We booked Sunday lunch at La Faléne Bleue, (the Blue Moth)…
… a very posh restaurant at Lannepax about 10 kms south of camp. I still find telephone calls in French a bit tricky – especially when there’s an answerphone on duty at the other end. We wanted to go for a late lunch so I booked 1 pm. But when we got there, the place was locked up as tight as a … Well, it was shut. Checked my confirmation message. Yes, right day, right place, right time. So we phoned them. “Ahh, yes, sorry, I’ll come and let you in!” (Well, that’s what I think she said!) It’s been a long time since I was involved in a lock-in! Although, strictly speaking, this was more of a lock out!
It transpired that, “Exceptionally, today we aren’t really open till 2 pm, but the chef will be here very soon. Come in!”
Beautiful place, elegant decor …
… and superb cooking (although we couldn’t really follow the “story” they told us about each dish). To be fair, it was more style than substance! Much more.
Maybe there’s a Maccers on the way home, or a pizza joint!
We returned to The Blue Moth a few days later with our friends from Brixham and on a Friday four of us ate a lovely meal for less than the price for two of us on the Sunday! I’m sure that there’s a moral there somewhere!
On Wednesday, we had made a reservation for lunch at the Étape d’Angeline in La Romieu. Just don’t tell Mr Williams – it’s one of his favourites! (I’ll come back to Angeline later if I remember) So, we drive 30 minutes, select a shady parking spot and roll up at the restaurant to discover it’s shut. Fermé. Desolé. The board outside says quite clearly, shut on Wednesdays. So there’s little point in telephoning on this occasion! But we are both clear that I had been talking about eating on Mercredi. So, John, we never did get to eat at your favourite resto! In desperation we tried the campsite, but their eatery was shut by the time we got there. More “desolé”! But less calories!
Now Angeline… It’s a long story, so I’ll summarise it. Angeline lived with her aunt in La Romieu. She loved cats. There was a famine in the region. People started to eat cat stew. Angeline persuaded her aunt to let her keep and hide two. The felines being a boy and a girl (and let’s not get distracted by infantile arguments about that), two rapidly became eight and then more. After the famine, there was a plague of rats. Angeline’s cats were released and cat stew was banned by common consent. The cats wiped out the rats and everyone lived happily ever after! A local stone mason celebrated the event by installing stone cats all round the village.
The village is very pretty, if a smidgeon gentrified. You can visit the collegiate buildings – or you can photograph the cloisters from outside and avoid an explanation of the building and it’s history in flowing French!
You may remember, we kept on finding parts of the Camino Trail when we were last in Spain. This trip is no exception. The coast path through Santillana del Mar, Comillas and San Vincente was crawling with hikers. A couple of walkers camped with us near Dax. And now, as you can see, we are back on the trail in La Romieu!
This branch of the trail, the Chemin du Puy or Via Podiensis, starts many kilometres to the NW, in Le Puy-en-Velay. It is said to be the most popular of the Camino de Santiago routes through France. At least four French trails converge in Saint-Jean-Pied de Port on the French side of the Pyrenees. “Ours” passes La Romieu, Condom, Montréal and Éauze before wending it’s way to Dax and on.
At 736 km in length, it is one of the longest Camino routes. They say you would need at least 4 – 5 weeks to complete the full walk. That’s 20 – 25 km EVERY day! And don’t forget, taking the “Frances Way” from St Jean, it’s another 772 kms to Santiago! No thanks. I prefer to do it in easy 500 m stretches!
Our campsite has superb facilities including the best chemical emptying point of ANY site we have ever visited. It is also the ONLY one I’ve ever photographed!
However, this is rather special – unique even. Completely covered area with custom built stainless steel drainage unit at sensible height. A light which has a movement sensor. Sensible water supply. Disinfectant spray. Cleaning brush. Bucket. Kitchen roll and waste bin. A squeegee for floor cleaning. Then a hand-wash basin with soap dispenser. The only thing missing is a coffee machine! Amazing. (Sorry, Glenda says “boring!”)
OK, moving swiftly on, the site also has a fabulous swimming pool which we used every day…
Sonja and Wouter…
… also run communal dining evenings, usually a couple of times a week. These are good home prepared meals – not French cooking – and great opportunities to meet other campers. More sites should do this.
You meet some interesting characters… Like John and Carina from Den Haag (just don’t mention awnings!)…
… and Marcel and Klaziena (why would anyone drive 1,200 km home to the Netherlands in one day?!)…
So much has happened here, I’m going to have to continue in the next episode!
But, just before I end, I heard this – thought you might like it!
A bunny is running through the forest and he meets a hedgehog, who’s smoking a joint, so the bunny says:
“Hedgehog nooo, don’t do it, drugs are dangerous, come and run with me in the forest!”
The hedgehog, convinced by the bunny, runs with him. They run and they meet a squirrel who is doing blue crystal meth. The bunny, scandalised, says:
“Oh squirrel, please, don’t do drugs, it’s a very sunny day, run with me and you’ll be healthier”.
So the hedgehog, the squirrel and the bunny happily run through the forest when they meet the wolf, who’s snorting coke, so the bunny says:
“Wolf what are you doing? Come and run with us, coke is really bad for you!”
The wolf stops and raises his head, looks at the little company of animals and says:
“What the hell guys? Every time the bunny does ecstasy we all end up running through the forest like idiots…”
It was Great to meet you both…dont mention awings ever more..🫣