Two Go Back to France

[DBK]

We visited Carcassonne today which was over an hour away, south east down the péage. We used the tag from the MH, waving it at the windscreen at the barrier. Unlike our tag for Spain the one for France isn't linked to a specific vehicle.

There are in a sense two Carcassonnes, the old city on the east of the river and the rest of the city which is mostly on the western bank of the Aude.

The old city is where the tourists go and we joined them today. This was the first glimpse as we got near, vineyard in the foreground.

As we were in a car we headed for the main car park but it has a height barrier and the approach road we used was decidedly not MH friendly. There is a bus park which you can park or stay in overnight according to the aire apps - but research your route if you plan to use it. We passed a campsite just outside the city which was within cycling distance and probably has a shuttle bus. This would be the best option if you didn't want to use the bus park.

The front door.

The walls.

The throng! (of which we were part of course )

This is Place Marco Polo in the most popular bit of the city at 11:45, folk were already grabbing tables at the restaurants.

The former cathedral, now downgraded to a Basilica apparently. It wasn't easy to photograph because of other buildings around it so an internal shot only.

A couple of random shots.

And then it was time for lunch! We chose the Restaurant du Petit Puits which has very mixed reviews but it had a nice roof terrace and we only wanted something simple.

We both chose the salade croustillante aux chevre chaud which was basically goats' cheese inside a crispy crepe on top of a simple salad. For €13.50 it was fine. The brown blob in the middle was fig jam which worked well with the dish.

Meanwhile the city around us was still under repair.

We wanted to go to Carcassonne having once glimpse the old city as we drove past on the autoroute and been intrigued.

We weren't disappointed today, the crowds were only thick in a couple of spots and outside of these places it was fairly quiet as some of the photos might suggest.

Not a place to visit again but the itch has been scratched.

 

[chaser]

We visited Carcassonne today which was over an hour away, south east down the péage.

There are in a sense two Carcassonnes, the old city on the east of the river and the rest of the city which is mostly on the western bank of the Aude.

The old city is where the tourists go and we joined them today. This was the first glimpse as we got near, vineyard in the foreground.

View attachment 954944

As we were in a car we headed for the main car park but it has a height barrier and the approach road we used was decidedly not MH friendly. There is a bus park which you can park or stay in overnight according to the aire apps - but research your route if you plan to use it. We passed a campsite just outside the city which was within cycling distance and probably has a shuttle bus. This would be the best option if you didn't want to use the bus park.

The front door.

View attachment 954937

The walls.

View attachment 954939

The throng! (of which we were part of course )

View attachment 954941

This is Place Marco Polo in the most popular bit of the city at 11:45, folk were already grabbing tables at the restaurants.

View attachment 954936

The former cathedral, now downgraded to a Basilica apparently. It wasn't easy to photograph because of other buildings around it so an internal shot only.

View attachment 954938

View attachment 954940

A couple of random shots.

View attachment 954943

View attachment 954951

And then it was time for lunch! We chose the Restaurant du Petit Puits which has very mixed reviews but it had a nice roof terrace and we only wanted something simple.

We both chose the salade croustillante aux chevre chaud which was basically goats' cheese inside a crispy crepe on top of a simple salad. For €13.50 it was fine. The brown blob in the middle was fig jam which worked well with the dish.

View attachment 954942

Meanwhile the city around us was still under repair.

View attachment 954945

We wanted to go to Carcassonne having once glimpse the old city as we drove past on the autoroute and been intrigued.

We weren't disappointed today, the crowds were only thick in a couple of spots and outside of these places it was fairly quiet as some of the photos might suggest.

Not a place to visit again but the itch has been scratched.

God man why didn't you say you were coming, we must have passed one another a dozen times, we have seen all those things today and have now had dinner in the main street.

 

[scousebird]

You can walk from the campsite to the Cite, there's no shuttle bus. There is also an aire next door to the site.

 

[Grianan]

We visited and like you say it was an itch to be scratched. Somehow the allure from a distance is greater than the reality. Great photos though!

 

[DBK]

God man why didn't you say you were coming, we must have passed one another a dozen times, we have seen all those things today and have now had dinner in the main street.View attachment 955036

Drat! Oh well, ships in the night and all that. Planning to visit Montauban tomorrow and then Auch on Thursday but they are all too far from you. I must admit I didn't think Carcassonne was very far from Toulouse - but it was quite a drive.

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[chaser]

Drat! Oh well, ships in the night and all that. Planning to visit Montauban tomorrow and then Auch on Thursday but they are all too far from you. I must admit I didn't think Carcassonne was very far from Toulouse - but it was quite a drive.

We are going home tomorrow courtesy of lv breakdown insurance and ryanair, last day on France for quite a while.

 

[chaser]

We are going home tomorrow courtesy of lv breakdown insurance and ryanair, last day on France for quite a while.

If we ever come back.

 

[DBK]

We are going home tomorrow courtesy of lv breakdown insurance and ryanair, last day on France for quite a while.

So is your MH making its own way back?

 

[chaser]

So is your MH making its own way back?

On the back of a low loader.

 

[DBK]

If we ever come back.

I know how you feel but I think we will be back next year. Our problems are all down to my poor vehicle servicing.

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[chaser]

I know how you feel but I think we will be back next year. Our problems are all down to my poor vehicle servicing.

I don't see why, belts can break anytime, same as ours , running perfectly one minute , next minute, crunch, gearbox gone.

 

[125BEER]

Carcassonne castle carpark,all day and overnight I think we paid €8.

Cheers

 

[chaser]

Carcassonne castle carpark,all day and overnight I think we paid €8.
View attachment 955110

Cheers

The official site was rammed when we came to the airport, queuing down the road waiting to get in.

 

[Just smiffy]

Have a safe trip home Chas…..

 

[DBK]

First a quiz question, answer at the end of this post.

How much do you think this cost me today, which I will use if I need to connect the leisure and cab batteries as discussed in earlier posts?

We drove to Montauban today as there is a market held there on Wednesdays and I also wanted to visit the Musée Ingrès.

Ingrès was a French painter born in Montauban and for some reason I confused him in my muddled head with Modigliani, which is hard to do as at least a century divides them and Modigliani was Italian although he spent a lot of his time in France before dying of TB at the untimely age of 35.

I had spotted a large car park on Google Maps and set this as the target. Unfortunately, as we approached it we were thwarted by a Route Barrée sign but by luck we soon found another small car park which had spaces. Our luck continued because this was Parking Ingres and the museum was a flight of steps away.

On entering the museum I soon realised I had my painters confused but we had a wander around anyway.

Ingres (1780-1867) is described as a neoclassical painter greatly influenced by the past. My artistic knowledge, as already demonstrated, is close to zero but even I can see he knew how to paint.

There were also some of his "stuff".

Other painters were also represented. This is a Van Dyke portrait of a monk.

Some of the paintings were only here temporarily, I saw one which was on loan from the Louvre.

But despite visiting the museum in error it was an interesting visit.

Our next engagement was with the open air market. I had looked online to see if I could find the location but had drawn a blank. So I just asked the first person I saw after leaving the museum. This was fortuitous as we were already walking in completely the wrong direction!

The River Tarn runs through the middle of Montauban and the centre is on the east bank, which was where we were but the market is on the west bank! It wasn't a long walk and took us over what is known as the Pont Vieux or Old Bridge. Photo looking back towards the city centre.

The River Tarn.

Part of the market. Strawberries in the foreground.

Enormous onions!

Tomorrow we will visit a couple of the Plus Beaux Villages in this region.

Answer to Quiz: €32! I shall keep it in the safe with our passports and other valuables.

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[gus-lopez]

How much do you think this cost me today

Answer to Quiz: €32! I shall keep it the safe.

I was going to say 27€ & that would have been excessive?
You do not want to look online

 

[DBK]

I was going to say 27€ & that would have been excessive?
You do not want to look online

The mark-up on parts is extraordinary. The replacement alternator belt I've bought was about €50.

 

[chaser]

The mark-up on parts is extraordinary. The replacement alternator belt I've bought was about €50.

We have just arrived home and guess what the plane didn't crash

 

[Figaro]

When do you expect the van to arrive, has it been repaired in France or is that still ongoing ?

 

[chaser]

When do you expect the van to arrive, has it been repaired in France or is that still ongoing ?

They hadn't started it the last time we saw it
To be honest mate I have lost interest in it, I think I shall probably pack it in now as I have been saying for the last 3 years.

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[DavidG58]

I know how you feel but I think we will be back next year. Our problems are all down to my poor vehicle servicing.

Is that likely to backfire on you, didn’t you get a grilling about servicing when you first broke down

Hope it all works out OK

 

[DBK]

Is that likely to backfire on you, didn’t you get a grilling about servicing when you first broke down

Hope it all works out OK

It could backfire and we will have to pay for the recovery truck. But given how they have failed to find a garage who could do the repair in a reasonable time I'm hoping they won't won't look into things too deeply!

 

[chaser]

It could backfire and we will have to pay for the recovery truck. But given how they have failed to find a garage who could do the repair in a reasonable time I'm hoping they won't won't look into things too deeply!

I don't think it will come to that but I can now genuinely get you a truck for around 2 grand, wish I had have known at the start of my troubles, our van would have been at home now .

 

[Spriddler]

Good to know you're home O.K. but I'm getting a bit confused as to which/whose m/h is being referred to in the series of posts in this DBK thread. I'm pretty sure you had your own breakdown thread running but I can't seem to find it now.

 

[chaser]

Good to know you're home O.K. but I'm getting a bit confused as to which/whose m/h is being referred to in the series of posts in this DBK thread. I'm pretty sure you had your own breakdown thread running but I can't seem to find it now.

Yes it's still there mate we are just getting a bit mixed between the two now.

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[DBK]

Good to know you're home O.K. but I'm getting a bit confused as to which/whose m/h is being referred to in the series of posts in this DBK thread. I'm pretty sure you had your own breakdown thread running but I can't seem to find it now.

chaser 's thread about his problem is here:

Guys and gals I need your input.

If you lo e the van get it fixed you won't buy another for that price. Check the insurance may even pay for you to collect it. Don't forget your travel insurance will Cover the loss of your holiday. So you should get back ferry costs and any bookings. Good luck keep calm If Jim doesn't...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

But for various reasons some of the discussion has been held on this thread, mostly because we broke down on the same day not far apart.

 

[DBK]

We went on a "Pretty Villages" hunt today. The first to be visited was Puycelsi which has a long history of being besieged, firstly by the Celts and Romans then several times in Medieval times by various French factions and once even by the English. Due to its elevated position and massive walls it resisted all attacks apparently.

On a sunny day it is probably packed especially on weekends but we had the place virtually to ourselves on this wet Thursday. We found an empty parking area on the edge of the village just before a huge banner strung above the road which warned that parking was regulated beyond this point. After unsuccessfully trying to get a parking ticket from what turned out to be a charging point for electric cars I worked out parking here was free. In my defence the charging point wasn't very big and didn't look at all like a conventional charge point and identifying marks were minimal.

It was raining for most of our visit but only lightly so we deployed our umbrellas and went to explore.

The siege-defying walls.

This is an upper terrace, the square openings in the wall on the right are arrow slots on top of the lower wall.

The front door.

A small château.

Even smaller chapel.

Views of the streets and houses.

More walls.

No, I haven't started collecting photos of rubbish bins, it's the sign which attracted my attention, it means Robbers' or Thieves' Path. There's probably a shop for car spare parts at the end of it.

We then drove a little way to Bruniquel, another village on a hill with two castles. On the way it started to rain heavily and it was still raining when we arrived at the village. We stopped to park in an area which also allowed MH parking and on researching it later turns out to be the municipal aire which is completely free including water etc.

Bruniquel is a much bigger village than Puycelsi and it would have needed over an hour to see it properly. However, we were also stopped beside a restaurant, the time was 12:20 and we could see people inside sitting down to lunch. A change of plan was rapidly made.

Les Bastides had a €16 set menu and the reviews were generally favourable, wholesome food and generous portions seemed to be the theme.

Starters were melon and Parma ham.

The main course was turkey and rice, the mushroom sauce was very tasty. My fillet was tender but Mrs DBK's fillet was thinner and had been somewhat over-cooked as it was a bit dry.

But she pronounced her dessert as very good. It was described as a muffin but was extremely light.

I had the cheese selection and struggled to finish it as there was a lot of cheese.

The restaurant was just below the village but the houses on the right you can see are more modern I think. The castles are out of sight beyond the brow of the hill. They'll still be there if we ever come this way again.

A shopping day tomorrow and cleaning up the hire car to hand it back.

 

[Manic]

We stayed there earlier this , we had choose a different Aire but didn’t like it so moved on and glad we did.

 

[chaser]

Is there any news on your breakdown??

 

[DBK]

Is there any news on your breakdown??

We are booked into a garage on Tuesday. Hopefully it will be fixed then, I've bought all the bits needed. If not I'm going to connect the leisure batteries to the cab battery and we'll drive back to Roscoff in two hour hops between CCP aires, recharging overnight. I drove it on the cab battery only for 45 minutes when trying to find a garage which would fix it and I think it could have done more. When I drove it to the first garage only to find they couldn't help I hadn't charged the cab battery and an orange warning light came on warning "Hill start not available" which I'm certain was due to low voltage. This doesn't appear now after I've charged the battery although a "Check engine" light comes on which I suspect is a legacy of the earlier warning light. This light didn't come on when the fault first developed. The only light was the red battery warning light.

We hired a car this week and did some exploring so the week wasn't wasted. The prospect of driving round numerous garages trying to find one which could do the job quickly didn't appeal. I'm taking the low-stress approach.

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