September signals a return to France, and this year we decided to alter our usual routine. A change is as good as a rest, after all! Instead of taking two days to drive down to Castelnaudary with a one-night stopover, we decided to have two stopovers. The main reason was to avoid the early morning wake-up call on our first day.

I must admit this was my idea, and I thought it might be fun to stay somewhere different rather than our usual stop in Tours. We spent the first night in Normandy, not far from Rouen. As is often the case for us, we left booking until the last moment! We were lucky enough to find a traditional Normandy long house in the charmingly named hamlet, St Opportune du Bosc!

Zeph has his first view of a Normandy longhouse

The property was delightfully quirky, but my photos don’t do the house justice, as they turned out distorted. I appreciated how the essence of the building has been preserved, while still featuring a contemporary interior.

If we had had more time, there were many interesting hamlets and villages to explore. Another time perhaps? We walked to the interestingly named Rouge-Perriers, passing by this beautiful church, l’église Saint-Pierre.

The pleasures of travel include meeting new people and trying new restaurants – for me, anyway. We achieved both of these when we had dinner in a local restaurant and sat next to a delightful Belgian couple; the food was delicious, too!

Our second stop was in Sarlat-la-Canéda, a medieval town in southwest France’s Dordogne department. This has long been on my list of places to visit, and as our stay was fleeting, I would like to return, based on what I did see!

We had a tasty dinner in the town centre and met up with friends for coffee the morning of our departure. This time we stayed in a hotel. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos, but I have found a short video clip that gives you a flavour of Sarlat. The introduction to the town starts about a minute into the clip:

We left Sarlat mid-morning and arrived in Castelnaudary mid-afternoon, giving us plenty of time to settle into the house, stock up on food, take Zeph for a walk around the Port, and enjoy the lovely sunset.

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