July - The South of France
Trip Start
Dec 10, 2008
1
15
25
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Argeles-sur-Mer, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Obviously the drive up, is half the fun (from a tourist point of view). The chalets, the acres and acres of grapes and vegetation, the upspoilt coastline, the sunflowers in bloom - it really is quite spectacular. The drive took us about 6 hours, although not completely 'incident free'. As luck would have it, we got a warning light come up on the dashboard, seemingly about the tyre - (acutally we had to have that bit confirmed by some fellow travellers, on our lunch break, as the warning came up written in German!) Anyway, to cut a long story short, didn't actually see any problem, carried on to the camp, some 3 hours further up the road, and in fact they tyre did go down, but not until an hour after we got there. Thank goodness!! I can't even begin to imagine, what we would have done, with a flat tyre (with nuts that we couldn't get off!!), on the side of a busy highway, in 38%C heat, in a country that is completely foreign to us. At least this way, we had the help of staff at the camp: to remove the tyre, point us in the right direction of a 'tyre fixer', and of course, days for us to relax without needing the use of a vehicle.
Amongst the normal camp activities we enjoyed, ie: bicylce hire, karaoke, daily visits to the bakery for sweet custard donuts and chocolate crossaints, lots of swimming, entertainment etc, we also managed a day trip to the relatively modern city of Perpignon, (although still seeped in history) and an afternoon sight-seeing through the Banylus region - which was quaint as it was vast. Time has done nothing to damage or deter from cobblestone streets, speciality shops, boutique wineries where most have been carefully operated through genereations of the same family. Simple. Good. In fact, I probably have to elaborate a little bit more on that point ... there was a winery every kilometre (or so it seemed) with often just a shack as shop, (although some of these shacks have the most incredible view over the ocean), where tasting is not only enjoyable, it is expected. And of course, we had to oblige - when in France ...... etc etc
Whether this is your thing or not, one thing can not be disputed: it is obvious to all, that these people do not need anything other than to work hard, make a good wine, and enjoy the fruits of life..... hmmmm...... perhaps we could all take a leaf out of that book .....
