If the last two weeks are anything to go by then I'm afraid its Chateau hands down!
After having abandoned ship (pardon the pun) two days early and headed inland to Hans and Rene Wackwitz' lovely chateau in the Tarn, about 45 minutes NE of Toulouse, we were well pleased to have our feet firmly placed on terra firma once again. Hans and Rene's chateau is set in surroundings of sunflower, maize and wheat fields and in an area of France that we all agreed is particularly picturesque....and largely "sans tourists"!
It rained for the first three days of our stay here but that didn't make all that much difference as we were so pleased to have so much space around us.......so pleased in fact that we only briefly left the property to visit the local supermarket to re-stock the larder and visit Gaillac in the wine growing area of the region for a walkabout and lunch. After the dull villages of the Canal du Midi (baring Carcasonne) , it was great to be in a town with some life and energy. The kids spent the days exploring the house and hunting for rabbits in the enormous grounds - with not much luck as far as the rabbits go despite dad's offer of Euro10 per live rabbit and Euro 5 per deadrabbit.......what Dad's will do for a bit of peace and quiet!
I'm not sure why it is but we always seem to end up in kitchen stores when we visit French towns and Gaillac was no exception...probably something to do with the fact that the kitchen stores in Brussels are so crap! Needless to say, we managed to add some purchases to our collection.
Hans and Rene, their two sons (Justin (13) Charlie (9)) and their adorable 4 month old Jack Russel Polo, joined us at the house late on Wednesday evening. Marion, the boys and I all enjoyed, once again, having some alternative company other than "just the four of us" and Kyle took to Justin the minute he met him and barely left his side for the next four days.......Kyle made an interesting shadow to Justin's tall lanky profile. Sean, Kyle, Justin and Charlie became almost inseperable over the next five days and many fun hours were had playing football, swimming, climbing and the like. The highlight though was playing with Polo and we have all agreed that its time to add a younger dog to the family when we get back to Brussels - although I'm not sure how Bert is going to react to that idea. Having said that though, Bert stood his ground when confronted with a playful Polo trying to invade his peace.
Marion and I also enjoyed having the opportunity to spend more time with Hans and Rene and to get to know them a little better. Hans is a member of YPO in Brussels and has been one of the several YPO members who have reached out to us since we arrived in Belgium and have made our settling in process that little bit easier for which we are most grateful.
We visited a number of really nice towns over the next few days including Lavaur, L'Isle sur Tarn and Cordes sur Ciel which despite some "Hilltop Town" fatigue proved to be most enjoyable. In particular, Cordes proved to be a real hit with the boys thanks to a medieval festival being held on Bastille Day. It never ceases to amaze Marion and I what an effort Europeans put into having a good time. Every village, town, city....you name it....has festival after festival devoted to anything historical, edible, drinkable and anything else they can think of...and the locals put loads of effort into making these as festive as possible.
The Cordes festival was no different and you would be excused for thinking that you had stepped back in time with loads of medieval entertainment and free entry to people dressed up in medieval attire meaning that the town was crawling with appropriately dressed folk. We practised shooting with a bow and arrow, watched the flag waving demonstration, listened to medieval music, looked into the medieval Lord's tent, gazed at the medieval weapons, admired the spectatular view, ate medieval biscuits, told stories of medieval times and ended things by visiting the town museum which was a reproduction of a royal medieval house. For many years, Cordes, founded by the Count of Toulouse, was on the pilgrims' route to Saint Jacques de Compostello and so was a relatively wealthy spot in its time.
After having tired of preparing dinners for 8 people we decided to all head off to Gaillac for dinner on Sunday evening to find....you guessed it....another "fete" in progress, this time a "fete generale" with the obligatory fun fair having taken over the entire village much to the delight to four younger members of the party who disappeared only to return with all sorts of Chinese made junk from swords to stop watches to pen knives......won much to our horror in some kind of gambling game which Justin haddeclared was so much fun that they could get addicted to it.
Monday evening took us in to Toulouse for a guided tour by Hans around the centre of the town before sitting down for dinner in the very pleasant Place St Georges with the "Touloise" (if there is such a word) thankfully sparing us the "fete" treatment....two nights in a row would be a bridge too far! After Paris, Toulouse is the second largest University town in France which probably accounts for the high energy levels that one couldn't but help notice. Although we only spent a few hours there, Toulouse seems like a fun place and will be added to the list of the places we'd like to return to one day for a more indepth visit.
Tuesday morning saw us packing up the car (again!)and leaving the Wackwitz' and their Chateau to headoff to Roques sur Garonne outside Toulouse to collect our motorhome that will be our home for the next 18 days of "camping" before we head back to Brussels at the beginning of August. We have now survived the first two days camping but, given our "success" on the boat we are not offering any odds on whether we'll manage the full 18 days or not. We've changed our plans and will no longer be taking on the 120 degree arc between the SW and N of France but have opted for a more sedate and less challenging itinerary that will see us heading for the beach and the Aquitaine region.
To be honest, travel fatigue is starting to set in and we are all longing for the familiarity of home and to once again having a day to day routine....and most of all to our beds and our pillows.
When next you read this Blog we may well be writing it from Brussels...as they say, stay tuned!
PS: Bert has fully recovered and is now well enough to travel in a basket hanging from the handlebars of my bike......much to the amusement of all that we pass by!
After having abandoned ship (pardon the pun) two days early and headed inland to Hans and Rene Wackwitz' lovely chateau in the Tarn, about 45 minutes NE of Toulouse, we were well pleased to have our feet firmly placed on terra firma once again. Hans and Rene's chateau is set in surroundings of sunflower, maize and wheat fields and in an area of France that we all agreed is particularly picturesque....and largely "sans tourists"!
It rained for the first three days of our stay here but that didn't make all that much difference as we were so pleased to have so much space around us.......so pleased in fact that we only briefly left the property to visit the local supermarket to re-stock the larder and visit Gaillac in the wine growing area of the region for a walkabout and lunch. After the dull villages of the Canal du Midi (baring Carcasonne) , it was great to be in a town with some life and energy. The kids spent the days exploring the house and hunting for rabbits in the enormous grounds - with not much luck as far as the rabbits go despite dad's offer of Euro10 per live rabbit and Euro 5 per deadrabbit.......what Dad's will do for a bit of peace and quiet!
I'm not sure why it is but we always seem to end up in kitchen stores when we visit French towns and Gaillac was no exception...probably something to do with the fact that the kitchen stores in Brussels are so crap! Needless to say, we managed to add some purchases to our collection.
Hans and Rene, their two sons (Justin (13) Charlie (9)) and their adorable 4 month old Jack Russel Polo, joined us at the house late on Wednesday evening. Marion, the boys and I all enjoyed, once again, having some alternative company other than "just the four of us" and Kyle took to Justin the minute he met him and barely left his side for the next four days.......Kyle made an interesting shadow to Justin's tall lanky profile. Sean, Kyle, Justin and Charlie became almost inseperable over the next five days and many fun hours were had playing football, swimming, climbing and the like. The highlight though was playing with Polo and we have all agreed that its time to add a younger dog to the family when we get back to Brussels - although I'm not sure how Bert is going to react to that idea. Having said that though, Bert stood his ground when confronted with a playful Polo trying to invade his peace.
Marion and I also enjoyed having the opportunity to spend more time with Hans and Rene and to get to know them a little better. Hans is a member of YPO in Brussels and has been one of the several YPO members who have reached out to us since we arrived in Belgium and have made our settling in process that little bit easier for which we are most grateful.
We visited a number of really nice towns over the next few days including Lavaur, L'Isle sur Tarn and Cordes sur Ciel which despite some "Hilltop Town" fatigue proved to be most enjoyable. In particular, Cordes proved to be a real hit with the boys thanks to a medieval festival being held on Bastille Day. It never ceases to amaze Marion and I what an effort Europeans put into having a good time. Every village, town, city....you name it....has festival after festival devoted to anything historical, edible, drinkable and anything else they can think of...and the locals put loads of effort into making these as festive as possible.
The Cordes festival was no different and you would be excused for thinking that you had stepped back in time with loads of medieval entertainment and free entry to people dressed up in medieval attire meaning that the town was crawling with appropriately dressed folk. We practised shooting with a bow and arrow, watched the flag waving demonstration, listened to medieval music, looked into the medieval Lord's tent, gazed at the medieval weapons, admired the spectatular view, ate medieval biscuits, told stories of medieval times and ended things by visiting the town museum which was a reproduction of a royal medieval house. For many years, Cordes, founded by the Count of Toulouse, was on the pilgrims' route to Saint Jacques de Compostello and so was a relatively wealthy spot in its time.
After having tired of preparing dinners for 8 people we decided to all head off to Gaillac for dinner on Sunday evening to find....you guessed it....another "fete" in progress, this time a "fete generale" with the obligatory fun fair having taken over the entire village much to the delight to four younger members of the party who disappeared only to return with all sorts of Chinese made junk from swords to stop watches to pen knives......won much to our horror in some kind of gambling game which Justin haddeclared was so much fun that they could get addicted to it.
Monday evening took us in to Toulouse for a guided tour by Hans around the centre of the town before sitting down for dinner in the very pleasant Place St Georges with the "Touloise" (if there is such a word) thankfully sparing us the "fete" treatment....two nights in a row would be a bridge too far! After Paris, Toulouse is the second largest University town in France which probably accounts for the high energy levels that one couldn't but help notice. Although we only spent a few hours there, Toulouse seems like a fun place and will be added to the list of the places we'd like to return to one day for a more indepth visit.
Tuesday morning saw us packing up the car (again!)and leaving the Wackwitz' and their Chateau to headoff to Roques sur Garonne outside Toulouse to collect our motorhome that will be our home for the next 18 days of "camping" before we head back to Brussels at the beginning of August. We have now survived the first two days camping but, given our "success" on the boat we are not offering any odds on whether we'll manage the full 18 days or not. We've changed our plans and will no longer be taking on the 120 degree arc between the SW and N of France but have opted for a more sedate and less challenging itinerary that will see us heading for the beach and the Aquitaine region.
To be honest, travel fatigue is starting to set in and we are all longing for the familiarity of home and to once again having a day to day routine....and most of all to our beds and our pillows.
When next you read this Blog we may well be writing it from Brussels...as they say, stay tuned!
PS: Bert has fully recovered and is now well enough to travel in a basket hanging from the handlebars of my bike......much to the amusement of all that we pass by!
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