The Bridge Trip - Lyon to Limoux

We met up again with my brother Paul and his wife Ness in Lyon about a week after the Central European Tour. This trip was one of John’s very well planned jaunts that include local wines, great scenery, local wines, historical and cultural sites, local wines, quaint towns, local wines and roads precariously built on the side of steep, very high mountains.

20 April
John and I took a TGV (Train à Grande or very fast train) to Lyon in east-central France. Lyon is the third largest city in France and sits at the junction or confluence (a new favourite word of mine) of the Rhône and Saône rivers. The city has a 2,000 year history and has a Roman Amphitheatre and medieval and Renaissance architecture.

We got into Lyon a day before Paul and Ness were due so we checked out as much of the city as we could in John and Kathy slow touring style - walk, look, stop, eat, drink, walk, look etc, etc.

Medieval City We crossed the Saone River to the old city. Much of the area, La Croix-Rousse, was part of the silk industry and Traboules (covered passageways) interconnect most of the building as it was important the weather did no damage the silk. We really

enjoyed peeking into some of these. Again, so much history; we continue to be amazed.

Notre-Dame de Fourvière sits on the top of the hill and overlooks Lyon. It is pretty impressive.

Lyonnaise Food There are 2 types of traditional food – Mamans food which is like home style cooking and restaurants called Bouchons that serve only typical Lyonnaise food. At lunch John had the snails with parsley butter which were fine. I had a pig snout salad – how bad can that be I love bacon hocks – surely they can’t be that different – but it was a sort of congealed meat in a salad and not very tasty – cross that off the list.

21 April
Paul and Ness arrived in time for dinner on the second day and we took them to a Bouchon. In France a formula or menu is a very common way to order food (and good value too). It is usually a 3 course meal with 2 or more choices for each course. Being really adventurous we each ordered a different dish so we could experience as many local dishes as possible.

Ness ordered an Andouillette. Ness quickly persuaded Paul to eat her meal. The waiter refused to tell him what it was until he finished the meal. Despite having a reputation as someone who always finishes the job Paul was not able to finish his “sausage”. Eventually the waiter told us in sign language that it was a ‘veal’s bottom”. Andouillette we find out later is a coarse-grained sausage made with pork or occasionally veal, intestines, pepper, wine, onions, and seasonings. As we always say (in France) – one misunderstood word can make a whole lot of difference to your meal. I’ve been happily eating meals with gesier thinking it was goose when I found out the translation is “gizzard”.

22 April
On the Road - Lyon to Anduze
After a slight mix up with the car booking we left Lyon and headed south and then west. Being travellers whose philosophy is “money

should be spent on food and wine NOT entrance fees” we found an alternative entrance to the famous Pont du Gard. Sure it meant we had to walk up a rough, neglected road for a few kilometres but we needed the exercise. The Pont du Gard, over the Gardon River is a Roman aqueduct near Vers-Pont-du-Gard built in the 1st century AD and used until the 6th century. It is nearly 49 metres high.?We had lunch under an ancient olive tree. You could spend all day at the site – there was a very refreshing looking river below the bridge.

We continue on through tiny villages and small towns, as usual very beautiful and so much history. We eventually found our B & B, Les Montades Chambres d'Hôtes purely by luck. The closest town Anduze was about one kilometre away down a VERY steep hill. We checked out the market and had dinner.

23 April
Anduze to Luzencon
After a typical French breakfast (petite dejuner) of coffee, juice, bread, jam, yoghurt and fruit and an omelette, which is normally eaten for lunch or dinner, we left for another day of touring.

We travelled along the Tarn Gorge throughout the day. We did have

to divert to a smaller road due to a race being held but soon got back on the main road. Don't believe anything Paul or Ness say about my reaction to very narrow roads with cliff-like edges. It is perfectly normal to be fearful of badly built roads.

We had a picnic lunch on the way and stopped at Sainte-Enimie which is listed as one of the most beautiful villages of France. Apart from being in a stunning locations there is a medieval old town (6th century) with a Romanesque church and the remnants of an old Benedictine monastery.

Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (the most beautiful villages of France) are villages which meet criteria - population under 2,000, have a rural character and at least 2 national heritage sites. There are 155 currently awarded. The few we have been to are certainly worthy of the title.

We continued along the Tarn until we sighted the piece de resistance (that's French for bloody amazing) - the Millau Viaduct is a cable-stayed bridge that spans the gorge valley of the River Tarn

near Millau in southern France. The engineers reading this will probably already know it is the tallest bridge in the world, with one mast's summit at 343 metres. It formally took 4 hours and 100 km to cross the valley floor.

John excelled himself again with the selection of a B&B at the Hameau de Luzençon which overlooked the valley and the bridge. Of course to have a view the hamlet had to be accessed via another very steep and narrow road. The Chambres d'Hôtes La Saisonneraie was converted an old farmhouse into 4 rooms that were absolutely beautiful. Our room overlooked the view. There were no shops here so we had to make do with baguette, cheese, charcuterie and red wine. Yes, we know you are very sad for us.

24 April
Milau to Limoux
After another lovely breakfast with baguette still warm from the oven we made our way home, this time actually crossing the bridge. We were on a bit of a mission as we had to get to Carcassonne in time to pick up Jeff and Jax Camp who had arrived from Tasmania.

We dropped Paul and Ness at the Old Cite for a quick visit. With a little coordination we managed to get Jax, her luggage and Paul and Ness and their luggage back to Limoux. Jeff rode off on his bike into the distance not to be seen for some time.

Next: Capers on the Canal