The house we rented was fantastic and only cost £250 for the week – a bargain considering its location and the standard of the accommodation (click here for further details). ‘La Forge’ is right on the village square and has a balcony perfect for sitting in the evening sun and watching the world go by.
It was great to see our friends again after 6 months on the road, and a fair bit of drinking was done! During the week we actually had to make a couple of trips to the bottle bank to make space in the kitchen and avoid any embarrassment when we left!!
After a day relaxing at the house we set out to see some of the sights in the area. Now, when we say ‘in the area’ we actually mean ‘in France’ as our first trip turned out to be a bit of an epic which showed our route planning skills to be... well... completely useless! 8 hours travelling in the van is a long time! Hats off to our guests for not jumping ship by lunchtime (especially with the hangovers we’d collected from the previous evening!) The map below shows the route we took.
View A rather long day out in a larger map
Our first stop was the village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon which is rather famous for its cheese. We visited one of the famous cheese houses and learnt all about how roquefort is made on the free tour. One of the strange facts we discovered is where the blue mould comes from. Each year a special batch of rye bread is made. It’s baked at a high temperature for a short time and then left for mould to develop inside. The bread is then broken open and a tiny amount of this mould, Penicillium roquefort, is used to develop the blue veins in each cheese.
From Roquefort it was a short drive to see the fantastic viaduct at Millau. Designed by the British architect Norman Foster, this bridge is the tallest in the world (343 metres at its highest point) and it carries the main motorway from Paris to Montpellier for 2.5km across the Tarn valley. It’s an amazing sight and has become quite a tourist attraction in its own right.
We then planned to follow the route of the river Tarn along the famous gorges, but after half an hour of bumpy, twisty roads we decided to head for home. Unfortunately home turned out to be 3 and a half hours away! So a very long day, but we were pleased with the things we’d seen in the end.
The next day was spent relaxing by the river Gard at nearby Collias, where we went down the ‘rapids’ on Neil’s company lilo (which has travelled further than we have all told!). The following day we returned to hire canoes for the day. We spent a few hours gently paddling downstream – hardly difficult when the water in the rapids is only a few inches deep! There were some great spots of deeper water for swimming and jumping off the rocks though.
Near the end of the trip we passed under the Pont du Gard, one of France’s most famous landmarks. Built by the Romans in the first century AD, the bridge was part of an aqueduct that carried fresh water for 50km from Uzes to Nimes. To say its 2000 years old, it’s survived rather well.
Our last day in Russan marked the start of the 4 day village fete, which included various events. The most interesting was the Bull Run, still a big tradition in the area around the Carmague in southern France. The route through the village went directly under our balcony so we had great front row seats! It certainly wasn’t what you might expect from a bull run. During the afternoon a number of bulls were escorted along the route by men on horseback.
Nobody risked their lives by running in front of the bulls, although a few of the village lads did try unsuccessfully to jump on the back of a bull and ride it. The bulls didn’t seem stressed or ill treated and the whole thing appeared to be an act, with the animals quite used to the show and knowing what was expected of them.
Once the bull run was over, the party started. A fair had been set up in the village square, along with a stage for the band and dancing which went on until the early hours. It was a lovely day, very interesting, and it was great to see so many people, particularly the young ones, taking part in and supporting the fete in such a small village.
Our week in Russan passed all too quickly and we’d highly recommend the house and area to anyone. We made good use of the facilities– especially the washing machine and wifi – and were ready to face another few weeks on the road when we left. Next time, the Verdon gorges, the Alps, Switzerland and Germany!
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