A little trip to France

We haven't been to France since Our Month in France in 2024 and I have certainly missed going. As part of my birthday week we stayed in Kent (I'll write about that soon) and took an overnight trip to Calais with our son and his girlfriend joining us for the trip.

It's a while since we used Le Shuttle, it was son's girlfriend's first time, and as she said it is a strange concept driving a car onto a train. The cost of the journey even with a short stay offer, petrol, overnight hotel and eating out does not actually make any purchases cheaper especially now there are limits on what you can bring back to the UK .... for me it was all about being in France.

We shopped at Auchan and Citè de Europe buying a few bits for home, most importantly my vanilla sucre for my baking. We also popped to Lidl and Aldi as some of our UK purchaseable wines are much cheaper. Our dining experience was Flunch, it's such a great concept and brings back many memories of Flunch meals with my dad when our kids were young.

All in all it was a good trip, Calais is not as it was and I think our next trip to France will be a long travelling holiday but it was nice to be back. The car did chink home with some of our favourites and a few new finds, our son commented that that was the sound of a holiday in France!

Sparkling wine is one of my favourite French buys, there is sn abundance of choice from low priced easy drinking bubbles to high end champagne. Pol Remy and Paul Henri are good basic priced bubbles which we often enjoy as a Kir cocktail using Chambord. We found a couple of demi-sec mid priced wines along with a Blanc de Blanc on offer, it's always fun to try new wines.

I didn't pick up many whites as our cellar at home is white heavy, I must drink more! However I did include a couple of my cheap go to, I'm not sure if I bought them for taste or memory but we always bought Muscadet with the blue boat label and Pierre Chanau (Auchan's wine label) White Bordeau.

Two bottles of Sauvignon, one of which was from Touraine, a bottle of Chardonnay were easy drinkers for our cellar. Aldi's Cotes de Gascogne is one of my favourite wines, it was less than half the UK price so a good find. We have holidayed many times in the South of France near the Etang de Thau, Picpoul is grown there, and this quirky labelled bottle caught my eye. 

A lovely selection of white wine safely home and ready to be enjoyed. I was a little disappointed to not find Cellier des Dauphins white in full size bottles or a wine box, there was red or rose but no white. I did find small bottles which will be perfect for just me to enjoy.

Our red wine choices were a mix of favourites and bargains. Hubby picked three Bordeaux wines including his favourite Baron de Lestac, he also  selected Costellore an Italian favourite from Aldi. My choices of red were all based on our previous fab times in France, they were a Corbieres, a Ventoux and a wine from Cahors.

We did buy double bottles of our favourite wines; 

Blaye, Cotes de Bordeaux

Primivito, Puglia 

Croix de Ceyssac, Bordeaux

Cellier des Dauphins Cotes du Rhone

I'm very much looking forward to the darker nights now we have some super wines to enjoy, not necessarily expensive choices but I'm sure they will evoke great memories from flavour and aroma.

With Christmas approaching we stocked up too on a few favourite beers. There are more and more places selling French and Belgium beers, craft beer shops are opening all over the UK but as we were in France a few packs were added to our trolley.

Affligem is a family favourite that we're looking forward to sharing over the festivities. Grimbergen makes me think of autumn time and La Goudale always goes down well.

Nothing like enjoying a beer and a big bottle makes the enjoyment last longer. I have had Kasteel beer before, a very strong dark beer, and I like fruit beer so when I spotted Kasteel Rubus it was a no-brainer purchase. 

And so to my favourite beer treats. I do believe beer should be served in the matching brand glass and I do have a Kasteel glass ready for my Rubus beer.

I do have glasses for Triple Karmeliet, Rince Couchon and Kwak which is like a yard of ale glass on a vertical stand but I don't think we have a La Goudale glass .... might need a return trip to solve that one!

Neither of us are great cider drinkers but we do enjoy a glass of French cidre which is mainly produced in Normandy. We selected a bottle of brut which is dry, a doux which is sweet and a bottle of rosé cidre which is described as fruity. I don't think we've had rosé cider before although I guess it will be similar to the fruit ciders now available in UK stores.

Our final buys were at Le Shuttle duty free, Gordon's is my favourite standard gin and was such a great price two jumped into my trolley. Asbach brandy from Germany is delicious, when Hubby was working he was often given a box of chocolates filled with Asbach at Christmas. It's made in Rudesheim and most definitely on our tour visit list but for now we'll happily enjoy Asbach at hone.

We had a lovely time shopping in Calais, we didn't visit any of the big wine stores but as you can see we found plenty to bring home. It was so nice being back in France, I hope it won't be so long before we're there again.

Rocamadour

Our final stop on our return home from our superb time in France in June was at Rocamadour. 

We actually stayed at L'Hospitalet which is just outside the stunning cliff side village; stunning views from our hotel which is the same level at Rocamadour's chateau. Our visit began by taking the old pilgrim road down into Rocamadour village. Our hotel is on the far right of our photo, you can see the steep road down to the house on the left.

The cliffs were formed by the course of the River Alzou and Rocamadour was built on their steep sides. It has three parts: the village on the lowest, the chateau at the top and the church in-between. 

The main roadof the village, lined with medieval houses, is Rue de la Couronnerie with fortified gateways at each end: Porte du Figuier and Porte Salmon.

Above the village is the religious centre of Rocamadour, it has been and still is a destination for pilgrims and lies on the route to Santiago de Campostela.

The Grand Escalier leads from the village to the Sanctuary, the central square surrounded by eight religious buildings. This steep stairway has 216 steps which pilgrims climbed on their knees.

The first chapel was built in 1105 and the first miracle announced in 1148, this lead to the arrival of many pilgrims.

It's quite a small area with the churches built alongside each other. The Palais des Eveques (Palace of the Bishops), the basilica Saint-Sauveur, Saint Michel chapel and the Chapelle Notre Dame are all stunning. The Black Madonna, a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary and child, draws many visitors as it is believed she has magical healing powers.

The Chateau of Rocamadour is reached by a winding path which has a Station of the Cross at each turn. Although a beautiful location Rocamadour is a place for religious focus, a couple in front of us knelt at every station to pray.

Our stay ended with a superb night ride on the petit train, a holiday highlight for me. From L'Hospitalet just outside our hotel the train took the steep road down into Rocamadour village and along the cobbled streets. It then crossed the river and ascended the road opposite before turning round and stopping (in the middle of the road) for us to get out and admire the view of Rocamadour lit up, it was beautiful.

Rocamadour is one of the must see placed in France, I'm so glad we have and we certainly will again. 

Citè de Carcassonne

One of the highlights of our holiday in France was a visit to Citè de Carcassonne. It is another place we visited when our children were young. My Dad loved it, we have a lovely video of him walking round the cobbled streets with his stick.

Our son owns All Mana of Games and runs a table top focused social group which his girlfriend is also involved with. City de Carcassonne is one of their favourite games so they had an added interest to visit this amazing place.

The Cité is an UNESCO heritage site and dates back to pre-Roman times. Fortifications have been built here as it sits on an outcrop of rock overlooking the Aude valley and is a strategic location between the Mediterranean and Atlantic coast.

It has two enclosures that surround the houses, chateau and Gothic cathedral, these were first developed in the 13th century but after a fire in 1849 the Citè was extensively restored by Eugene Biollet-le-Duc in 1853 to 1879

The outer ramparts have 19 round towers and the inner has 26 such towers. The Citè would have been surrounded by a moat with two access points; Porte Narbonnaise which faces the Mediterranean and Porte de l'Aude to enter from the west. 

In 1096 Pope Urbsin II blessed the first stone laid for the cathedral, dedicated to Saint Michael it became a Basilica in 1898. The Cathedral has both Roman and Gothic features but the outstanding features for me is the stunning design glass window above the altar and the beautiful rose window.

We had a super time visiting Citè de Carcassonne, a day walking round this amazing mix of houses, hotels and towers remembering past times and making new memories to treasure.

Rennes-le-chateau

Rennes-le-Chateau has always been a mysterious magical place to us since our first visit in 2002 when our children were young and my Dad was with us. At the time we knew very little about this intriguing village but for all of us it's story has captured our interest, as it has with many others including the author Dan Brown. 

The mystery surrounds Bèranger Saunière who in 1885 became the priest of this very poor village located at the top of a hill with access via one road. The story is that he discovered something in one of the church's pillars which made him very very rich.

What is was is still unclear but it believed to have been a parchment that would turn Christian religion upside down, did he find the Holy Grail? 

What is known it that after his discovery the priest visited the bishops in Paris and returned a wealthy man. He used the money to renovate the village church but in quite a unusual way ... how many churches have the Devil greeting you on entry?

Inside the church is decorated with statues and pictures depicting the stations of the cross and other statues but they all differ slightly from Christian beliefs. 

Many books have been written on the meaning behind Bèranger Saunière's decorations. It is rumoured he is telling the story of the Knight's Templar, Cathar treasure or the Ark of the Covenant, others say he was an imposter who gained his wealth by selling masses to worshippers. 

As well as renovating the church Bèranger also built Villa Béthanie complete with beautiful gardens, an orangery and Magdala Tower that looks over the vast valley below, some say to watch over who was coming to this remote village. It is certainly in a great position with a beautiful view over the Bals des Coleurs landscape.

In 1917 Bèranger Saunière died taking his secret with him. It is said that only his housekeeper Marie Dénarnaud knew and although she promised to tell she had a stroke a few years before her death in 1953 and so the secret remains.

The money Bèranger Saunière made or was given disappeared, he left everything to Marie but years after his death she was seen burning 1000s of bank notes: this was because when the French franc currency changed all paper money could be exchanged at a bank only with evidence of its source, something Marie could not, or would not, divulge.

We had a super day revisiting Rennes-le-Chateau, especially being able to share its mystery and intrigue with the new members of our family. 

It does however make me want to rematch The Da Vinci Code, reread The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail and watch Henry Lincoln's videos on YouTube. 

As well as Bèranger Saunière's life there are many theories about the geographical position of this mysterious village in line with other historic locations nearby .... but that's another story!