Three Go Adventuring Again

[DBK]

After two nights at Parc Verger we moved on today after watching Ken and Steph (aka The Munchies) depart on the maiden voyage of their new MH, or should that be PVC or 'van? No matter, but as the trip is a bit like a honeymoon I won't say where they are going!

From PV we headed south and took a detour to see St Jean de Cole, who might have been a forefather of the famous singer called Nat but these days it is more famous as yet another pretty French village.

Narrow streets:

Château with covered market on the left:

Water mill, currently being restored:

And a park under the wisteria for us:

We next headed to Brantôme, which is much more touristy although our route there was somewhat tortuous as the road was closed, with prominent "Route Barré" signs, but we found a way round, taking some narrow local roads.

We stopped there for lunch in a car park by the river, which was pretty full and this dissuaded us from seeking out the aire, which by most standards is a big one with 100 places, reflecting the popularity of the place.

So instead we pushed on to a little aire by the sports pitches at St Alvère, CamperContact #22223. This is yet another pretty village!

There used to be a big cattle market here and there still stood a curious device or engine.

A plaque beside it explained it was for shoeing oxen used to pull carts and ploughs. Straps were placed under the animal's body and windlass were used to raise the creature off the ground so it could receive some gentle podiatry from the local blacksmith.

There used to be a castle in the centre of St Alvère, the village being huddled around its walls but all that remains now are a few towers, some now incorporated in more modern buildings, others derelict.

Where the buildings within the outer wall once stood is now a park with trees.

As the sun was now (finally) shining we ordered a couple of beers.

And drank them!

 

[Fenman]

About 20 years ago we had a gite in the hill above St Jean de Cole. It won a prize long ago for the beauty of the tiled rooves.
If you go to Brantôme on a Friday beware. It's the day of the market. Lovely market that stretches right over the river with stalls on and either side of the bridge. Truly French but, of course, it gets flooded with people on a Friday morning.

 

[DBK]

Staying with my cousin Jane at a little village called Montesquiou which is west of Auch (pronounced "Osh") and after a drizzly week the sun is now shining. This morning we visited the market at nearby Mirande to buy some tomato plants and a few other vegetable seedlings including cucumber. The varieties were completely unknown to me, " grappe", "cerise" etc although the latter is obvious when you remember cerise means cherry.

Here are some shots of the open air and covered markets.

We went for lunch at a secret restaurant in Montesquiou, called the l'auberge de Montesquiou which is one of these places which doesn't need to advertise. It is at the end of this street and there are no signs pointing to it from the main road.

The menues are all hand written. Today be Whit Monday it was a special €23 menu, normally it is €15 for four courses - with only a choice for the main course!

Afterwards we wandered round the village to sober up.

 

[DBK]

I forgot to add the menu was a challenge even to my French speaking cousin, mainly because she didn't have her reading glasses but there were some new words. For example "cayette" in the dish "cayette aux olives" means apparently a female duck or more specifically the leg of one. I had the "magret" or duck breast which was served quite rare and looked and had the texture of steak and presumably comes from a male duck in this case. Throwing animal welfare out of the window three out of the four of us had fois gras as a starter and very nice it was too.

Sorry no pictures, we were gossiping so much I forgot. The restaurant has a very strong local following which is why they don't advertise with any signs. It can however be found if you look on Trip Advisor, otherwise you would never find it unless by a lucky accident. It is only open for lunches and the owners make a living from it even with such reduced hours which perhaps reflects it's popularity and success.

 

[DBK]

This morning we left my cousin and her husband enjoying their delightful house near Montesquiou and continued our journey, travelling via Auch, the principal town of the Gers department, which is one of the least populated and agricultural in all of France.

Our route took us around the perephique of Toulouse which was fairly busy. Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France and I suspect at the wrong time of day has some epic traffic jams, but travelling in the middle of the day the roads were busy but free flowing. We avoided the peage which is probably worth taking at other times. As a measure of how rural Gers, the department we had just left is, Toulouse has a population five times greater than the whole of the Gers!

After Toulouse we drove south east for a while, stopping at the campsite (ACSI #2268) in the village of Sorèze at the western edge of the Montagne Noire which are a small group of low mountains north of Carcassonne. http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/mar/02/france-montagen-noire-1950s-time-warp

However, the most momentus news of the day is our holiday has now officially started. It is warm enough for me to put on a pair shorts! This marks the start of British Holiday Time.

This is where we now are on the map.

And this is us on our pitch - nice green grass reflects how damp it has been recently.

We might spend two nights here and then travel east into the Haut Languedoc. We will see how we feel in the morning!

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[Anthea M]

Good news about the shorts!! Yay!!

 

[DBK]

Good news about the shorts!! Yay!!

There will be NO photographs!

 

[DBK]

We've been meandering for the last couple of days but things are looking more purposeful because I now know where we are going! Let me explain.

We stopped at a campsite in Soréze, roughly mid-way between Toulouse and Carcassonne, ACSI #2268.

Quite a few Brits there and very close to the village centre but the dog walking opportunities were somewhat limited. A once round the cemetery was about it. The residents didn't complain but I'm not so sure about the locals as there was an actual burial going on at the time. Not sure who it was but the grave diggers out numbered the mourners, so a lonely farewell for someone.

So the next morning we left and decided to find somewhere beside the sea, as the Mediterranean wasn't too far away. Our route took us through a little village called Durfort just outside Soréze where there was a delightful aire close to the village centre which had the odd bar and restaurant from what we could see. It isn't in CamperContact which is why I missed it but I did find details on this website. https://www.aire-service-camping-car-panoramique.fr/mobile/tarn/81-durfort

Looks a good spot if you need somewhere to overnight in that area.

Our seaside destination was a campsite at Sérignan Plage, south of Béziers, ACSI #2395. Unfortunately, we also had British seaside weather - it was chilly, raining on and off and gales were forecast for the next day! It was also a very soulless site and we decided to move on to somewhere more interesting the next day. I had half expected this part of the coast to be not for us and so it turned out. Live and learn!

So today we headed back inland, into the Cévennes and the aire at St Jean du Gard, CamperContact #2415, which I am learning is much more our sort of place compared to busy beachside campsites.

The town is the end of the Stevenson trail, a walk still very popular with hikers following in the steps and hoof prints of Robert Louis Stevenson who described it in his book Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes. The trail starts at Le Puy en Velay And takes about 14 days. There are organised tours with your luggage carried to the next hotel if you want to give it a go. Donkeys not included.

However, of more immediate interest to me the aire is part of the car park for the gare because St Jean du Gard Is also the end of another route - the short heritage railway which runs beside the river down to Anduze. When we arrived the train à vapeur was sitting in the station, vaporating away and whistling from time to time. By the time we were settled and I had got my camera out it had departed! Missed the train again!

Later a Train à Non-Vapeur turned up which I attempted to video as it left.



St Jean du Gard itself is a busy place, with tourist buses coming and going and plenty of places to eat and drink. In the shot below a little digger is clearing out a leet which you can see running down to the bottom right hand corner of the photograph. Don't say I don't show you exciting action shots!

 

[Red Dragon]

Charlie the Gardner had another good day. I took the bucket off the remains of the camellia this morning. This afternoon he was snoozing out on the gravel, or so we thought. The camelia is now down to ground level with not a leaf or bloom left.

Hi Charlie dont worry they are on holiday now,so will be very nice to you.
Please tell me all about the fantastic SMELLS you find,your waggy tail-mate YUKI

 

[DBK]

In which the Author discusses the Fickleness of Fame and offers some Notes on the Recruitment of French Governesses.

I mentioned yesterday St Jean du Gard Is where Stevenson ended his donkey-assisted tour of the Cevennes. Having checked the book it turns out he only stopped here because Modestine the donkey had an injury and needed a couple of day's rest, so the author sold the animal together with fittings (saddle etc) for "five and thirty" francs. Stevenson wrote that he did this because he was keen to get to "Alais" to pick up his post, so he proceeded onwards in a coach or more precisely a "diligence". The Alais he was heading for was presumably the place now spelt Alés on modern maps. Locally, they don't make much of this aspect of the tale, which is understandable. After all, if you lived in St Jean du Gard would you want the place remembered because of a spavined donkey? Better to concentrate on the author.

There was a curious aside while he was in St Jean du Gard when the town's Marie asked him to help a local lady translate a couple of letters she had received from agencies London. The background to the story is St Jean du Gard Is a Protestant town in largely Catholic France and the common religion made it a popular place for the recruitment of French governesses for England. After helping with the translation Stevenson gave the young lady some advice "which struck me as being excellent"!

Stevenson also noted how phylloxera had destroyed the vineyards and met some labourers crushing apples to make cider instead. They remarked that " It's like this, just like in the north. " A reference to cider making being hitherto a pursuit of places like Brittany and Normandy. The inference was the world had gone made. Of course France's loss was the making of the Spanish wine industry as phylloxera did not travel south of the Pyrenees and the vineyards of Rioja flourished in the extra demand.

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[2657]

In the early nineties soon after the kids declined to holiday with us we had quite a few pleasant holidays under canvas with various pre erected tent holiday companies.

The most enjoyable of these was with a firm called French Country Camping who only put tents in small numbers on sites with no other holiday companies on the same site, with the added benefit for us that it was possible to book short stays on multiple sites.

The first site was near to Murol in the Auvergne, second was at Meyrueis in the Cevennes and the third was near to Forcalquier in Provence.

The Cevennes was our favourite and Meyrueis is in the valley between the Cause Mejean and the Cause Noir near to the Gorge du Tarn and at the time I could walk and we had some memorable walks up to the Cause Mejean where on one of the spurs there were/is the remnants of an iron age fort. This was in pre digi camera days so no pics available.

A truly stunning area, unfortunately we have never been back but now you have whetted my appetite I will dig my copy of Stephensons book out and put the area on our 'visit ASAP' list

 

[DBK]

In the early nineties soon after the kids declined to holiday with us we had quite a few pleasant holidays under canvas with various pre erected tent holiday companies.

The most enjoyable of these was with a firm called French Country Camping who only put tents in small numbers on sites with no other holiday companies on the same site, with the added benefit for us that it was possible to book short stays on multiple sites.

The first site was near to Murol in the Auvergne, second was at Meyrueis in the Cevennes and the third was near to Forcalquier in Provence.

The Cevennes was our favourite and Meyrueis is in the valley between the Cause Mejean and the Cause Noir near to the Gorge du Tarn and at the time I could walk and we had some memorable walks up to the Cause Mejean where on one of the spurs there were/is the remnants of an iron age fort. This was in pre digi camera days so no pics available.

A truly stunning area, unfortunately we have never been back but now you have whetted my appetite I will dig my copy of Stephensons book out and put the area on our 'visit ASAP' list

I guess it is possible to follow a sort of version of his route but using roads, presumably all the villages he passed through are accessible.

I am thinking we might come back this way and drive through the Corniche de Cévennes and then the Gorge du Tarn, touristy, but we are not too proud to enjoy spectacular scenery in the company of others.

 

[DBK]

Despite dragging my heels a bit this morning before we left, the steam train remained locked in the engine shed. Perhaps Thomas had been naughty yesterday?

One activity which delayed our departure was to walk over the bridge to the supermarket for a few essentials like wine. We have been surviving very well on boxed wines which typically cost from about €10 to €15 for 3 litres. You can get cheaper, €9.50 for 5 litres in plastic barrels for example but we haven't seen any of the ultra-low price one litre "bricks" you get in Spain, which typically cost well under €1 each.

But the French do like their bottles with a proper cork, screw tops are not unknown but they are rare. Note the complete lack of signs saying "Australia", Spain", "South America" which you would get in a supermarket in the UK.

The wines vary in price, here are the top shelf ones :

And on the bottom shelf...

For those who might still hold a few nerves about venturing abroad, shopping is something you really don't need to worry about, just find a supermarket :

The only thing to look out for is in some you have to weigh your vegetables but in some, including Lidl, they weigh them at the checkout. Carrefour usually have someone at a central point who weighs and labels them but otherwise things are very much like at home. You don't need any special language skills, if they have horse meat (haven't seen any yet) there will be a horse's head drawing to warn you. Otherwise just be alert for anything with the word cheval in it!

After a fairly short 70 km drive after leaving St Jean du Gard, passing round Alés (very busy) we arrived at tonight's halt, the aire at the Vignerons de Chusclan, CamperContact #2429, which is a few miles east of Orange and the river Rhône.

The stone buildings in the background are the Caves where the wine is stored and matured. Off to the right of the shot is a rusty old building where they do the fermentation! There is a shop here and tomorrow morning we will visit it and perhaps buy some wine - Cote de Rhône here of course.

In the evening we strolled into the village of Chusclan, which according to the information on a plaque is known as the village of arches, because there are a lot of them. It seems unclear why they exist but it is thought they may have had something to do with the defences of the village. It was otherwise a very typical French village with the only businesses being the Holy Trinity of Post Office, Pharmacy, Bread Shop and a Bar/Restaurant. Which is four of course but is a Douglas Adams Trinity of four, or perhaps five if you include the Mayor's office.

There are two of the famed arches visible in this shot.

It was very warm this evening and very pleasant to sit out on the pavement tables at the bar. And the wine nearest the camera in this one is mine!

 

[DBK]

We visited the co-operative wine caves at Chusclan, opposite the aire before we left, and they were quite busy with some locals turning up with big plastic bottles to be filled up at the "pump". You could try the wines but there was a bit of a queue - this was 09:30 in the morning - and we didn't fancy waiting or drinking that early (must be getting old or even, perish the thought, sensible) so we bought a half case of a rosé and set off for the day. This time I finally remembered to turn on my GPS and record the trip:

Just 134 km but with Mt Ventoux thrown in although we almost didn't make it. The satnav took us through Orange well enough but then I suddenly saw we were dipping under a railway with a 2.3m headroom warning sign. Fortunately, there was just time to turn off into a car park where we turned round after a bit of jiggling as the car park had height barriers too!

Our route over Ventoux was almost the reverse of the one taken by my brother and I when we cycled up it a few years ago, this time we ascended the north side, which seems the steepest, then dropped down the other side before heading east at the Chalet Reynard towards Sault.

The traffic going up was very light with cyclists outnumbering cars and motorcycles by a considerable margin. The mountain is a magnet for two wheelers of all description but some don't make it. On the approach to the mountain I slowed down as a car in front slowed to turn into a very narrow gate. The car behind also slowed but not the motorcycle behind him which overtook us all. This was all on a sweeping wright-hand bend so he didn't see the car coming the other way. There was just room for him to get between the oncoming car and the one turning right but a change of underwear may have been necessary later.

A little further on we came to some light controlled roadworks where there were a lot of people milling around. A motorcycle was wedged under the rear corner of a car but the rider was sitting nearby with his helmet off so looked relatively unscathed. He had perhaps jumped or rolled off sideways just in time.

And this was before we got to Mt Ventoux.

Our planned night halt was CamperContact aire #2333 at Banon and alarmingly when we arrived it was full! As it was lunchtime (14:30 - we are used to late lunches) we pulled up on some nearby tarmac by a covered area which looked like it might be a market at some times. While eating lunch two French motorhomes turned up and parked close to us. One wound out his awning and got the chairs out. Speaking to them I learned tomorrow there is a féte du fromàge here in the village. http://fetedufromage-banon.fr

So it looks as if we will be here for two nights as I suspect we will struggle to get out tomorrow. Just may have to visit the cheese festival!

Very slow Internet connection here but I might be able to upload so photos from Ventoux later.

 

[jumartoo]

The only time we tried to go up Mont Ventoux was on our scooter. After being passed by cyclists it eventually stopped less than half way to the summit. Short of walking and pushing it we weren't going to make it. Maybe one year we'll have a go at cycling it!

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[2657]

No way that we will ever cycle up there

Drove up quite a few years ago on a beautiful clear June day, sweltering at the bottom, couldn't believe how cold and windy it was at the top, but what a view

 

[DBK]

Here are some pictures from today. Because of the slow connection I have reduced these to 800 by 600.

The retail side of the co-operative caves at Chusclan.

On the way up Mt Ventoux, the yellow things in the foreground are cowslips.

Off to the right, not in the picture (I'm pretending it isn't there) we could see the snow covered Alps. We are heading that way until Mrs DBK spots the snow and orders a course correction!

The route up was very quiet in terms of motorised transport but there were many cyclists. However, they were outnumbered a million to one by the flies as we approached the end of the tree line. The air was thick with small, brownish I think, flies. It must have been horrendous to cycle through. This is a phenomenon I've not heard about before. They were only on the north side, the presumably hotter south side of the mountain was free of these clouds of flies.

In the background is what I call the summit monstrosity, where there is in theory parking but it was absolutely heaving with people, parked cars and of course those cyclists enjoying the moment of their victory. So stopping at the summit wasn't an option but there were places to pull off the road just after the summit, one of which was where this one was taken, somewhere a little below the Simpson memorial which I confess I missed while looking for a parking place.

When we eventually sorted ourselves out at Banon we went for a wander round the village, which compared to many is thriving with many different shops, including that endangered species, the alimentación. There was also a very small supermarket where outside a cat was sleeping on a pile of BBQ charcoal. I tried hard not to think of possible recipes.

Our walk ended with the customary drink outside at a bar. This time rosé for both of us.

And this a shot of where we have stopped for the night, just below the official aire. And it must be an approved place to stop because a man with a receipt book came round this evening and gave us a one euro coin in exchange for a five euro note! We are off to the right of this shot, behind the shed - and with the best views.

 

[DBK]

The only time we tried to go up Mont Ventoux was on our scooter. After being passed by cyclists it eventually stopped less than half way to the summit. Short of walking and pushing it we weren't going to make it. Maybe one year we'll have a go at cycling it!

We were overtaken by a few cyclists as we descended! I mean that literally, for the rest of the descent we just followed a bunch of cyclists. Mostly second or third gear, occasionally fourth with brakes only needed on the steepest bit near the summit. Going up was mostly second or third gear but often you had to drop down to first in order to follow cyclists until you could see the road was clear to overtake. The road is mostly twin track but nearer the summit there is no white line down the middle and you have to be careful overtaking the cyclists.

 

[DBK]

No way that we will ever cycle up there

Drove up quite a few years ago on a beautiful clear June day, sweltering at the bottom, couldn't believe how cold and windy it was at the top, but what a view

The cold was a surprise to us when we cycled up in the sunshine, then descended on the north side. We had to stop a few times to defrost our fingers!

 

[DBK]

Our account of our cycle up Ventoux is here, in case it might inspire others to do anything so daft! https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=tS&page_id=264152&v=51

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[DBK]

We visited the Banon cheese festival this morning and returned minus a few euros and carrying a tasty smelling shopping bag. Before we left we watched a local farmer setting up for a demonstration of chiens de troupeaux (sheepdogs). This is the view from our van door, a much better view than you would get from the proper aire.

Background music was supplied by a brass band.

There were lots of stalls set up in the main street and square of the village. Not all cheese, cured meats here. The slices of ham he is serving looked very chewy, imagine Parma ham several millimetres thick!

Bread sticks.

And of course cheeses.

Cheeses of all colours! We bought the red one - it has tomato and a lot of garlic in it and was very tasty, we tried a sample.

This lady sold us something very tasty as well. We are not sure what it is, possibly smoked goat's pizzle judging by appearance.

There were other things to buy. Here is an example of how advanced the French are with their plumbing - an outdoor privy with a proper seat with a lid!

 

[DBK]

For lunch we sampled some goats' cheese, the local speciality is to wrap it in sweet chestnut leaves. Below the cheese is the goat's pizzle. Fortunately, it stopped moving long enough for the shot:

Which Mrs DBK turned into lunch with a mixed salad with oil and balsamic vinegar. It was accompanied by a bread made with olive oil. We thought it might be a bit like focaccia but it lacked the salt and was fairly sweet, but not unpleasantly so, more like a dense croissant.

The demonstration of sheep wrangling started with a mounted shepherd.

The horse was good at doing "wheelies".

Then it was the dogs' turn.

Note the shepherdess has a long whip, I didn't see it being used much but it was used occasionally like a shepherd's crook to direct the sheep in the desired direction.

Next to the aire is an abandoned field. Where pyramidal orchids and thyme grow.

And what I think is a Lady Orchid.

And for the cloud spotters, Altocumulus lenticularis I think, formed by the passage of the air over the mountain top.

And apologies if the pictures above aren't up to the usual technical quality, because of the poor internet connection they are much reduced in size for easier uploading, although each image has still been taking at least a couple of minutes to post.

 

[Mr Ed]

We appreciate your efforts thank you

 

[DBK]

We have stopped in the foothills of the Maritime Alps at the free aire in Annot, CamperContact #2242 after an interesting journey. It didn't start well as with the fuel gauge showing a bit below a half I decided to look for a top up at the first supermarket we came to. After doing a shop for the next three days we pulled into the filling station to find - no diesel!

Fortunately, the next town had some although there was a small queue for it but there was no rationing so I filled the 120 litre tank up to the top. Me, panic buying? Not at all!

Shortly afterwards we passed through Les Mées, which might sound like a musical but it is famous for another kind of rock. The "Penitants" are a cliff of conical shapes which overlook the town.

The view was better from outside the village.

Their shape gives rise to the legend that they are the remains of local monks who were literally petrified because they fell in love with a young lady a local lord brought back from a crusade.

Of course in these less imaginative times we probably think the shape may be due to weathering.

Not long after we came upon the back of a queue following some travelling folk and there we stayed for the next hour or so as overtaking wasn't possible until we eventually came to a short stretch where there were two lanes.

The air at Annot was initially disappointing as there was quite a bit of litter, especially discarded BBQ charcoal which our dog Charlie loves to chew. It was also cold and very windy, the thermometer hadn't gone much above 12°C all day. It is forecast to improve from tomorrow onwards and we can say goodbye to this northern blast. The litter, I discovered later, might be because last week the aire was reserved for use during the village fête, a week long affair, and the aire was probably the campground of various vendors.

There are quite a few marked walks in the area, but if the short one we did was any guide they are steep!

We explored the old part of Annot, which is worth the effort. You enter the village over a 17C bridge (possibly reconstructed).

Like other places we have visited, particularly Chusclan, it is hard to work out what the village might have looked like originally as there has been so much rebuilding and reuse and reconfiguration of existing buildings over the centuries.

Bits of the bedrock well up into the village!

A model for Diagon Alley perhaps?

Old buildings:

Early cat-flap.

Even some of the more modern buildings were interesting.

And we ended the walk in the customary manner. Very full measures here, or at least you can see that from mine, someone's glass has had a sip from it!

 

[DBK]

Tonight's meal was asparagus, the white form is the commonest here although you can also find the green sort we get in the UK. The difference is only how it is cultivated but given we are in France we went for the white sort.

Which we are eating with potatoes and a thick slice of ham from the cold meat counter of the supermarket (without diesel). This was very tasty with a very strong smell of garlic - rubbed on the outside I think.

You might remember we bought some cheese from this villainous pair yesterday.

And if you look carefully you might see the cheese we bought is €38 a kilo!

But it was very nice and this is how I had some tonight to finish everything off. I had it with biscuits, which is very English, but I was hungry.

The blue cheese in the picture is made with lavender, the green olives. I suspect food dye may also be involved!

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[kcy]

Tonight's meal was asparagus, the white form is the commonest here although you can also find the green sort we get in the UK. The difference is only how it is cultivated but given we are in France we went for the white sort.

View attachment 107333

Which we are eating with potatoes and a thick slice of ham from the cold meat counter of the supermarket (without diesel). This was very tasty with a very strong smell of garlic - rubbed on the outside I think.

You might remember we bought some cheese from this villainous pair yesterday.

View attachment 107334

And if you look carefully you might see the cheese we bought is €38 a kilo!

But it was very nice and this is how I had some tonight to finish everything off. I had it with biscuits, which is very English, but I was hungry.

View attachment 107335

The blue cheese in the picture is made with lavender, the green olives. I suspect food dye may also be involved!

I'm sure I've seen those guys on crime watch good stuff, keep it coming. We're in Northumberland at a cc&c site weather great and seals bobing in the sea beautiful place wots not to like.

 

[jumartoo]

Tonight's meal was asparagus, the white form is the commonest here although you can also find the green sort we get in the UK. The difference is only how it is cultivated but given we are in France we went for the white sort.

View attachment 107333

Which we are eating with potatoes and a thick slice of ham from the cold meat counter of the supermarket (without diesel). This was very tasty with a very strong smell of garlic - rubbed on the outside I think.

You might remember we bought some cheese from this villainous pair yesterday.

View attachment 107334

And if you look carefully you might see the cheese we bought is €38 a kilo!

But it was very nice and this is how I had some tonight to finish everything off. I had it with biscuits, which is very English, but I was hungry.

View attachment 107335

The blue cheese in the picture is made with lavender, the green olives. I suspect food dye may also be involved!

Cochineal???

 

[DBK]

Cochineal???

It might be, and at the price each critter individually selected and prepared!

 

[Anthea M]

Thanks for all your photos! And spending the time to post love the humour and info!!

 

[Terry and Jan]

Were you okay for the Pont Avon?

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