MEDITERRANEAN COASTAL WALK

WALKING THE MED

Out of the blue one day, I had a sudden  rush of blood to the head.

Then all I had to do was talk Lynne into thinking what a fantastic idea I'd had. 

So I asked her what she thought about walking along the Mediterranean coast from  France into Spain. 

Fortunately she also thought it was a great idea.

So we started at Collioure on the Cote Vermeille (immortalised by the Post Impressionists and the Fauves) and finished at Cadaques (where both Picasso and Dali lived for a while in the nineteen thirties). 

Well, although Via Michelin gives the walking distance as around 60 kilometres, it took us four days which means only about 15 kilometers per day, staying at cheap hostels in Banyules sur Mer, Port Bou and Port de la Selva.

But there are lots of ups and downs as the GR 92 coastal path winds through and around dozens of bays, beaches and coves and climbs over numerous headlands and cliffs. Each one is higher than the last and all are much, much higher than Mount Everest. 

Anyway we made it and caught a bus and two trains back to our campervan in France. And we were both right - it was a wonderful walk and a fantastic experience.

A spritely start for  a couple of old codgers.

Breaching the coastal defences.

Maybe a boat would have been a better option.

It's a long way from the last bar - and even further to the next.

Still not a drinking hole in sight.

Hang on - that looks like one in the distance.

But it's still  a long way to go.

And there's always another mountain to climb.

Real hard yakka - whose stupid idea was this?.

Can't be long now.

Hope he stops grumbling now that we know where we're going.

Let's hope it's the last uphill.

Thank God!

Next stop: the first bar in Cadaques.

Then back to where it all started: Chateau Royal in Collioure.

AUCH PLUS A FEW KILOMETRES ON THE WAY OF ST JACQUES

The wonderful Renaissance stained glass windows in Auch cathedral - some say they're the most important ones in France after Chartres.

This could be something worth having to eat on the train to Paris tomorrow.

Yes! In case we get peckish, let's buy some of these French delicacies to take with us.

This is the signpost in Mezin showing the way to Compostela in far western Spain.

Only 1059 kilometers. Perhaps we should only walk a little of the way.

On our short walk - outside the west portal of the church of St Jean Baptiste in Mezin.

A little further along our route. (We're actually walking back to The Mill, but we're following

the official pilgrim's way which goes in the same direction for a few kilometers)

Almost back at The Mill in Poudenas.

Team shot on our last night in the dining room at The Mill. We're on our way to 

dinner at a restaurant in Sos.

And here's the TGV to take us to Paris. 

Bon voyage. 

Bon continuation. 

Bon fin de vacances.

Bon retour. 

A bientot. 

We hope to see you again one day.

ST EMILION, COOKING, EATING AND DRINKING - THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES

Here we are at the famous medieval wine centre of St Emilion in the heart of the Bordeaux winelands.

The reason we're here is because this is the biggest wine making area in the world. Oh, and you may have noticed that we don't mind a drink.

And this is us waiting for the first course in the square just outside the underground church.

We quite like tasting things too.

The TWO LYNNES in the kitchen at The Mill.

On the ramparts next to a watchtower in the river port of Vianne.

Seven pigeonniers taken in the salon at La Petite Galerie - just waiting for the Guggenheim or the Louvre to phone - and the best offer gets them.

This is what it's all about: Lynne (of Cooking with Lynne fame) preparing  'poussins au citron' in the kitchen at The Mill.

Many hands make light work for another lavish meal where everyone lends a hand.

The eternal attraction of millinery at Eauze market.

(If you want to get ahead get a hat).

Jean Ladeveze explaining all about Armagnac with a little help from Lynne.

In the foreground is all the stuff there is to taste.

Yes, another tasting - this time it's Floc, then Port, then a few glasses of Armaganc.

Madeleine and Jean Ladeveze, reputedly the best Armagnac maker in the area - and something rare and special to take home to some special person in Australia.

(Another day to go, so come back for more pictures soon)

SUNDAY 15th AT THE ABBAYE DE FLARAN

     

This is the 12th century Cistercian Abbaye de Flaran where a hunting festival 

and mass is held once a year.

Everyone who is anyone in this part of southwest France goes to be seen - and so did we.

So many different breeds of dogs we lost count.

                                     

When we're good we're really, really good. 

Here we all are at the mass in the abbey - with the hunters and one of their hunting dogs - and their trumpets which they played deafeningly loudly.

But when we're bad, we're really, really bad. 

Here we are at the Chateau Monluc at St Puy the next day.

We're on an EARLY MORNING sparkling wine tasting jaunt. While we were there, we used the occasion to also try several other tasty things: dry white wine and sweeter white wine, and the special Pousse Rapiere spirit and sparkling pink wine cocktail that the Chateau is famous for.

Here we are with the guide - an earful of history and culture is compulsory

before they let you loose on the wine.

                                     

Here we are in the cellar, desperate to get on to the tasting.

                                    

On our way out of the cellars, looking forward to you know what.

                                    

Good grief - a holdup. 

Damn, we've been stopped on the way for another team photo.

At last the tasting has started. (It's 11.00am, remember)

A few drinks and we're anybody's.

But there's also some hard yakka involved. Here we are toiling away with our watercolour paintings

of a nearby pigeonnier.

More pics soon... come back for another look.

COOKING WITH LYNNE IN GASCONY - THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES

TOULOUSE - VILLE ROSE, OR PINK CITY

A 2000 year old city built mainly of red brick which gives it a warm, pink glow in some atmospheric conditions.

Here we are on the banks of the Garonne, the river that flows all the way to Bordeaux.

During the middle ages, Toulouse's wealth was built on the plant-based pastel blue dye that was processed in the area. 

Inside the wonderful Cathedral of the Jacobins where a huge mirror has been installed to make it easier for visitors to study the amazing overhead fan vaults - without lying on the floor or breaking your neck.

A view of the rooftops of Toulouse - and three muses that I found up there - from the top of Galerie Lafayette the famous French department store.

On the way home we stopped off at Gazaupouy for dinner at the Bar St Hubert. 

Guess what we had? 

Quite right! 

Duck.

This is the hostel in Lectoure used by pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela in Galacia Spain where the remains of St James the Apostle are reputed to be buried.

Three pilgrims on their way to Compostela.

Above and below are shots of the wonderful Hotel de Bastard in Lectoure. Funnily enough, in English, the French word bastard means just that: bastard.

 Foie gras - or duck liver - is the great delicacy of the region. Here Alain Cescatti demonstrates how his ducks are fed - 200 of them twice a day.

When we're not eating a meal, we dream about death by chocolate.

A team shot showing the roof tops of Nerac, the great medieval capital of King Henry IV.

Check back soon for more pics of us on Lynne Macmillan's cooking adventure in France