OK, we’ve been here at Fanjeaux on the sheep farm for 11 days. Our original plan was stay here 18 days catching up with friends, not only campsite owners Luc and Nadine but also other regular camping visitors. However, the…

There are several reasons that I’ve been falling out of love with eating out in restaurants. Years ago, the chief reason was probably having to put up with some git puffing foul cigarette smoke into the air at a nearby…

There’s a road near here, heading south from Limoux, that we’ve been singularly remiss about investigating on all of our many visits. We set out to correct our oversight. The first target en route after Limoux, which was smothered by…

… my on-going survey . The story so far. This farm’s irrigation lake, a lake of about 2 hectares, used to swarm with libellules (dragonflies and damselflies). I have recorded 18 species here, though a couple were admittedly most likely…

As usual, when we arrived at our campsite we drove onto our assigned pitch and had in-depth discussions as to where precisely to site Guillaume. We’ve been here on this pitch so many times sthat we know pretty much where…

We’ve spent a pleasant week in the Marais Poitevin with Mike & Linda but now it’s time for us to head south. What we haven’t done yet is pay for our 8-night stay at the Arçais camping municipale. francois, the…

The Marais Poitevin is in some ways quite unlike anywhere else we’re familiar with in France. One of the most enjoyable shopping experiences in France, even for one such as myself who does not regard shopping as a recreational pastime,…

Friend Mike was keen to show us a few parts of “the marsh” with which we would probably be unfamiliar. Two in particular that he had in mind were less than straightforward for a local to find. Nonetheless, find them…

What a difference a night makes. Yesterday evening we’d been sitting outside sipping beers and glasses of wine in sunshine, albeit punctuated by clouds. This morning we’d awoken to Guillaume’s roof covered in rain drops and a Normandy countryside swathed…

A depressingly cold and grey spring thus far had made us, shall we say, less than enthusiastic about our preparations for another spring migration to France. Indeed, I had seriously considered turning up at Dover sans caravan and simply driving…