Dune du Pilat

Today we drove south to see the amazing Dune du Pilat, the highest natural dune in Europe.  It really was spectacular to see and it's fun running down the steep sand sides.  We explored the beach to the South and then went to Biscarosse for dinner.

A lazy day

We didn't go far today.  We did some washing at the campsite and a bit of shopping in a local supermarket.  We walked up the road from the campsite to Chateau Balac, a local vineyard and wine maker, where we tasted some rather good wine and indeed bought a case to take home.   This was the point at which we wished we'd taken the car!

Trip to Bordeaux

An early start today so we could visit Bordeaux.  We had a wonderful lunch at Les Noailles and had to wait a bit for a table which is generally a good sign!  After lunch we visited the Eglise de Notre Dame, the Cathedral St. André, the Museé des beaux arts and the Porte Grosse Cloche.  We had pizza for dinner back at the campsite.

Getting oriented

We explored St. Laurent and Lesparre today and had a visit to the beach at Montalivet le Bains. We went out for dinner adn then returned to the campsite for a fairly early night.

Moving on

We left the first campsite today to drive to the Médoc, site of our second campsite.  We stopped for lunch and supplies at an Intermarché and arrived at Camping le Paradis Médoc around 5pm.  We found our plot, got the tent and all our stuff set up and then had supper at the campsite bar.  It was a very friendly bar and our host was the very jolly Bernard.

Monflanquin and Villeneuve-sur-Lot

We had a nice lunch today at Monflanquin although restaurants seemed to have run out of Cassoulet, perhaps because it was a bit overcast and drizzly.

We visited Villeneuvesur Lot in the afternoon and explored it's amazing bridge.

We had a light dinner back at the tent after a rather large lunch!

Jardins de Marqueyssac and Sarlat

A visit today to the lovely Jardins de Marquessac and then a rather mediocre evening meal at Sarlat-la-Canéda

Cahors and Goujounac

A visit to the very pretty Cahors today and to Goujounac on the way back.  We stopped for a nice meal on the way back to the campsite in a nice Dutch-run restaurant.

Monpazier and Cadouin

We went to visit the market at Monpazier today and then had lunch at a fantastic restaurant in Cadouin called Restaurant De L'Abbeye.  A fantastic set menu for16 euros and I had the first Ile Flottante of the holiday! 

We visited Chateau du Biron in the afternoon and then then had soup for dinner at the tent back at the campsite.  No room for more!

A lazy day at the campsite

We didn't go anywhere today after a long drive yesterday.  We swam in the pool and did a lot of reading.  We had some nice bread and rillette for lunch that we'd bought the day before and then went to the campsite BBQ in the evening.  It was quite fun as everyone got a plate of salad and a plate of raw meat.  We all got to cook our own meat which was fun.  There was also some entertainment in the form of a singer and keyboard player.  This was the first of many times we heard "Cotton Eye Joe" this holiday!

To the first campsite

We drove from Orleans to Lot-et-Garonne today.  It was a long drive but we arrived around 5pm.  We stopped at Le Bugue to do a supermarket visit to get a few essentials like milk.

The campsite, Domaine Laborde, is lovely and we had an average pizza there for dinner in the restaurant.

The start of the Summer 2010 Holiday

We left home at around 9am for Dover and got a crossing to France around lunchtime.  We had a lovely lunch in Langham's Brasserie on the Ferry and after disembarking at Calais drove on to Orleans.  We stayed in a nice little hotel in the centre of town and had a Tex-Mex meal for dinner.