Hi all
After a good nights sleep, we left Toulouse this morning and headed off toward Bergerac. It is always nice when we get off the Autoroute and take the road less travelled. The motorways are good if you need to get from A to B in a certain time but they are usually not at all scenic and cost an absolute fortune. I estimate we have probably spent somewhere around 300 Euro on Tolls during the time we have been in Europe.
From Toulouse to Bergerac is very agricultural. There are crops of potatoes, corn, wheat and onions, all sown in various patterns, as well as orchards full of fruit trees. Cherries and other stone fruits seem to be prolific in this region. The area is very green and lush and trees line the road in and out of every little village. The little farm houses and barns that are scattered along the route are mostly old stone buildings with ivy climbing all over them.. All of France so far has been really clean and picturesque and there actually seems to be some law and order on the roads, which is nice.
Once you reach Bergerac in the Dordogne Valley the landscape changes and all of a sudden all you can see is vineyards and small gourmet outlets selling Fois Gras and Truffles. It is very scenic and obviously a foodies paradise.
Not far out of Bergerac you enter the Limousin region and from there through to Limoges seems to be mostly grazing properties obviously with Limousin cattle and some sheep as well.
All up the journey today took about 5 hours but was a very pleasant drive. We will stay in Limoges tonight and head up through the Loire Valley and into Paris tomorrow...looking forward to that!
The medieval village at Carcasonne
Emily at Carcasonne
Emily inside the Village
Every town through France has a tree lined entrance
The lush fields of The Dordogne Valley
A beautiful old stone house used as a cafe
A beautiful little french village house
The Loire Valley...right in the heart of France
They love their flowers in France and the streets in
every town are decorated with them.
15th June 2012
We left Limoges this morning and headed toward Paris. We travelled up through the Loire Valley with all its vineyards through the heart of France. We stayed off the motorways and were fascinated by every beautiful little town and village we drove through. France really is a beautiful country. We arrived on the outskirts of Paris around 6pm. The traffic was very heavy and it took us nearly 11/2 hrs to get to our Hotel. We had a bit of an interesting night with the fire alarm going off in the hotel not once but 3 times. Once at 1.30am, again at 3am and once more at 5am. Each time was a false alarm but we had to evacuate the building every time so we had very little sleep and by the end of it Em was quite distressed. Fortunately the situation was fixed the next day because we had booked in for 3 nights and weren't looking forward to a repeat performance the next night.
The following day we spent sightseeing in Paris. Our first stop was the Eiffel Tower where we waited in line for three hours so we could take a lift to the very top. It is very impressive and the view from the top is amazing. It was worth the wait. Afterwards we jumped on the Hop on Hop off sightseeing bus and did a tour of the city. The heart of Paris is very beautiful with the most amazing buildings everywhere you look. We rode through the Montmatre district which used to be known for its artists and performers (but today appears to be full of flea type markets) and up past the Moulin Rouge.
Our last leg of the journey took us down the Champs Elysees toward the Arc De Triomphe. This is a beautiful tree lined street. Lots of gardens, cafes and shopping.
The next morning we headed out of Paris and on toward Amiens so we could take a drive through the Somme and along the Western Front into Belgium. This has been one of my favourite parts of France.
Firstly, we drove what is called The Poppy Trail or the Circuit of Remembrance. This area covers 40 miles dedicated to the battle of the Somme, with each battlefield marked with memorials to soldiers from France, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and of course Australia. It is an incredibly moving experience to visit the battlefields, memorials and cemeteries. The fields all through the Somme are lush and green and paddocks and roadways are lined with poppies. It is, ironically, a very peaceful place over 100 years on from WW1. The monuments and cemeteries are kept in immaculate condition and are really very beautiful. I was able to find the grave of two family members, both of whom were killed in the war. One in the Wallencourt British Commonwealth cemetery and one at The Menin Gate memorial at Ypres in Belgium. We also visited the site of Hill 62 in Ypres where we were able to see preserved trenches and artifacts found in the trenches after the war. There were trees with bullet holes all through them and large holes all through the area from mortar shell explosions. This would have to be one of the most authentic sites I have ever seen.....
We finished the day in Dunkirk where we spent the night so we could catch the ferry back to Dover from Calais this morning.
Tomorrow we are heading up to Stonehenge and on to Bath..........looking forward to the next leg of our journey.
Our first climpse of the Tower
The view from the top
Emily at the top of the Tower
The Seine River from the Eiffel Tower
The famous Maxim's Restaurant
The Moulin Rouge
A Paris street lined with cafes
The Louvre
The view down The Champs Elysee with the Arc De
Triomphe in the distance
The Somme
Marking the Front Line
Pozieres has many tributes to the Aussie Soldiers
and is where the Australian Memorial is located.
A field of Poppies
Emily placing some poppies at the Australian Memorial
One of the many beautiful war cemeteries
Another cemetery
The Australian Memorial
Mark in one of the Trenches at Hill 62
The preserved trenches
A whole from a shell
The Menin Gate Memorial all missing soldiers
One of the preserved trees at Hill 62 (covered with
crosses and poppies)showing bullet holes
Wow I am lost for words your phots of the history you huys are experiencing is amazing and something you could never show Emily through the internet :))
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