PYRENEES REVISITED - Week 1

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Week 1 News - Journey south to Pyrenean foothills:

After such an eventful prelude with the birth of our grand-
daughter Isobel, 2005's trip to the Pyrenees is underway. (Photo 1) This year we used the Dover~Dunkerque Channel crossing.  Norfolk Line, previously a freight operator, is now trying to grab its share of tourist traffic with tempting price offers and new ferries later this year. With a saving of £40 on the Calais option, Dunkerque was only an extra 15 minutes along the autoroute to Calais, from where we headed south. 

A long autoroute drive took us through WW1 battle areas close to Arras, past the cathedral city of Reims and Champagne country (thoughts of a future trip to this previously unexplored NE corner of France), to camp at Briare on the middle Loire. The town makes the most of its setting, with the 1/2 mile long canal aqueduct, the Pont Canal built by Gustav Eiffel of Tower fame, crossing the wide river Loire. We enjoyed a day's walking around Briare's fascinating canal network, before moving on to Sancerre for their beautiful Sauvignon and Pinot Noire wines. We again enjoyed Brigitte's customary hospitality at L'Aronde Sancerroise for an extended tasting session. Our overnight camp before beginning the real journey south was at Preuilly (Photo 2), a village in Berry where we had stayed in 2003's heat-wave to enjoy the local wines from the Reuilly/Quincy AOCs (equally good quality as Sancerre, but more sensibly priced).

From near Bourges, the A71 autoroute took us south to Clermont Ferrand, with the magnificent outline of the North Auvergne's chain of Puys gracing the western skyline. On from Clermont, the A75 may have been a controversial motorway constructed over the Massif Central, but it is a spectacular route across the 1000m high plateau, still relatively quiet and mostly toll-free. We camped overnight at Camping Le Galier, a quiet spot near to the small town of St Alban sur Limagnole, where to fit in with the magnificent hilly surroundings, we cooked a supper of cuisse de lapin d'Auvergne, accompanied by a crisp dry white from Reuilly.

Continuing our journey down the almost deserted A75, we crossed the 2.5 km long and elegantly spectacular Viaduct de Millau opened by President Chirac in Dec 2004 and spanning the gorge of the river Tarn. The autoroute winds steeply down from high limestone causse country, to the vine-covered plains of Languedoc- Roussillon. Suddenly we were in Mediterranean lands with red pantiled roofed buildings. Beyond Béziers, we joined the convoys of Spanish trucks along the westerly-heading A9, relieved to turn off at Narbonne for our 2 days camp at Carcassonne.

Camping la Cité at Carcassonne was so different (and inevitably more expensive) from the peaceful, straightforward municipal sites used further north: regimented emplacements and campers from every corner of Europe. Even so, the reception was welcoming and helpful. The reason for our stay was to visit the restored (some would say ornately over-restored) medieval hill-top citadel. It was just a 15 minute walk from the campsite along the river to the Cité, where in 1209 Simon de Montfort had been installed as Viscount after butchering the Cathars in the opening round of the Albigensian Crusade (more in our next edition on this intriguing sect). The castle protected the French kingdom's troubled frontier with Spain until the mid-17th century Treaty of Pyrenees settled the border to its present line further south. Carcassonne's strategic importance declined and its fortifications fell into neglected ruins. Until the 19th century, that is, when a certain Viollet-le-Duc, with romantic zealotry 'restored' Carcassonne's citadel to resemble more a Hollywood film set (Photo 3). Despite gloomy drizzle, we spent a superb day wandering around the ramparts, towers and the beautiful basilica of Carcassonne's medieval Cité (Photo 4). And we enjoyed a classic filling lunch of Cassoulet (casserole of duck, pork sausage and white haricot beans). Never to be outshone in the 'fascinating facts' department, this site is pleased also to report that the more modern bastide town of Carcassonne on the west bank of the Aude river houses a museum dedicated to M Eugene Poubelle, the eponymous inventor of the poubelle (consult your French dictionary!)

It was now the holiday weekend of Pentecôte as we continued south along the valley of the Aude, up into the foothills of the Pyrenees. Through Quillan, we crossed the narrow rocky pass of Pierre-Lys, down into the vine-clad Fenouillèdes valley - we had arrived.

  Click on map for details

Our 874 mile journey from Dunkerque to Carcassonne had cost €63.50 in autoroute tolls, fast but at a price. Diesel prices in France have reportedly risen 22% since 2000 according to the local paper La Dépêche du Midi, and now vary between €0.95 and €1.12, still cheaper however than over-taxed UK. And as fellow Franco-philes will endorse, there is nothing to compare with the French way of life, which we are happily re-experiencing. We have also settled back comfortably into our straightforward routine of life in our camper, with photos of Isobel blu-tacked up to keep our memories of her fresh while we are away.

Our Pyrenean ventures start here in le Pays Cathare - more of that in our next edition. The problem, we fear, will be finding internet cafés in remote rural France to upload future editions. In the meantime, we look forward to keeping in touch by receiving your e-mails.

Sheila and Paul                                                                                                         Published: Tuesday 17 May 2005
Next edition from the Pyrenees to be published in 2 weeks

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Hillman Imp 1973				VW Camper 2004