Back from France

I've returned to sunny England after a lovely trip to almost equally sunny France that represented a very welcome break before I get stuck into the edits for my forthcoming novel, Fever Island, which is due out in September. The trip was based at two hotels, one in Sarlat, and one in Carcassonne, both of which are delightful places.

To be honest, I'd never heard of Sarlat, but it turned out to be quite a revelation, a lovely and historic town with lots to see and plenty of excellent restaurants. It also proved to be an excellent base for several excursions. One of these was to see the famous cave paintings of Lascaux - well, replicas thereof, to be precise, since the originals are too precious to be exposed to tourists - and they lived up to their reputation.

Then followed a trip to Rocamadour, a famous place of pilgrimage, and very impressive, and the lovely gardens of Marqueyssac. After that, a visit to the impressive castle at Beynac and then via Domme to La Roque-Gageac for a river trip (something I always enjoy). A longish coach journey to Carcassonne was broken at Cahors. The final trip from there was to Albi, an impressive old city with a massive brick cathedral and an excellent Toulouse Lautrec museum and art gallery. 

 

Carcassonne was the only place on the itinerary that I'd visited before, and it was as fascinating as I remembered, oozing history and charm. Again, plenty of nice places to eat and drink, and a highlight was a walk all around the walls of the city. Not everyone is a fan of organised tours such as this one, but I loved it. Now to plan the next trip...