INTO FRANCE

Bonjour,

We leave our camping in Spain,

and move into France. Our first resting place is Narbonne.

a splendid small town with an historic centre. Currently there is a sports photography exhibition at various historic locations around the town. Most of the town appears to have been cleaned and spruced up; town hall above, the main square and part of the cathedral area below.

The cathedral was impressive enough as seems to be the case in most French towns. The photo below is the approach into Narbonne which we cycled to from our campsite. I took a long range shot because only a hundred metres ahead the paths disappeared as there was major reconstruction of the canal towpath and surrounding roads with dust and noise pollution defying this rather pretty scene. The signage suggested that work would be complete by July 2013 - it added that this was stage 5. It neglected to say how many stages there were. It's a bit odd when we read Europe is suffering from recession, that there are so many major construction projects in France and Spain.

Although the weather was warm, for the first 24 hours there were gale force winds which meant our initial cycle from the campsite took a lot longer than it should. But there were vineyards to stop and taste along the way and there was a really excellent covered food market on arrival. Can't stop me then:  just buy pates, rillettes and most of all cheeses. The fridge now full, when opened, fills the van with scents of the formargerie. 

Apart from the language the move from Spain to France has two major impacts. Eating times - rather than take lunch at 3pm, the French eat at noon and often well before. Dinner by 7:30pm rather than 9:30pm. It takes a while to adjust. No time for breakfast! Also prices are way higher. In Spain a 3 course menu del dia including a glass of wine/beer would cost an average of 7 or 8 euros. In France without wine the cost would be at least double. Rather strangely, a bottle of drinkable local wine in a restaurant in Spain costs about 12 euros; similar in France, about 8 euros. Beer is mega expensive in France. A 25cl glass of the pression costs an average of 3 euros, in Spain about 1.30 euros including a tapa of olives or nuts. The beer in France is generally better though and micro-breweries are springing up all over the place. More on this next week. 

Thank you for all your comments and good wishes for my birthday. We shall have to get to the bottom of what Andy is doing at an all girls reunion at a later date! Pauline is about to take me for my birthday lunch or so I hope. The only restaurant within 5 miles of our new campsite was closed yesterday without warning. Otherwise, we do have a baguette and, of course, plenty of cheeses!

Birthday wishes this week to Toby. 

Final blog next week will cover our time in Tours, some unexpected beer and our arrival back in the UK.

Adieu

J&P