Isaiah dancing

Only a few more days now, tomorrow we start seriously driving towards Calais.  I have checked the tunnel crossing and we are definitely booked to come home on Thursday, so we need to be at our last stop (already booked) on Wednesday night.

Today we are in the middle of nowhere, not very far from Brive, as the crow flies.  It is incredibly peaceful and we have been very lucky that the weather has continued sunny and hot.  We went for a lovely walk yesterday, through the forest to the nearest village of any note (Aubazine).  The route went along the side of a gorge for a long way so we had some great views.  Part of the way follows a small canal that was built by monks in the 12^th century to supply water to their abbey.  Cut into the hillside high above the gorge it was an amazing feat of engineering.  We found a perfect picnic spot at the bottom of a pair of waterfalls.  Fortunately, the cafe (for beer) and the cake shop (for fruit tarts) in Aubazine were open on the way back.

Aubazine square

 Since my last post we have been busy making the most of our last week.  Last year we by-passed Albi, but thought it looked an interesting place to go, so as it was sort of en route, we stopped for a quick visit.  We stayed in a campsite called ‘Albirondack’ which kind of says it all – it is themed like a north American ranch with log cabins and a lot of bear-related posters and signs, quite surreal.  It was the most expensive site we have ever used, so strictly for one night only, but it was very well appointed and they even delivered the morning bread order to our pitch!  Location is everything though, and the shady footpath which took us into the town centre was perfect.  The main reason for visiting Albi is the cathedral, a huge brick affair which stands above the town, really spectacular and spectacularly difficult to photograph.  Inside, the walls and ceilings are painted all over in rich colours, quite different from the many plain churches and cathedrals we have seen, maybe they were all like that once.  The other point of interest in Albi is the Toulouse-Lautrec museum, but it was such a hot day we decided to give that a miss and sit in a cafe for a while instead.  The museum is housed in old palace buildings and gardens, which had lovely views over the river Tarn.

Parterre garden at Albi

Albi - view across the Tarn

Albi cathedral

A few kilometres further on and we were in Cordes-sur-ciel, one of the hill-top ‘bastides’ or fortified villages which are very common in this region.  It is clearly a very popular place to visit and there is a huge parking area/aire suitable for leaving a motorhome, and even stopping overnight.  Cordes is lovely, with tiny, steep, winding streets and the remains of the gates and walls which fortified the town from the 12^th century.  Later, in the 15^th or 16^th century Cordes became wealthy through the trade in ‘pastel’ a blue plant based dye, so many beautiful and expensive looking Italian-style town houses were built.

Cordes sur ciel

Cordes sur ciel

 We spent that night at a remote France Passion site belonging to an English couple who had left the rat race some 20 years ago and become wine growers.  They were out at a market and had left their teenage son and daughter in charge, so we had a good chat to them about their school and college prospects – typically neither of them wanted to take over the business, they wanted to live in the city and do something easier... I bet they change their minds eventually!  Anyway they were delightful and cheerfully sold us some wine – another one of those occasions when one thinks ‘I don’t think this would be allowed in England’ like children riding pillion on motorscooters.

View from our 'pitch' at Domaine Merchien

The route from Cordes to Aubazon is through beautiful countryside, gradually changing from very steep gorges and rocky outcrops to hilly, but mostly less dramatic, farmland. We called in at Souillac, to visit yet another abbey, this time with famous 12^th century sculptures.  The life size sculpture of Isaiah shows him dancing, dressed in flowing robes, a lovely image, much more human somehow than my usual idea of Isaiah as a rather severe old man! 

Isaiah dancing, Souillac

   

So for the next few days we will be traveling back slowly to Calais, stocking up on wine and beer on the way.  But now it’s off to the pool, just one more time.