September 2021
Since 2018, I promise myself to take time and write an article about our mini road-trip to Languedoc-Rousillon but times goes by, dozens of other trips pile on each other until finally we find ourselves on another trip to Corbières – almost four years later in an oh so different context. This time I decided not to let the routine distract me for so long, so here it goes, only one month later – a little photo gallery of the trip to the South-East of Sud-Ouest.
Cassoulet – a true bomb for our flexitarian stomachs
Carcassonne
Our first stop was Carcassonne, which is not only a popular worldwide board game but an enormous fortress that is a true magnet for everyone passionate about medieval history and architecture. It wasn’t our first time in Carcassonne but in seven years it underwent zero changes and the cassoulet served there kept its excellent taste.
Corbières
Crossing Corbière was the most beautiful part of the trip as this little region has everything of that France which is worshiped by culture and media but doesn’t enjoy (or suffer?) the flood of tourists like Provence. Vineyards, cypress trees, wine chateaux, ochre colours everywhere and an already kind September sun – a true image from the Travel to France magazines sold on gas stations. Once again, even if we were not too far from Toulouse, it felt like another part of the country, and it’s exactly what we love France for.
Artem, our friend from London was coming to see us and even if it was not the best time for us to travel, it was impossible not to show him some new places in France. And he was an excellent audience!
Collioure
Skipping the sea was impossible either, so straight from the hills of Corbières we arrived to Collioure. A bitter-sweet experience as Collioure had nothing in common with a quiet seaside town we discovered in February 2018. It was a thing to expect, but I would rather keep those old memories without mixing them with this flashy, crowded and touristy version of Collioure.
Eus
Including “the most beautiful villages of France” to our itinerary has become our little obsession, so this time we managed to cross two of them out of our list – Eus and Villefranche-de-Conflent, leaving behind Evol and Castelnou. I’m afrwaid they will haunt me for a while now! As always, the most beautiful villages didn’t disappoint us, Eus was definitely an amazing town to see.
Olives, figues and grapes growing on the streets of Eus
Exhausted of unhuman quantity of beauty, we drove to spend the night in an Inn (une gîte en français) in the mountains, and what an excellent idea it was. A quiet farm in the middle of nowhere, whose guests were mainly bikers and bicyles travellers. It was a perfect place for a nature retreat with a bottle of wine, proper French cheese and talks untils late after the sunset.
Check out: Winter Holidays in the French Pyrenees
Every time we venture to the Pyrenees we are rewarded with one of the best nature shows – a starry sky. We didn’t have a proper photography equipment but even without it we managed to capture some of its beauty.
Villefranche-de-Conflent
On the third day it was time to realize once again that we will never have enough time or energy for each place that is worth seeing. It’s a common thing on each journey but a hard one, because at this moment we need to decide what exactly has to be sacrificed and crossed out of our way too ambitious plans. It’s with pinch of sadness that we walked in another most beautiful village of France and wondering quietly about the time that flies so fast.
Bit of Spain, Bit of Andorra
Last chordes of the trip were the least expected: a stop in the Spanish exclave Llívia for a huge plate of tapas and sangria for the old times sake and a quick and quite miserable stop in Pas de la Casa – a border town in Andorra, which confirmed our impression from eight years ago – Andorra is an amazing place for outdoor sports but its towns have a weird atmosphere of Duty Free shops in the international airports.
The lunch in Llívia was excellent though, and even if it wasn’t enough to compensate the cruel lack of Spanish food to which we got accustomed last year, at least it brought back the delicious memories.
Epilogue
As it was definitely the last carefree trip that we squeezed between our endless projects, coming back home and saying goodbye to our friend was particularly sad. Fortunately, bitter feelings never last too long, especially with so many new and interesting things ahead. In the meantime, to keep my spirits up, I will take care of the huge list of articles still to be published.
See you soon! :)
Pas de la Casa
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