shewhomust | Home again

Home from nearly three weeks in France: it was a splendid holiday, full of unexpected things, many of them agreeable, and some expected things too. We had made no advance bookings, and although we planned to drive south and west, spending some time in the Auvergne and just south, in the Lozere, and some more time in that part of the southwest best identified as Corbières and Minervois (though the appeal was not only the wines of the area, but also its historical significance as the stronghold of the Cathar heresy). Our plans were no more specific than that, and changed with the weather - and the weather kept changing. We had only three really wet days, and they were all days on the road (including yesterday, leaving London in a downpour), but we also had showers, hot sunny days, thick mist and one heavy fall of snow. There were good meals, and strange foods: we ate whelks, and surprising quantities of melted cheese. There was wine, and more wine, and visiting wine producers, and harvest-time, and there was whisky from the Montagne de Reims (or should that be whiskey?). One or two really good walks, but the weather meant that we walked less and drove more than we had intended - then again, if we hadn't driven so far, we wouldn't have reached the Mediterranean, and we were both glad to have done that. There was shopping at the market, and being tourists, and just lying around reading good books (which we had had the foresight to pack), and once or twice there was even finding a hotel with wi-fi (pronounced "le weefy") and checking in with real life.

And I took photos and scribbled notes, and in due course some of those may turn up here.