tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39132951786774967852012-02-16T12:29:46.689ZA photo diary of my trips around France by train and bus in my mission to find a good location to live and start a new energy B&B/spiritual workshop centre. With the main focus on rural France and small towns and villages, it is also a place to share tips about budget travel & accommodation, interesting places to see etc so feel free to share any info of your own. Most recent posts are at the top but each individual trip is page numbered if you want to read in the correct order.Lindanoreply@blogger.comBlogger211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-78605315730693406472009-07-03T20:15:00.001+01:002009-11-27T00:26:52.299Z

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-34624800700672873212008-09-28T14:52:00.008+01:002008-09-28T17:52:28.663+01:00

I have another upcoming trip to France thanks to Ryanair who were giving out free flights recently to all kinds of places in Europe. It then occurred to me that a lot of independent or budget travellers who live outside of the UK may not be aware of these occasional offers by the cheap airlines. It could be worth putting your name on their mailing list if you are planning a tour around Europe,

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-52845902775232468302008-06-02T20:44:00.008+01:002008-09-04T00:34:17.674+01:00

I keep telling myself I "should" be out there looking for properties right now (or locations at least) but somehow "should" isn't part of my vocabulary, and quite honestly I don't feel like going anywhere just yet.From what I've heard around the blogs it sounds as though they are having freak weather there too, so perhaps it's just as well I'm feeling lazy. A bigger concern has come my way,

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-67698497130299045222008-05-23T16:35:00.009+01:002008-05-23T22:46:48.521+01:00

Although when I first arrived from Toulouse airport I had no desire to stay overnight in Toulouse, I was actually looking forward to going back to a bigger town again as I was starting to feel a bit claustrophic in Carcassonne, having gone in all the shops more than once and not having a car to see other nearby places such as Rennes-le-Chateau, which is unreachable without a car. With blue skies

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-43617305854695238572008-05-17T19:07:00.010+01:002008-05-23T16:21:18.952+01:00

After the first week in France I was beginning to feel burnt out and needed a couple of days free from thinking about property purchase. Decided on the spur of the moment to visit Carcassonne, as I always fancied seeing it. There was nothing to keep me in Varen as I had no more appointments (anywhere) so I thought a few days sightseeing might be the answer. We looked up the youth hostel on my

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-7001828193268534402008-05-05T00:45:00.007+01:002008-05-05T03:35:10.257+01:00

Wasn't sure what to call this post - Varen was the nearest 'town' although I stayed nearby in a tiny hamlet called Soucaillac, where the nearest station was called Lexos, and the house I viewed was in a nearby hamlet called something else (which I forget). Anyway, it was a train journey going north from Gaillac, only a few trains daily there (about 3) and at least this time I was already booked

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-40495017532385920972008-05-04T23:27:00.006+01:002008-05-05T00:38:13.502+01:00

While based in Gaillac I did a day trip to Albi. I'd read previously somewhere that it is one of the towns in France that is most successful for new businesses starting up. It is bigger than Gaillac and had a feel to it that it was a thriving rather than a stagnating town.Throughout my trips around France the energies have just not felt right to start a business. France is beautiful, the

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-69563610204784916412008-05-04T21:39:00.007+01:002008-05-23T16:32:15.034+01:00

Feb 2008 - I had a two week trip to view one house!! Mad I know, I should have booked a load of viewing appointments before leaving. As I'm still curious about other areas in France, it did no harm in seeing yet other towns, villages and rivers. I took no notes at all on this trip and most of my photos were of properties - I saw three in the end - and so came back with a few more travel pics

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-32653893385355077622008-05-04T20:08:00.005+01:002008-05-04T21:33:47.034+01:00

For the first time in history, a French wine is about to be blacklisted - and that’s a good thing. Cahors, long the ignored stepchild of France’s great vineyards, may soon be given its own official category: vin noir or black wine. The new designation, awaiting approval by INAO, would mean that restaurants throughout the country could add the term “black wine” to their wine lists along with red,

Lindanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-65526802483841322852008-04-11T02:10:00.013+01:002008-04-11T03:31:58.558+01:00

My real desire was to do a country walk, as I'd felt inspired by what I saw of the countryside from the train when travelling from Cahors to Gourdon, and it had made an impression on me. It was hilly and wooded with occasional clearings where the grass looked smooth and clipped in between the more wilder areas - perhaps sheep or some other animals helped keep it that short and tidy. Rich

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-36774593482733985072008-04-10T06:46:00.011+01:002008-04-11T02:08:50.742+01:00

Gourdon is not far to walk to from the station but seems to be uphill all the way. I was feeling a bit nervous about finding everything closed on a Sunday, so intended that all my needs be taken care of. A few minutes later a French woman pulled up in her car - can she drive me into town ?"Are you a taxi?" I asked. No, she said, she saw me heading into town and as it's uphill she thought I may

Lindanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-29643409539162829042008-04-10T03:01:00.004+01:002008-04-10T06:43:46.761+01:00

Had a two hour wait in Souillac before my train to Cahors was due to arrive, so had lunch outside the only cafe opposite the station. They must do a roaring trade as the actual town itself seemed a very long walk from the station.On arriving in Cahors I finally found the youth hostel, which is centrally placed in the town itself but which I still found hard to find even with a map.The woman in

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-40480808613681914642008-04-09T05:04:00.015+01:002008-04-09T20:52:07.072+01:00

Sarlat was bigger than I thought it would be, and I loved it straight away. Not near a river though, but the medieval buildings, narrow cobbled streets and the atmosphere makes you forget about the river. The hotel I'd aimed for was fully booked, even in September, so I had to join the queue at the Tourist Office to find lodgings. According to my guide book, there was supposed to be a youth

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-69167545156637114662008-04-09T02:57:00.007+01:002008-04-09T04:59:15.016+01:00

Arrived in Bergerac early evening 17 Sept and am still amazed how small these airports are, this one like a large garage. I even walked outside the building minus my luggage because I expected another room or building for baggage reclaim. Nope, this is it and you can't get back in, said another passenger outside. Well I did, and joined in helping the passengers to manually move the luggage down

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-13456379432793871582008-04-09T01:43:00.010+01:002008-04-09T02:35:24.230+01:00

St. Jean d'Angely is only a 20 minute train journey north of Saintes. It is a much smaller town than any I've visited so far, and has the River Boutonne running through it. The riverside looked a nice place to sit and there were some seats, but for some reason I didn't return to the river to sit there later in the day as planned. Again I did much walking in the heat of the day to see as much of

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-23559752989669988762008-04-09T00:04:00.017+01:002008-04-09T01:30:46.763+01:00

Arrived at the hostel at 4.30pm so only had to wait half an hour for reception to open. When I got the key to my room I saw that the numerology was still keeping to the fives, as my room number was 302. I was a bit surprised when I entered the room and realised I was sharing it with two other people. There was one single and one bunk bed, and mine was the bunk at the top. I'd become used to

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-36997772910777468642008-04-02T05:53:00.006+01:002008-04-02T07:57:20.888+01:00

During my two week trip which started off in the Loire I headed further south to escape the overcast skies, which had only marred the beginning of my trip. In fact, by the time I got back to the Loire after this diversion, the weather situation had reversed and I returned to Blois where the sun was shining and feeling glad to leave the weather further south - which taken a turn for the worst and

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-18430472481719044402008-03-30T23:24:00.010+01:002008-04-02T03:48:36.695+01:00

Chambord is the largest chateau in the Loire valley. The king of France - Francis 1- ordered the chateau to be built in 1519, and its construction lasted over 30 years.The castle was rarely inhabited. In fact, the king spent barely 7 weeks there in total, comprised of short hunting visits. As the castle had been constructed with the purpose of short visits, it was actually not practical to live

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-2315968779323723262008-03-30T20:27:00.015+01:002008-04-10T06:30:13.569+01:00

According to the hostel handbook, Blois youth hostel was 5 kms from the train station, and I didn't know where to catch the bus or where to get off at the other end, so I went to the Tourist Office in town for a map. The youth hostel was off the map. The handbook had described the hostel as being in the countryside, in a charming little village near the forest. Great, I thought, at least I get to

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-62379818061423439342008-03-27T00:01:00.006Z2008-03-31T21:01:26.981+01:00

I wasn't in Chinon long before I felt my mood worsen. Was it the same cloudy skies that were giving me S.A.D. in the middle of summer? Was it the energies in general, or just of this place? It was similar to how I'd felt in Tours. The town of Chinon was pleasant enough and is actually on the River Vienne rather than the Loire, although not far from the latter. I followed much of the River

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3913295178677496785.post-72675630760482859602008-03-26T22:28:00.008Z2008-04-09T02:57:05.050+01:00

2007 - When the plane landed at Tours my first impression was how small the airport was. Being used to Heathrow in London, I didn't expect a small area manned by two people checking passports with a white marquee outside for the entrance. I've since become used to France's tiny airports, often one room where baggage reclaim is in the same space. The shuttle bus then transported me to the city

Lindanoreply@blogger.com0