Sight-seeing trip - with Medieval Villages, Roman Remains, a Big Viaduct, and some Cheese...

The onset of Spring with a substantial crop of cyclists in lycra, men in camouflage waistcoats standing in rivers, birds singing outrageously early in the morning and other men setting fire to bushes in the fields, encouraged us to set off for a bit of a sight-seeing tour.

Things were hastily thrown into the van and we headed South hoping to find somewhere to camp on the way to see the Millau viaduct. TomTom told us it would be more than seven hours driving from here so starting late on Monday afternoon meant a stop somewhere overnight.

Amongst all the other stuff I did pack some walking gear; boots, rucksack, and jacket. As it turned out I didn't actually DO any walking but we did stay reasonably active for six days........

The campervan was a joy - as usual - and we found that being out of season that, although the campsites weren't open, there was plenty of room in the 'aires de camping car', which are found fairly easily in most tourist areas in France. In the height of Summer these are usually over-populated by large, expensive (often Italian) motorhomes so it's hard to get parked - but no such problems in mid-March.

{I 'borrowed' this from a Motorhome website. It shows the sign to look for and one of the usual 'big' vans parked up.}

We had a week of glorious sunshine, with a few chilly nights. Each day we moved to a new location, explored the village or castle or cave, then stayed the night in the van.

{A panoramic photo of the Millau Viaduct spanning the valley}

Our first objective was to visit the Millau bridge designed by Norman Foster. It was more imposing (in both senses of the word)  from afar than it was travelling over it. There's a visitor's centre with some good video presentations of the Aveyron area and the story of the building of the bridge.

After staying the night in Millau itself, we headed to Roquefort to visit the caves and see the famous cheese being made. I had hoped to see the sheep too, but they must have still been in their Winter barns so not a single one was spotted in the fields. The visit to the cave was interesting and naturally we were given a taste of the products and presented with the opportunity to buy some!  There were three varieties to choose from and as John and I liked different ones, no cheese was bought, but we will get some in the supermarket next time we are entertaining.

{A photo of the display area at the Roquefort cheese factory - no cameras were allowed in the cheese storage areas}

The Aveyron area of France was also home to the Knights Templar in the Middle Ages so we headed off across the Larzac plateau to have a look around la Couvertoirade, a still complete walled village.  A walk on the ramparts, above the old stone roofs of the houses was a real treat - dodging pigeons and all!

{La Couvertoirade}

Turning for home, we travelled into the wine growing region of Cotes du Rhone and came upon a huge castle built above a village, with a wonderful woodland of green oaks which we could wander around. The Chateau of Suze la Rousse is a University of Wine but wasn't open to the public until the afternoon.

{The view of the town below the massive tower of the Chateau}

{The Evergreen or Holm Oaks with their dark trunks and thick leaves}

We ended our week away by visiting the town of Vaison la Romaine. It was once a bustling Roman town with large villas and farms. There are Roman remains a plenty. After a wander round the museum with an audio guide (the English version left a lot to be desired!) which continued outside to extensive ruins, I own up to failing to see all of them!

{The beautiful old Roman bridge at Vaison}

Luckily for us, now in need of showers and an electrical boost for the van battery, we found the campsite at Vaison had just opened for the season.

All the photos I've posted are from my phone, the ones from my camera need more sorting out and anyway, they take an age to load up.

As we arrived back here the weather changed, and became stormy, wet and very windy, so it was a well timed trip and hopefully The Toe is now on the mend............

A cold and frosty morning...........

{Frost on every bush}

A heavy frost and a bright clear blue sky encouraged me out yesterday to walk to the other side of Creag nam Ban and maybe try to access the hill from there. There were frozen puddles and mud along the lane going towards Balmoral so the temperature was still below freezing.

I had had an email reply from the access officer who told me that Abergeldie Estate have installed kissing gates in some places but progress is slow and difficult. The claims of 'deer management' seem to be a coverall for preventing access.

The field of sheep were still there chomping noisily on some stalks along with a strong smell of turnip. I crossed the wooden bridge carefully as it was slippery with a wet covering of frost and continued up the road towards the distillery.

The land-rover track I took from the road was almost a pleasure to walk on after the last few days on muddy trails and enabled me to get easily to the stand of Scots Pine trees which protect the old settlement of Bovaglie. I had passed a herd of deer stags watching me suspiciously from the side of Creag nam Ban and seeing how wet and deep the bog was, I decided to leave them to the hill and explore the old farmstead instead.

{The track through the trees to Bovaglie}

The old farm buildings consist of a u-shaped barn and an old boarded up farm house. There are also quite a few even older remains of houses and retaining walls. I explored an area of planted conifers but decided not to go into the forest as it involved barbed wire fencing again. The view from this settlement is astounding, looking right into Lochnagar.

{Lochnagar in the distance}

I ate my lunch, enjoying the peace and quiet, until a gunshot reminded me that other people might spend their time in the outdoors for different reasons!

{An old cooking pot in the farm yard}

{The low sun making shadows}

Heading back, I spotted two buzzards hunting low over the heather, and then some sheep obviously sun-bathing while lying down chewing.  I found the frost hadn't melted on the bridge so had to tiptoe across again.

{Looking back at the frosted bridge over the Dee}

I realised, as I reached home, that I had almost forgotten about the access problem I set out to investigate.

There's always the next time!

According to Viewranger I walked 12.7 kms.

Mud bath for two bloggers on Glenlivet Estate walk...

It was a good plan. I would meet up with Louise (here) and we would toddle along, chatting of course, have lunch at the summit of Carn Daimh and then toddle back to the car-park.

Mmmmm.............

{Waymarker at the summit}

It started very well. I arrived a bit early, having over-estimated the journey to Tomnavoulin by about 45 minutes. Louise arrived shortly afterwards.

The day seemed quite good. A little chilly but not actually raining, even a bit sunny. We consulted the maps and agreed a route, then set off.

There was a little hesitation after the first stile. But eventually we took off uphill albeit on the wrong side of a fence. We did find a gate, climbed over carefully, and carried on, heading for the Speyside Way and the summit of Carn Daimh.

On the path, looking like soft ice-cubes, we found some star jelly. So I took a photo.

{Mysterious star jelly on the path}

This section of the Speyside Way was exceeding wet and muddy. Obviously suffering from a lot of erosion and very little maintenance. Nice sticky black mud and peaty pools, which we hopped over and around. The path climbed up to the summit where we were struck by a cold wind and deciding to find a more sheltered place for lunch, we continued down to the forest.

{Terrible condition of Speyside Way}

{Summit of Carn Daimh and approaching rain clouds}

Among the trees we found a suitable place to sit. Some felling had left heaps of branches and stumps, giving a desolate feel, but a view of the hills had been revealed.

After lunch we continued through the forest. The route now took us across a swollen stream, then a tricky plank to plank section across a wet field. Then hopping, sploshing and by now, giggling whenever a boot was sucked into the mud, through a forest gap to another stile, where the rain started.......and the path disappeared completely into a bog.

{Plank to plank across a very wet field}

Fortunately we spotted some posts in the distance and set about clambering through the now soggy heather to reach them one by one, although they did seem to move further away all the time. Finally, we reached the Speyside Way again. Oh dear, yet another section of the Way in poor condition.

{Bemused cows, enjoying their own mud bath}

The final part of the walk, in diminishing day light, was just a complete mud bath with cows and sheep for company. This time pale sloppy mud and murky puddles. Oh, and a forced (by the cows) detour through a very spikey, dark wood with another fence climb at the end.

An enjoyable and unforgettably muddy day. According to my Viewranger we completed 18.2 kms.

But my boots didn't leak!

A lost sheep..............

I appear to have lost a Follower?

Was it something I said or perhaps didn't say?

I'm just a beginner at this blogging thing - maybe I'll get better if I keep trying..............