Camp site bookings have usually been done the day or two before our arrival, the journey route not too specific, weather playing a part in the choosing of destinations, our next was no exception.
The family run Camping Montolieu lies just outside the pretty yet steep village of Montolieu, south west of Toulouse, a quiet dated little site, perhaps the owners had tired themselves after a busy season and were about to pack up for their own holiday, so no need to put in the same care you'd expect during the summer rush... or maybe just a bit of standard laissez-faire.
Despite the longer grass and overgrown hedges, for us it was still ideal, a two night stay to spend a day exploring nearby Carcassone, a 15 minute drive away.
The first thing on arrival at Carcassone is where to park, it is always worth a research of town centre parking in advance - avoiding those pesky narrow streets in a 6.3m van, thankfully the town's website had a designated camper van car park, so we headed straight there.
On arrival we parked with choice - seeking some shade in the 132 space van car park, it was 11.00am, it had not gone unnoticed that most campers seemed to take a leisurely approach to morning activity!
The medieval fortified village known as la Cité, with its 3km of double ramparts sitting on a hilltop above the River Aude, above the wider old textile town of Carcassone below is like a film set, 52 Rapunzel towers complete with gothic cathedral!
Whilst a fortified village has been on the hilltop since pre roman times, La Cité was also a restoration project by the french architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc in the mid 1800s, his work also included Mont Saint Michel, and Notre Dame de Paris, plus he had a little hand in the design of the Statute of Liberty!
He also was criticised for not constructing La Cité as authentically as the area would have been known for, like using the wrong colour of roof tiles.... outrageous!
The small detail did not seem to put off the tourist, celebrating the medieval activities of the day, we wandered the pretty buildings, interspersed with people dressed up as they may have back in medieval times, offering us to take part in crafts such as weaving and leather works, and an outdoor bowling alley of its day!!
The entertainment abundant - singing street jesters with high pitched bagpipes .... all there to enhance 'the customer experience' perhaps!
The legend of Dame Carcas (Lady Carcas) who is depicted in stone at the gate to La Cité, took place in the 8th century when a siege took place lasting 6 years and the city was running out of food, wily ole Dame Carcas had a cunning plan....
She threw the only pig that was left in La Cité after feeding it with the last of the wheat.... over the walls to the invaders below.
The plan worked, the siege was lifted thinking that the people of La Cité had enough food they were throwing it away as waste.
Overjoyed at her plan working- she sounded the city bells, the Charlemagnes on hearing this exclaimed "Carcas sonne" or 'Carcas rings'.... hence the name of the town. It is later fabled that M&S got an idea for Percy here!
It was a nice few hours wander, a lazy drink at the cafe before heading off, but not before we had been enticed in with a purchase of the board game "Carcassone" it was being played everywhere... a game of Dominos meets Monopoly...
Back at the campsite, the sun was shining and it was BBQ time before packing up ..we were heading off early the next morning - to Agde, a mediterranean coastal town at the mouth of the River Hérault.
We had not initially intended to head to the med on this trip... the unseasonal wet weather in the north had certainly pushed us toward the french riviera.
Agde is a large place spread out into three different areas, the old town, the fishing port on the river, and the marina on the Mediterranean Sea. Our camp site faced directly to the river, it was a lovely spot half way between the sea and the old town.
On site the various narrow road turns to reach pitches was quite tight, we were there for a few days and heard numerous raised voices between couples or travelling companions as they were entering or leaving their designated pitch.... bikes on backs of motorhomes clipping trees and bushes... pitch signage flattened.... high tension all before 10am.
The comings and goings of a campsite when you sit out enjoying a leisurely morning coffee observing the daily exodus became a sport.... will they - wont they... bets on - hit anything?raised voices?... usually both!
Little did we know we had one of the prime spots of the site... becoming more obvious as our various neighbours over 3 days left by the 10am departure deadline, with new arrivals not allowed on site before the 12.00... we watched as existing campers disguising themselves as dog walkers or cyclists went slowly by, perusing vacant more attractive pitches - weighing up better options between their existing and any pitch that had became free ... swiftly they would descend.... no spaces were left before 12.00 near us.. surrounded by Dutch and Belgian number plates in their monster motorhomes.... we looked small in comparison to these bus like road homes.
Back to our first day... bikes out and a trip down the shared pathway that took us past the fishing boats on the river.. out to the channel lighthouse markers where it was a tad breezy, and along the med to our right, as we ventured towards Agde marina in the direction of Montpellier.
Lunch at the marina and a 7 mile meander back was enjoyable, the cycle paths everywhere and quiet roads where the path ran out... despite me getting a puncture about 5 miles before camp.
Not to worry we were carrying a spare inner tube... Brompton city bike tyres not liking mosaic and tiled hard road surfaces it seemed.
Day two, we took a walk along the river, this time in the opposite direction towards the old town of Agde... where it seems a regeneration of the public spaces is in full swing... the old town streets and alleyways did still seem a little underloved, quiet streets, empty cafes, shuttered off doors and windows in varying states of repair or disrepair!
The old town still had a few lovely gems and architectural treasures to offer, the town ramparts dating back to 4th century BC, and the romanesque 12th century cathedral of Saint Etienne, built entirely out of dark volcanic rock.
Despite the sense of isolation, the walk was lovely... set on a picturesque river where all forms of water craft were moored, yachts to fishing tugs and leisure boats, lining both sides of the river.
If you ever walk or cycle along the River Thames path from Surbiton to Kingston... there is a lot of similarity.
It was on the walk where we came across for the first time... boats for 'Water Jousting'... who knew it was a thing... later finding out there are fierce local competitions ... the jouster standing on an elevated platform at the back of the boat carrying a lance and shield, propelled by rowers with oars.. the object to dislodge the oncoming jouster in his / her boat.
Previously, on return from our cycle ride and the puncture, Jo had logged into amazon.fr and got a couple of replacement inner tubes 'just in case'. They were being delivered to an Amazon locker at a local laundrette the day later... so two birds and all that ... we headed off.. returning to the pitch to hang up the washing in the sunshine... before we ventured out for the rest of the day as we set off to explore the nearby town of Sète 20 miles away.
Sète is a pretty fishing port and magnet for tourists, famous for its many waterways and canals, having driven there - it was one way streets and no where to park for camper vans .. that was made abundantly clear... so we did not stop.. just a slow drive through in traffic.. many bridges crossing the river and the Bassin de Thau... perhaps we will revisit in the future.
Our time in Agde was coming to a close, opting to venture towards the Spanish border, the Pyrenees could be seen in the distance, our next camp would be in further down the coast at Canet-en-Roussillon, near Perpignan.
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