Postcards from the Lot

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

My 2019 Birthday Trip

Sunday, April 28th, 2019

This adventure happened all spontaneously by Monsieur Honey after he viewed a property for rent on Facebook, he decided to surprise me with a trip for my upcoming significant birthday in May.

We had viewed the property while we were planning a September “retirement trip” with our Castle Durham friends but ruled the village out due to it’s small size as it was the first time Mark and Susan would be visiting France.

In Canada I will officially be recognizied as a Senior Citizen collecting an Old Age Pension the month following my birth date.

As I write this I think oh how old!

Seriously though, I’m ok with this as I’m healthy and not feeling my age!

What a wonderful surprise to travel to la Belle France to once again experience the French life, the “joie de vivre” and the culture with all my senses.

Thank you Monsieur Honey for the most wonderful gift!

Today is what we dub as the “Hurry up and wait day”!

From waking up in our own beds, showering, dressing, making sure every last thing is packed ... and the final Monsieur “checklist” ... euros, passports, tickets, directions, etc.

And away we go ... thank you to our friend Nicky for the lift to the airport bus pickup.

Airport checkin, baggage drop off, security all was uneventful ... flight departed on time and we arrived in Paris (CDG) early.

We enjoyed some movie entertainment and a little cat nap.

We already had a long layover, now just a bit longer; we walked the 30 minutes between terminals, enjoyed a nice petite déjeuner ...

... then it was hurry up and wait for our flight to Toulouse.

The skies were foggy this morning causing many delays/ gate changes.

Our arrival in Toulouse was on time, we collected our luggage which finally did come around on the carousel (thank goodness they were there).

Next was the car rental pickup process with Europcar, upon checking the Opel we discovered too much damage and requested a different vehicle and we were given a new Peugeot 208, with a built in GPS ... “parlez vous Français?”

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Ready, Set, Go!

Our countdown of sleeps has come to an end ... with only one more sleep on the plane (we hope to have a restful night during our flight) before our rendezvous with la Belle France,

All travel arrangements are made, flights and car rental booked plus we found the perfect accommodation in the quaint, tiny village of Montlaur in the Aude department, Occitane region (formerly Langedouc-Roussillon).

We will spend a little over a month here this time.

We are packed and are “Ready & Set to Go” ...

À bientôt.

Monday, April 22, 2019

Time in Tarragona

Sunday, April 28th, 2019 ... I’m writing this post as I’m readying to embark on our next adventure. I still have plenty of photos and stories to share of our 2018 Spanish trip and will have to comeback later to finish them.

Monday, June 25th, 2018

After staying put in Torredembarra for the long weekend due to all of the festivities and swarms of visitors (we weren’t certain we’d find a parking space if we took the car out); we ventured out today on a road trip to visit the city of Tarragona. All we wanted to do was wander and discover this city.

Description

Tarragona is a port city in northeastern Spain’s Catalonia region on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea.

It was founded before the 5th century BC.

“There are many ancient ruins from its time as the Roman colony of Tarraco.

The Roman Amphitheater is a 2nd-century arena facing the Mediterranean, the Necropolis contains Roman tombs, and traces of the Forum stand among the alleys of the walled, medieval Old Town.

There is a walkway along the ramparts with long views of the city” ... info from Wikipedia