Mishmash

You might be wondering what I mean by a mishmash. As I have spent the last few weeks in a variety of places, both in France and the UK, I thought I would share some of them with you. This post is a snapshot of some of those places I have been with an added autumnal flavour!

Just before our recent trip to England, we eventually made it to the Saturday market in Carcassonne. We come here often to shop, eat and take visitors to see la Cité. 

When we finally went to Carcassonne market it was a glorious, sunny October morning. The colour of the sky was amazing. No filter needed!

I was actually sitting outside a café, enjoying a coffee and croissant and people watching, when I took this photo. What a lovely way to spend an autumn morning!

Here are some more shots I took:

I love the blue skies and the dappled light through the trees.

As we wandered back to the car park, I spotted this rather jolly window display. Although I don’t intend to be buying or wearing any espadrilles any time soon!

The following Thursday morning whilst walking back from my English conversation class, in Castelnaudary, I was struck by the dramatic sky above the Canal du Midi. I’m not sure how autumnal this photo looks but I really like it.

Once back in the UK, I spent a fabulous day in Winchester with one of my closest friends. I’ve always loved this city and it’s conveniently located half way between our two homes. There’s so much to see and do here that I would highly recommend a visit.

Having started with a coffee, we decided that a walk was in order before lunch. We ambled down the high street before strolling by the River Itchen until we reached the cathedral.

Apparently, we were following in the footsteps of the poet Keats. He stayed in Winchester in the autumn of 1819 and it has been suggested that one of his strolls through the Itchen water meadows, inspired his ode ‘To Autumn’.

My next port of call was Stockbridge, the one in Hampshire, not Edinburgh! I regularly meet a very close friend there whom I have known since we were eighteen. We love walking and Stockbridge is roughly half way from where we both live.

Stockbridge is very charming little town with lots of places to eat and drink, as well as a wide range of individual shops.We always start with a coffee, while deciding in which direction we want to walk. We usually do a part of the Test Way and aim to do six to seven miles. We either stop for lunch half way or sometimes we end with lunch, depending on all sorts of factors. One of the main ones being the weather, of course! However, we both have the requisite waterproof gear, so rain doesn’t usually stop us. There’s always so much to talk about and during our most recent walk I only managed a couple of photos. 

This was taken after we had stopped for a drink in the village of King’s Somborne. We had climbed up from the Test Way and there were beautiful views of the rolling countryside.

I hope you have enjoyed this autumnal post which has more photos and fewer words than usual! Are you a fan of autumn? I’d love to know.