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Our holiday was organised by Inntravel - although we organised our own flights due to difficulties they had getting the Edinburgh to London connections. The way the holiday works is that we get dinner, bed and breakfast at each hotel, plus a packed lunch on days where we're walking from one town to another. Drinks and other lunches we pay for ourselves. Baggage is taken to the next town by the hotels, so we just have to carry our essentials and our packed lunches.
Spent the evening packing and organising. Left keys with neighbours across the landing. Excitement mounting. Visited Dougie and Juliet to return borrowed France travel books. Juliet confused us by speaking to us in French. Set two alarms for the morning, one at 4:40 and another at 4:45 am
Alarms manage to go off simultaneously. Up, dreary-eyed and droopy-tailed. No brekky or even cuppa, just zip up our bags and go. Arrive early at the airport and wait for the chap from the parking service to collect our car, he's early too thank goodness. Very pleased to sit back on our British Midland flight and get brekky. Flight arrives at Heathrow 20 mins late, zip around to Terminal 2 for Air France flight to Toulouse - arrive 2 hours later (noon). Baggage still in London - Air France rep. promises to have it delivered to our hotel in Albi when it arrives on the next flight (6pm).
We catch the airport bus into Toulouse and since we don't have baggage to carry round, and we have a spare hour, we decide to wander round town for a look. Quite a nice town square and there's something going on as there are hundreds of teenagers milling about. Our train trip to Albi takes an hour and we're picked up by a chap from our hotel who enquires 'Baggage?', 'Baggage Londres' we reply. 'British Airways' he suggests, 'Non, Air France'. Silence. The delayed baggage is actually just because the BM flight had to circle Heathrow for an extra 20 mins. As long as the correct bags get delivered to the hotel we're quite happy with not having had to carry them.
More students marching through the streets as we drive to the hotel - seems they are on strike due to lack of funding in schools and too big class sizes. Or maybe too much homework? Delivered safely to Hotel Chiffre and pleasant room. Both exhausted so lie down for a 1 hour kip (sorry, power-nap). Feeling much better we trot out for a look around town. Very nice place, lots of oak-timbered buildings, nice old cloisters and little alleyways, huge old red-brick cathedral and the Tarn running through town with a couple of nice old bridges across it.
Back to the hotel for dinner at 7:30, quite busy (quite an upmarket dining-room and we look a little out of place in our walking boots, which we'd worn on the flight as they take up too much space in the bags). Choice of three set menus and we both go for the one with Mignon for main, with Canard compote to start. Morag finishes off with the sorbet but it's black-forest pudding for me (a yummy choc. mousse). All delicious and accompanied by a 1995 bottle of the local rouge (from nearby Gaillac).
Showers and an early night, big walk scheduled for tomorrow. Luggage arrived during dinner so we have our toothbrushes now (and clean knickers for tomorrow)!
Alarm at 7am - no time for a holiday sleep-in yet as we have a 13 mile hike in front of us. First in for brekky - even before the bread delivery man. Ready to leave at 9am, just had to wait for our pique-nique lunches. Different chap is our chauffeur this morning, loaded ourselves and our baggage into the 'limo' (Renault Twingo) and off to the little village of Marsal where we are to start out walk. Had a pleasant chat with out chauffeur on the way, this is rugby country and he's a big fan. I tried to sound knowledgeable about the Aus. and Scottish teams. He concluded with the opinion that he wouldn't see us again as the wild animals would get us.
Our walking tracks varied from quiet little one-track roads to muddy tracks up and down hills. Nae bother following the paths as they are well marked (little red and white stripes) and the walking notes are comprehensive. It was quite chilly at first but our chauffeur had assured us that after heavy rain the previous week it would brighten up and become warm this week.
Our first hill was up to 380 metres, quite a pleasant walk up then down into chestnut and oak woods. Next climb was back up to 390 metres, more dirt tracks carpeted in chestnuts and acorns. Not a lot of autumn colours in the woods yet but nice views when we got to the tops of the hills. Some nice little hamlets along the way too.
Stopped for our pique-nique lunch at a village that had some seats out - at their boules court. At this point, 1:30 - we had to decide whether to take the easy route into Ambialet or to take the 'strenuous' route. We had plenty of time so decided to do the hard work and it was immediately a steep climb to 450m. The sun came out at last as we got to the top of the hill so it was jackets off and sunnies on. Great views from the top of this hill, especially when we got near enough to see our destination. Then it was a steep downhill (almost as hard as going uphill - to our hotel and a nice hot bath.
Siesta until 7-ish then wandered down to the dining-room which was fully set-up but only one other couple in. But by 8-ish there were 5 other busy tables. We had a special menu and both had avocado vinaigrette (with little bits of roquefort - an excellent combination). Followed that with duck-breast (Mal) and sea-bass with rice (Mo). The cheese platter was next and only had about 15 cheeses - we sampled 7 between us. They ranged from creamy but bland to very bitey (cannae remember any names). Dessert choice was easy, they had a chocolate something (Mal) and citrone and cassis sorbets (Mo). Rather full, we waddled upstairs about 9:30 and spent some time swatting flies and mozzies before hitting the sack.
We have a -rest day' today so had set the alarm for 9am (just in case). Were awake earlier than that - didnae have a good night's sleep, bed too soft. The shower sprays water everywhere (no curtain) and brekky was quite sweet - bread and jam, croissants and pan au chocolat - we'd prefer a bit of savoury, but never mind. Finished off with some fruit, but skipped the prunes.
Back in our room we stacked our boots up on the heater/window sill to dry, then headed out for a saunter round the village (to check out lunch options). The grey clouds were letting some sun and blue skies through as we wandered around. Didn't take too long as it's a wee place. The Tarn River does a loop here and the two ends of the loop pass within 50 metres of each other. There's a little hydro station in-between, situated in a building that looks more like a town hall than a power station. Up the hill there's an old priory, which we plan to visit after lunch, our hotel being the only option in town.
Sunday lunch turns out to be their busiest day - they had about 60 covers - including a birthday party (middle-aged) of about 25 people, who enjoyed their singing. We went for the 100 franc menu - Mal had pheasant salad, chicken casserole with olives, sorbet; Morag had duck salad topped with a mushroom tart, chicken, & apple strudel. The food was fabo and very filling. We were full to bursting when we left the restaurant. Upstairs for a wee sit down, then donned the walking boots and coats (it had been raining while we ate lunch) for the walk up to the priory. Great view from the top of the hill but not a lot to see as far as the priory goes - we'd taken the steep climb up and wandered back the long way round - past people collecting chestnuts from the roadside. Back to the hotel about 5-ish and a lot of the lunchers were just leaving the restaurant.
Time for a power-nap then guess what - more food. Dinner about 7:30 - both had baby-rabbit terrine with fois gras, then a steak each (done 'rose', and I mean pink!) which came with grilled/stuffed tomatoes with a filling of we're not sure what. Then the cheeses arrived, had a selection of 5 including some creamy chevres (goats cheese) followed by more sorbets. Just managed to haul ourselves up the stairs.
Another fitfull night's sleep on saggy bed - alarm at 7:30 ready for 8am brekky, same bread and jam etc. Paid our 439ff bill for lunches and vins and departed about 9am. The owner gave us our packed lunches and took charge of our baggage - and we were off out into the mist. Not raining but we are a bit worried as we'd heard rain during the night. Muttley the hotel dog came chasing after us as we crossed the bridge in front of the hotel (as he had done when we went out yesterday). This time we're going a little further afield and weren't keen to share our picnic lunch with him, but he refused to be shooed away.
We eventually gave Muttley the slip as we headed up a steep hill and at this point Mo managed to find a stick to carry with her - must have a stick to walk with!. Lots of autumn leaves and chestnuts falling about us on the wet track. We finally reached the ridge at the top of the hill - one of the highest points around according to our notes - could see for miles along each direction of the river. It's the type of country with rolling green hills and on each hilltop there are villages and church towers. Walked past a farm where Morag sweet-talked two dogs into not attacking us(with nae help from the stick!!), then downhill to a little hamlet where we sat on the steps of the church and ate our pique-nique - and what a feast it was (hotel owner at Ambialet obviously cares about his food).
We had wee containers in our bags, one had some poultry joints (not chicken, may have been leftover pheasant) other had cornichons, tomatoes and onions (in olive oil). Also had a hunk of slab cheese each and a big hunk of bread - a very decent lunch, eaten as the sun started to shine on us. From there it was a slow uphill track through more chestnut trees and between ploughed fields until we arrived at a slightly more substantial hamlet - St. Andre. There's a manor house here but the 'prive propertie' signs were up so it was just a swift walk around town before heading down the road. More people collecting chestnuts.
Our walking notes said to take the second path on the right to Gos but we only saw one so stuck to the road - only a slightly longer route anyway. Anyway, the road soon becomes a boggy path leading between some houses and a big dog decides it doesn't like us and even calling it a good dog doesn't make it happy. Luckily it's owner arrives and wakes a stick at it and virtually holds it on the ground while telling us we were headed in the right direction for Villeneuve. Soon back onto the right path and into Villeneuve, to Hostellerie Lauriers (in a lovely old stone building) at about 4pm. We've been taking our boots off as we arrive at each hotel as they are usually muddy and wet. Our host takes them and promises they will be dry by morning (they certainly wouldn't have dried in our room as the heating didn't come on).
The hotel has 9 rooms and there are only four couples due in for one night each - and that's October! Siesta until 5:30 then hot showers and a wander around town. Very quiet little place, old stone buildings and a very big bridge with a much bigger town over the other side.
We were the only diners (hotel restaurant normally closed Mondays) and it was a set menu, one choice per course. Started with our first try at Pastis for aperitifs, these are aniseed based liqueurs - quite nice. First course was pumpkin soup, then a piece of quiche with salad and terrine, then a tasty steak with pumpkin and rice, then some cheese and then dessert (choc. mousse and pineapple gateau). We were finished our five courses in just over an hour so decided to go for a walk over the bridge to the other town (Trabas).
Pitch black out and not much street lighting about, managed to take the wrong street on the way into Trabas and ended up at a nursing home down dead-end street. Back home for a good night's sleep.
Very foggy this morning, down first for brekky (ie. before our host). Just bread and jam for brekky before packing up and departing with our picnics. Our path took us uphill along the road until we eventually rose above the mist. Up here the sun was shining brightly so it was off with the coats and on with the sunnies. Nice view of the chateau at St. Andre on the next hill and passed only by a couple of farmers on tractors on their way to spread muck and do some ploughing in the fields.
Round the next hill and some nice views into the mist-filled river valley where we'd stayed last night. We then headed down into a small valley and up the other side - green fields on both sides. Just before noon we arrived at the village of Le Truel and there was a tractor blocking the path between some houses (farmer Jacques home for lunch?) so we stopped to snack on the fruit in our picnic bags. Struck up a conversation with the local postman (Francis) and ended up eating our picnic with him in the (now unused) local school across the road. He was keen to practice his English, the kind of bloke who has a CB radio for chatting to strangers with - if you know what I mean.
Anyway, as we've walked we've seen lots of piles of sticks (4 or 5 ft long), often with bundles of twine nearby, and we couldn't figure out what they were for. Finally twigged (sorry, couldn't resist) when we spotted that a lot of the fences around were just sticks with electric wire between them, with the wire tied on by the twine. The path in the afternoon was a lot rougher and finally came down to the River Rance via chestnut groves and apple orchards. First time we've ever walked on a carpet of apples - they were everywhere. The path down through the orchards was quite rough, washed away in places, but finally came to Plaisance. Nice little village and our hotel is an old stone place covered in ivy.
Bath is tiny but deep. Only just fitted but couldn't get knees into the water. Manage a small siesta before heading down for dinner.
Aperitifs - more pastis nut this time watered down (not preferable)
Entrees - thin strips of smoked salmon on lots of lettuce (not much salmon)
Viandes - scrawny chicken leg with little bits of veg arranged artfully
Fromage - a wonderful selection, tried about 4 bits each
Dessert - Mo had a nice fruit in crème anglais thing, I had nougat ice-cream in a frozen courgette (quite a bizarre dish and not one I'll be encouraging Mo to try making)
Digestifs - thought we'd celebrate the end of our compulsory walking with a dessert wine, so order a tokay and a muscat. Hadn't realised the came under the heading of Eau de vie (ie. water of life). More like rocket-fuel of death, turns out to be distilled spirit. Bravely managed to sip it down.
Shared a few jokes with the couple on the next table about the disappointing food before heading up to our very chilly room to hit the sack.
Have seen lots of bushes with small dark berries - a bit like small grapes. Didn't know what they were. Have finally found out that they are sloe berries - used for making sloe gin.
A free day in Plaisance so started the day a little more slowly. Chatted with the other couple again over brekky and decided on a table for 4 for dinner. They'd found some local walking maps in the bakery so we headed down there to get a map along with the making of a picnic (baguette, cheese, sausage and chocolate - 11 francs).
Headed off on a circuit north of Plaisance at about 11am. Quite a steep climb at first with fields all round. At one point our path became a stream with a name (Lamayous) which we trod with one foot on either bank. Turned into quite a sunny day after a chilly start. Got to the northern point of St. Laurent at about 1pm. Couldn't find a seat for lunch but did find one of the biggest dogs we've ever soon. Fortunately he soon got bored with barking at us and left it to his small ratty mate. Pressed on, sharing the path with the occasional tractor until we found a dry spot next to the path and with a view over a valley and sat down for our picnic. Very nice it was too and if we'd sat there much longer would have got a little sunburnt.
Headed off again and got slightly lost. We'd passed the right path as it just looked like the entrance to some fields, and we ended up in the woods. Finally backtracked to the right place and headed back through the fields, kicking the odd apple or 20 along. Past lots of little settlement of one or two houses that all seemed to have names on the map until we came back to the road. Too hot to walk along the road so we found another path that took us back to Plaisance through more woods. Turned out to be a good move as we got some great views of the village as we approached on that path. One tricky spot on the path though, were the path was less than a foot wide with a nasty drop into brambles on one side and some flowery vines covered in bees (or wasps) on the other.
Made it down to town and emerged from the scrub right next to our hotel, Headed down the road though and got a couple of cold cans of cola and sat across the road form the hotel in the shade and downed them. We then found that our new friends were sitting out in the garden out the back so we sat and chatted to them for a while (that's how we found out about the sloe berries). They are experienced walkers (done a few Inntravel walks before) but this time are driving around with just a few walks as Marion has had a new hip installed earlier in the year.
Back to our room for a hot shower and ready for dinner at 7:30. Already a table of 8 germans/dutch/belgians ?? tucking into their dinner. No menus tonight, just told us the choices:
Entrees - fish pate (we had) or vegetable soup
Main - rabbit casserole (Mo) or lamb steak (Mal)
Fromage - a huge selection of yummy cheeses
Dessert - sorbets or clarfouti (we had)
Between the four of us we also had a bottle of Gaillac white and a red. Managed to get some ports from the aperitifs menu as after dinner drinks - much better. The food was much better than previous night but still not a patch on the hotel at Ambialet. By the time we finished eating and chatting we didn't leave the table until 11pm.
Finally back to a warm room as the heating engineer had been in while we were at dinner.
Again didn't sleep too well - maybe too much fromage, plus kirk bells ring every hour through the night. And they ring each hour twice, once to wake you up then again so you know what time it is.
A new Inntravel couple had arrived last night and Mo was sure she new them from somewhere, interrogated them over brekky and they are from Edinburgh. Doesn't know where exactly she has seen them though. Our cab (back to Albi) arrived 15 minutes early at 10:15 and we were just ready and packed (except a pair of Mo's socks and one of Mal's t-shirts which have gone missing in the last day or so).
Drove out of Plaisance and once again it was very foggy, but this time the mist didn't clear as we headed upward. Didn't think we'd ever get out of the fog until suddenly we were in sunshine. Arrived back at Hotel Chiffre about 11am (three days walking, 45 mins in the car, huh!). Told the chap behind the desk that the wild animals didn't get us because Morag had found a stick to beat them off with. Dropped our bags in the (same) room and headed out to have a look inside the cathedral. Just had time for a quick look before they closed for lunch - so we wandered home via the supermarket. Picked up some supplies for lunch as well as supplies to take home, and had a picnic lunch in our room. Then had a power-nap as we'd had a really bad night's sleep the night before. Also a bit weary after our 35 mile walk!
Back to cathedral, very ornate inside with huge painted ceiling. It looks a lot like a fortress outside and we have learned that this is because it was built by the cardinal who started the (French) inquisition, and he was so unpopular that he built a fortress like cathedral as a symbol of his power and invincibility. Also did the Toulouse-Lautrec museum, for he was born in Albi, which is housed in an old bishop's palace. Then downed a couple of goodies from the patisserie and to the tourist office to find out how we can get to the nearby medieval town of Cordes tomorrow. Cordes is only 20kms away but to get there is either a 7:30am bus or a 1pm train followed by half-hour walk. We might give up and go to Gaillac instead (15 mins on train).
Home for a relaxing bath in the proper sized bath, then down for dinner. Same menu choices as last Friday so it's canard compote and salad, then filet mignon (rose), and chocolate marquis. On the way out of the dining room we chatted again with out chauffeur from last Friday and he says he'll take us to Cordes tomorrow. He says it's too good to miss. Decided to try some night photography so collected camera and tripod and headed out to the cathedral. It was lit up a little but is so big we're not sure how well it'll come out.
Up at 8am, time for a quick shower and breakfast then meet our chauffeur for trip to Cordes. Turns out he (Phillipe Saint-Jean) is the owner of the hotel - he (and partner) bought it 2 years ago after he retired from the French Special Branch (Presidential Security). We arrived at Cordes about 11am and wandered about the old streets for a few hours. It really is very pretty - was also very quiet that day. We suspect that it would be heavin' with people in August.
Stopped for lunch at Tonin'Ty restaurant for an 80 franc menu - smoked salmon salad, grilled salmon (Mal) or cassoulet (Mo), then lemon sorbet washed down with a half bottle of Gaillac blanc. Phillipe had recommended the restaurant and a visit to the sugar museum. Some chef had spent lots of time making sugar into shapes - leaves, flower, topless girls - the lot. Favourite was the train set.
Time to go home at 5pm so we waited at the busstop until the school bus came along. Managed to get a seat and chugged through the countryside with 40 screaming French schoolchildren.
Home for a shower and down to dinner about 8ish. Our waiter told us there was a special menu of local produce tonight and would we prefer that, but didn't really tell us what it was. We decided to be brave and have it - first course, fried duck liver. Neither of us is keen on liver but this didn't smell too strong and was actually quite tasty (it was quite thin). Next course was perch covered in thin strands of oven-dried onion and with a fabo sauce (don't know what). Topped it off with nougat ice-cream. All a nice treat and very much appreciated. Decided against having cointreau digestifs.
On the way out of the dining room got chatting with Phillipe again and he says come over to the bar for a beer, and strides out with us in his wake. I manage to say that we don't drink beer before he pours then so next thing we have a cointreau each and we chat about rugby and the hotel business and life in general for an hour or so. Chef comes in for a quick chat and it turns out he is the other owner. After a second cointreau for Mal, we finally make a break for it and head back up to our room - with Philiipe telling us he will take us to the train station at 8.30 in the morning.
Up about 7:30 for brekky and then pack. Phillipe takes us to the train station in the limo and says, remember the blue sky - tonight you are in Edinburgh. So it's the reverse of the first day - train to Toulouse, Air France to Heathrow then British Midland to Edinburgh - and the luggage does stay with us this time. Catch the bus to the secure car park where we've left our car and head home. From nice weather in Albi to arctic in Edinburgh. Down to 1c or 2c at night. Brrr Thankfully its only Saturday and we have the whole of the next day to recover and do the washing.
The End