! We also visited the covered market which sold fish, meat, cheese, charcuterie and fruit and veg also.Read more
TravelerLoved the Cahors markets. Why don’t I go to markets at home more often!?!
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Saint-Cirque-Lapopie or bust
October 1, 2022 in France ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
We packed up our things following our delicious lunch and headed off to Saint-Cirque-Lapopie, a plus beaux village de France. Our walk was about 4kms and the majority of it was along the river on fairly flat terrain. However, the last 600 metres was a very steep ascent. It was very challenging, especially as the humidity had started to increase. We all made it to the top I am pleased to report.

We then had some time to wander around this beautiful medieval village, which emerges from the rock 100 metres above the river. Once host to a prosperous river trade, and renowned for its wood-turners, the village has conserved its heritage and retained an irresistible charm. As of the late 19th and early 20th century, it attracted artists belonging to the Surrealist Movement. It still has this artistic dimension as you explore the narrow streets. French poet and writer André Breton, who bought a house in the village, put Saint-Cirque-Lapopie on the map in a big way. He said: “Here, I’ve ceased wishing myself elsewhere”. You can easily see why.

After our visit, we had to climb even higher to rendezvous with Julien who took us back to Cahors in the bus.Read more
Traveler This was a favourite day of mine - beautiful walk, picnic and more walks. The village was idyllic and good for the sole to wonder around…
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Traveler Yikes, that's steep
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TravelerIt was so steep, we definitely needed are walking sticks
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France 2022 Traveler
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Château Mercuès - wine tasting
October 1, 2022 in France ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Once back at the hotel in Cahors, we had a fairly quick turnaround to head out once more for an evening of fine wine and dining.

We arrived at Château Mercuès, which is perched on a hill outside of Cahors, for a wine tour and tasting. The fabulous Guillaume gave us some of the history of the Château de Mercuès and specifically the development of Malbec, which is the predominant grape variety used. The facilities are amazing and the cellar, which was constructed in the early 1980’s, an absolute work of art. There was a couple from Munich and a couple from the UK who joined us for the wine tasting, and were all guests at the Château. We think they might have had more than a few pennies to rub together.

We were able to taste several wines:- a Château de Haute-Terre 2018 Malbec de Cahors, a Château de Mercuès 2015 Grand Vin, a Malbec de Cahors, and a Château de Mercuès Cuvée 6666, 2018 Malbec de Cahors. Guillaume also treated a couple of us to a tast of their dessert wine, which was delicious, so a bottle was purchased and will be consumed in the coming days.Read more
TravelerAmazing what money can buy you! A castle and opportunity to expand your vineyards and wine production. It was eye boggling! The castle seemed very well loved to
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Traveler He's in his happy place
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France 2022 Traveler
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Le Duèze Restaurant - one Michelin Star
October 1, 2022 in France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Following the wine tasting we were escorted to the restaurant for our degustation menu with matching wines. We decided to start the evening off with a cocktail - good in theory but a slippery slope when you get a wine paired with each course.

The restaurant was lovely, the staff and every aspect of the service top notch, the wine fabulous and, oh, the food. It was so dammed good!

We started with an amuse bouche which consisted of 3 fabulous treats:- a chickpea humus with prune jam, gravlax with caviar, and a goats cheese mousse tart with fig. Then we had a bao bun filled with mushroom - I could’ve eaten a whole plate of them. Even their bread choices were amazing. In particular, there was an onion pastry, which was to die for, and the chef made butter was a work of art.

Next we had fresh lobster in a cold cauliflower velouté with Bottargo. This was followed by trout from the Gouffre du Blagour, braised lettuce and a sweet Chenin sauce (the dessert wine I bought was used in the sauce). We then had Black Gascon pork from the Gaec Pierre et Terre served with a bay leaf jus. Last but by no means least we had Chocolate Blanc au Citron, which was comprised of citrus cream with an ivory chocolate feuillantine, crisp lemon cake, grapefruit curd and lemon sorbet. One of the best desserts I have every had - light, crispy, creamy and lemony. Then they brought us petite fours to finish off. As nice as they looked I resisted, as I think they would have finished me off, but others polished them off! And, I wanted the flavours of dessert to linger.

What a fabulous experience that will stay with me for a long time, and will be difficult to surpass. We then headed back to our hotel and fell into a food coma.

Unfortunately, we also found out today that Mary our guide had come down with COVID and would have to leave the tour. It was decided that we would continue with Jerome, our driver, who is very resourceful and knowledgeable of the region we are in.Read more
Traveler so pretty!
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TravelerJenni everything in the restaurant was pleasing to the eye - I suppose that is why they have been awarded a Michelin star
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TravelerOne of the most memorable days in tour - with the Michelin star menu, venue and company! Every bite was and experience. I loved the dessert and the amuse boche delighted! Loved it all!
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TravelerAnd now I now what Michelin star service means! If that was one star standard / I can only imagine what two or three stars would be like!!!
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France 2022 Traveler
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Pooches of France
October 2, 2022 in France ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
France is definitely a nation of dog lovers, and we have encountered many over the trip so far. What I have noticed is that finally most dog owners here pick up after their pooches.
Previously it was a veritable mine field of doggy doo on the pavements!Read more
Traveler Noice, but no whippies?
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TravelerSaw two whippies in Cahors but didn't have my phone
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TravelerDogs on trains, planes and in automobiles! We saw it all! Well I saw one very posh and dressed up doggie 🐶 on flight from Biarritz to Paris.
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TravelerDid you take a picture?
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France 2022 Traveler
Loitering around Lauzerte
October 2, 2022 in France ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
We headed off this morning without Mary, who will be going back to her home in Frayssinet-Le-Gélat to serve out her isolation period. We were all sad about Mary having to leave but, in the Pilgrim spirit, we were taking it one step at a time.

Our first stop was Lauzerte, a beautiful medieval bastide perched above the valley and hills of the area known as Quercy Blanc. Founded in the 12th century by the Count of Toulouse, the village is located on the Chemin de St Jacques de Compostella. Jerome showed us around the village. It was fairly quiet as it was Sunday morning, so we just wandered around looking at the lovely old buildings, the views out across the valley, and some of the art currently on display. It is a beautifully maintained village and I would like to return to spend more time here.Read more
TravelerThis village on the hill really felt medieval… I could imagine a bit of the medieval life during that visit.
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France 2022 Traveler
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Up hill and down dale
October 2, 2022 in France ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
After our stroll around Lauzerte, Jerome dropped us at the bottom of the hill so we could commence our walk, a section of the Via Podiensis, the name for the Le Puy route of the Chemin de St Jacques. He said we had to walk up the hill and down the other side to meet him, but not to worry as it was easy going. The walk started off quite easy but then we had a fairly steep climb over uneven and rocky terrain. The weather was also warming up, so the going was a bit hot and sticky. We wondered if Jerome had actually done this walk, and his name was taken in vain more than a few times. We passed a couple of houses and came across the St-Sernin-du-Bosc church located in the woods at the top of the hill, where there was a mass being held for pilgrims.

We continued downwards towards the pick-up point and passed several more houses, including one with an absolute menagerie of farm animals. We arrived at the pick up point just as Jerome was arriving. We then had a short drive to the town of Moissac.Read more
Traveler This looks like a cross between an echidna and a centipede
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Traveler It is a dried out sunflower about to be harvested for the seeds - there was just field after field of them
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TravelerThis walk was magical - even the tough hill had beauty glimpses and moments for scenic connections!
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France 2022 Traveler
A Big Lunch in Moissac
October 2, 2022 in France ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
We had about a 30 minute drive to Moissac, which allowed us to refresh for the afternoon’s activities. The city was very busy - being a Sunday the locals were out and about in force, as well as the tourists. Our tour notes said we were having a “salad” lunch. We thought, “that’s good, we probably need a light healthy lunch”, but the reality was a bit different.

There was some salad on the large and unusual cork plates that arrived, but atop the salad there were generous helpings of king prawns, scallops, fried duck gizzards and a large slab of foie gras! It was a very impressive and delicious lunch. I didn’t eat any of my prawns because I enjoyed the duck gizzards, scallops and foie gras so much. Others in the group ate the prawns and salad but didn’t touch the gizzards or foie gras. We also had a glass of rosé with lunch or, in our case, a little more as Jerome gave Ian and I his glass. He cannot drink any alcohol during the day as to start the bus he has to blow into a breathalyser which is attached to the ignition.

After lunch we had some free time to explore the city of Moissac and work off some of that delicious lunch before we had a guided tour of the Abbey and Cloister of Moissac with the fabulous George.Read more
TravelerWell.. for me… tasting gizzards was ok - but I wouldn’t line up for more.
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The Abbey and Cloister of Moissac
October 2, 2022 in France ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
We met our guide George out the front of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre. He was extremely passionate and knowledgeable and really brought the history of the Abbey and Cloister to life. He shared some lovey anecdotes during the tour, which made it more interesting. The Abbey is very impressive, with an ornate and well maintained Tympanum above the entrance (not as impressive as the one in Conques but still very good), and Romanesque sculptures around it.

The Moissac Abbey was a Benedictine and Cluniac monastery. It is unusual inside as it only has one knave; most would have three. The rationale, as explained by George, was to ensure nobody could hide in the shadows or behind pillars or steal stuff! Historical records indicate that it was founded by Saint Didier, Bishop of Cahors in the middle of the 7th century.

The Abbey has been attacked by the Moors, Norseman and the Arabs of al-Andalus. The roof collapsed due to lack of maintenance and in 1042 there was a serious fire. Restoration and building work continued through the 10th to 15th centuries. In the Abbey we saw an amazing carving of Jesus being buried - it is carved from walnut wood and depicts a scene of Mary and Mary Magdalene mourning his death. George told us that the other two women in the scene were probably actresses, typically employed by rich people at the time to attend funerals and mourn the deceased person.

The tympanum depicts the Apocalypse of the Book of Revelation. Mark is represented by the winged lion, Luke is the bull, Matthew is an angel and John the winged eagle. There are also six lions and lionesses guarding the Abbey.

To the east of the tympanum there is good news - Mary with child, three wise men etc. To the west there is bad news, which is quite graphically illustrated - greed and power is bad and you should share your wealth with the church and the poor, otherwise you will end up with nothing. Adultery is a big no no and the scene depicting this is very violent and shocking, even by today’s standards. The illiterate people of the time would have been greatly influenced by these carvings, as they would have to walk past them every time they entered. (Ed - I’ve been on my best behaviour ever since!) The layout and story was designed by the Abbott. The Abbey took three centuries to complete, the cloisters took 50 years and the carving of the capitals in the Cloister took 2 years, with 10 artisans working on it.

The Cloister is considered to be one of the most beautiful in the world. It has 76 exceptional capitals (the carvings at the top of the columns) which all tell stories, some about the Creation and some commenting on episodes in the Bible. The scenes of the Old Testament, New Testament and early life martyrs are represented on all four sides of the capitals, as a real ‘comic book’ story. Unfortunately, the heads of most of the sculptures have been removed. George said this was probably vandalism by bored soldiers, rather than being for religious reasons. We have seen this practice in most villages and cities we have visited, but usually as the result of religious wars (e.g. Protestants vs Catholics). The only in tact one in the Cloister was that of a soldier. George thought that this was because the soldiers thought that it would be bad form and bad luck to vandalise one of their own.Read more
TravelerAll we needed was a few monks or nuns doing a mass, evensong or similar to really cringe these experience. Wow! You would never know what was inside the large scale buildings until you walk through and WOW! The French have managed to preserve a lot of history - war and revolution vagaries considering!
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A stroll, a drink and a yarn by the Tarn
October 2, 2022 in France ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
After checking into our hotel, Le Pont Napoleon, we decided to take a walk along the river and check out the burb. The receptionist at the hotel told us about a lovely Art Deco bar that made cocktails a little bit down the river, and that sealed the deal.

There was a lovely bridge near the hotel (Pont Napoleon), and the area was full of interesting things. There were several people fishing from the river bank. We also came across a game of pétanque underway, and it looked like serious business - we saw the tape measure come out a couple of times.

We finally found Villa Blanche, where we stopped for a pre-dinner cocktail. Life is good, and it’s important to take time to smell the roses or sip on a cocktail (Ed - or beer, or other beverage of your choice). We headed back to the hotel for a lovely dinner of tomato carpaccio, a choice of fish or duck for main, and Tiramisu for dessert. We also got some delicious onion pastry rolls to start. It was a very nice dinner.

It was a very long and full day, so everyone hit the hay relatively early, even me!Read more
Traveler 😍
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Traveler lovely shot
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France 2022 Traveler
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Auvillar
October 3, 2022 in France ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
We headed off before 9am for a quick drive down the autoroute to the Medieval hilltop village of Auvillar. We arrived ahead of schedule, so we had the chance to grab a coffee prior or starting our guided tour.

Our guide Pam, was great. She has lived in Auvillar for the past two years and provided wonderful information and anecdotes about the town. Auvillar is very picturesque and is also classified as a “most beautiful village of France”. It is situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Garonne river. The town dates back to the Romans. It is surrounded by ancient fortified walls with gateways granting access to the centre. One of the gateways, the one we entered through, passes under a 17th century clock tower that has alternating white stone and red-brick. This is typical of the region and gives it a distinctive look and character.

After entering the village, we headed down the Main Street to a large round structure, the Halle aux Grains, an old market where different grains were weighed and sold. It is still used as a marketplace to this day.

In the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, Auvillar owed its prosperity to two industries, pottery and the preparation of pens of goose feathers used in calligraphy. There was also a lot of river traffic, with up to 3,000 boats coming through each year.

On the tour we also visited the Church, Église Saint Pierre, and the attached bell tower. We then wandered down the narrow streets and made our way to the Place Du Château to view the Garonne river and the “ancient port d’Auvillar”, from where boats could take produce to Bordeaux. We then saw a couple of houses from the 15th century that had been lovingly restored. We also visited the the Tourist Office, which used to be a Covent. It was a lovely village to wander about and I will definitely return for a loner visit.

While at Tourist Office, the Director came to tell us about a special jubilee ‘Monnaie de Paris’ coin they had on sale. In 2021 they celebrated the 120th Compostela Holy Year. However, due to COVID, the Pope prolonged the celebration, the first time this had ever happened. This meant the coin, minted in 2021 was quite rare - the office had been contacted by people from all around the world to get the coin, and it had now doubled in value.Read more
Traveler One of these things is not like the others
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TravelerAh! A medieval village on a hill… amazing history for this village re it’s position atop a river for trading and its grain market.
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France 2022 Traveler
1,000km from care and Santiago
October 3, 2022 in France ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
After farewelling our delightful guide Pam and the beautiful village of Auvillar, we climbed back in the bus and headed to just out of the village of Larressingle for a picnic lunch at a park by the Pont d’Artigues. This old bridge is located 1,000 kms from Santiago de Compostela, the medieval equivalent of “just around the corner”. Jerome joined us for the picnic.

After a “dejuener sur l’herbe”, and with with full bellies, we commenced our 11km walk to Montréal. It was a lovely day for a walk across beautiful countryside, past farms and through some vineyards. At one point our bucolic peace was disturbed by a French airforce jet out on a training run and flying close to the ground. Nonetheless, it was a lovely walk across fairly flat terrain. We were setting a good pace of about 5.5kms an hour. We met Jerome who, of course, was doing some foraging (a French national pastime) about 2 kms out from our meeting point. He was surprised to see the crack “Equipe Australie” so soon.

We drove into Montréal to get our passports stamped. Unfortunately the tourist office was closed and we were advised there was no one at the church, so we tried the Town Hall, where we had success. The lovely women who was able to give us a stamp turned out to have lived in Melbourne for ten years. She and her family had returned to France in 2021. Turns out, her husband, Sebastian, owns a restaurant in Fitzroy, Melbourne we have been to many times called Bon Ap. It really is a small world. She was both pleased and surprised to see us - six degrees of Gallic separation ou quoi?

We then drove to (the very hard to pronounce) village of Eauze where we had 30 minutes to wander around, get a stamp from an obliging local cafe (Jerome working his smooth talking magic yet again) before heading to the Armagnac tasting.Read more
TravelerMy big questions: will I have withdrawal from picnics? Will I ever want to wear a singlet again? Will I want to wear walking pants with many pockets all the time?
10/10/22Reply
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France 2022 Traveler
Eauze and a visit to Domain de Lagan
October 3, 2022 in France ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
We left Montréal for the town of Eauze where we had a very brief stop; just walked around the town, saw the church, a tribute to the three musketeers and, most importantly, went to a café to get our passports stamped.

We then hoped back on the bus to head out to the family run Domain de Lagan. They have been making Armagnac here for many years and currently Katia and Dimitri are the 10th generation to do so. Interestingly, it is the women in charge of the Armagnac production and the men make the wine, the base product. The family only sell their wine from the cellar door, you can’t buy it in a store.

We first visited one of the sheds to hear about the distilling process. This presentation was by Phillip, an American studying wine who started an internship with the family only three weeks ago. He did a great job of explaining the distillation process works and what the different parts of the still do. It is quite the engineering feat and all happens manually with no mechanical input or from computers. The wine goes in at the top and the Armagnac comes out the bottom. It’s all a matter of how much the still is heated and the manual control of the flow rate. During the six week period they turn the base wine into Armagnac, the still runs continuously 24/7. This happens during January and February as they require the weather to be colder, and they first need to make the base wine from white grapes harvested in September.

Armagnac brandy can only be produced in the Armagnac region of France. It is less famous than Cognac, despite that fact that it is much older. The origins of Armagnac appear to begin around the 12th century. Because Armagnac is distilled only once, it has an alcohol content of about 53%, which is lower than some other brandies. It also has a stronger fruit flavour, which develops into a complex and elegant mouthfeel if the Armagnac is aged sufficiently. Typically Armagnac is is aged for a minimum of 2 years, and sometimes for much longer.

After getting the lowdown on the still, we went outside to join Gisèle, the matriarch of the family, and most other family members to do some tasting. We first tasted a white and red Floc, a combination of grape juice with Armagnac. It was bloody delicious, very much like a dessert wine. We then went on to taste three Armagnacs from various years, a young one, a 13 year old one, and one even older. Personally I found the Armagnac too strong, although the aromas made me think of Dad, as he was always one to enjoy a snifter of Cognac. (Ed - I really liked the 13 year one.) I definitely preferred the Floc! (Ed - I liked this too.)

It was a lovely experience sipping the Floc and Armagnac under a large 600 year old oak tree in the late afternoon. We then headed to Aire-sur-l’Adour to our lodgings for the night. Unfortunately, we found out at dinner that Bronwyn had also come down with COVID. There wasn’t much we could do at this late hour, but we contacted the tour company and started looking at options to get her to Biarritz. We would have to make the arrangements the next day.Read more
TravelerGreat fun experience
10/13/22Reply
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France 2022 Traveler
Destination St-Jean-Pied-de-Port
October 4, 2022 in France ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
As a team we decided that we wouldn’t leave Aire-sur-l’Adour until we had the arrangements for Bronwyn sorted out. The friendly owners of Hotel N’Atura were extremely helpful. Unfortunately, the accommodation was very basic, so there was no way we were leaving Bronwyn there. Between us and S-CAPE Travel (the French partner of UTracks), with assistance from Mary, we developed a plan. Bronwyn would be collected by taxi and taken to Dax (about an hour away), where she would catch a train to Biarritz and check into a different hotel to us to isolate (turned out to be just up the street from where we were staying). We would be able to see her in a few days. S-CAPE also organised a pharmacy supervised COVID test to provide the evidence needed to support her travel insurance claim.

With Bronwyn sorted, we headed off in the bus for our last walk of the tour which started in Gamarthe, located in the foothills of the Pyrenees in the Pays Basque. We drove for about an hour and forty five minutes towards the Pyrenees, mostly along the autoroute, stopping to pick up picnic supplies on the way. As we had started a bit late, we decided to reduce the walk from 15.5kms to 11.5kms, as we still wanted sufficient time in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to explore the city.

It was a lovely day weather wise and the Basque countryside was so lush and green and, as we were at the foot of the Pyrenees, a little steep at times. Our path went up and over what looked like a pretty steep hill, but in practice the road zig-zagged up the hill and, thankfully, we didn’t go over the highest part. The highest point of the walk was Col d’Oyhanzarre and after this it was all downhill. We passed through Lacarne, Bussunarits and passed by the Château d’Aphat. We met many pilgrims during this walk, including a Dutch couple who had been walking for about 6 weeks, a young guy who had come from Lourdes, and many others. We ran into Jerome parked by the road along the way, so we had lunch next to the bus in the shade. This was great, as we could leave our rubbish and anything else we didn’t need for the rest of the walk.

On discussion with Jerome, we decided we would meet him at St-Jean-le-Vieux and he would drive us the last 4kms into St-Jean-Pied-de-Port. The walk to this town was lovely and fairly flat, but the day was warming up, so once we met Jerome we stopped for a refreshing cold drink at a local bar.Read more
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France 2022 Traveler
Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port
October 4, 2022 in France ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
The very picturesque village of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port was very busy when we arrived, with both tourists and Pilgrims. The town has traditionally been an important point on the Way of St. James, as it is the starting point of the Spanish Camino de Santiago de Compostela. It stands at the base of the Roncevaux Pass across the Pyrenees, the mountain pathway between France and Spain.

Pied-de-Port means “foot of the pass” in Pyrenean French. The Way of Saint James pilgrimage routes from Paris, Vézelay and Le Puy-en-Velay meet at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, and it was the pilgrims’ last stop before the arduous mountain crossing.

We spent about an hour of free time exploring the town and doing a bit of shopping.Read more
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France 2022 Traveler
Guided tour of St-Jean-Pied-de-Port
October 4, 2022 in France ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Following our free time, we met at the Tourist Office for a guided tour. Our guide, Florence, was born in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and has strong connections to the town. Like most people she moved away for a while, but has been back for many years. The first thing she showed us was the house, right next to the Tourist Office, where her father and grandfather were born. The property is still in the family and is now shared with her siblings. Half of it is a museum and the other half houses a restaurant. Florence now lives outside the old city in one of the suburbs about 5 minutes away.

We entered through the old gate, where Florence explained the seven regions of the Pays (country) Basque; four are in Spain and three are in France, but all are united by a common cultural identity. We then moved onto the 14th century red schist (slate) Gothic church, Notre-Dame-du-Bout-du-Pont, which is on the cobbled rue de La Citadelle near the Porte d’Espagne, which leads to the bridge that crosses the river Nive. We had a quick walk around the church and Florence pointed out that when the parishioners attended church back in the day, the men sat downstairs while the women had to sit upstairs in the cheap seats!

After this, we walked up the steep cobbled rue de La Citadelle to the 15th century Porte St-Jacques, with Florence pointing out some of the interesting houses, including the way that the old occupants’ names were chiseled into the stone above the doors. We continued to climb to the top of the hill to the Citadel, which was remodelled by Vauban, an architect of note in the 17th century, to double it’s capacity. It is currently an affluent private school. Florence told us that when she was a teenager, she and some of her friends cut through bars to a tunnel under the Citadel - then a military installation- and tried to explore it, but once they had got some way in were frightened by a loud noise and ran back out and away. We had great views out over the village and surrounding districts from up here.

We then descended to the still intact ramparts and walked the length of them back to where we had started the tour.Read more
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France 2022 Traveler
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Banca or Bust
October 4, 2022 in France ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Once the tour with Florence was finished we headed straight to the bus and got on the road to Banca, where we spent the night. It was a 30 minute drive up into the Pyrenees mountains to reach Banca. Everything was very lush and green up here, and our hotel was only about a kilometre or so from from the Spanish border. Jerome pointed out where the border was at the top of the adjacent mountains.

Banca is a commune of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. (Ed - There are a lot of regions and sub-regions in France!) It is part of the former province of Lower Navarre. Economic activity is now mainly agricultural. There used to be copper and silver mines, and the associated smelter (Ed - And we do love a schmelter , eh Neale) and was in operation from 1828 to 1861.

From our hotel we had a lovely view of the Parish Church of Saint Peter, and I heard the bell ring at 6am!

We had a wonderful dinner at the family run hotel, probably the best of all the hotel dinners on the trip. We started with beautifully grilled trout with grilled capsicum - one of the best fish dishes I have ever had. Most of the group felt the same about this dish, which used local trout caught just upstream from the hotel. For main we had pork cheek, with pan roasted potatoes and veggies in a pimenté sauce. The owner told us it was black Gascoyne pork, which had nearly disappeared, but was brought back by the locals over the past 20 years. Again, absolutely delicious. For dessert we had panna cotta with speculoos and caramel, also a fabulous dessert which we all loved. After dinner we were given a shot of Eau de Vie (our waiter jokingly called it Eau de Mort, which translates to water of death). It is a kind of spirit which has high alcohol content and is guaranteed to clear your sinuses and re-line your throat. I decided to skip this so Maria, who is quite partial to spirits, drank mine too. Opa!

A wonderful evening all round provided by a generous and professional team.Read more
Traveler what is speculoos?
10/11/22Reply
TravelerIt is a biscuit- Dutch or Belgium claim it - can get them from ALDI- they are a bit cinnamon and other yummy flavours
10/11/22Reply
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France 2022 Traveler
Espelette - Celebrating the Piment
October 5, 2022 in France ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
We were afforded a luxurious sleep in this morning, before leaving the delightful little village of Banca at the base of the Pyrenees around 10 am. Our first stop was Espelette, a traditional Basque village, known for the Piment d’Espelette (Espelette pepper), a variety of Capsicum. It is only cultivated here, and was classified as an AOC (e.g. geographically controlled) product in 2000 and an APO product in 2002. This is serious Cappo business.

Chili pepper was first introduced to France in the 16th century. It was initially used medicinally, but later became popular as a condiment and for the conservation of meats. It is now a cornerstone of Basque cuisine. Espelette peppers are harvested in late summer, and in September festoons of peppers are hung on balconies and house walls throughout the commune to dry out. They were everywhere when we visited.

In most traditional Basque villages, the white houses have the shutters painted red or green. In Espelette, most of the shutters are red, which perfectly compliments the main hero of the village, the Espelette pepper.

We had several hours here and, as it was a beautiful day, we decided to just roam around the village. Our first stop was the Wednesday market, an absolute hive of activity, where the sellers encourage you to taste their wares. We tasted cheeses, charcuterie, foie gras, jams and the traditional Basque Gateaux - everything was delicious.

There was also a market selling lots of other things like clothes and homewares etc. After the market we headed for the Saint Etienne church, which is considered one of the most beautiful Basque churches. It was built in the 17th century and is decorated with a Baroque altarpiece from the 18th century made from gilded wood.

We wandered through the village and made our way up the Main Street looking for a place to have lunch - preferably outside, but in the shade. We found a lovely spot where we spent the next hour or so eating cheese and charcuterie with a baguette and a couple of chilled glasses of rosé - it was perfect. We even had room for dessert. Ian had a cherry basque gateau and I had peach gelato and, of course, we finished this glorious meal with an espresso.

We met up with everyone at the allotted time to drive to beachside city of Biarritz where the tour finishes. We would also get to see Bronwyn (from 1.5 metres), when we got there.Read more
TravelerWhat’s in a Basque gateaux?
10/11/22Reply
TravelerThe original has cream but also can get cherry, apple etc - I gave you a cherry one in Biarritz
10/11/22Reply
TravelerOh! It was delicious indeed!
10/11/22Reply
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