Tag: France

Palaminy to Carcassonne

The French people we have met have been very nice and friendly. We have had several great people experiences today. We had a lovely breakfast at Les Pesques, the Chambres d’hôtes we stayed at last night. We had a very nice conversation with our hostess about learning languages. She was incredibly helpful during our stay.

Breakfast

After leaving Les Pesques we decided to do laundry at the place next to the kiosk where we bought our pizzas last night.

First we went to the nearby grocery store and bought food for a picnic lunch. French grocery stores are so much fun to browse in. The vegetables made me want to buy some and start cooking.

Leeks and cabbage I think
Chocolate, bread, wine and cheese. What more do you need?!

While the laundry was running we walked to the post office. On the way an older French gentleman who was trying to use a vending machine asked us for change. When we started to explain that we weren’t from there he said oh! vous êtes américain! We had a nice conversation in French. As we parted ways he said Viva les États Unis! And we said Viva la France!

Duke starting the laundry
About half way to our destination we stopped for a picnic

I think I always forget to pack something. This time I left my thyroid medication at home. Today we stopped at a pharmacy. The pharmacist said she didn’t speak much English but I was able to explain using my limited French exactly what I needed and she sold me 2 boxes of 30 pills. She was so nice and it was so easy.

The pharmacy
Tonight we are in Carcassone. This is the view from the window of our room.

We walked across that bridge into the center of the old town for dinner.

This is the salad with goat cheese sandwiches that I started with
Then I had cassoulet
And finally a brownie

When we left the hotel it was raining quite hard. We had a bit of difficulty find our way out of the old town and back down the hill. At one point I called out to two guys ahead of us “Excusez-moi, où est la sortie de la ville?” They stopped and gave us directions. The way we went wasn’t well lit so we used our phone flashlights and were very careful on the wet cobblestones.

The well lit flat part of the walk
We made it!

Bielsa, Spain to Palaminy, France

This morning we woke up to beautiful blue skies outside our window.

The Parador in Bielsa is surrounding by snow capped peaks and waterfalls.

We knew we wouldn’t be able to check in to our Chambre d’Hôtes for tonight until 4pm so we didn’t leave Bielsa until noon. Near Bielsa we stopped next to a dam and reservoir.

You can see Duke on the dam here.

Duke and Roger met a shepherd and his dog Luna and had a nice conversation.

Here you can see the shepherd, Luna and the sheep.

We headed north into France, stopping often to enjoy the sites and to make sure we didn’t arrive at Palaminy before 4.

A chateau we saw along our route.

We arrived almost exactly at 4. We weren’t sure if we were in the right place because there weren’t any signs and no one was home. But at about 4:10 a couple of cars pulled in. The owner apologized for being late and told us they had been out picking daffodils for our rooms.

Chambres d’hôtes Les Pesques – the 250 year old farm house where we are staying
Daffodils

When we asked about dinner she checked nearby restaurants but couldn’t find a restaurant that was open Sunday night. Eventually we agreed that she would call and order pizzas that we chose from her favorite pizza place. We went and picked up the pizzas and a bottle of wine. Our hostess provided plates, knives, forks and wine glasses and we had a feast in our room.

Picking up the pizza.

Donostia / San Sebastián, Spain to Bordeaux, France

We are in France! This morning we walked to the train station in Donostia / San Sebastián. We caught a local train to just over the French Spanish border. It took about 45 minutes.

Local train to the French Spanish border

In Hendaye, France we had coffee and croissants. And I got to use my rusty French. I love croissants!

French breakfast

From the border we got on an intercity TGV train to Bordeaux. That ride took 2 1/2 hours.

TGV train to Bordeaux

We were in Bordeaux last Fall. I really like Bordeaux. We walked to our hotel. There were a lot of people n the streets.

This is Porte Cailhau. We passed on the walk to our hotel.
The streets were full of people

For dinner we went back to a restaurant we ate at last time we were in Bordeaux. Bistro Réno was as wonderful this time as it was last time. The ambiance is so French, the people are so friendly and the food was divine. I think it was one of the best meal of our trip.

At Bistro Réno
We started with Foie Gras.
Then I had beef fillet
And Duke had Beef Parmentier which is sort of a beef hash topped with mashed potatoes
For desert we shared this cake and ice cream

Sartène, Corisca, France to Golfo Aranci, Sardinia, Italy

It’s been a long day but we made it to a beautiful beachfront hotel on the northeastern coast of Sardina.

We took the ferry from Corsica to Sardina

We left our hotel at 7 am this morning and drove about an hour to the Figari South Corsica airport where we returned our rental car. Figari is a tiny airport and there weren’t any taxis because the next flight wasn’t scheduled for about 3 hours.

Our ferry wasn’t going to leave nearby Bonifacio until 1 so we decided to just hang around the airport for a while. Eventually a taxi showed up and we went into Bonifacio. It’s a gorgeous little town named after Bonifacio II of Tuscany who captured Corsica from the Satacens in 828. His citadel overlooks the town.

We found a restaurant and had some breakfast while we enjoyed the sun.

Breakfast in Bonifacio
Walking around Bonifacio
The Bonifacio Citadel

We walked around the town for a bit before eventually getting on the ferry. The ride from Corsica to Sardina only took an hour.

Duke adn I on the Ferry

The taxi ride from the ferry terminal to Olivia airport where we were going to rent our next car took about another hour. Luckily we were able to share the ride with one other lady so we were able to split the €90 fare three ways. Our new rental car is distinctive, cute, and small. Duke says the car has a lot of zip for a 1.2 liter engine.

Our Sardinia rental car.

We drove about thirty minutes from Olivia airport to the beach where we are tonight.

For dinner we had a wonderful Italian meal with a very entertaining waiter. He thought Duke was French! And he even taught us some Italian.

Baby octopus in a crust the waiter opened at the table.
Home made pasta with mussels
Cannelloni
Tiramisu
La Taverna del Lupo di Mare where we ate.

Corte to Zonza – Wednesday 13 October

Wifi and internet has been really good on this trip. Most places the internet has been excellent and everywhere it has been adequate. But when we checked into our hotel in Zonza they told us their internet had been out for three days and the night before that the connection in Corte was intermittent. We are now on the cost near Sartène and I am posting three days of blog posts.

On Wednesday morning we left Corte and drove to the trailhead for Cascade des Anglais.

Cascade des Anglais trailhead

The hike is along a very small part of the GR20, a long distance trail that crosses almost the entire length of Corsica. Our hiking guide book describes the GR20 as “demands physical fitness, absolute surefootedness, an excellent head for height and, above all, plenty of mountain hiking experience”. The Cascade des Anglais part of the trail that we did was fairly easy and quite beautiful.

Along the Cascades des Anglais Trail

After the hike we drove a very windy road south through the center of Corsica. We went over a couple of big passes. You can see the switchbacks in a he picture below.

The road south, D69

We stopped for lunch and a couple of hours later arrived in Zonza about 5:30. 

Lunch

For dinner we ate at an excellent bistro right across the street from our hotel, L’Eternisula. The ambiance was very welcoming. When Duke was ordering the wine the owner said “all of our wine is Corsican and it’s all good! And if you don’t like what you chose just tell us and you can chose something else. That will make us happy because then we will have to drink your wine!” The wine was good and so was the food.

Tapenade, sausage and bread.
Corsican soup
Lemon meringue
Our hotel in Zonza