Friday, 22 March 2013

Call girls, Coypu, and Cowpox


 
The weather was so nice – what we think of typical Midi weather – blue skies, warmth, 23C in the sunshine….we spent a couple of days at Fanjeaux in teeshirts just chilling and exploring the lanes and village.  The bonus wildlife view was watching a treecreeper close up feeding and singing on the trees alongside the van!

Aside from the weather and history, Fanjeaux stands out for the hilltop views – to the distant snow covered peaks of the Pyrenees, and across the plains of the Midi…beautiful and dramatic seeing the weather rolling in….all the indicators are that the weather is changing. Mind, the news from England seems to indicate that a bit of cloud and a few degrees lower temperature means we’ve got off lightly…so far!

We drove eastwards – aiming for a campsite on the banks of the Canal du Midi, another world heritage site! The site is at Villeneuve le Beziers (or Bezier Newtown), and while taking the non-toll road north east from Narbonne we saw another sight new to both of us. Friday lunchtime and it seems this road is an established “call girl alley” with ladies of what looked like immigrant heritage, loitering at every layby, track, and junction. We lost count after about twenty. My view is it’s a sad insight into todays society that the rural agriculture (mainly vineyards) seems to be worked by the older generation…and the youngsters prefer to earn a quick buck, better not get me started……


Moving swiftly onwards, we arrived at the Canalside campsite – functional, small pitches (we wouldn’t fancy it if it was full in high season), and went for a walk along the towpath. Lots of boats being lived in, an English narrowboat (with British waterways sticker on)….and a coypu swimming towards us. No wonder the Tollers were sniffing everywhere, don’t think they’ve ever smelt Coypu before. Another first for all of us!
 

Also trying to decide if our dogs have had cowpoxes…..

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