10 Weeks in a Box - Day 5

Entering the Perigord - 13/07/2007


We awoke the following morning to find the Donkeys had lost interest in us, wandering over to the far side of their field. Fair-weather friends! We quickly fell into our usual routine, Miki out of the Boomobile and painting boats on the water, Kevin lounging about eating breakfast. By way of my defence, can I just say, it takes me a little longer to ease into functioning mode…Anyway, we took our time, eventually packing up and heading off,
lazily following a rural route passing into the Dordogne, which is in the greater area known as the Perigord, on Friday, 13th. Unlucky for some, but not for us, as we found the cheapest diesel so far, and the first branch of Lidl since we left Albir, allowing us to stock up on necessities, like chocolate!
You will hear occasional mention of the retailing marvel that is Lidl throughout this journal. In the UK, it is generally synonymous with the patronage of the “council house” great unwashed, indeed, I even published a poem on the site called Lidl Dreams which says it all! But I must confess, on the road it provides for pretty much all our needs, and here on the continent it is visited by princes and paupers alike.

Early evening found us in a beautiful walled town called Montpazier, known as a “Village D’Art “, according to Miki, and indeed it was aptly so, with craft shops and artisans abounding, and concerts of every style from Celtic folk to John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. I even saw posters advertising the Russian ballet performing Swan Lake, and an English rendition of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. It felt like the town was bursting with talent! I love to see a town give itself over so completely to this celebration of creativity. There were very few normal shops here, the premises instead given over to antiques, soaps and perfumes, traditional wooden toys,
all beautifully presented. Each was an artistic statement in itself, a way for the owners to make their mark on this colourful and creative town. Indeed, the attitude of the folk here can be summed up by the car park attendant, who, when asked by Miki if it was okay to stick a 7 meter motorhome in the town centre car park, said “yes, no problem, its 2 euros, but pay me when you want, if you stay until tomorrow and go in the morning, then it won’t cost you anything.” What a guy! Vive la France!



Text by Kev Moore
Drawing & Photos by Miki
Both on Planet Goodaboom

10 Weeks in a Box - Day 4

Tour du Lac - 12/07/2007



The next morning, we wandered the entire circumference of the lake, via a man-made path. In fact, the local authority have created a pleasant little resort, featuring some lakeside chalets, a “pool area” that is part of the lake, with giant water slides, and fishing points dotted all around. It was a nice, peaceful place to spend some time. We were also pleased to find Motorhome facilities here, and I topped up our water supplies, whilst being harangued by some strange, incredibly old yet kindly foreign woman who insisted on smiling at me despite the fact that I maintained I couldn’t understand a word she was saying to me in her friendly, albeit slightly spooky way. Moving ever northwards, we found ourselves arriving at the confluence of two great rivers, The Tarn and the Garonne. Miki was shocked to discover that La Garonne actually originates in Spain, and travels forty kilometres through the Pyrenees before claiming French citizenship. A rare warlike mood overcame her as she threatened to commence hostilities with Spain to claim the offending territory that spawns La Garonne for La France. (Well, I guess people have started wars for less.)

Anyway, we settled down here for the rest of the day (and night) the scenery here being wonderful, and we got the bikes down for the first time on the trip and went for a ride around the lakeshore that the meeting of these two waterways creates. The cycle tracks meandered in and out of the trees, flirting with the shoreline, we persevered for a few kilometres before retracing our steps and heading back. Returning to the Boomobile, we found ourselves under observation by a pack of Donkeys, who wandered languidly over to see who was invading their turf. We remained there in the car park for the night, A nice dinner, some telly, and a chat about the day. Great days indeed, as somebody once said.




17.10.2007 - Afterword
I recently wrote to the office of tourism in Samatan to tell them about this article. I just received a reply, containing their tahnks for the kind words and... ironically... informing me that there has been "a little change" in their camping car area... it is no longer free, but 3€ a day!

Text by Kev Moore
Drawing & Photos by Miki
Both on Planet Goodaboom