A little bit more of France captures our hearts first - a bit of winter sun part 2

 A little bit more of France captures our hearts first.

Cahors Valentine Bridge - 14th century UNESCO site


So it was supposed to be straight to Cadaques, then the horrendous storm and flooding in Valencia caused us to re-think and slow down our travels. Cautiously watching the Spanish meteorological agency’s site and weather apps, we decided nothing was worth ploughing on through with our route as we had planned.
Trying to avoid the storms on the eastern coast meant getting to Cadaques later in the afternoon, so a side trip to Cahors and then Narbonne helped to delay driving in rain. This was a great decision, not only because it made us feel safer, but also because Narbonne is a beautiful city.

Statue of Leon Gambetta, a French lawyer and politician.

Saint Etienne Cathedral, Cahors


Walking around Cahors was exciting as this was the way of the Chemin de Saint Jacques, The St James Way to Santiago de Compostella. Walking a tiny bit more of the French route made us want to do more of it again. We don't think we will ever tire of recalling that experience. The bridge was beautiful and although a little tricky for mum to walk on, we spent some time admiring the weir and the rainbows being created by the torrent of water.

Cahors was quite deserted, however,  I can imagine in summer this would be swarming with tourists and pilgrims. The cathedral was unusual in having two domes and whilst some original wall paintings can still be seen, the inside felt quite damaged. We also struggled to find somewhere for a drink as most places were closed; a small bakery provided some cookies, which was enough to carry us over to dinner.





Narbonne was easy to get into and park within a short walking distance to the old city. The sun was shining it was hot and it was Halloween. Hot and halloween don't normally go together. What was fabulous to see though was how much this is celebrated by children and their parents, with many shops also dishing out treats to the children carrying buckets. 

Palais-Musee des Archevêques, Palais Vieux



Water sundial in the Archbishop's garden. 

First stop was a great coffee shop, macarons eaten, then we set off to explore the old roman road that is the centre of the city, its links to Rome are evident all over the old part of the city. 

 Part of the Via Domitia preserved in the 
centre of the main town square.


The cathedral was exquisite with huge Gothic arches and an incredibly high roof. Some renovations prevented us from seeing all of it, however, the gardens with a water sundial and the 'ruins' make the whole place a lovely peaceful experience. 



Narbonne Cathedral

Romulus and Remus




We wandered into an art exhibition, more so to see the building, which was the Palais-Musee des Archeveques, and then off for a traditional lunch of coq au vin and cassoulet, followed closely by a beautiful ice cream, from a shop named after Daisy! Glacier Marguerite

Mum enjoying her peanut and chocolate ice cream 


The journey across to Cadaques was a little hairy, we had of course left it too close for comfort before night fall. As we approached the roads we noticed they were much more wiggly on Google maps than we had anticipated, a mist was covering the mountains that we had to ascend, and then descend to the sea on the other side, which made it seem all the more treacherous. How I hadn't seen that as a possibility was a little careless, but we had no choice it was the only way. Mum said she was hanging on for dear life, but Pete was as calm as ever and said we had been over much worse roads. Returning over the same road the next day was a completely different experience, the sun was shining and the roads didn't seem anywhere near as precipitous! Arriving in the dark, but still warm enough for t shirts, meant that we wandered down to the sea to have wine and tapas by the water's edge. It felt well deserved.
 We were excited to explore this lovely little town in the morning, it was enough to know that we had now arrived in Spain.

Looking over to the tourist information centre and casino in Cadaques.



A touch of Daisyvan Halloween



























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