Visiting Auch

 Wednesday 17/04/24

Yesterday we visited Auch, although we had stopped off briefly on our way here, we had not driven all the way into the centre and felt it was worth another visit.  Travelling without Bokkie has made us much more mobile and we re determined to properly explore each area we stay in.

Although is was quite a grey and drizzly day, we had a lovely walk around the old town.  The 15th century cathedral (which was apparently built over two centuries) is quite awe-inspiring; the sense of history is overwhelming and the scale of the building project is unbelievably grand .  The level of planning that must have gone into a construction project spanning multiple centuries is staggering.

Cathédrale Sainte-Marie

Bonus pics:

Bath time for Anna.

I haven't found an animal that doesn't like a good chin-scratch!

Anna loves a warm bath when it's cold out.

Our 33'rd anniversary

 Saturday 13/04/24

33 years married and still smiling!

Chuffed to have spotted this Bee Orchid

Now that the weather has cleared, we can see the Pyrenees in the distance like a ghostly wall.

Today we celebrate 33 years of married life together, in spite of all our joking that living together in a motorhome would end in a divorce! 

The past five and a half years we've spent almost every moment in each other's company, much more than when we were working, and we both agree that it has brought us even closer together.  😊

The views from Lectoure are amazing!

Lectoure cathedral

Yesterday we visited nearby Lectoure, an ancient village stronghold built like a fortress, which sits high on a hilltop.  We happened to arrive on market day, so the village centre was buzzing with locals and tourists alike.  The position of the village means it has the most fantastic views over the countryside; it was the perfect day for a visit.

This amazing building housed the biggest collection of antiques and some
of the weirdest odds-and-ends I have ever seen

I think these fit into the latter category

This room was dominated by the huge carved wooden Cobra

We also bumped into some fellow South Africans who regularly visit their family in the village,  and it was lovely to discuss familiar places as they have houses in both Cape Town and Stilbaai.  Such a small world!

Bonus video; We can't figure out if Sid loves or hates this bush - he certainly mauls it a lot!

Sights from St Puy

 Wednesday 10/04/24

Some pics and a video from the area.

We set off for a quick walk and ended up going for 13km!

St Puy on the hilltop

Feeding time for our charges.

Piggy treats the kitchen window like a drive-through.

Sid, Lily and Hazel have a more conventional eating approach

Bonus video:-  Anna munching away.

Cat-sitting in St Puy

 Sunday 07/04/24

We are currently looking after a property in the tiny village of St Puy in the Gers region.  We have four cats and a tortoise in our care while the owners head to the UK in their motorhome.

Sid.  We're not sure he's been assembled correctly.

Hazel, who has a spinal injury and has a bad limp but gets around remarkably well.

Piggy - who's very skittish, and only appears at mealtimes

Lily - who just seems to eat and sleep

Apart from the Brittany sit, this is the first time we've looked after cats on their own so it's a reasonably relaxed sit (no early morning walks, no poops to collect in the garden), and we will be able to get out and about a bit to see the area.

Anna, just had a bath and I could swear she's smiling.

Caring for the tortoise is quite a learning curve as we knew nothing about looking after them until now, and certainly had no idea we needed to bathe them periodically. She's good fun though - and moves around surprisingly quickly!

Toulouse - 'La Ville Rose'

 Thursday 04/04/24

Walking through the Royal Garden gave us a rare moment of calm

Toulouse has turned out to be a revelation - it's lovely!  The city is a bit like a mini-Paris but nicer, smaller and more intimate.  It is full of young people and has a lovely vibe.

We've not done anything special, just walked and walked, enjoying the city atmosphere.  The architecture is wonderful and the place has a real buzz.

Now that's a DOOR, three stories high!

Tomorrow we will head off to our next sit; we have thoroughly enjoyed our brief time in Toulouse. 

Nimes and Carcassonne

 Wednesday 03/04/24

A stunning morning for our final walk!

We finished off the house-sit on Monday evening and headed to a nearby hotel for the night.  As we were close to Nimes, a city with a Roman history, we decided to drive in and visit, something we could never do with Bokkie.

The Roman amphitheatre

The city centre had a lovely feel, with the amphitheatre and many other beautiful buildings in the central area.  The fact that it was a sunny spring morning and all the trees were breaking out in leaf helped make it a lovely visit.

The Pradier fountain

After lunch we headed onwards to our next overnight stop, just outside of the UNESCO heritage site in Carcassonne.  The drive gave us wonderful views of the Pyrenees capped in snow.  

We booked into the Good Knight hotel, right outside the chateau walls, a truly stunning location.

The Saint-Nazaire and Saint-Celse Basilica - records of it first appeared from 925 AD

The huge stained-glass windows in the Basilica are magnificent

Although 'touristy', the buildings are wonderful

The chateau is fantastic and well worth the visit even though, like many of these ancient sites, it now survives off the tourist trade.  Almost overwhelmed by the sheer number of restaurants on offer, we eventually found a tiny (reasonably authentic) place serving good food, and had a lovely regional meal.

I love an ugly gargoyle and the Basilica was covered with them

Today we're heading off to Toulouse for a couple of nights before our next house-sit.

Sitting in Rochefort-du-Gard

 Saturday 30/03/24

We woke up in the hotel in Murat after a very comfortable sleep to find it was snowing!

We had a lovely, typically French hotel breakfast of croissants, cheese and coffee, before setting off on our final leg before our sit.  Although the snowfall was light and not really settling in the village, the scene we drove through was absolutely beautiful.

We had made a last-minute decision to change our route and rather take a slightly longer but quicker route using some of the toll roads, as we were under a bit of time pressure.  It really paid off as I hadn't realised this took us over the Millau Viaduct.  In April 2019, some of you may or may not remember, we went to try and catch a glimpse of the viaduct in Bokkie and we got thwarted by mist so thick we could hardly see the road, never mind the impressive bridge.  Anyway, we finally got our chance not only to see, but also to cross one of the tallest cable-stayed bridges in the world.

Approaching the viaduct

The scale of it becomes evident when up close - it is HUGE!

An unintended consequence of our last-minute change of route was that we were following Dassie's sat-nav without having checked the route first so we were treated to a short-cut right through the middle of Montpellier, instead of skirting around on the bypass.  oh well, one has to take the good with the bad.

Walking around Rochefort

We are now staying Rochefort-du-Gard, where we have a house-sit.  It all seems so familiar, it could be any wine-growing village in the Boland.  While the weather is definitely warmer than Brittany (and definitely much warmer than the Auvergne), it has been very windy and rainy today with a large amount of dust being deposited with the rain, presumably from the Sahara.

We are looking after an adorable dog, Orca and a very pretty but stand-offish cat called Frodo - a lovely way to spend the Easter long-weekend.

There are fantastic walks from the house and we are all loving the scenery

We were fascinated by the tiny Iris plants dotted everywhere.

This is Frodo-speak for 'I want a treat, please'

Orca can't understand why Toni doesn't want to help catch a mole

We're here until Monday and will then head off for a short break before our next sit.

Toni still insists she's not a dog-person...