May is invariably a time when the temperatures start to rise and the water gets warmer and the carp spawn and so we close for a week to hopefully coincide with this annual event or to give the fish a rest after it.
It is impossible to predict though and certainly last year with the amount of rainfall we had and the average temperatures a good 3 degrees Celsius lower than this year, the fish spawned on and off throughout May and June and some even into July. This May has been a bit more stable though with highs of 34.7°C, lows of 4.7°C and an average of 15.4°C. Rainfall was only 24.13mm for the whole month compared to last year where it was the wettest spring in history here and we had 239.8mm of rain.
So for the first time since we moved to France, apart from visiting family in the UK, we decided we would take a mini-break and see a bit more of the country that we now call home. Jo has always wanted to visit Carcassonne, famous for it’s ramparts, medieval streets and fortifications, and so that’s where we went. We found a lovely glamping tent accommodation where we could also take Maisie with us and drove the 4 hours down, through the Dordogne to the Languedoc region of France, just south of Toulouse, passing through some amazing countryside and orchards and orchards of walnut trees and lovely little French villages.
The weather forecast wasn’t great for some of the days we were there so on the Monday we decided to go to Carcassonne. Parking just outside the city walls, we walked up through the entrance and through some very narrow streets where you could imagine people living hundreds of years ago. There was a lovely atmosphere and loads of bars and restaurants and we were pleased that we were visiting just before the tourist season really starts to get busy. Unfortunately dogs are not allowed into the château or around the ramparts so Nigel found a place to sit and watch the world go by with a coffee (it was too early for a beer, even by Nigel’s standards!) and Jo took herself off to look around. The renovation of the buildings began in the mid 1800’s and is classed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and whilst a tourist attraction today it is not at all commericalised and there is a good guided route throughout. The ramparts themselves take a good hour to walk around and having spent about 45 minutes in the château itself Jo just decided to walk a small section of these before coming out and finding Nigel again.
We took Maisie for a walk around the outside of the ramparts and then had a nice wander around the streets and a look around the cathedral before finding somewhere to sit and have lunch and watch the world go by.
That evening the heavens opened and torrential rain hit the glamping tent all evening but apart from a few leaks we managed to stay dry and the storm soon passed over us.
The glamping site was situated very close to the Montagne Noire (the black mountain), a range of mountains with the highest point of 1,210m. On the Tuesday we drove to a lake nearby hoping for a walk round it with Maisie but there were no obvious footpaths and not much else to be seen so we found a nice little restaurant for some lunch and then drove up through some windy roads into the mountains. Again we hardly saw a soul, just lots of lovely green views and across to the Pyrenees in the far distance. From there we dropped down into the town of Castelnaudry and had a lovely wander around the town and the canal basin with its 4 locks coming up into it and watched a couple of boats going up through them. The Canal du Midi goes down through this part of France to the coast at Narbonne and our love for water has made us think about our next mini-break.
On Wednesday, our last day away, we decided to try and find another lake to look round but again there was not much of a footpath around it and apart from seeing one person fishing from a paddle board the place was very quiet so we decided to head for the canal. Unfortunately we ended up in a service station on the motorway and the path was on the other side of the canal with no way of crossing so instead we found a lovely French restaurant for some lunch.
The best thing about the restaurants here is that they have no issue with us taking Maisie in with us, and most of the time fetch her a bowl of water. She is quite happy laying on the floor beside our table, wagging her tail when people come towards her but not a bother to anyone at all and loves the fuss and attention.
After lunch we eventually found a great spot to park the car and walk along the towpath by the side of the canal, moving aside for a few joggers and cyclists and just enjoying the peace and quiet and the water. In this part of France there are loads of avenues of London plane trees and loads of different wild flowers. We definitely prefer being beside water and out in the peace and quiet rather than in the towns, however lovely the bars and restaurants are!
Thursday was going home day and we decided on a different route going up through Corrèze and the lower part of the Haute-Vienne. We saw loads of vineyards and some lovely little villages and may well have a day trip out to Ségur-le-Château another day which was probably the prettiest village we went through.
Everything seemed to have grown whilst we were away, although there was very little rainfall here. So had the fish spawned? It would appear so. Our friends had told us that their carp had spawned on the Monday and Tuesday and since we have been back we have noticed lots of fry in both our lakes so we are hopeful that we got our timing right this year and all of the jiggy-jiggy is done for another 12 months.
Our season is now getting busier with people on one or both lakes for the next 6 weeks so we are now back to work, making sure everything is looking at it’s best for our visitors. Until the next time bonne journée et à bientôt….
