Big Skies

I was just riding around, looking at the sights but it was such a warm sunny day at Marseillan Plage in early October. But the sky was wonderful and the 'light' superb.

But a pity about the name of this place, the 'Grau de Pisse-Saumes'. This is the southern channel between the Etang de Thau and the Mediterranean Sea.

The Sky....look at the sky!

The channel could be anywhere, but only in SW France is there sky like this in October.

But, hey what's this?

It is an Automated Boat Storage and Handling Facility. We in the engineering community in the UK would call this a 'ABSHF'

Drive up in your little weekender

The equipment takes over

Your boat is transporter into storage

And placed in a rack. There are 258 storage places in this facility, all available in 4 minutes.

Clever stuff. I built facilities like this for Air Cargo handling for the RAF. Memory jogged!

NO SPAM

Like a lot of bloggers I get hit by spam.

Blogger filters them so you readers don't see them, but I have to manually remove anonymous spam content from the spam file, my email accounts and my laptop/Iphone.

It has become a pain in the erse.

I have changed my Blogger settings as a first step in the defence against web abuse.

So regular readers you will need, at least for a while, to use word verification/captcha when you post a comment.

Sorry, but that is the way it is.

Here is the origin of the term, long before the internet was invented.

Monty Python: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE

LIGHT, Its all about the Light

L'Etang de Thau, Marseillan and Canal du Midi.

So what is so attractive about a bit of coastal France, not very pretty in itself and with no great architectural or social advantages. The coast of SW France is very popular, it has strong indigenous industries and is a popular tourist destination. But the sea water is cold (believe me, it is bloody freezing!) the facilities are not great, scenery is nothing to write home about, and it is not 'cheap'. So why is it so and what's it all about?

I will show you!

It is a wet drab day in the Port of Agde, Saturday Market 29th Sept 2012. It is luchtime and they are packing up already.  Could be anywhere.

At the harbour in Agde a few minutes later and the weather has turned for the worse and it is slinging it down. I got soaked and  had to shelter before making the ride back to the campervan. Grim.

But look at this! Tuesday 2nd Oct 2012, a few hours later, a couple of miles away from Agde, at the entrance to the Canal Du Midi things have changed out of all recognition and the view is sublime. The canal of course is made famous for us Brits by the Prince of Padstow, Rick Stein.

The canal is reached from an inland sea, adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea.
The water is called the Etang du Thau, and this is the Canal Du Midi at the entrance at Les Onglous. 

The object of my attention this day was the village Marseillan, one of the ancient fishing and trading ports of the region. It all looks a bit flat and ordinary.....

Now we are at Marseillan, after half an hour on the cycling routes.

But notice the light! The sun is shining the clouds have gone and the place takes on a new aura.
For those who might be interested, the phenomena is not at all a figment of the travel copywriters imagination, it is called 'Rayleigh Scattering' and is a result of sunlight being dispersed by the molecules of gas in the air. It makes the sky blue and all other things bright and beautiful, as you can see from this pic.
This geographic region (Langeudoc) has clean unpolluted air, usual low cloud levels and warmth and sunshine unknown almost in Northern Europe. The pollution is so low that oysters from the Etang (which translates into English as 'pond') can be consumed without further cleansing. The water, by the way, is crystal clear. 
This light is the main attraction. It happens in many parts of the Mediterranean but non so more than at this coastal region.

Note the 'Joutes Nautiques' (jousting boats) which are used for a famous sporting event in the region.

The most famous industry in Marseillan is Noilly Prat vermouth, and the focus of my attention for part of the day. Rick Stein recommends it for his famous fish sauces! I'll have mine on the rocks please.

Blanc de Blancs. You can see why Noilly Prat use the mental image of such intensity. This craft is in the small harbour just across from the winery.

 A lot of english accents were detected in the bars along the harbour! No not lager louts either!

But this is the 'light', typified by the intense blue sky and blue hues.
The little harbour at Marseillan is bathed in wonderful light that uplifts the soul and pleases the mind. I also helps when the temperature is a balmy 25deg C!

The mandatory French municipal square and boules pitch! 

The village centre was occupied by the local market. Strangely, markets in France seem to close at lunchtime....

Now this caught my eye. I admire the French for their innovation and their directness at enterprise which  is refreshing.
I saw this contraption at the far side of the harbour at Marseillan and was impressed with the initiative of it all.

It is a kite surfing training facility!

The trainees, who on this occasion were mainly Asian students, use the 'tow' to get them onto the plane and practice surfing along. It looks quite difficult, but easier than a kite!

A nice compact training school, and looking successful.

OK James tell us about UK facilities.

Across the 'pond' the 'hill' on the right is Mont St-Clair at Sete at the junction between the Etang du Thau and the Mediterranean Sea. Notice the 'workers' in swimwear in the deckchairs. Wouldn't you like to work here? Bathed in this light?

Medieval South West France, Cathare Country!

Some b*stard has been spamming this thread so I have changed the title to throw them off the trail.....

Carcassonne is a place in South West France I have driven passed many times, but this time I determined it was time to investigate. Having been saved from ruin and waste it is now a World Heritage Site and quite a place to go.
It seems that there were Crusades against the inhabitants and mass expulsions and no doubt, murder and genocide all perpetrated about the same time in the middle ages as the city where I dwell was being built

The killing ground is the gap between the outer and inner defences where invaders were to be picked off by sharpshooters on the right with their trusty crossbows. The lady cyclist didn't give a damn.

Walking up from the campsite the medieval ramparts hove into view

Restoration in the 1850's is not conceptually correct. The central tower with its timber balcony structure is more accurate.

Overlooking the old town the domination is impressive

This is the main entrance from the North, the one I used.

Apparently this is the oldest part of the defences, the old Keep

Timber battlements were a common feature

The slate roofs are a late addition, but really add to the menace of the whole location

The contrasting textures in this picture are astounding, the materials are natural and the sunshine delightful.

In the centre of all the defences is the Chateau, the final redoubt.

But, what about lunch. The middle lower window on the building to the left was  my restaurant for Lunch, and very nice it was too.

A final view looking back on my departure.

Beaulieu sur Dordogne

Belting south, down through central France, heading for the Dordogne. I am on a mission to get to stay with friends for the weekend, because I have to fly back to the UK for important business, before returning for the onward journey.

Wow, look at the bling. Still nice and clean after a good wash and polish at home.

The target location was a Caravan Club recommended site in Beaulieu sur Dordogne, on an island in the Dordogne River.

The weir could be heard night and day, it is just next to the pitches

The entrance to Camping les Isles. OK you might mock the satellite dishes but the WIFI on site was fast and available FREE! Other sites might reflect on this.

It was so peaceful and quiet after all the driving.

Across the river, a scene that has been there for centuries

But moving on....another more famous location is to come. Ha!

Fountains Abbey

It has been a long held ambition to visit Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire. It is a world heritage site and my history, linked with the similar Furness Abbey gives me a point of reference concerning historic locations such as these.
I was expecting a load of old ruined church buildings, and I was not disabused of that, but what was magical about the place was the way in which the Ancients had selected the location, built great edifices there and made a statement to the world.

The peacefulness and calm of this place is truly divine and extraordinary.

Just think, whilst we go about our business, rushing hither and yon, this magical place just exists, quietly, in peace. Think on.....as they say hereabouts.

Champagne, what's it all about?

One of the wonders that certain clever people have created is the magic of Champagne.
It is a culture all on its own, a marketing example to the world and just good fun.

Fizzy alcoholic drink, no not alcopops, something with style, exclusivity, desirability and expensiveness, just like certain smart shopping centres, but think Ascot not Wembley, Cowes not Twickenham, Bath not Bristol.

So I have been to the Freixenet winery in Spain, purely by chance as I was in the NE of that country, near Barcelona. That was a good experience and you can see the pics in a previous post. But I always had in mind a trip to the Champagne region of France, just for educational purposes of course.

The centre of the Champagne region is at Epernay, not Rheims as I thought. In fact these few pics are taken in a village called Hautvillers, and it is really the epicentre of Champagne history, being where the monk, Dom Perignon laboured and developed the Champagne Process.

The local Marie (Town Hall), very typical of the region.

Hautvillers on a weekday morning, nobody about!

But it has got to mean something when big wine barrels are emerging from the walls!

But shortcut to later in the day and 20 km from Epernay, down in the cellars of a famous Champagne House in Rheims no less.

The bottles are there!

The Roman caves are occupied! Note that the walls are running with condensation and it is just 12 deg C.

Click the picture and you will see where we are. 

Now we see the smooth marketing bit of the process..

Yes, the cheap stuff was 25 Euro a bottle.....

And the expensive stuff, quite a bit more...

But what an experience. Fabulous old premises built over Roman caves. But remember they really make the stuff down the road on an industrial estate, just off the ring road, next to the tyre factory, Ha!