Thursday 17 July

We left home at 6.44 am, only 14 minutes later than scheduled. Traffic was light and we had a good journey to Folkestone, the only congestion being when we went over the QE2 bridge at the Dartford crossing (see above). The 107 miles took us less than 2 hours, which meant that we caught the 9.20 Shuttle, which was half an hour earlier than scheduled.

We arrived in Calais and were on the road by soon after 11am French time. After exploring all the roundabouts outside the Centre Commercial next to the station we set off the right direction. The roads were empty by British standards and so we were able to make good progress. We did over 100 miles before stopping for lunch at a service station. We bought a couple of filled baguettes – big mistake!

We got back on the road and got to Epernay in good time. The 192 miles since Calais brought the daily total up to 299- should have driven round those roundabouts a few more times! We were at the hotel before 3pm and when checking in we were recommended the tour of the cellars at Moet et Chandon, in the Avenue de Champagne, just a few hundred metres from the hotel. We got there in time for the 3.30 tour.

There were about 20 people on our tour. We had a guide who seemed a little inexperienced but still tried her best. We were the swots of the class being the only ones who asked her questions. At the end, there was the degustation, and it turned out that we were the only people who had ordered vintage champagne. Well, those cheapskates missed out. It was the first time either of us had tried vintage champagne, and it is much better than the other stuff! At the end of the tour, we were, inevitably, directed to the shop. There were lots of very expensive champagne-related items on sale there, but at least Helen managed to find a fortieth birthday present for Fiona there. As we left, I made the acquaintance of Dom Perignon, as you can see above.

We called in at the Office de Tourisme on our way back to the hotel. They had a free champagne tasting there, so we had another couple of glasses there – definitely not in the same league as vintage Moet! We finally got back to our room, which was a bit cramped – only one star I think. The shower was definitely three star though, but the bed, which creaked when you moved, was a one star also.

There was not a restaurant in our hotel, so we had to see what was available in the town. The selection available was not great and we chose eventually a brasserie not far from the hotel. Helen had steak frites and I had menu with the same main dish. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t expensive either – cheap and cheerful in fact. Tomorrow we go to Clermont Ferrand.

Some pictures from the Moet & Chandon caves

Friday 18 July

As usual Russell was up bright and early making me a cup of tea. He was off up the Avenue de Champagne by 8.04 am and I was hot on his heels….After a short run – (30mins easy which wasn’t so easy at the end as hip still very sore) and a shower we went out in search of breakfast and a supermarche. We knew we had to get away quite soon as we had over 300miles to drive to Clermont Ferrand.

Leaving at about 10am, we were once again challenged by local traffic signals before finally escaping onto the open road (D3) towards Troyes. We had a 120 km drive before turning SW onto the N77, then N151, thru’ Auxerre, then Charité sur la Loire and Bourges before turning South towards Clermont Ferrand on the A71.

The temperature rose as we progressed South and the agricultural landscape rolled out around us. The smooth ride was punctuated by both Convois Exceptionels et Convois Agricoles – occupational hazards in these parts - they definitely make for more exciting overtaking.

At about 13:30 we stopped for a welcome dejeuner at one of the many ‘Parking’ along the N roads. What is interesting is how the French make these areas very user friendly with green planting and screened hedges as well as frequent picnic benches. I was determined to look after the driver so put out the Queenswood QUAC chairs and opened the virgin Tchibo picnic ball; we enjoyed a real French lunch of camembert, bread, tomatoes and peaches in the sun…(and I managed a large glass of local rosé)

At just after 6pm we arrived at the Relais Kennedy Clermont Ferrand and enjoyed a welcome beer by the pool in the 26 degree sun – marvellous! I had a quick swim then we were out to eat at the hotel restaurant. We had been treated to views of the Auvergne volcanoes en route….can’t wait to see more tomorrow.

Saturday 19 July

We managed to struggle out of bed about 8am, to be greeted by a bright warm morning. Helen did a short but painful run/walk. I did a bit longer, completing an ascent of Le Bascillon (549m) which very steep in places and therefore necessitated a fair amount of walking as well as running. I was out for 52 minutes.

We had a late breakfast and checked out of the hotel. We did the 106 miles to Marvejols in about 2 hours, including a refuelling stop. There was a lot more traffic on the motorway today, presumably because it was Saturday, but very little of it was British. We had lunch – sandwich and a salad – in the town square, sitting in 26 degrees of glorious sunshine.

We then went to collect our numbers for tomorrow’s Marvjols-Mende race. Fortunately they were waiting for us in Marvejols, which saved us a 50km round trip to Mende. We were very glad to discover that Helen could transfer her registration from the run to the walk (necessitated by her ongoing hip injury). It was only at this point that we appreciated the scale of the race – la légende; there were over 3500 runners and 30 different countries represented.

Our mission accomplished, we drove to Laguiole, which was about 50km away, bringing our total mileage driven in the day to 140. We checked into our hotel, which like the rest of the surrounding area seem to exist mainly for skiing. The room itself was spacious, with a small balcony- three stars. The shower was good but was positioned at waist height rather than head height, so that only got two stars. The bed was capacious, comfortable and seemed not to creak, so that got three stars.

We did a quick tour of the village and had a Leffe each at the bar. We then came back to the room and Helen went swimming. We then went out to dinner. Things did not get off to a good start when Helen walked into a lamp post. However, when she had recovered from the initial shock, we went out to one of the local restaurants. We were a bit surprised to find that the local cuisine is dominated by red meat, particularly beef served up in huge quantities, and a local dish called aligot. This we eventually discovered is potatoes pureed with cream and a local cheese which gives it the consistency of melted mozzarella. Though we avoided this, we did manage to have the best meal of the trip so far, a local version of lamb shank in my case…

We then went back to the hotel for a quick beer and then off to bed. Tomorrow we have to be up at five o’clock to ensure Helen gets to the start of the walk in time..

Sunday 20 July – la jour de la légende!

An exciting day; today Russ and I became part of the Marvejols-Mende legend. We each had our own experience and mine was particularly positive as I hadn’t expected to take part in the race at all.

The alarm went off at 4.58am and we were up in the darkness. Getting in the car to drive to Marvejols soon after 5.30am I noticed rain on the boot and as we drove the 52km towards the start lightening forked across the sky. The day dawned with torrential showers – the conditions were certainly interesting.

As I was to join the organised walking event I had to be on the start at 6.50am. We saw shuttle buses disgorge other enthusiasts – some in waterproofs, some not. All looked reasonably fit and enthusiastic walkers. I was glad of my warm Paramo waterproof, which I wore until the 2km mark.

The ‘race’ started late, after a long introduction from the charismatic and moustachioed organiser – he clearly liked the sound of his own voice. I said goodbye to Russ, who had to wait another two hours for the real race to start, then set off in pursuit of the leaders - this wasn’t a race of course! I followed a guy in an orange vest, tanned to a leathery brown and with grey ringlets – he had clearly been a reasonable runner. After reaching the first group I settled into a positive stride, walking purposefully and thinking of Steve Allen. A couple of women jogged past slowly.

After about a kilometre I was joined by a positive and enthusiastic walker, Janine? who came from near Argeles-Gazost in the Pyrenees. She was striking – all elbows, bright red hair and glasses. She asked me how old I was and then challenged me to guess her age. I was terrified in case I got this wrong, so erred on the cautious side with “quarante cinq”. It turned out she was sixty and did look good on the walking. She told me she could walk 6km in forty minutes and told me she was disgusted that walkers were not to be “classé” in this event (though we still got the t-shirt, rose, medal and mineral water!)

After discussing the merits of walking and the evils of running we realised we had done about 3km. The race distance markers were organised in the opposite way to the UK – on a count down basis, where after every kilometre the kilometres left to walk/run were indicated. There was also a useful race profile indicating the gradients of terrain already covered and to come. The race was 22.4km. The first 3km rose gradually, then there was a long step incline to the summit of the Col du Goudard at about 10k into the race. This was described as ‘vertigineuse’ in the local paper, and the words ‘l’enfer commence ici’, were spray painted on the road. A steep descent followed, then another ascent. The last 4.5k consisted of a steady descent into the finish in Mende.

Janine and I were soon joined by a very fit looking local from Marvejols. At 72 he had run the race 8 times with a best time of 1.45, 25 years ago. He had knee problems – hence the decision to ‘walk’ this time. This was the first time the walking event had been staged. He had also visited (of all places!) Cockermouth in the north west of England as part of his wife’s watercolour tour. Cockermouth is twinned with Marvejols! The unlikely threesome made good progress – we discussed the respective populations of Marvejols and Mende (6,000 and 11,000) and the main source of employment in the region (apparently looking after the many handicapped people who are brought here from different parts of France).

Halfway up the first (and main) hill (an underestimation) there was a drinks station. French drink stations are something else – prunes, oranges, cakes and sweets are all on offer, as well as bottled water and, as my new friend stopped to chat to his local friends, Janine was flagging – I had to press on. He soon caught me, though she didn’t. I dropped him again then reached the top of the hill at Col du Goudard. Having walked so far I decided to let myself go in a gentle jog down the steep hairpins. There were three or four people in front but I couldn’t see them. I heard footsteps behind and expected to see the two female joggers from the start – but no – I couldn’t drop my new man. We stuck together until nearing the top of the second hill, where I broke away again. I was getting excited – the real runners were starting at nine o’clock and the course record was 1 hour 11 minutes. I could finish before then and be the first woman (albeit a walker setting off two hours earlier!)

But no – we were all stopped by officials at the village 5 kilometres before the end. We had to wait for about 40 minutes for the lead runners to come through. The first three men and the first two women were Africans and the eventual winner was Nicholas Kiprono, a 21 year old Ugandan who did 1.11.26 and according to the local newspaper Midi Libre “hides a ferocious appetite for success.” The winning woman was Lidia Cheromei from Kenya in 1.23.21. It was hilarious to see the more competitive ‘walkers’ indignation at being asked to stop – many had no empathy or appreciation of the runners’ efforts or achievements. One guy paced about with his walking poles poking out into the course – a real hazard for the elite runners!

As we were released to walk/jog the last 5km the lightening and thunder started again. A tremendous downpour began. As the heavens opened I decided it was time for the waterproof again. I walked/jogged the final 4km (mostly jogging) but by the last kilometre was inspired by the crowd and ran faster than I have for ages. It was a pitiful sight – a muscular English woman in a rucksack and raincoat finishing with some of the top runners, but the French loved it and spurred me on! I was one of the first few ‘walkers’ to finish, and waited for Russ, who came hurtling round the corner in his own private race. He had pushed it down the hill over the last 5km, overtaking lots of runners in pursuit of another guy who he eventually beat. He finished seconds outside two hours, very respectable over the terrain.

I never saw Janine again, but maybe next year…..


The first 4km of the race I felt very sluggish. My legs did not have any spring in them and it was very humid because of the previous rain. I found the first climb to the summit of Col du Goudard (10km) very hard. I tried to pace myself but I found that with 1km to go that I was being overtaken by people who were walking so I decided it was time for me to walk myself, drafting one of the guys who strode past me.

The initial descent from the summit was very steep and I found it difficult to keep in control, especially on the hairpin bends. As it levelled out though, I began to run better, overtaking people. I was running with one guy for a spell when he said something to me in French. Eventually I realised he was pointing to the warning sign for the speed cameras! So the French do have a sense of humour after all.

I latched on to this very tall guy together we cut through the field. At a water station he stopped while I ran on. As we approached the climb to Chabrits, I felt I was running well and was able to keep overtaking people. At the top of the climb, I was overtaken by a grey haired guy in a vest that bore the legend ‘Grenade 31’. I followed him and together we were overtaking people all the way into Mende. At one point, the Grenade almost dropped me but I managed to get back to him. As we got towards the town centre there was a bit of uphill and I managed to get in front of him, then I thought ‘Oh shit, what am I going to do now – he knows how far to the finish and I don’t!’ There was nothing for it but to keep going. Fortunately we went round the bend and the finish was there. I crossed the line in 2 hours and 4 seconds, to be greeted by a very excited Helen (see above).

After the race, we had a beer while sheltering from yet another deluge. then we caught the coach back to Marvejols. The enjoyment of the scenery was a little marred by the lady in the coach two seats ahead who was sick. We arrived and went in search of a restaurant for lunch. We found one, which had the slowest service in the world, so bad that even the French people there complained. The salads we had to eat were OK though.

We drove back to Laguiole and had our well-deserved showers. We went to the local brasserie in our matching Marvejol-Mende tee shirts, much admired by the proprietor. The choice on the menu was not great but who can argue with steak and frites for 11 Euros?

Monday 21 July

Today we allowed ourselves the luxury of a lie-in. I did a run of 36 minutes very slowly, while Helen went for a swim in the hotel’s well appointed swimming pool. We then went into town and bought some croissants, pain au choclats and croissants d’ amande then ate them over the road from the boulangerie at the tabac-bar. After breakfast we bought a local newspaper with a report of yesterday’s race in it and then went to the Office de Tourism, which was very crowded, to get details of local walks.

We went back to the supermarket next to the hotel to buy provisions for lunch. Then we drove to the ski station six miles away, where the cross country ski runs double in the summer as walking trails. We of course opted for the longest – 9.7km. It was a beautiful sunny day and the wild flowers were all in bloom. We saw only four other walkers, all within the first kilometre, then the only other humans we saw were a couple of guys digging up some plants, who had a dog that was rather too assertive and had an overdeveloped sense of curiosity. We walked for about two hours before stopping for lunch, which we ate on a grassy bank, accompanied by a glass of rosé – superbe! Then we finished off the walk and drove back to the hotel.

In the evening, we had a couple of beers at the brasserie where we had eaten the previous night. Perhaps because it was Monday, many of the restaurants in town were closed so we ended up eating in the same place as we had eaten on Saturday. I took the safe option of duck, while Helen was more adventurous and went for a local dish of potatoes and lardons in a cheesy sauce, which came with a large salad. It had quite remarkable effects on her system as soon as the time we got back to the hotel! The rosé we had was good though.

Tuesday 22 July

We left Laguiole at about 11am. I’d had a good swim – did a mile – 94 lengths of the hotel pool and Russ did just over an hour on his run. We’d had breakfast at the local bar/tabac again – pain au chocolat, croissants (some almond) from the local boulangerie – delicieuse!

First stop was Marvejols to try to get a copy of the Midi Libre. I had been told (assured) by a photographer that my photo would be there while walking up the first col in he Marvejols-Mende race, but sadly there was no picture of me! I took photos of the amazing sculpture which welcomed you to Mende and the twinning sign, and soon we were on the road (A75) towards Montpelier.

This was a spectacular journey as the motorway winds its way up and down steep gradients, sometimes over bridges and viaducts and sometimes through tunnels. The highlight was crossing the Millau viaduct – over two kilometres long and an amazing feat of engineering (see below).

Onwards for an alfresco lunch on a tiny road off the A75 in the sweltering heat. We had tried to reach a lake but after driving along a precipitous ledge had to turn round t the Danger signs in front of the dam.

Traffic around Montpelier was a nightmare but we reached Orange by about 5.15pm. The narrow streets at the centre of the Roman town were a challenge to Russ’s car – eventually we found the Hotel Arène and the imperious proprietress who haughtily boasted of the ‘private parking’ available.

Out in the evening to the Garden restaurant, and the best meal of the trip so far – artichoke and salmon starters, red mullet stuffed for mains and lovely fruit desserts. We were also treated to the owner’s excellent humour and great local white wine – from the Chusclan winery (we paid for that!).

The Millau Viaduct

Wednesday 23 July

We went for breakfast in the sun in the square just around the corner from our hotel. We managed to confuse the waitress at first, but the breakfast was worth waiting for – pain et confiture, pain au chocolat, jus d’ orange. Then we set out on our excursion to Mont Ventoux.

Traffic jams on the outskirts of Orange forced us to make a diversion but we eventually managed to get there. We parked up at Chalet Rénard and were successful in locating the walking route from there to the summit. It was a beautiful day as we proceeded along the first 6+km of the path, though it seemed suspiciously flat. Suddenly, as we approached the tree line, we understood why. We were directed up a near vertical path of loose rock and scree, which continued for the remaining 3km to the summit.

We managed to make it to the top and celebrated with an Orangina at the bar at the top. Then we began the descent down the route by which we had ascended. The first part was somewhat perilous but once we had negotiated the demon slope we ran the remaining 6km to Chalet Rénard. As with the outward journey, we saw no-one, it was much more pleasant than the road and best of all Helen was able to run it without any reaction from her rogue hip.

At Chalet Rénard we had a well earned beer before facing the next challenge. The steep climb up to the Chalet had consumed a prodigious amount of petrol and according to the electronic petrol we had only 14 miles left and it was 16km to Bedoin, where the nearest garage was. We started gingerly down the hill and the indicator showed 10 miles, then 8..7..5.. but then, wonder of wonders, it started increasing and by the time we got to the garage we apparently had enough petrol left in the tank to do 44 miles.

We drove back to the hotel and asked them to book us a table at the Forum restaurant which we had spotted the night before and liked the look of. It proved to be an excellent decision, with the best meal of the trip so far, even better than the night before. We were treated to an amuse bouche of aubergine caviar followed by tomato gazpacho. The starters, mine from the fish menu and Helen from the herb menu were fantastic, so good in fact that they rather overshadowed the main courses. By the time the apricot gratinée was served we were both feeling a bit full up but an excellent glass of Beaune-de-Venise helped it down.

Thursday 24 July

We had a busy day. Up at 8ish to recce the station and train times to Avignon in a short half hour run (I did 27 mins and felt ok at the time but my hip felt sore later). Breakfast at the usual Salon du the – 1 formule + pain au chocolat + orange juice.

We left for Avignon on the 11.27 train in the blistering heat, writing cards to Kim and Joy and John T on the platform. Arriving in the middle of the festival 20 minutes later we had a colourful time – flyers were constantly thrust towards us and we enjoyed several street performances including an enthusiastic band (moved on by a woman trying to drive down an impossibly narrow street) and an act involving an audience member playing ‘la reine’ who was forced to give birth to a balloon!

I tried to drag Russ into several alluring shops without any real success and we settled for a 12.30 leffe in a square off the Rue de la Republique. We walked around the outside of the Palais des Papes and had an alfresco salad lunch – serenaded by another band on an elaborately decorated merry –go – round. Then it was off to the Musee de Calvert – all about French art over the past 500 years apparently. I found this quite hard going and was honestly glad to leave….

In the evening we went out for a simpler meal of salad and moules frites in the square around the corner from the hotel.

Friday 25 July

We awoke early. No running today, as there was a lot to do. We had breakfast in the square, a before, got packed and checked out of the hotel. We were on the road by 10am.

The 50 km journey to Arles was quite straightforward and we were very lucky to find a parking space behind the main street. Arles is a wonderfully compact place, which made seeing what we wanted to see easy and straightforward. We started by visiting the Espace Van Gogh, the institution where Vincent was hospitalised when he had his breakdown and is now a cultural centre that is dedicated to his life and work. You can see Helen above in the garden. We then walked up past the Roman Theatre (where the Arles Festival is held each year) to the Roman Amphitheatre. This is in remarkable condition and in the process of undergoing a massive multi-year restoration project – very impressive.

Next we went to the Fondation Vincent Van Gogh, where we expected to visit an exhibition of works by artists who have been inspired by Van Gogh. After we had paid our money we discovered that the permanent exhibition had been replaced by one of works by a French artist called Robert Combas, who neither of us had heard of. Since we had the tickets we decided to go on and take a look, and we were very glad that we did, as it was very interesting. Some examples of his work are below.

We went for a pee at the Best Western before climbing into a very hot car and getting back onto the motorway. We drove for an hour or more before finding a small Aire where we set up camp and had a splendid picnic in the sun. We then pressed on to Perpignan, which we reached by 5pm, and found our hotel. We checked in then set out to explore the city, finding it very lively and cosmopolitan. We had a couple of Leffes and watched some street entertainers perform in the rain, the star of the show being the juggler showb above who kept dropping his sticks.

We went back to our room for a bit then, as the hotel restaurant was very expensive, we went back to the city centre and partook of a ‘world cuisine’ meal. The starters were not as advertised, particularly Helen’s Thai spring rolls, but were good nevertheless. The main courses were also very acceptable. The coconut ice cream that completed the meal was wonderful!

The room was reasonable but could have been a bit bigger – 2.5 stars. The bed was comfortable and quite – 3 stars. The shower was good but again only waist height so 2 stars.

Some works of Robert Combas

Saturday 26 July

We spent most of today on the road. Up to an early (slow) morning jog – as usual Russ was up first and me hard to rouse. We went across the small park to the river (he before me). It was hot even at 8.15 am. The river bed was visible as it was so hot and water had evaporated. I ran for just 25 minutes. Breakfast in a local café and a second viewing of the flea market we had noticed earlier in the park was fun.

We left at 10.37. We had decided to chance the cross country N roads rather than drive many miles further on the motorway via Narbonne and Toulouse. This turned out to be an exciting and varied route – 130km to Foix, negotiating an excruciatingly narrow gorge at one point, then many interesting villages advertising degustations and various bike and running events. We stopped for lunch at an Aire soon after Foix. There was an amusing range of seating options available, including large limestone slabs where, as you can see above, Russ ‘le Roi’ reclined in splendour.

We arrived at Argeles at about 5pm and the cloud was down. The temperature had dropped considerably since the departure from Perpignan – 27 degrees compared to 20 in Argeles. The Miramont was an impressive hotel in a great setting – next to the Thermal Park (see flowers above). Our hostess was the perfect host, showing us the room personally and sharing conversation. We ate in the award winning hotel restaurant. I went for the 20 euro petit menu but Russ had to try the more expensive one. A good meal but rather stuffy and pretentious (though the wines almost made up for it!)

Room (with balcony) three stars. Bed comfortable three stars. Nice shower but again only waist height so only two stars.

Sunday 27 July

We woke up early but did not get up straight away. We both got out running on the Vert Voie by 8.30am. We ran in the direction of Lourdes. Helen did half an hour and I did an hour. It really is an excellent place to run – a good surface, not crowded and beautiful surroundings.

We went to the boulangerie in the town square for breakfast, then set out for Pierrefitte, three miles or so up the road. Here we started on the fantastic walking route that is the 9.6km through the mountains to Cauterets. It climbs about 400 metres along the way so it is reasonably challenging. It was a glorious day and there were few other people – walkers or cyclists – on the route.

When we eventually found the end of the path and the centre of Cauterets we went into a café and had a well earned beer and some sandwiches. Coming back to start the return journey, we noticed that the cable car, which was not working when we first went past it, was now operating (French lunch breaks!). Helen persuaded me we should try it. It took us up about 1000 metres to a station at Lys, where Helen took me on my first ever trip on a ski lift. This took us up to Grand Barbat at 2290 metres. The views from here were spectacular in every direction. There were others who had taken the same journey with their mountain bikes, which they then used to descend the ski runs. Others merely walked back down. Since we had still to walk the 9.6km back to Pierrefitte, we contented ourselves with having a look around before taking the journey back down in the same way we came up.

When we got to the bottom, we commenced our walk back. We stopped after a couple of kilometres for an ice lolly and to replenish our water supplies, then completed the journey in good time. Fortunately, it was a lot easier going downhill!

When we got back to the hotel we had a shower, got changed and had aperitifs in the hotel garden. We walked into the town centre and had omelettes and frites follwed by ice cream plus a very nice rosé to drink. We found a bar at which to have a final beer before going off to bed for the night at the end of a very satisfying and enjoyable day.

Monday 28 July 2008

In spite of warnings we awoke to blue skies and just a few clouds. We both went for another run along the Voie Vert, through the thermal park and past the casino. Russ went off first and did 1hr 7mins and I did 40mins 40 – an even split for the out and back. This was my longest run since the hip injury and I’m really pleased I could do this after yesterday’s exertions. It was a beautiful clear, warm sunny morning and we both went off in the direction of Pierrefitte where we had started the walk the day before. There were a few other runners and some cyclists but it was quieter than yesterday – a Sunday.

We had breakfast outside again at the Salon de the up in the square – great coffee and OJ and this time I decided on a pain au chocolat rather than the very sickly meringue – style croissant amande I had had the day before.

We left the hotel at a minute before 11am and after refuelling were on the road towards Pau and ultimately St Jean de Luz. It was a short hop of around 100 miles, and as it was mainly peage we did the trip in around 2 hours.

After finding the hotel (opposite the station) and our ‘baby’ room as the receptionist called it, we had lunch (our picnic) in the room. Unfortunately the fine weather had deteriorated and it was cloudy and windy, although still very warm and humid in St Jean de Luz. My thoughts of sunning myself on the beach or walking around a colourful, exotic town evaporated. It was very different to how I’d envisaged it and a bit of a shock to the system after the wide spaces and fresh mountain air of the Pyrennees. We crashed out for a while. I think we are both tired after all the activity and travelling, but Russ won’t admit it! We then went for a wander about town, the sea front and picked out a restaurant Russ had read about in my Insight Guide – the Petit Basque. We hoped to eat there later. Next a beer in the bar next to our hotel and a bit of postcard writing before going back to the Hotel Colbert.

Unfortunately the restaurant was full so we settled for a small bar/brasserie where we shared a salad and had sardines (Russ) and crevettes (Helen). The local white wine went well with the meal especially after a welcome leffe aperitif! Then it was off to the square where we had a couple of beers and listened to a band for a few hours..I found the navigation back to the hotel rather challenging…

Tuesday 29 July 2008

No time for a run or anything as we had a long journey today. We got up, got dressed and went off to find a café for breakfast. We then went back to the room, completed packing and checked out. We were on the road by 9.30. The motorway out of St Jean de Luz was very busy, with a lot of lorries in particular of all nationalities. The same was true of the N10, though the lorries were forbidden to overtake for long stretches so we were able to make good progress. The final motorway part of the route into La Rochelle was practically deserted. Having covered well over 200 miles by this time, we decided to turn off the main drag and pulled into a little place called Chatelalloin-Plage, where we ate our lunch by the sea. Then we did a couple of miles walk along the sea front in the warm sun, which was very pleasant. We discovered that the village had a 10km race but unfortunately it was on Saturday evening, after we had gone. We drove to our hotel, arriving around 3pm, and checked in.

We decided to go off exploring. We went down to the sea, by way of the park. Then we went to the Vieux Port, where we had a couple of Leffes, as the only appropriate thing we could do at the Leffe café. We came back to the hotel for a little relax and then got changed to go out for the evening. We had planned to eat at a brasserie just across from our hotel, but we discovered that this was completely deserted at 8pm, so we changed the plan and went back to the Vieux Port instead.

We went to Rue de St Jean de Perot, which is lined by restaurants on both sides. Each one of them seemed packed, but we eventually found one with a vacant table, which we grabbed, and ordered our food. We were treated to complimentary cocktails that were so good that they ended up down the drain. While we were finishing off our desserts a guy pushing a baby buggy tripped over, and the buggy came hurtling towards me. A woman intercepted it and the man grabbed the baby, which he threw in the air – it turned out to be a doll. There then followed a comedy routine which must have lasted a full half hour, in which he dressed as a security guard, stopping pedestrians and getting cyclists to dismount. Then he stripped off to reveal a cyclists outfit, produced a set of handlebars and a gazoo and imitated a motorbike (see above), racing cyclists up the street and diving in front of unsuspecting pedestrians. I haven’t laughed as much in ages and it seemed that the same was true for the rest of his audience, judging by the response he got at the end of his performance. The edge was however slightly taken of the evening when we discovered that we had been charged 13 euros for two glasses of Kir.

Room – spacious and comfortable so three stars. Bed comfortable also three stars. Shower, at last, a proper shower, with plenty of room – three stars again.

Wednesday 30 July

Awoke in our palatial and antique room – well, spacious faded grandeur, but it is nice to have a bit more room. Russ and I were both out at 8.45am for a run. I was going to do less than him but we set off together on the planned route – a few metres along the Rue de Rimbaud into the park, down towards the coast, along the parallel park/floral route to the coastal cycle then pedestrian way. I was glad to do 41.30, my longest run since the injuries. Russ did just less than an hour. The route opened up onto a coastal path. Passed a very scenic (tho’ virtually odourless) sewage works, then continued North. I was pleased to achieve this and that my hip was so much better, tho’ frustrated that the right knee which gave me problems before the hip still felt niggly… After a shower we went out to breakfast at the Croissant Dore on the Place Verdun near the hotel. This is a wide open rectangular space incorporating a merry go round, underground car park as well as the city’s main bus terminal. This was a popular café and prices reasonable. Next stop the aquarium. This was quite a walk – beyond the Old port area and a recent (post 2000) addition to the city. The glass/steel/concrete structure looked impressive and after reading about it, it promised to be good. The exhibits were excellent – species arranged geographically according to world oceans/climatic regions – Atlantic, Mediterranean, Asiatic, but the place was rather overrun, mainly by English tourists it seemed. Many were loud with even more vocal kids…the school hols have started for real! The highlight of the visit was probably the battle of the crabs we watched for several minutes in the mangrove section. The transparent jellyfish tunnel, yellow ‘balloon’ fish and sharks were also worth seeing, as was the very French video presentation about the technical workings/daily routine of the Aquarium. We had lunch at a creperie/brasserie (salad and rose), then it was back to the hotel for a rare chill out – I stopped off for a bit of shopping on the way back and bought some shoes Russ is convinced are cycling shoes. I sat out in the garden and read for a while – in my bikini, trying to get as much sun as possible! There was just me and some Dutch? German? guys playing chess and a few statues. In the evening we went out to eat at the ‘4 seargents’ restaurant inside a huge glass/greenhouse in a street near the old port. I was initially impatient – hungry and the waiter took ages to get round for our order. Maybe I should go with the flow more…but after so long away I can’t wait to shop and cook for my/ourselves!! The food was excellent tho’, salmon trout and mackerel after various starters and an amuse bouche followed by melon crumble and ice creams.

Thursday 31 July

I started the day with another 1 hour run along the Corniche. The only difference was that Helen came the whole way with me this time. This was her longest run in terms of time since 24 May and, allelujah, there seems to have been no adverse reaction from her body.

We followed this with a late breakfast in the Place de Verdun, at the same boulangerie as the previous day. Then we went on a visit to the Musée du Nouveau Monde, which proved to be very interesting and unusual. It is housed in what was the private residence of a rich merchant family who amassed a collection over several generations relating to the New World, where they had their business interest. The exhibits did not seem to have been professionally curated, which did not help with interpretation but does at least give an interesting perspective on the attitudes of those who built up the collection and their contemporaries!

After the museum, we had lunch in the sun in the Place de Verdun, including a demi of rosé, that proved to be my downfall. We went back to our room to chill out. While Helen caught up with the blog, I dozed off on the bed, then woke up in the middle of a nightmare about a snake – I don’t know what was in that wine!

We went out soon after 7pm and had a beer in the Old Port. We decided to stay at the bar where we were drinking and have an omelette and a glass of wine. Afterwards, we walked back to our hotel and went into the bar for a night cap. It was completely deserted, as it had been all through our stay. We went and asked the little man at the reception if we could have a drink and he timidly came into the bar but the demonstrated that he had no idea how to take the top off a beer bottle or uncork a bottle of wine. When he had finally triumphed over this adversity, we enjoyed our drinks and went off to bed.

Friday 1 August: La Rochelle – Azay – le – Rideau

We were up and out running before 7.50 am – most impressive! The PlaceVerdun was in the sun, but there were dark clouds in the direction we were heading, and as we turned onto the coastal path just past the sewage works we felt the first drops of rain. We had seen two guys running in the park accompanied by a cyclist/coach/bodyguard. I could hear voices behind us and sure enough they had been running parallel with us and then turned onto the same path. At the half way mark we took a slightly different and longer variation on the route of the day before – to ensure the run way actually over 60 mins! In doing so we dropped them! We did see them back in the park at the very end of the run. I was pleased to manage the hour as I hadn’t expected to run so far until a week on Sunday (my target!)

We headed out to breakfast – this time at the café next to the Croissant Dore as they had canopies and the seats were dry. I managed to sneak (buy) a pain au raisin at the CD nonetheless. Shopped for lunch supplies at the Monoprix towards the Old port and we were on the road before 11am.

We made excellent progress and after doing over 220miles were having lunch next to the River Inde before 2pm, arriving at Azay by 3pm. We took a walk around the town, taking in the tourist info, and outside of the chateau enclosure, which was advertising the nightly ‘son et lumiere’ which was clearly the raison d’etre of the town’s tourist industry, (well that and the wine!) it was far busier and more crowded than I’d anticipated – on the positive side this meant there was a range of bars and restaurants, cons included the piped music the whole town was forced to endure, the loud tourists and the congested crossroads at the centre of town. We stopped in a bar for an Orangina then went for a short ‘chill’ in the hotel. Later it was out for an Afligem beer in the same bar before a menu in a nearby hotel. We both started with the local foie gras, asking for a vin doux to accompany it – delicious! Seem to have been hungry and eating for a lot of this trip – but few crisps!

Saturday 2nd August: Saumur and Angers

It was raining when we woke up, so we stayed in bed for a bit longer to see if I would stop. It didn’t, but eventually Helen persuaded me to go out for a run. The weather was so bad that a lady with an umbrella shouted ‘bon courage’ as we ran past. We got soaked through as we ran through the Saturday market and about 4km down the road before turning back. Helen informs me it took her 38.45 – I took a little longer.

We had our breakfast in a boulangerie after having showered and changed. It was a bargain at seven euros for both of us. We went back to the room to discover the cleaners were doing our room despite the ‘Do Not Disturb’ notice we had left on the door. There ensued scenes of mayhem as Helen attempted to do the washing while chambermaids busied themselves all around her.

As the weather was still looking unreliable, we decided to drive to Saumur. We took a circuitous route, crossing the Loire at Langeais and the going parallel to the course of the river got about 30km. When we got there, we left the car and walked to the market in the centre of Saumur which was in full swing. Exiting the market place on the far side, we found that the rest of the town was much quieter. We walked on to the Chateau which towers above the town. It has clearly been neglected for some period of time but it is now being restored and so it was closed to the public.

We went back to the car and decided to drive a further 50m to Angers along the route touristique which was indeed very pretty. We were not far advanced along I when Helen decided it was time for lunch. By this time the sun had come out and we sat just off the road in sight of the mighty Loire while we had our picnic.

Angers is much bigger place than Saumur and when we eventually got to the centre we had some difficulty in finding a parking space, though we were ultimately successful. We visited the dark, brooding chateau which was evidently built originally for militaristic purposes, rather than for decoration like those at Azay or Saumur. The highlight of the tour was the 14th century Tapestry of the Apocalypse, a massive work comprising 73 panels, each 23 metres wide and eight metres high, which illustrated the Book of Revelations from the New Testament. We were fortunate to enter the room where the Tapestry is housed just as an official guide was starting an explanation of its history and significance before explaining each one of the panels. She was both immensely knowledgeable and boundlessly enthusiastic about her subject, keeping an audience of 50 or so people of all age enthralled for over an hour. With the help of mi interpreter (Helen) I was able to pick up quite a lot of what she was saving. As well as describing the way in which the Tapestry was made, she drew the parallels between the first century AD when Revelations was written and the Christians were being persecuted by the Romans, and the fourteenth century, when the French were being oppressed by the English. It was a fascinating glimpse of the fourteenth century view of the world (or the end of it at least!). I left wishing I knew my New Testament better and that my French was more proficient.

We drove back to Azay, using the motorway this time. We went out to dinner and, by a stroke of luck, got a table in the local resttaurant that seemed to be frequented by all the locals. Helen has chicken with lardoons; I had rouget with a vaguely curry sauce. This was accompanied by a local Azay white, which was very acceptable.

Sunday 3rd August: Azay – Honfleur

Good to wake up to a dry morning….My clothes drying obsession had almost paid off as my running kit was only a little damp when I pulled it on. We set off just before 8.30am to discover a new route. Following the bike signs we set off up what turned out to be a long steepish hill which rose through a new housing addition to the town – low density detached with gardens. This avoided a roundabout and led onto the D39 road we had driven on the day before. Turned down the small cycle road heading to Villandry after 2.4km – wonderful! We ran past a small chateau and then through woodland crossing a disused railway track. It was a great route with few cars and we did 52mins 30, (6.5miles for me I think!)

We packed up, checked out and went into the village to the local boulangerie for breakfast – managing to confuse the assistant with our relatively straightforward ‘un croissant et deux pains au chocolat’, needless to say she arrived with 2 croissants and one pain au choc…

On the road again before 11. Heading towards Angers, then Le Mans and ultimately Honfleur, we had almost 200 miles to drive, almost exclusively on péages. We drove through intermittent showers, stopping at a very windy aire for lunch at about 1.45pm. Today we had treated ourselves to ham and cheese croissants and a tarte aux fraises (me) and framboises (Russ). We arrived in Honfleur by about 3.30pm, then decided to walk the 1km thru’ the industrial estate into old Honfleur. This took some deliberation – we had to decide where to cross the main road/roundabouts and which piles of rubble to climb over (see above) . We wandered around town (with many other tourists) looking at a few restaurants and buying then writing postcards in a café bar – with a leffe of course! I had a chat with a young French girl who picked up a sweet I’d dropped out of my bag. When I offered it to her she accepted then told me it was too strong – an after meal mint!

We were back out in town in the evening eating at one of the many fish restaurants and dodging the frequent very heavy showers. There was a rather loud, obnoxious English guy sitting behind Russ – who became more voluble as the evening progressed. I confused him by taking a photo of the storm outside – he thought the flash was lightening and was ‘tickled pink’ by his mistake. We had another chat with some French kids who were dining with their grandparents. The little girl had been singing ‘Sur le pont d’Avignon’ very loudly and asked us our names. We were the last to leave the restaurant, by which time the heavy showers had become incessant heavy rain – waded our way back to our hotel bar for a last night last drink!

Monday 4 August – back home again!

So the final day of the holiday dawned. We did not get up too early but we had decided not to do a run as there was a lot of driving to be done. The rain of the previous night had cleared, fortunately. We walked onto town (avoiding the industrial estate) to have breakfast and to do the shopping for the day’s pique-nique.

We were on the road by eleven. The journey started with a drive over the very impressive Porte de Normandie, then we had well over 200km to drive to Calais. However, al of it was motorway and most of it was not busy so we made very good progress. We found ourselves almost there by 1pm so we turned off the road to have a look at Le Touquet and finding nothing to detain us there though it is pleasant enough. We took the coast road in the direction of Boulogne, turning off to have our al fresco lunch beside the sand dunes.

We got back on the motorway and got to Calais by three. Since our booking on Le Shuttle was not until 8.20 we went to the hypermarket and spent 200 euros there on booze and cheese (not very much chese!). We went to the Shuttle station and managed to get our booking changed to 6.20 – result!

We were back in England by 6pm (allowing for the time difference). The temperature as we drove off was about five degrees cooler, the rain started as soon as we got on the M20 and there were roadworks and traffic jams. Welcome back to England!