Adieu to France

We are back in Manchester for a night before flying home tomorrow. We had a whirlwind wonderful three weeks in France. There is too much to cover in detail since Susan left you in Lyon, but some of the highlights were:

Two nights in Arles. On our way down we stopped to see the awesome remains of a giant Roman aqueduct system at Pont du Gard. We stayed in a hotel (with a pool) just outside town and the girls enjoyed that very much. We toured the Roman city of Arles with its coliseum, amphitheater and other sites. One of the best parts for us was attending a show in the coliseum. Arles is near the Camargue, a natural wetland and prairie home to some amazing flora and fauna. The people of the Camargue region have a tradition of raising beautiful white horses. Our show featured trained horses. Part two was the French version of a bullfight, not a fight at all, but a show of courage as young men try to run at the bull and snatch ribbons from its horns. The bull is eager to prevent this of course and chases the men as they leap out of the ring. Quite fun (and fans of David Sedaris may remember his story about this kind of show).

After Arles it was on to Carcassonne in the heart of Cathar country. The Cathars were heretics who were prevalent in France and southern Europe in the 12th century until they were suppressed by the Albigensian Crusade. There are lots of lovely castles, Carcassonne being the best preserved and most impressive. We stayed in a charming little Medieval village called Caunes-Minervois and also had time for a day at the beach on the Mediterranean.

From there we headed north into Limoges, first stopping to visit one of the caves where prehistoric people painted animals and human figures. From there we stopped by Poitiers and saw a 4th century baptistery that is one of the oldest Christian buildings in Europe.

Finally we reached the Loire valley where we had booked a five day bicycling stop. Our hosts provided us with food, a lovely suite with two bedrooms and a bathroom, and bikes for our daily treks. We cycled, visited the lovely chateaus of the region and tasted some of its famous wine.

After a stop at Chartres cathedral we reached Paris on Thursday night and flew to Manchester Friday. Hard as it is to believe, tomorrow we fly back home. This has been an absolutely incredible summer journey and it will take months to integrate what we have seen and done and learned.

--Eric