Lockdown diaries, day nineteen, Plus Beaux Villages de France

Beautiful skies today

Day nineteen, Tuesday 17^th November 2020

 

The sun returned today with not a spot of rain, which is just typical as after yesterday’s laundry hokey-cokey I decided not to bother putting the washing machine on this morning. It was glorious to be able to lunch in the garden though, and relax with a mint tea, my eyes closed, and face turned up to the sun. A snooze would have been so easy.

 

It was Ed’s turn to do the weekly shop, I really could get used to this, so I cleared the fridge of leftovers and made a soup while he was out. Aside from yoga, that is probably about as exciting as my day got, although I do rather enjoy a session batch-making soup.

 

Adrian has set himself a new cycling challenge to complete during this period of reconfinement. As with his 50^th birthday challenge, completed during the first lockdown, where he virtually cycled up Mont Ventoux on his turbo trainer in the garden, this one also has a similar theme. Using the only hill in the village, 600m long, gaining 24m at a maximum of only 3%, he is going to repeatedly climb, descend and climb again until he has reached the equivalent of summiting Mont Ventoux (1912m). The ascent from Bédoin climbs 1639m or roughly 68 climbs up our hill, and as we are limited to one hour of exercise per day, this is likely to keep him busy for quite a few days. Let’s hope the weather is kind to him. This will mean that in 2020 he will have virtually climbed it twice and physically made it to the top too. 

 

Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, Lot
a Plus Beaux Village de France we visited just before lockdown

Plus Beaux Villages de France

If you are looking for some armchair travel, or a bit of inspiration for where to go in France, once we are all free to travel, click here. My blogging friend Phoebe at Lou Messugo (the lovely accommodation we stayed in earlier this year on the Côte d’Azur (see here)), has put together a blog all about the Plus Beaux Villages de France (most beautiful villages of France). Many bloggers helped out by contributing, so every village mentioned has been visited and is personally recommended. With over 150 villages marked as most beautiful and over thirty featured in the blog post, I’m sure you will find somewhere you’ll fall in love with. 

 

Brouage, Charente Maritime a Plus Beaux Village de France

I was happy to share Brouage, a fortified village hidden in the Charente Maritime marshes, and a place we always seem to pick a hot day to visit. Deciding which village to write about wasn’t easy though. A combination of day trips from home, Mini Cooper road trips over the years and cycling holidays, and it seems we have visited over twenty. Some made better impressions than others, because as far as we are concerned it doesn’t matter how pretty you are, if your pay and display car park is so full to bursting we can’t squeeze our Mini in, we probably won’t enjoy battling through your crowded narrow streets anyway. Others have been little gems, far enough away from the main tourist trail to retain their authenticity, charm and character. It was nice to see some of our favourites in the Lou Messugo blog post and get some ideas on where to cycle to next.