Medieval City and Paradise found!

July already – we can hardly believe it! We left the hedonist extremes of Cap d’Agde last Saturday. There is no doubt that the resort offers fun and distraction but you would never see such ‘carryings on’ on Brighton naturist beach, that’s for sure! It had been an experience, but we now yearned for the peaceful relaxation we had promised ourselves. On our way west we called in at Carcassone, the beautiful walled citadel of the Knights Templar, dating back to the 11th century. It looks exactly like a Disney film set, but is genuine, and they just manage to avoid spoiling the magic. High on a hill, overlooking glorious countryside, the city gives a glimpse of times past, while offering the facilities expected by the modern tourist. We enjoyed a typical French lunch, walked around the walls, took the obligatory photos and wished we had had the forethought to buy tickets for the Bob Dylan concert, due to be held high on the ramparts the following evening! What a venue! We drove on in glorious sunshine towards our next destination, and called in at one of those enormous French supermarkets which sells just about everything, to stock up on essentials of life – meat, veg and, especially for Victor, wine! We then looked for Chateau Guiton, our next naturist camp, nestling in the hills just east of Bordeaux, right in the middle of the Entre des Mers wine region. I have never seen so many vines – every square inch is packed with them and everyone has a go at making their own special recipe. Every shop seems to sell wine, be it a baker, butcher or general store. After going round in circles for a while and arguing again with the Sat Nav, we came across the gate at the end of a track. This place is amazing! Very simple, very beautiful, very relaxed. A young French couple have bought up an old crumbling Chateau and created a naturist environment in the wooded grounds. Each pitch is delineated with shrubs, hedging or vines and the space is very generous. It is refreshingly small, with relatively few visitors at present, and you are woken by birdsong and the sound of Madam’s car horn as she arrives with fresh bread from her boulangerie in Frontenac, a local village. We are lulled to sleep by the chirruping of crickets. Multi-coloured butterflies jockey for position in the long grass and the area is a positive arboretum. The buildings are original and fascinating with little cut-out windows in the stone walls. The couple are clearly artistic as we have found statues, paintings and hanging tapestries dotted around. Despite its apparent simplistic approach, the wi-fi is free within a few meters of the office which makes the blog a lot easier. The pool is the first we have found which is not cold, is in a fabulous setting right outside the Chateau, and we have had it all to ourselves on several occasions. Yesterday we made a bit of a blunder and took our second major bike ride to the next relatively large town of Sauveterre. As usual we left too late – what did Noel Coward say about ‘mad dogs and Englishmen’? We ended up cycling a total of nearly four hours there and back, in the heat of the day. Crazy or what? Lovely town, nice lunch but we were totally shattered last evening. Today we plan to do very little! We leave here on Saturday morning and plan to take in St Emilion, before heading for our next campsite, the last one before Le Mans Classic 24 hour race. Victor cannot wait!