France Summer 2015 pt 1

A PHOTO JOURNAL

TWO WEEKS

SOUTH OF FRANCE

FRANCE 2015 Photos by Jemma Gillon During the months of June and July we, my aunts Carrie and Debbie, my parents and I spent two weeks relaxing and exploring the country of France.

Day one: Twelve hour road trip, lots of music

Evening of arrival, arrived at sunset

We got lost as the sun started disappearing behind our backs, Asian food warm on our laps, lost in a foreign country. We called the owner of the GĂŽte, one very nice, yet slightly muddled in the concept of time and distance, so our five minute arrival time became ten and then twenty and finally, after following him for thirty minutes, we pulled in to the driveway to two overexuberant dogs, Lady Carmen and Rufus, and a number of chickens.

Oh for the lazy days

Day out at the beach, Dad swam, no one else dared

We got our feet nibbled by little fish

There’s something magical about walking at sunset. The landscape dims, yet everything seems clearer. Your mind frees itself from thoughts and worries and concentrates on the coral and crimson skies, the sun radiating it’s last colours, everything slowly fading into darkness.

Gladiator moments

Foix

We drove down to Foix, a well sized French town. We had lunch in a bustling alleyway, naturally I had to order caramel crepes. To our surprise, we learnt that the galettes, special savoury crepes made out of buckwheat, didn’t have any gluten, so my dad had a nice meal without worries of uncomfortable aftereffects. It was then off to Foix Castle. After a quick walk up the cobblestone pathed hill, quite difficult in loose sandals, we arrived at the gates. Upon entering we found out there were two towers you could climb up. So up the very tight stone staircase of the first, slightly smaller fortification we went. Mum and Carrie made it up to the top despite their fear of heights, elation all around. The difficult part was getting down. One in front of the other, we slowly proceeded down, and then it was straight off to the next one. Carrie and my mum passed on that and waited in the museum, safely on the ground. But after learning from us that the other tower was better kept and the stairs less crooked they bravely climbed up. After that we decided to go home and spend the rest of the day relaxing in the pool.

Mirepoix and swimming in Gaudières

After looking for a bakery the day before, and discovering this beautiful medieval part of the town, we, the girls, went shopping. The previously planned brunch got moved to lunch after mum decided we should shop before the shops closed for lunch. A few shops later and we finally sat down for lunch at an English restaurant ‘the Mad Hatter’, then promptly continued looking into the little boutique shops.

Our two tired Australian travellers crashed onto the bed as soon as we got home, so the family trio decided to visit the swimming hole a local Irishman had told us about. There was a good place to jump in, and after a little swim, we headed home for the day and got ready to move on to the next place the next day.