30th Dec - Caunes and surrounds

We spent a lovely Christmas week in a last minute location, Caunes-Minervois, in the Black Mountains region of southern central France. We rented a village house which was probably 17th or 18thC and had been converted into a 3 storey, 1-bedroom apartment. In our previous entry we talked about our Christmas festivities.

We toured the area around the Canal du Midi and saw many key towns along the great expanse, including Olonzac, Pepiuex, Puicheric, La Livieniere and Azillenet, to name just a few.


Our accomodation in Caunes


Lougeroom and bedroom in Caunes

The area around Caunes is fantastic in summer with long walks, camping, swimming etc. However, we did manage one outdoot activity in the cool snap we experienced (temperatures from a low of -3 degrees through to +10 degrees). Although it felt cool, we couldn't complain as most of the rest of France and all of England & Scotland were under snow at the same time. We took a 90-min walk to a quarry behind Caunes and saw the famous Notre-Dame du Cros church and the Bronze age fortifications.


Bronze Age (@300BC) stone fortifications

All the towns we visited seemed to be formed around the medieval times and have a central Church, main square and beautiful cobbled streets winding away from the centre. Many had the same stone masonry on the key houses of the towns as well.


Typical village sights around Caunes

The old city of Minerve (La Cite) is built on a huge gorge (Casse) which is very treacherous and the only road into or out of Minerve was this stunning bridge which stood, 50m above the water line. The towns fortifications come straight out of the hard stone and rock of the valley and seem like an extension of the rock. We also noticed several chateaux/citadels in the surrounding countryside with this same building technique.


Our first view of La Cite Minerve and the only bridge in

The area is also known as Le Pays Cathare (Cathar Country). The Cathars got into trouble as they spoke out about the corruption in the Catholic Church in the 12th and 13thC. They built the castles in strategic locations as many were burnt at the stake over a 100 yr period for their beliefs.






Cathar castles

Caunes is also 20km from Carcassone which has a spectacular fairytale castle (Tam went there 10 years ago and has been talking about it ever since so a repeat visit was necessary). The photos fail to do it justice even thought the conical roof on the towers were a 18th century addition.


Carcassone walls and towers


Carcassone streetscape and at night

After leaving Caunes, we travelled near to Nimes to view the Pont du Gard, a spectularly preserved Roman aquaduct. Set on 3-levels, it required thousands of slaves to build it and provided the water for Nimes which was a major Roman stronghold around 100AD.



Mark & Tam in front of Pont du Gard (biggest Roman aquaduct built)

Finally arriving in Cassis, a small fishing vilage situated right on the Med (about 15kms east of Marseille), we had traditional Provencale fish dishes (although not Bouillabaisse) at dinner and took this lovely night time shot of the central port.


Cassis on the Mediterranean

Next stop Nice, for New Years Eve, before hitting Italy for the remainder of the tirp.

25th Dec - Our Christmas day

Merry Christmas once again and hope you grab a bargain at Boxing day sales!!!

We woke up on the 25th to a bright and sunny day which meant that we would be able to eat our lunch on the lovely terrace overlooking the rooftops of our neighbours.


The rooftops

We exchanged presents (Mark got a great mens leather and silver braclet whilst Tam got a lovely black necklace and a print of Carcassone).

Family and friends called throughout the morning (thanks!) before we got down to preparing lunch/dinner. We started off with an endive, goats cheese and walnut tart, followed by a chicken, pistachio and prune terrine, then onto a cassoulet for mains and finally an almond tart. What a nice way to spend the day, eating and cooking together. It was all accompanied by a Breton cider and a Bordeaux Red.


Our Xmas day lunch

After a short walk around town to steretch the legs, it's now time to have a lie down.

Town from our walk showing the Abbey and Black Mountains in the disiance and the Abbey

24th Dec - Nearly a white Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah!


Tam, Mark and the big fella!

For those of you who have been wondering, we have planned a fancy Christmas lunch is our nice little village home in Caunes, 20km from Carcassone in the South of France.

At one stage we thought it may be a white Christmas as we visited a loverly little village called Saint Cirq Lapopie which was covered in a sprinkling of snow.


The beautiful village of Saint Cirq and one of the magical surprises not planned in the trip! Intact Medieval village hidded away on the side of a mountain.

We then overnighted in Abli which was a little chilly and we were surprised to wake up to minus 4 degrees and light snow falling


Wintery morning in Albi (about 10am)

Luckily by the time we reached our final destinantion, in a 3 hour period it had reached 10 degrees! We're expecting anywhere between 7 and 10 degrees Christmas day so that won't be so bad (we heard it was 37 degrees in Melbourne the other day).

We haven't missed out too much on the Christmas atmosphere as most villages have a Christmas market, all villages and towns have christmas decoration and christmas lights are a big deal in France. We've included some photos to put you all in the European Christmas Spirit.


Nativity scene from St Cecile Cathedral Albi


Christmas market in Bordeaux


Christmas lights in Albi


Snowmen in Nantes

We'll include some photos from our Christmas day in the next few days.

17th Dec - Wrap up Sth West France

Its hard to describe all that we have done, seen and felt in our 4 weeks in St Sornin and more particularly the Charente-Maritime region. On the one hand we have seen virtually everything it has to offer in the winter season (given a lot of things close). Whilst on the other hand we have barely scratched the surface and there would still be plenty to explore.

At first it was a real culture shock, being in such a small hamlet after complex, vibrant and dynamic European cities like Berlin, Copenhagen and Amsterdam. As real city-folk we wonderd how we would cope. But after just a few days, with the help of Annick and Keith's friends, we really felt welcomed and started to enjoy the pace of life here. Our houseswap couple, Annick and Keith, had let their village friends know about our visit and they offered, not only insight into the best places to visit and what to do, but also invited us to their homes for an aperitif or took us to the local St Sornin Christmas Chorals Telethon and so we felt part of the village life (in a minor way).

In terms of what we have actually done or seen, its driving 3000kms through quaint villages and towns in the region (including side trips to Bilbao Spain 1100kms, Bordeaux 350kms and Rostrenen -Brittany 800kms return). Lots of sunning architecture, from a Roman amphitheatre in Saintes to an 11thC fortress only 500m down our road just outside St Sornin, to strange lantern like towers to represent the 'fallen soldiers' in Fenioux and amazing churches in Gallo-Roman, Romanesque and Gothic styles in nearly every village. This area of France is also very special to Catholics and there are several important towns on the way to Santiago di Compostela in Spain. Some of the abbeys, crypts, churches and other Catholic icons are in perfectly restored condition and give us great insight into life hundreds and thousands of years ago.


Chateau Roche Courbon with Tam

We have also enjoyed the food, wine and gatromonic cultural events, including visiting many Christmas markets, which are geared more around food, wine and cognac/pineau de charente (cognac blend with a lighter flavour) than crafts, antiques or collectibles. We visited the 'Marche de Noel' in St Sornin, Rochefort, Jonzac, La Rochelle, Mornac sur Seudre, Bordeaux and many smaller towns as well. They may have as many as 50 stalls or as few as 15 but are a obviously a great cmmunity get together for the townspeople who live permanently in their own village or city throughout the winter months.


Chateau Pichon-Longueville Bordeaux Region


Bordeaux city gate


Mark and Tam at Futurescope (3D glasses)


Futurescope buildings


Romamesque church


Jonzac castle

On Saturday, we travlled to Brittany (Bretagne) region to visit someone I met 14 yrs ago in New Caledonia. Valerie now lives in northern France (Rostrenen) with her husband Christophe and we shared an early Christmas with them. They made us some beautiful and typical French cuisine, including Beef Bourguignone



Anf finally, a big thank you to our friends in St Sornin who made our stay so special. You're welcome in our home at any time.


Mark, Alan and Nicole


Dominique, Herve, Tam and Nicole

16th Dec - Food Lovers Guide

We have, of course, eaten and drunk our way through a lot in France. Whereever possible, we have attempted the regional speciality. In Charente, the true cuisine is based around oysters and mussels and most people would consider it sacrilege that neither Mark nor I like either.

However I can proudly say that on our way down South to Bilbao we travelled through the Pays Basque and I had a true basquaise chicken dish, in Bordeaux I was game enough to try Pigeon with game sauce and Mark managed to eat snails (back in Paris) and pork tripe in Bordeaux.

Foyer at La Tupina Bordeaux


Tam and her dessert plus my loin of pork at La Tupina


Modern french at La Rochelle

We have also tried a lot of different drinks including Cognac (way too potent for me). On a visit to the Hennessey Cognac House, Mark even paid 20 Euro for a 20cl glass of the ultra-premium Cognac (Henneseey Paradise) which is aged between 50-100 years. We tried pineau de charente, which is made by many small producers in the region. It comes in white, rose or red varieties and, of course, numerous bottles of wine. On our trip to Bordeaux, we visied 2 Medoc Chateaux. Chateau Fonbadet (a small family run vineyard which produces excellent wines and we were treated to a tasting by the winemaker herself). Then we went to Chateau Pichon-Longueville which is a Premier Grand Cru, classified in 1855. The current winemaker is 80 yrs old and has amassed a spectacular collection of glasswares from every corner of the world, dating from 300BC through to very modern pieces. This made a very interesting contrast to the standard winery visit.

6th Dec - Best building in the world?

We drove down to Spain yesterday to what we hoped was one of the most amazing buildings in the world. Luckily we were not disappointed and the Guggenheim in Bilbao exceeded expectations.

The first view you see of the building is down one of the city streets and it is enough to get you a little excited (or a very excited in Marks case).


We've included some standard shots below to give you a taste of what it is like but as always, photos fail to do justice to the building and the excitement it creates. For an ugly industrial city which hardly stopped raining the whole time we were there, it has a good vibe and feels like the city is going places. Even the inside of the building is amazing but unfortunately you cannot take photos of the inside.






The last photo shows a very satisfied Mark in front of what is easily one of the top three trip highlights for him.

4th Dec – St. Sornin & Surrounds

Well it’s been just over a week that we’ve been in St. Sornin (Southwest France) and boy have we been busy. We’ve probably done about 800kms driving this week around the area and I have to say, without a car, you couldn’t see all the wonders we’ve seen. Petrol can be a hassle as none of the ‘self-service’ stations take Aussie credit cards, so we have to find old-fashioned serviced service stations, which can get you into trouble at times! We once got down to 20kms worth of petrol left in the tank (according to the system) and the nearest town was 35kms! Luckily we found a station just up the road. No-one back home can complain about the price of petrol rising, we’re paying up to 116 Euro cents ($2.25AUD) a litre for diesel!

There have been so many amazing places (architecture), churches, chateau, animals and even the odd Roman amphitheatre that it’s hard to start to describe them all. We even saw 2 fauns in our headlights, 6pm one evening on our own quiet road into St. Sornin. I’ll let the pictures make up our 10,000 words.

Saintes – 35 kms east

Roman Amphitheatre & city gate circa 20AD

Brouage - 20 kms north west

Part of the Brouage Citadel (15th century) wall still entirely intact with village inside the walls


Brouage roof tops and church

Rochefort – 25 kms north

Tam and some rope at La Corderie

La Rochelle – 60 kms north

City gate and tour de la chaine

Cognac & region – 60kms east

One of the Cognac chateaux and a Romanesque church

Vines at Cognac

Ile D’Oleron/ Marennes – 15 kms west

Citadel ramparts in Ile D'Oleron and street scene

Romanesque church near Ile D'Oleron

Our farmhouse – 200 yrs old in a hamlet of only 4 properties on the one way old farm path, 3 kms outside of the village called St. Sornin.

Our home for the month

We also have a ruin of an 11thC fortification only 500m away in the next hamlet.


Our next stop is down to Bilbao (Atlantic coast of Spain) via Bordeaux France for a 3-day jaunt to visit the Guggenheim, which we couldn’t get to 5yrs ago on our Spanish holiday.