Domain de Massereau.

11th June - 18th JUne. We travelled down south-east to near the Med coast. We stayed in a vineyard near Sommieres in Camargue region. We were able to go and see how the wine is made and were able to taste it as well!!






In the near-by village we were lucky to see the "running of the bulls" -the Abrivado. In ancient times the bulls were taken through the villages from their winter pasture to their summer pasture. They were accompanied by the white Camargue horses. Some were selected to go to the arena for the "course a la cocarde" and the bandido. The bulls are not killed as in Spain but it is a contest to see which of the razeteurs can get the ribbons of the horns of the bulls.







We went on the Cevennes Steam Train in the hills of this area. The train went from Anduze to St Jean du Gard. Harry did not like it very much as it was too smoky and we had to give her a bath that night. We went down to the beaches on the Med coast but the weather was not too good on that day. The rest of that week was very hot and sunny.

Beynac, near Sarlat

4th June - 11th June, we stayed in a beautiful village on the banks of the Dordogne river. We woke up each morning to this view of the Chateau. The whole village is built on the cliff and it was a long climb to the top where the chateau stood giving amazing views of the river and valley. The chateau was built in the 12th century.
We went to the market in the next village. There are markets in every village and it is very exciting to just walk about looking at all the stalls and tasting the produce!!





The river Vezere is also surrounded by very high cliffs. The imposing Roque Saint-Christophe cliff, towers some 300 feet above the river and stretches more than half a mile. It is made up of 5 terraces which were hollowed out 60 million years ago by erosion. People as long ago as prehistoric times have made their homes in these terraces. It became a fortress where people were safe from their ememies.



We took a trip down the Dordogne in a traditional Gabarres. This is the view from the boat of Beynac. We did want to go on canoes but there had been so much rain the week before, and the river was too high
fast following. We will try to do this later.

Champagnac-la-Riviere. 26.05.08-05.06.08

We stayed in a beautiful, little site in Champagnac-la-Riviere in the Limousin region. The weather was very mixed, sometimes very hot and sometimes very wet but warm. We still managed to get lots of walking and bike rides in and saw a lot of the country-side.



This area has got hundreds of lakes and ponds they call etangs. It is known as the Lake District of France. Harry managed to get in lots of swims. The most amazing thing was the sound of the frogs. At sometimes it was
deafening. There were hundreds of them all along the banks of the lakes. This lake was Lac Bussiere-Galant. We cycled 38k there and back.
This village Segur-le-Chateau is said to be one of the most beautiful in France- it was certainly very pretty. It was very old with some amazing buildings. We treated ourselves to a four- course French lunch there, which was great.



This village - Oradour-sur-Glane is called the Martyr Village. On June 10th 1944, 642 inhabitants were killed by the Nazis. Only four of the inhabitants managed to escape to tell the story. General de Gaulle wanted to preserve the ruins of Oradour to remind everybody of the barbarity of war. It was a very sad visit.