May2014_TRAVEL TOPIC

In this edition, we bring you the first of a two part series by Bruce and Trish Jones on their recent holiday.

Why travel?

I always ponder the question as the date draws near and the final accounts have to be paid with all the last minute details rushing in upon one.  There is no one answer, so suffice to say “Because we can” and hope that we can manage to survive the month of planned and unplanned experiences ahead without having to use the very expensive travel insurance one dares not leave home without.

 

Before visiting Craig at Maverick Travel to sort out the details we had the bones of July organized, with a rented house in the south of France, a few days in Paris, a few more in London and then the Celebrity Cruise on the Baltic as far as St Petersburg.  The plan came together quickly and efficiently after that and before we could say “I’ve found the passports” we were winging our way to Toulouse via Bangkok and Frankfurt, both huge transport hubs – we walked non stop for forty minutes to catch our connection at Frankfurt.

 

Driving in France proved challenging, though we dared not attempt the streets of Paris.  Our destination was an hour and more to the south east of Toulouse, Olonzac, a spot on a map yet quite a busy regional hub with an incredible Tuesday Market that brings in thousands every week for their weekly shopping. We even had to move the car for the night as our street transformed to a busy market venue at six in the morning.   A Syrian store holder played us a tune on his didgeridoo, a skill he’d acquired in India. The nearby Canal du Midi proved a fascinating waterway to while away a few hours.  The Minervois district has been home to wine growing since Roman times, Cicero and Pline both having enjoyed a tipple, and the vineyards stretch to the horizon in all directions.  There are no screw top wine bottles in the Minervois.  The very notable feature of the villages is there is virtually no one out and about through the middle of the day, windows closed and shuttered from the blistering heat.  However sunset is after nine each evening so the streets are still busy with bars and restaurants serving till late, the following day seeming to get going about ten in the morning.  

 

Paris highlights included being there on Bastille Day, dinner in the Eiffel Tower restaurant, and The Louvre, which seemed to have a million people visiting the day we were there, though they assured us that they only get a bit over nine million a year, then Louis XIV’s Versailles.  However our top billing was Claude Monet’s garden at Giverney which took our breaths away.

 

Next edition, we will continue Bruce and Trish’s journey that has then visiting London and setting sail on their Baltic Cruise.                   

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