Cirque de Gavarnie

A UNESCO heritage site, the Cirque de Gavarnie in the Midi-Pyrenees is one of the most beautiful walks I've done for a while.  A glacial amphitheatre rising to 3000m with access only by foot or horse.

Start of the walk

Looking for trout in the river.

Can you spot the fish?

 A carpet of leaves

The view up toward the amphitheatre.  Europe's longest vertical waterfall (423m) the Grand Cascade falls down the face of the Cirque.

Yesterday's snow.

Alice in the amphitheatre at the base of the Cirque.  Cold!

The inevitable result of 3 hours walking.  Felix out of petrol at the cafe.

Rocamadour

The site of a famous pilgrimage, Rocamadour clings to the side of a cliff near Cahors in SW France.  Apparently it is the second most visited site in France after Mont St. Michel in Normandy.

Looking up from below.

The pilgrimage to the top has been made by many, including Henry II of England and the French kings Charles IV, Louis IX and Louis XI.

At the very top.  I volunteered to take the photo to avoid going anywhere near the edge!

The confronting drop...  Emma took this one.

Magnificent.  I don't know how you'd even think about starting a project like this.

Gouffre de Padirac

First opened for tourism in 1899 the Gouffre de Padirac consists of a 100m deep sink-hole that opens into an underground river that runs for 40km.  The first 2 km were made navigable by small boats in the 1930's and have been a favourite with tourists ever since.

 Descent!

 View from below.  Many stairs!

Emma's only photo of the underground river.  The crafty frogs don't allow photos and are only too happy to sell you one or two on the way out!

Chateau Haut Boucier

After a tasting at the Chateau Haut Bourcier we had a great long lunch cooked by Yann (Caroline's boyfriend). The kids had a great time. From left to right Alice, Emmanuel and Romy.

Celebrating Halloween...

We all had a great day and night thank you Caroline and Yannick. See you soon.

From the best of Saint Emilion to the Best of Blaye

The Citadelle de Blaye - Unesco Heritage listed

Built between 1686 and 1689 by Vauban to protect Bordeaux from english ships.

Well ... do they need to be named?

The kids playing coast guards!

One of the entrances to the citadelle

Vive les vacances

Visit of Saint Emilion with the kids while Toby is doing some soil research.

The "Tour des vignobles" by little train was a must!

School

Alice's class room

Alice's teacher

Felix's teacher

While some are in Bordeaux others are...well busy

My sister's new house!!! L'Aiglon. It has the potential to become a beautiful nest but for now needs a lot of work!! And a change in the color theme of the bathroom and kitchen.

So we all help taking these beautiful wall paper down!! Well some helping more than other as you can imagine! From left to right Hortense, Alice, Felix, Mamie and at the front Elliot.

Chateau Pontet Canet

Pontet Canet is one of the rare Bordeaux Chateax to have dived head-first into biodynamics.  Jean-Michel Comme directs activity in the vineyard and estimates that the most important factor is the human.  Walking the vineyard constantly and refusing automatic temperature control in the winery means paying regular attention to the finest details.  Compost application for example, is by hand, one shovel for a weak vine, half for a vine of medium strength and none for a strong, robust vine.

Chateau

 In an effort to eliminate tractor compaction a quarter of the property is managed completely with horse-drawn equipment.  Jean-Michel takes the view that simply controlling weeds by horse is ineffective in eliminating compaction if all other operations (spraying etc.) are conducted by tractor.  The entire 200 acres will be run this way once the system is refined.

 Jean-Michel with sprayer designed for genuine horse-power

 Another view.  Complete with solar panel for lighting and small diesel pump to power the sprayer.

 Cellar

And the wife and kids???

While the men are doing it tough the mothers are looking after the precious kids!! From left to right Lili, Evie, Hortense, Alice, Saxon, Felix and Orlo.

A Day in Lacanau- the plan at least

 am Surf

Coffee/breakfast

 

Lunch

pm Surf

Dinner

 Sunset

A quiet red before retiring...