Yesterday leaving Fumel in what promised to be a glorious day…

Kevin dropped us to the train station for our first leg to Agen (45minutes)

As we had nearly an hour changeover, we took a stroll (towing suitcases) into town…

Kind of cute, but we didn’t have much time to dally as our next train from Agen to Narbonne left at 11.30am…this one 2 and a half hours…then jumping on the TGV at 2.30pm from Narbonne to Barcelona (crossing into Spain) and we arrived around 4.30pm .. to a madhouse…Bolt app didn’t work, Uber wanted ID number (which was buried in my bag somewhere) so we lined up with the masses for a black and yellow Barcelona Taxi! Arriving at our boat accommodation around 6pm and $60 poorer!

This is our one…aptly named Carter! And these are our neighbours!

Think we’ll be safe!!

Only downside is the loo! Only for number 1s, no toilet paper and we are guessing hasn’t been emptied all summer, as when we flush the pump the liquid disappears then refills with 6months worth of combined stale urine!! After battling with it last night and (not) stomaching the disturbing odour we have decided for us overnight a bucket is a better option!

We do have a swipe card for the port bathrooms, a five minute walk, where we can shower and do our ablutions…you get what you pay for!!!

Everything else is great…three cabins,

Kitchen

And a great outside lounge area

And the location is fabulous….not that anyone is very social…living their lives of the rich and famous..

Our little boat is the fourth one in from the pier in the forefront of this picture!

After the day of travelling we had an early night (10ish) and a reasonable sleep apart from the toilet aroma!!! This morning was unrushed as we settled in and then we started walking…

Over this bridge that spans the marina and 14 meters high..

With a great view of the inside marina…

Outer marina and breakwater…

With the dry dock and repair yard on the south side…

A huge structure of solar panels on the down side of the bridge.

Then we meandered on…. La Sagrada familia basilica our target for the day…trying to avoid trains or buses and travelling by foot…

Today was a national public holiday and the streets we took were very quiet, most things closed…however first coffee bar we came across almost an hour in, we stopped at!

The cardinal (George) rule, never eat at a cafe that has pictures!!! We were ok….the coffee was great, cheap and the toilets clean!!! (And we didn’t eat!)

Google walking maps took us towards our goal…

Some amazing architecture in this city..,

La Torre Agbar…Barcelonas equivalent of the sky tower (Auckland) …and mixing the new with the old…

Apartment building

The monumental Bullring of Barcelona and finally we found the tourist population at La Sagrada Familia Basilica – designed in 1882 – work began in 1891…and as you will see from the following images it is still a work in progress in the 21st century!

The cranes are still working…

Looking up at the first towers

And from the front….best I could do with tourists and buses…blocking the best views…I would say social media is flooded with images of this structure as people were taking selfies, posing, and pics with their cup of drink….etc…

We didn’t feel the need for an inside tour, queues long and we have seen some magnificent churches on our journeys!

A bite to eat and we started on the walk back…realising we may have taken on an overload of steps today…over 20k….footsore, even the hint of a blister and the old knee injuries telling us enough is enough!

We thankfully returned to our world of Aston Martins (yep two of them) and super-yachts … and our loo bucket!!!

This morning we are once again packed and ready for a big days travel (bus-train-train) to Barcelona, where we can don our red socks and watch some yachts race….as they battle for the right to race NZ in the Americas cup!

So we say goodbye to Fumel, where we have spent the last 12 days, Sues family and all our new friends!!

The office cat!! Making sure we settle our bill…

Rols in his French workplace and our home for this stay…

The owner of the hotel, who we had lots of laughs with…

Third dinner at La Dolce Vita – who treated us like locals (well Kev and Rols are) the Chef becoming very friendly as we walked past his ugly truck on our way to Kev and Rols house..

The French version of a Hilux!

And the many changing moods of the Lot river with our village of Fumel rising up the hill!

While we have had rain and jeans and jersey weather most days…the sun has broken through in the afternoons to lighten the load…and being chauffeured around by Sue’s family has made this a fabulous sojourn on our trip…Trudi has even picked up a few French words and can Bonjour with the best of them!

On The Lot river, 2nd longest river in France, which runs through Fumel in southwest France and many other towns and villages, found the wanderers aboard a small riverboat trip…having postponed from last Sunday due to rain and rescheduled for this Sunday! (Which still had rain but no further postponement opportunity!)

But first, we were taken to a castle, (Castle Fole in the nearby town of Penne) where there was a huge brocante (car boot market) to coin a translation from the recently published book – Living and Loving in the Lot!!! Just saying not a fantastic read!

Temperatures dropped, and rain began to fall….Trudi donned Roland’s Puffer jacket and Sue purchased a pair of jeans (€3) and a mohair jumper (€5) to layer up under the denim overall dress…yes certainly looked like she had dressed herself today – especially when adding the pink plastic poncho to keep the rain at bay! Trudi bought hot chips!!!

Then it was off to the wharf at St Sylvestre where we were going to have a picnic of our delicious homemade sandwiches before boarding our boat….

By now it was raining very hard, but as luck would have it we found, the only, carpark under the bridge….

We stood and ate our sandwiches in the dry area….and with temperatures dropping even more, Roland chose the comfort and warmth of the car under the bridge while Trudi, Sue and Kevin battled the weather to take our river cruise regardless!

Sue, layered and ponchoed up…in all her glory…

Trudi and Kevin, nice and dry under the roof of the bateau (boat) again narrating with the odd French word thrown in!!

The rain eased as we set off…

The water still as a mirror in the unsettled conditions – reflections amazing!

We left the village as the rain stopped and accompanied by a very verbose French lady (giving us a commentary and Kevin giving us the short English version) ….to more stunning mirror images…now for the photo bomb of our trip…

With only us three and four other passengers and one dog, there was plenty of room to duck and dive from side to side and up front…

A castle on the riverbank – 20 rooms that can be rented as a Gite (book a bach)…continuing with the trend….

Fly fishermen on the edge of the river….

Private boats at jetty’s…

Another castle as we u-turned to head back….with having just sheltered from a downpour and yet another drop in temperature…the sun started to breakthrough and the mirror images were outstanding…

Almost like there were two identical worlds…

Houses and trees….

Cloud reflections mirrored in the river as we neared our starting point…

And like Narnia though the mirror to the other side under the bridge…

A group photo kindly taken by one of the other passengers…

Looking back up the river before docking…

An hour and a half later…A fabulous €10 trip that we were happy we ignored the weather and took the ride, donned in all our extra winter vetements (clothes) just to top off the franglaise theme going on here!

Home to Fumel, sunshine and layers peeled off!

I arrived in Paris Montparnasse around 8pm on Wednesday night.. two bags in tow and took a taxi to my friends in Clichy! A cool beer and a yummy salad and hit sack by 11pm..to wake to torrential rain…with no shoe or clothes change for the return journey…after a walk to the supermarket, shoes, socks and jeans saturated….gave up on the idea of getting back to Montparnasse by metro and took a taxi there for the return journey! The train station is huge – 14 long haul platforms to choose from…a red shirted controller pointed me in the right direction and I waited for 30 minutes hoping I was in the right place as the platform finally came up on the board!!! Found my carriage (18 of 20) and got in my seat…wet feet, and yesterday’s clothes! Not daring to move and get lost in this unfamiliar world! We left on time for the 4 hour journey to Agen, where I had 15 minutes to find my small train home to Fumel! Somewhere along the way we lost 8 minutes and my transfer became 7 minutes – from my carriage at the far end of the platform to another platform!!! Running I dropped into my last seat with 4 minutes to spare! Finally arriving back at the hotel around 6pm! Where we were booked into the local pizza restaurant for dinner…

At last enjoying the slower pace of our country village…devouring three huge pizzas between us and washed down with wine and beer…

Home and bed….and then after my wet day my cough kicked back in so had a rather restless night…

Today we took a trip to Cahors, the closest large town east from here on the Lot river…through the small villages on the other side of the river, stopping in Luzech for our morning coffee!

After which we took a wander through the streets back to the car…

Every town has an impressive church…this one surrounded by an even larger cemetery….

And bridges zigzagging across the Lot river…then on to Cahors for lunch…heading for the Pukeko cafe(run by a kiwi)…

Only to find it closed for lunch on a Friday…the lunch window again midday until 2pm! Cafes open, shops closed. We found another one nearer the river and had our main meal for the day….

After almost getting run over we crossed to the riverside….

Where there didn’t appear to be a lock for riverboats…

But still sporting impressive bridges….rain threatening we wandered through the town…

Perusing the shops that had now reopened after the midday to 2pm lunch closure…

Cobbled streets and colourful chairs…

Another church…

Massive doors and tiny Trudi…

The tourist train….full of visitors

And a very ugly statue welcoming those to the church….the gothic style of the area in full force!

As Roland had to work this evening, we headed back (the hours drive) around 3.30pm…by which time the humidity (after a chilly day) had set in for the impending rain, which duly arrived around 5pm….its an early night for the wanderers and possibly a quiet day tomorrow as the weather gods are promising a wet Saturday!

I sit in the TGV from Agen to Paris…ridding the wanderers of two months luggage and travelling light to our next destinations!!!!

Yesterday was a repacking day in readiness go for Sue’s solo trip to Paris to leave 2 (large) suitcases at our final destination! A small shop and lunch at Le Clerc (supermarket) at 1pm and resting afternoon as the rain dropped down off and on all day….the flowers above are just on the plants around our hotel, flourishing in the cooler wet climate of south west France!

In the evening we had a drink at the hotel with the owner (she only had coffee) and enjoyed the friendly street cats getting spoiled with hotel (cat) food!!

Very healthy street cats!!!

We turned in around 9pm…and of course Sue was up early…mentally preparing for her rather large side trip to Paris…

This morning was rather overcast and cool, so we took a long walk around the Fumel area to warm up!!

Passing what appeared to be some old (now unused) public baths – don’t know the back story on these…

Down to the Lot river…

Locals fishing…

The old bridge archways

The new bridge crossing…under which we walked..

With murals telling the story of the original lifeblood of Fumel – the now closed steelworks, which even supplied parts of the Eiffel Tower in Paris when it was being constructed.

Several kilometres of derelict steel works buildings lie beside the river between Fumel and the next town (Monsempron)

We walked for around 2 hours, main streets and back streets admiring the huge back (vege) gardens that hide behind the Main Street fronted villas!

We now know how the locals spend their days…many were out pottering around in their gardens.. just a note here…all weed sprays, insecticides, chemical washes are banned in France..as deemed to be bad for animals and humans! I guess that explains why much is overgrown and weeds sprout up everywhere….as they have a free range life!

We headed back to our hotel around midday to get ready for the afternoon train rides…

Stopping half way up the hill on a couple of very strategically placed chairs for legs that need a rest!

Kevin dropped us to the local train at 1pm, Trudi accompanied Sue and Bags on the first 45 minute ride, hung out at station until Sue and Bags safely ensconced in Paris bound TGV (3-4 hour journey which was an hour late leaving) , then caught the little train back … for a good nights sleep and sleep in while Sue stays the night, dumps the bags and retraces todays journey in reverse from Paris to Fumel’

Today was a mini train trip further inland to the town of Périgueux – a 1hour 45min ride on the little train from Monsempron-libos…

Being a provincial line, minimal maintenance on the train lines…but somehow it worked….

Over bridges….

Past farmlands (yes cows!)…

And village markets…arriving in Perigueux around 11.30am…however being a Monday in rural France – most shops are closed…so it was window shopping(which possibly saved our bank accounts)…

And for all you kiwis…the Otago Rugby shop…

We sourced a coffee first stop at a wine bar…

Then set off to explore the old town…

Strolling the streets and watching the cafes open at midday for the two hour lunch window…but first the Perigueux cathedral….

Yes there is one in every town…and the style seems to follow a certain theme…

Cool block inside and stained glass windows adorning every alcove…one change to the wooden pews were the old cane chairs…

Bringing back memories of dining at our grandparents in the 60s! In one door and out another to the garden (well trees on a terrace) overlooking the town…

And another angle of the cathedral…

Circumnavigating the church – while there was construction on the square, we were provided with the best view of the multiple domes…

By this time we only had an hour left of the lunch window and found a cafe in one of side alleys of the old town…seemed to be popular with the locals and all French….in hindsight I guess they saw us coming…

First the girl who told us to take a seat and she would be with us in 5 minutes, then proceeded to ignore us for half an hour. At least we had our bottle of water to sip on! Trudi then asked for the menu and we were once again ignored for another half an hour while those (French) who arrived after us had their orders taken and drinks delivered! We finally caught the attention of the only other waiter, by this time nicknamed “Basil Faulty” as he was darting around like a headless chicken!

The one other foreigner had sat and left by this stage giving up in despair…however by the time Basil took our order we had our requests down pat! Another half an hour and our salad arrived…

Still no drinks – one beer and one wine…getting a little cross we asked about the drinks and they arrived another 10 minutes later…we sat without food and drink for nearly an hour and a half! We quickly ate drank and left with half an hour before our return train…and a 20 minute walk!

Reaching our little train with 10 minutes to spare and reversing our journey from the morning!

Today (Sunday) we woke to the predicted rain and thunderstorms…meeting the family at 11.30am for lunch and adventures….for the first time in two months we dragged out the plastic ponchos!

Our first stop was Penne d’agenais for lunch on the terrace in the rain…

At which time the operator of our riverboat cruise (booked) phoned and asked if we wished to postpone…due to the rain and that we were the only ones on it…we all agreed it was a good call mainly due to the weather!

However by the time we left the restaurant the rain had gone and the sky’s were lightening…the boys took us to the medieval village with the church on the hill for a wander…

Not sure wander is the right word … more a climb….

Up through the village….

Further up….and

Nearing the top!!! First thing we saw was the church cemetery, possibly appropriate after the climb…

And the church on the top…

Entrance and inside..

Again adorned with leadlights…the views from the top were amazing once we had caught our breath!

A little further up…and looking back down on the church and dome…

And the statues….

Then it was down….as rain once again threatened…

At least getting in 4K of our 10k steps…I would say double it for the uphill climb…

Kevin then drove us through a nearby 4 star fantasy hotel (very posh for this area)…Le Stelsia…

Kind of looks like something out of Disneyland!

Merry go round and other children’s activities, pool, mini golf, and rooms to rent in the hotel up to €430.00 per night….kind of out of our budget!

We headed back home around 4pm to our respective abodes, ours the Brit Hotel in Fumel…

Very nice too and especially at our family and friends tariff!

The rain has gone (for now) and the sun is shining…in our quiet little village of Fumel!

As the hotel cat sleeps the morning away…

Breakfast done and a wander to the Fumel castle….

Early morning overcast and the gardens with a view….this will now be a photo overload….

Looking back at the castle…

The stone archways…

The big chair!!!

Flowers!

The view back to our hotel…

The lot river looking west….

And east….just so green and floral and peaceful as autumn touches the trees…

This village is the cutest and picturesque and we could get lost in this world forever!

A quick stop at our local village church – inside and drinking in the amazing stained glass windows….

Back to our hotel for a quick freshen up before meeting Kevin and Rols and heading east(not far) to The Château de Bonaguil which was the last of the fortified castles and built in the 13th century….high on the hills…

Kevin drives us to the top and we walked down….

Rols and Sue surveying the scenery…

Trudi and Sue playing “where’s Wally?” In the daisy’s outside the chapel!

The cobbled walk down the narrow village streets….to be collected by Kevin (and car) taking a scenic route (through forests) back to Fumel to collect our picnic and head further west to the town of Saint-vite where we set up camp in the park on the edge of the lot river…

Tablecloth and all!!! Baguette, cheese, pate, ham, tomato….watermelon and lemon tarts!

Trudi Kevin and Roland decided a game of cards was in order, Sue not being a card person took a wander to the river….

The sun was now shining and the temperatures rising…

The river a mirror of the trees…

The team packed up and headed back mid afternoon for some inside time and met later at the local cafe….

For a drink before heading to the local pizza restaurant for dinner….Saturday done and dusted and time for sleep ready for tomorrow’s adventures!

Day one in the village of Fumel – Lot-et-Garonne, in the south west of France, gave us some much appreciated peace after the hustle of Malta and our travel day…

We wandered up to Kev and Rols around 10am before joining an English speaking coffee group, which meets once a month at a local cafe. Here we met expats living in the area from England, Holland, USA and of course Kiwis added to the mix!

The village streets were quiet, and a few shoppers were out to gather weekend supplies…

After this sojourn we met the Boys and went off in the car to the other side of the Lot river where the modern shopping centres have overtaken the village retail trade…

The world of supermarket shopping is very exciting, especially for those who have a sweet tooth! Resisting the temptation as we were booked into the adjoining cafe for a three course lunch (entree, main, dessert, wine and coffee) all for the grand price of €13.50 ($25 NZ)

Trying a new car on for size…before climbing back in the Citroen and exploring the surroundings a bit more…and back to our respective abodes for some cooling down time…by 4pm in the afternoon temperatures had climbed to 32 degrees…

Trudi and Sue had the luxury of cooling off in their hotel pool, which triggered a chain reaction and we were joined by three other guests…

Roland was working and we wandered up to have an evening drink and snacks with Kevin…

Morning coffee done, we will see what Saturday brings!

When one is wandering there is going to be days of planes, buses and trains (plural)….especially when one wanders to the less travelled places in the world…

So it was yesterday…up at 5.30am, last minute pack up, tidy up and lock up in Malta, and in a cab to airport…which is where I left yesterdays story!

The Ryanair plane was on time, which was a pleasant surprise as from Malta this is often not the case… bags emerged in the first 10…which is never the case…and bus to the train station was just about to leave from Toulouse airport as we emerged! Day going well so far…

Arrived at Toulouse train station with two hours to spare…so after a loo stop (1€ each) purchasing a baguette and coffee and a bit of investigation…we were able to catch the first leg of our train journey an hour earlier than booked…

So here we were Toulouse to Agen, happily ensconced eating our lunch!

Arriving at Agen at 4pm…we got off this train and sat on the platform to ponder our next journey….

There was a train to our next destination due to leave in 30 minutes…and waiting for the platform number….

Monsempron Libos….as luck would have it we were in the right place…and boarded our last leg of the journey an hour and a half before pre booked time!

Arriving at our destination an hour and a half before expected…a quick message to Kevin, and he was there to meet us!

We checked into the hotel then went to Kevin and Rols house for a drink and snacks…for Trudi’s friends, Kevin is Sue’s brother…

Trudi and Kevin devouring their strawberry tart! Before the Gals wandered back to hotel to finally lie flat!

This morning we woke to the clouds burning off as we tucked into our smorgasbord breakfast…

The pool on the terrace…

Overlooking the Lot river in Fumel, Lot Valley, France…

The Brit Hotel…our abode for the next 10 days…now it’s time to sort our hastily packed bags and find the essentials…just saying not a drop of sweat since arriving in France!