View July 1st - 16th 2010 in a larger map
The dog’s put her back out chasing sticks! Honestly -kids! One moment she’s bounding about like a mad thing, the next she’s hobbling along like she’s broken her back! And that’s what we were afraid she’d done until the doggie doctor put us straight, right before he robbed us blind of nearly €60 for his diagnosis – murder!
Apparently she’s twisted or sprained something and needs complete rest for 2 weeks. She has to be lifted into and out of the van and is only allowed out for quick toilet breaks. So, as you can imagine, we have one very bored pooch indeed. She’s climbing the walls and dying to tear about outside!
It doesn’t help matters that it’s 36 degrees in the van - quite uncomfortable for her and for us, and making it very difficult for us to leave her and actually do anything. So quite a frustrating fortnight all in all, but we’ve still been on a tour of an aeroplane factory, cycled along part of the Canal du Midi, and seen quite an amusing procession of French floats.
But we start with Andorra, which has been described as a dual carriageway with shopping centres along it. That’s not a bad description actually when you first pass into Andorra from Spain and travel to the capital, Andorra la Vella. But as soon as you leave the main road it’s a different story. The scenery is magnificent. We spent a day walking around a lake near the capital and wild camped in a beautiful deserted valley.
We did stop briefly for a quick booze shop – a little more quality Italian gin than customs would officially allow! A good job we weren’t searched when passing into France.
Our first stop in France was the interesting little town of Ax les Thermes. Famous as a spa town, there are 13 hot springs in the town centre that spurt water out at 70 degrees. There’s a pool in the town square where you can dip your feet in the healing waters and it’s really quite relaxing. You may think twice when you realise it’s called the leper pool, but don’t let that put you off!!
After another night camped in amazing scenery, we drove across the foothills of the Pyrennes - lady Tom Tom taking us the scenic route via miles of single track roads with hairpin bends! We eventually emerged near Foix, where the dog overdid it with sticks! The next day, once the vet had delivered his prognosis and Charlie was sat with all four feet up, we had a wander around Foix. It’s a lovely little town with some great views and a curious castle that has three very different towers.
The next day we were in Toulouse early for a very special visit... a guided tour of the Airbus 380 factory. If you’re ever in this area you must go! It’s a high security area, so we’ve got no photos unfortunately. The tour began in a mock up of the flight control centre used during the planes’ test flights. You’re shown video of the flight and are told all about the plane’s history, development, instruments, and test flights. We were then bussed out to the production line and watched 3 of the planes being built from an observation platform 40 metres above. Each plane already had the logo of the airline buying the plane on the tail fin – Air France, Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa. Another 6 were parked outside which were undergoing final checks and test flights.
A couple of facts – The Airbus 380 is a new double decker plane that’s able to carry over 600 people. Pieces of the plane are made in France, Germany, Spain and the UK and then shipped to Toulouse to be assembled. And they have quite a journey! For example, the wings are made in the UK and shipped via Airbus ferry to France where they are unloaded and moved by barge up a river. They’re then transferred to a road convoy which travels through the night to the factory on roads adapted for it. It was good to see that the most important parts - the wings and the Rolls Royce engines - are built in the UK! It was an amazing and awe inspiring visit and great to see a world leading European collaboration – the EU isn’t just about straight bananas you know!
From Toulouse we followed the path of the Canal du Midi towards the Mediterranean. The canal was the brain child of Pierre Paul Riquet. It opened in 1681, tragically 6 months after his death, and links the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The canal is lined with trees on either side at 2 metre intervals to provide shade and thus minimise water evaporation. We found a couple of lovely overnight spots right next to the canal and the shade was very welcome! You may remember seeing Rick Stein cooking his way along the Canal du Midi a few years ago!
Whilst in this area we also visited Carcassone, the largest fortress in Europe. There have been fortifications on the site since the 13thcentury but in the 1800s it was deserted and in ruins. The architect Viollet le Duc fought to restore the site to its former glory, and rebuilt it as it was under Louis IX. It looks like the typical fairytale castle - like the one in Shrek! It’s an amazing place and we really enjoyed wandering around for a couple of days.
Unfortunately, we also had a bit of a bump in Carcassonne when David reversed into a rock and a bit of trim came off! It’s fair to say we were both a little annoyed. We’d only had the front bumper looked at the day before following our knock with the diddy-van in Spain!
After visiting Narbonne and Bezier, both very nice small cities, we arrived in Agde on what turned out to be the day of their summer carnival. The parade was supposed to pass through the town at 9pm so people lined the street excitedly to watch it. A lot of people, and disappointed children, had drifted away when the procession finally arrived... at 11.30pm! Perhaps someone had underestimated its average speed, which was around 0.01 miles per hour!
There were some great floats, each pulled by a little tractor, and some fantastic little brass bands playing. The local farmers’ wives were obviously in competition to win the prize for the best float. Some of them were sat at the front of their creations, not looking proud, wearing fancy dress, or waving or smiling - just sucking furiously on a tab! Obviously an important and nerve wracking occasion!
We spent a couple of hours on the beach near Cap D’Agde, where motorhomes lined the coast road next to the beach for several miles – a popular spot. We then headed inland for a couple of relaxing days by Lac de Salagou before travelling on towards Nimes to meet up with a couple of friends for a week. Next time – Gîte Week!
