Vacation Day 3

(from an archive post of our 2007 European Vacation)

Heading south 3 kilometers and then east 12 kilometers, we reached A-20 Southbound in fifteen minutes. And the rain was still falling.

This was our day to see much of central France. There will be mountains to the left of us and mountains to the right of us as we drive south on A-20.  At least, that’s what I’ve been led to believe. In the light rain we can see perhaps a mile in either direction. We do experience some beautiful countryside and a castle or two within that two-mile-wide corridor. But the higher mountains will have to wait for another trip.  Our plans call for us to go back to Paris on A-75, a freeway about 100 or so kilometers to the east of our present path.  Ah well, another excuse to come back to France (as if the croissants are not enough).

Somewhere in the area of Limoges we stop for fuel.  Yes, we are fortunate in the US, our gas prices are only $3+/gallon. In France the prices are in the neighborhood of $6.25/gallon.  So when we pull into the gas station, I’m expecting a $100 fill-up.  It turns out to be “only” $75 due to the 60 kilometer/gal mileage we are getting on our rental car! Dieseled up, we’re headed south again – through Brive-La-Gaillarde, near Cahors, through Montabaun and into Toulouse – just in time for lunch.  But now we’re back in “familiar territory” since it was Toulouse that we flew into when we visited this area in 2000 with Shannon.

After looking in vain for a restaurant for about 45 minutes, we decided to continue south to Foix, one of our favorite towns in France.  But about 15 kilometers from Foix, we barrel into another traffic jam. May 17 is a holiday in France.  We have caught the holiday traffic heading east through Carcassonne to the coast northeast and south of Narbonne. Delayed by an hour, we finally reach the off-ramp to Foix by mid-afternoon. The rain has finally stopped.

Foix is not a “party town” – so don’t plan on cuttin’ the rug when you arrive. There’s not much night life and there are no outstanding restaurants that we know of, but it is nestled in the mountains on the north side of the Pyrenees with the beautiful Chateau de Foix built on a  pedestal of rock in the center of town. Of course, the Chateau and the village grew up together, the laborers needing a place to live while the chateau was being built. Seven years ago this was my first experience of driving through streets narrow enough to force me to pull in the side view mirrors of the car to pass through some of the streets. 

At night they have the Chateau lit up from all sides.  It’s quite a sight to see it hanging in the air in the middle of the night.  Having been through the Chateau on our prior trip, we decided we’d save any further climbing for Montsegur. That’s the site about 35 kilometers southeast of Foix that was the Cathar’s last significant stand against the Catholic Church in the early 13^th Century (more on that in my first talk after our return).

We find a roadside motel and go to bed early. We’re still trying to get our body clocks oriented to the sun and get caught up on our sleep.