We’re still enjoying exploring new wine and food specialities and there is plenty to discover nearby. The Aude department is in the region that was previously called Languedoc Roussillon and since 2014 has been called Occitanie. The region is a major wine producer, with well known red wines such as Corbieres, Fitou and Minervois. In… Continue reading Local wines
Scenic Walks
When we’re not travelling further afield from our base, wherever that is at the time, we tend to do walks that are more local to us. For the last couple of years we’ve used a very good app – Visorando – that gives you details of all nearby walks, graded by difficulty, length, etc. The… Continue reading Scenic Walks
Cathar Country and Castelnaudary
We were on the edge of Cathar Country when we were in the Ariège a few weeks ago but here, in the Aude, we don’t need to travel more than a few kilometres to find a town or village steeped in Cathar history. Simon de Montfort, who led the Cathar crusades and was known for… Continue reading Cathar Country and Castelnaudary
A temporary home in the Aude
After leaving the magnificent views over the Med, we headed back inland and are now safely installed in our new abode for the next 6 weeks. We’re now in the Aude region of Occitanie on the Canal du Midi between Carcassonne and Castelnaudary, just outside the village of Bram. Our base is part of what… Continue reading A temporary home in the Aude
A sea view
We booked our last campsite stay – before we move into more solid accommodation – some time ago and even then there was limited availability of dates, despite it being late in the season. We’d seen good reviews about the site from other motor-homers and, having arrived here, we can see why. The site is… Continue reading A sea view
From the mountains to the Med
For the last two weeks that we plan to spend at campsites we’ve headed down to the far south-west corner of France and the Mediterranean coast. Another complete change of scenery as we head down from the mountains to the flat coastal plain of Roussillon. Our first base in this area was just outside the… Continue reading From the mountains to the Med
Hair raising roads and paths
We enjoy the days when we move on to a new camp site and get to see the wonderful scenery on the way. We’re not pressed for time so we usually choose a route that avoids motorways and tolls and we get to enjoy France’s generally traffic free back roads and marvel at some of… Continue reading Hair raising roads and paths
The Ariège and Cathars
Continuing our journey slowly towards the far south-west coast for the later part of October, we moved east to the Ariège department which lies to the south of Toulouse and is named after the river that runs through it. Our drive to this region took us past wonderful views of the Pyrénées to the densely… Continue reading The Ariège and Cathars
Mountain Passes
We’d been looking out for a weather window to see if we could get a few days closer to the French Pyrénées with dry weather suitable to get out on the motorbike. The weather changes constantly in that area and there was no guarantee of wall to wall sunshine but we decided to give it… Continue reading Mountain Passes
The Atlantic Coast
With our aim of following the sun we continued west to the Bay of Biscay on the Atlantic coast and our next stop at Bidart, just south of Biarritz and in French Basque country. A complete change of scenery and architecture, much more built up and with the white and red half-timbered houses that are… Continue reading The Atlantic Coast