Last time we were here (in France) the colours were autumnal, now they’re a summery green ….. we began by driving past fields of potatoes, some in flower, and golden cornfields.
As we progressed southwards, sunflowers were dominant, though not yet in flower, and then, of course, the vines!
On Friday, the driving got noticeably easier, partly because we had no more difficult towns to negociate, once clear of Chateauroux, and partly because of the long stretch of toll-free motorway bringing us down past Limoges to Brive La Gaillarde and Cressensac, where we had spent the night in the hotel in 2009, when we had no van. We had lunch in this Lay-by:
which has to be one of the best on the network, just south of Limoges. We spent the night there in 2010 and made a note of it. Parking for caravans / motorhomes is on a drive in – drive out pattern,
and each lane has its own picnic table adjacent. 2 years ago it was too wet and cold to take advantage of, but this year we made he most of it.
I remember that! We came across from Mervent where it had rained for almost a whole week!, and we went on to Salagou, though the Milau Viaduct was covered in fog.
That’s right! Only this year the weather just kept getting hotter and hotter. And HE said the man in the next camp site came out with the French equivalent of ‘sgettinotter’ – “ça monte!”
At that campsite, in Montpezat de Quercy (I wish I could put maps on this blog so that anyone who wanted to could follow us without additional searching) we dined on a meal of chicken chasseur, courtesy of Intermarché – no, that was the evening before, that evening was a remarkably good paella – remarkable because it came from a tin!
And so we arrived, on Sunday, in Languedoc, in Aude, to be precise, and by pure coicidence really, pitched up on a little campsite right next to the hotel where we filmed the final shots for ‘A Place in the Sun’! This is in Alet Les Bains, between Quillan and Limoux. We bought a bottle of the bubbly stuff (Blanquette de Limoux – sorry for those who weren’t at Rachel’s wedding, so didn’t get any!) – on sale at the site – to celebrate our arrival and had an SKT special supper of lamb in red wine. Not sure how long we’ll stay, but it will do for now.
Today we’ve lived la vie de l’Audois with all meals taken outdoors, from a simple breakfast on site, a picnic lunch by the river to a restaurant meal in Limoux at the same restaurant where we had lunch with the TV team on the second day of filmimg- this one:
Carol had a 3 course meal including fish in Chardonnay sauce, and I had frog’s legs! That was after 2 house viewings and a long chat with an agent in Limoux who will show us four more tomorrow! One of today’s two is a ‘possible’. We think we’ll stay here at least a week.
Good night! (It’s 1am)
Stephen's space 
OK…I’ll take it this time – having resisted previously commenting…" skettinhottØ " is a Norwegian word, and should therefore end in that Ø letter…! (for those who may not know, you say it a bit like an -er in English…but a more like the u from umbrella really….!) Not sure if double ts are correct or not – will have to research that one ! Anyway, glad you have reached skettinhottØ – happy house viewings! x
Glad to read you are getting viewings. Hope the right one turns up soon. Went to Aude many years ago, but don’t remember anything about it!! We are at present clearing out our garage! SO MUCH stuff that we’ve not seen for 21years!!! It’s a case of ”oh I wondered where that was”!!! We’ve done a lot of the loft. Well done Harry for getting there. Your operation must have been a sucess. Sally, just make sure HE drives you carefully. Don’t want any more problems!! All the best to all. Meg
Norwegian? You must be joking! Oh, yes …. we both are! I didn’t bother finding the Ø, because I didn’t want to have to eggsplain it, so thanks for doing that for me!@Meg, from Sally (can’t do pink!) SHE drives me, too! THEY say they know all about the ‘I wondered where that was’ syndrome, and ‘I’d forgotten we had that’ and ‘I told you we should have taken that to the tip 20 years ago … ‘