Day 104 - 11/08/19 - Gaillac, France

We woke up before the alarm, had a shower and then went for coffee with the owner of the farm. There were 5 Motorhomes who had stopped over in the end, despite the information saying there should be only 2, so I guess not everywhere is as strict as others. She had a lovely area for us all to sit, which was under a canopy and poured us either a coffee or a fruit juice that apparently aids digestion, we opted for the coffee. The owner then proceeded to eat her bread and various spreads which I assume she had made and sold in her little farm shop. We were expecting a little taste, but no, she was actually eating her breakfast, and not pushing us to try it or buy anything from her.

No one spoke English around the table and we don’t speak French, so it was a little awkward again for us, but the owner did try her best to let us know what they were talking about, using google translate, so it wasn’t all that bad.

Some of the guests then went into the shop and came out with packs of frozen meat. Now, we went into that shop about 3 times and could not see any sign of any meat anywhere - goodness knows where they had got them from - it must be a trick of the French 🤔

A few “friends” of the owner came to the farm while we were drinking coffee and she got up to greet them. I find it fascinating that they lean in to each other for an air kiss on each cheek, but no hug. It seems they make sure their bodies are well apart, with just their cheeks getting near to each other. I love people watching !

We left the farm and headed off to a farm we had seen. The journey was a little windy and along the smaller roads again, passing through a couple of little villages.

Along the way, there were lots and lots of fields full of sunflowers. They were all dying, it was a shame that we hadn’t managed to catch them in full bloom.

We arrived at the farm about midday, and woke the lad up - he told us that the ground could easily get churned up if it rains, which it looked like it may do. We went back to the van, but didn’t feel right staying, so we moved on.

We then headed for Auterive, which looked like a lovely village with a stopover by the river.

There were a few Motorhomes parked up as we arrived, and we went for a walk around the village. We had just missed a market, which was being packed away, and the only places open were a barbers and a bookies/pub combination. We didn’t feel too comfortable here either, so we moved on yet again.

This time we headed for a vineyard in Galliac.

As we went up the drive of the vineyard, an almighty alarm went off - scared us to death ! A gentleman came to greet us and showed us where we could park. After all the driving, we settled down and had a lasagna, which was delicious, and took in the views.

The sky was beautiful again this evening.

Stopover Information