After taking quite some time to put up the tent (described as being of "Bedouin proportions")....and new porch section...
...we settled into our chairs to relax with a cuppa before hitting the inflated mattresses.
Then....
...doof...doof...doof...doof...
ships engine noise coming from the car that pulled-up on the next pitch at 22.30!
Luckily...it stopped after a frantic 15 minutes of tent-pole clattering...
..and all fell silent (apart from crickets and frogs in the nearby water-hole)
Before we'd even emerged from the tent the next morning, a voice was shouting...
"Good morning Welsh people!......I'll catch you later!..."
...which he did...
...and talked until well after dark...
...and then...
...to top it all...
...produced a set of bagpipes. and proceeded to play them (about 23.00 by now...most folks already in bed...and our eyelids wanting, desperately to shut!)
This...
...was, amazingly, Alec GRAY!...from Canberra...who was cycling from Barcelona to London, with ONE change of clothing, a 5kg tent, sleeping bag, not a lot of cash....
...and THAT set of BAGPIPES!
The world is FULL of 'em. :-)))
All told though, he's a lovely guy, and we enjoyed his company for a couple of nights, before he took his hire-car back to Carcassonne, and proceeded peddling his way northwards.
We visited many places...
...and saw a lot of beautiful sights....
Re-visited Rennes-le-Chateau..
..where I managed to take some photos of the lovely wall-paintings.
(More fun with those later I'm sure :-)
I loved the rocks and flowers in the area...
...just begging to be stitched!
And the view from up there!
Of course, I had a really good time taking piccies of buildings :-)
At Fanjeaux, we were intrigued to find this place...
..the site of a pool/lake that had been part of a temple site dedicated to Jupiter.
The church now comes up to the edge of where the pool once was...
...and that area is now a CAR PARK!!
(Reminded me of Terry Pratchett's book "Small Gods"....where each one gradually gets relegated according to how many folks still believe in them! Once a Super-Deity....now a road surface...:-)))
Old Jupiter had a great view though...
...looking down over the plain of the Aude...
We called in for lunch at Tarascon-sur-Ariege...
..on our way to Andorra.
...and, another day, had lunch at Chez Felix in Carcassonne.
We went off the tourist routes...
..and found some magical places...
..with hidden treasures..
..and took 1926 photos in total!!!
NO!
Don't worry, I'm not going to inflict all of them on you :-o
...and I will try to get back to some textile stuff next time.... :-)))
