Sunday, 30 August
With a little bit of a sleep in (OMG! The sun is coming up
at a civilized time now!!!!), we drove into the city of Beziers, most famous
for the eradication of the Cathers, a Christian religion that believed a normal
man could commune with God directly and they allowed women to be ‘Perfects’ a
person of high respect. Obviously, these 2 things were heretical to the
Catholic faith and therefore must die.
The castle in Beziers (now a Monastery) was the stronghold
of their faith and was besieged. It ended with total slaughter of the Cathers
and some nice new property titles for a few Nobles.
Luckily, that wasn’t our problem. Ours was we couldn’t find
a place to park within relatively sane walking distance. We finally gave it up
as a joke and continued on our way. From what we saw, as we negotiated through
narrow, one way streets with the gentle sound of Dee occasionally screaming in
the tight parts, was quite nice.
We continued into the French countryside, heading for a town
which was holding a market that day. It was very nice market and we prudently
decided to let Dee go browsing by herself and Gene would follow me. We decided
to meet at 1pm. The added bonus was about 200 bikers showed up with horns, big
revs and bikie moles. It did explain why there were so many stalls selling
American merchandise, leather goods, knives, and black tshirts.
We had an extended afternoon kip and didn’t make our night
time stop until almost 9pm. The backroads may be scenic but they also take
quite a long time to drive.
Monday, 31 Aug
Today was spent enjoying more French scenery. For some
reason unknown to us, the area we were in didn’t have many camping grounds but
we eventually found one after checking out a free area with services and a GPS led point that didn’t have anything
remotely resembling a camping ground down a steep, narrow street.
As it was the first day of school, not only are the camping
spots wonderfully vacant but they are at least half the price of the peak
period which finished the day before. We used the washing and drying machines
to great effect, their cost almost equaling the cost of camping itself. We also
used the internet to its full extent. We also had a great storm pass over with
thunder and lighting. Those 2 last points don’t always go well together but I
like living on the edge.
Tuesday, 01 September
A nice pleasant drive to Mont du Chalus brought us into town
right when the Tourism Office closes for lunch. We’ve done this a few times,
looking for a vital service right on their afternoon siesta.
After gaining the required map and finding out some
pertinent information, I took Gene off for a walk to the Castle that King
Richard the Lion Heart was sieging when he was killed with a crossbow bolt.
Old Dicky was conducting a reconnaissance of the besieged
castle to find the weak points dressed in a gambeson (padding worn under
armour) and his shield. One of the castle’s crossbowmen took a pot shot and hit
him in the shoulder. His medical team wasn’t really up to it and made a botch
of the job to remove the bolt and he died a few days later. Before he died, the
crossbow man came to him and received forgiveness from Richard, just before
Richard’s men hung him and flayed him alive (by some reports).
The pertinent information for us was the castle was open to
the public during the months of July and August, aligned with the school
holidays. The problem was it’s the first of September. Sigh….
So, Gene and I did what King Richard did (with fewer
fatalities) and walked around the perimeter of the castle, trying to find a way
in.
We’re now resting in a ‘French Passion’ site (ie free site
for camper vans) and the owners have just come home. We picked the site as it
was owned by a blacksmith which would be very cool. What actually happened was
we used the GPS coordinates of another site, just below the planned spot in the
book. Luckily, they’re very close geographically, so we may visit tomorrow.
We’re heading towards a medieval castle which is being made from scratch with
period tools.
From there, Paris! But now, dinner!
Thursday, 03 September
We were able to visit the blacksmith we had hoped to stay
with the previous night. The blacksmith and his wife were wonderful and we had
a great conversation half in gestures that Marcel Marsou would be proud of.
Our main point of interest was to visit a site called
Gudelon, sounding like ‘Get-along’, an enterprise when people are building a
castle from scratch using period tools. The concept was started in 1997, the
year we started re-enactment, and isn’t planned to be completed until 2025. The
site was amazing. They still have a fair few things to complete but what they
have done is astounding. My only gripe would be the lack of correct medieval
clothing for the workers there. I’m not concerned about the safety stuff of
steel capped boots or hard hats but just the basic tunic and not a tabard
looking thing with a rope belt.
Our nighttime stop was a wonderful little farm 100km up the
road and getting closer to Paris.
Friday, 04 September
With only 100km to Paris, we made our farewells and made
good time, reaching Paris by 11am, even with the traditional, big city
congestion that was a quarter of our total driving time for the day.
We decided to rest for the day and see the Arc de Triumph
and Eiffel Tower in the afternoon/evening. This was mainly influenced by the
shuttle bus not running from 1 to 5pm. The Arc was very impressive but we
didn’t bother getting too close due to 9 roads of traffic converging at the
roundabout.
The Eiffel Tower was fantastic. For some reason, I thought
was green but it was more of a light brown. We decided to have dinner first
before joining the long que to travel up the elevators. All things considered,
it was a relatively short wait when you compare the probable lines during the
recent summer holidays.
I had a brain fart getting ready for the day and brought my
leatherman pocket knife which I couldn’t take with me. I cunningly wrapped it
in a brown paper bag and stuck it under one of the concrete block seats before
I went up. Luckily, it was still there when I came back.
With a shaky ride up with a few scared cries by other travelers,
we made it to the 2nd level then onto the top to enjoy the views. The trip down was much easier.
Making our way to and from the Tower we had a multitude of
African men selling various Eiffel Tower souvenirs who had the ability to
quickly pack up and move when the police showed up. There were also the ball
and cup games happening with 3 or so helpers pretending to part of the crowd.
It was lots of fun to watch.
Saturday, 05 September
An early morning start had us at the entrance of the Louvre with
only 30 people in front of us. We were able to see the Mona Lisa and escape far
from the maddening crowds and see the other cool things in the museum.
After a late morning tea we caught trains to see Notre Dame
but halfway there Gene realised she had left her night time braces at the cafeteria.
As we had already lost he day time ones in the UK, we had lunch at MacDonalds
and I went back and went hunting for them. Luckily, the staff had put them away
and I was able to quickly collect them and join up with the girls again.
We visited Notre Dame and the crypt next door to it but not
the catacombs which we though was the latter. Bugger. The Cathedral was amazing
and the stained glass fantastic. I don’t know how old the rear windows are but
they look close to the 13th century but I’m thinking that they may
be actually 18th Century…… I’ll have to google it.
So we’re back safe and sound with French berets, of course.
Tomorrow, we head towards Mont St Micheal.
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