Spring has sprung a leak
in France and many of the rivers are swollen (or flooded) which is the case
with the Dordogne & Loire Valley. Dordogne is really different to
Loire, more rustic is probably the best way to describe it.
We also made
some new friends on this leg of the journey (Hi Jason and Tony) and where
delighted to be asked to join them in a day trip (YAY – no motorbike for a day)
to check out Gouffre de Padirac cave which is by far the best cave system we
have ever seen.
This SMAZING
cave system is nearly 2 kms long and after the descending down over 300 steps,
then walking underground for nearly 400meters, you then get in a boat for
totally amazing an eerie trip along an underground river, passing through
various majestic underground caverns & tunnels with amazing rock formations
& massive stalactites which includes 1 giant one measuring over 60
meters. You then get off the boat for another walk through 2 stories of
chambers to view lakes and high vaulted chambers. So, so amazing and this
would have to be one of the highlights of our trip so far and is worth every
effort to get too.
Here is the
website for the cave - hop on and have a look:
When then
headed towards Carnac to visit the megalithic alignments with a stop along the
way in Cognac, where they have motorhome parking right on the river with a
bird’s eye view of Hennessy. We met another great couple here (Hi Andrew
& James) and again got on like a house on fire. Due to a ‘wee’ bit
too much wine & the night before, the obligatory tour and tasting went out
the ‘windy’ so we bought a ‘roadie’ to enjoy in the motorhome at a later stage
and headed straight for Carnac in Britany, France.
Carnac has one of the
largest Megalithic standing stones alignment’s in the world, with over 3000 in
the alignment and can be seen from outer space. Some of the stones
are meant to predates Stonehenge with many of the stones weighing up to
40tonne. It’s unreal to see how modern day man has built itself around
this ancient site with peoples drive ways, chicken coops and horse stables
right between some of the stones.
The bad weather followed
us all the way from Carnac to Loire Valley, Paris & UK. Loire is so
pretty, but after seeing so many beautiful château’s and castles that we’re a
bit “chateau’d out” and decided to enjoy some ‘time-out’ at a riverside
campsite not far from Tours. We tried our hand at some fly fishing,
however one could go hungry if you rely on this for dinner, so it was just as
well there was a Supermarche only 5 mins down the road.
It was also pretty cool
to hit Paris again and not have to be in a rush to do all the touristy
things. We saw a totally different side of Paris, which we loved and
stayed in an town called Joinville, along the river Marne, which is basically
suburbia. It’s only about 9kms from Champs-Elysees and reminded us of
suburbs along the Brisbane river, it’s so different from the Paris we all know
and love & we totally enjoyed it.
We couldn’t resist
getting the bike out and rode past Notre Dame, Louvre, down the Champs-Elysees,
around (and around) Arc d’Triumph who gives way????? Parked “pole
position” at Trocadero & soaked up that amazing view of Eifel tower and
Paris beyond for a few hours. We really like going back to places we have
been in the past and not having to run around like a mad tourist to see
everything and not worry that you might have missed something.
I’ve also
learnt how to cook the perfect Roasted Duck Breast, not sure how French this
method is, but it turns out perfect every time.
Perfect Roasted Duck Breast:
- Place the duck breast, skin side down, in a frying pan on high heat & brown for 4 mins.
- Then turn the duck breast fillet over to brown the other side for 4 mins.
- Then place on a try, skin side up, and roast on the middle rack of a pre-heated oven (180-200c) for another 8 mins.
- Remove from the oven, cover with foil and let the duck breast rest for 5 minutes.
No need to use oil in the pan as the skin of the duck will be ample when you brown the first side.
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