Motorsport
We aim to be in Spain to watch the cycle race la Vuelta. So some headway was made today through delightful parts of France. Needless to say that when driving such large distances over time, trends can be spotted in the regions. E.g. Wine, sunflowers, wine, maize, wine, more wine, plums, wine, foie gras, foie gras, wine, foie gras etc. so as we still pass through the foie gras region and return to a wine region, we just so happened to pass a hidden Motorsport venue. Now I have not had Autosport magazine for 7 or 8 weeks now. Given that I have read it for the last 16 years, that's my little sacrifice for this trip! Anyway, I digress, we stumbled upon Nogaro race circuit. So stopped, watched some testing, smelt the rubber and oil, walked the empty stands counting lizards, and then a little walk through the paddock was a small and free treat for me!
Hills
An understatement really. As we descended the hills into Pau (which had been my intended Motorsport visit for it's fantastic Formula 3 event) the clouds began to loom in the distance. A deepening colour gave a flavour to the weather ahead..... But no, it was just the rich blue colour of the mountains nestled in the clouds beyond Pau. A stunning site and one we needed after our long journey today. All of us were quite amazed by it. Such a treat!
So here is our view tonight!
Waxed bottles
Our current France Passion site is quite something. Firstly the approach to it in Hugo, or should I say ascent, was quite something. It would be quite fair to say that the front wheels went particularly light when negotiating certain aspects of this little road. We then got into a fully French discussion with the mother of the owner who spoke zero English!
A stunning little place, and full of the French conversation that we wanted. It's been lovely to meet British people along the way, in fact both Clare and I and the children have made some good friends, but this was what it was all about. So our view tonight is completely out of our world. Look out of your window tonight, what do you see? All I will say is that we have stumbled upon something special here! Such a treat! I said to Jasper, that this may possibly be the best bedroom window view he will have. He promptly looked out and said, "it's alright!"
At 8pm we returned to our hosts and went to see the old lady once again. It's hard to paint a picture for you, but trying not to be rude, this lady, who was quite Yoda like, took us through one door of her hillside chateau, and then another, into an amazing wine cave. She then showed us the casks, after which we tried the wines, whilst negotiating a conversation about wine, her husband, hip replacements, something about an American cousin, and something about the English and German wine preferences. 45 mins later, my brain was addled from French conversation and wine. Clare was faring much better. We had purchased 3 bottles of her dry white wine. Very nice too I might say. The only problem being was that when I went to remove the top of the foil to get the cork out, something was odd. After a twist or two of the foil remover I noticed it's failure to work. I then noticed the shards of wax on the table. So it was knife out to make a tidy job of it. The end result is that we have got the wine out of the bottle. Lovely.
Onwards now to a campsite. The children deserve a break and a rest, so we shall be on site for 3 nights as of tomorrow before tackling the next unknown....Spain!
Ed
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