On 13th June 2009 we went on an early summer break to Orthez, southern France for a week away. The cottage/farmhouse we rented had been on my mums holiday wish list for 2 years so she was pretty excited to be able to finally go. My parents and Nick and Emily decided to drive the whole way. But long distance travel by road really isnt my bag so myself and Adrian went RyanAir styly, it clearly was the 'no frills' air line as advertised. The cabin staff were pretty atrocious and not the most helpful of people. Had in not been for their rock bottom prices I might even go as far as to say I wouldnt travel with them again but a flights a flight and it got us where we were going.
Our landing was well timed and coincided nicely with my parents arrival at Biarritz airport. We drove a further 60 miles or so before reaching the secluded cottage itself. It was pretty picturesque and we were greeted warmly by the owner who gave us french bread, cheese and wine as a welcome gift. I was more excited that she had a collie cross living on the property (called Perdy) so I gave him lots of cuddles.
Unfortunately the weather wasnt too kind to us that week. We had frequent showers which meant that we werent able to get much sunbathing in, but the boys werent too phased by it as they took full advantage of the lake at the bottom of the hill where they could fish for hours on end. I think they managed a grand total of 20 fish caught in 4 hours which we were all quite impressed by. They all went back though as we were all feeling a little buddhist in our believes and couldnt bring ourself to eat them.
We had a few excursions to small villages for a couple of days. But we kept forgetting that the french have a mid day break where they all take a siesta and have a few hours where they shut up their businesses. Unfortunately this kept coinciding with our poorly timed visits to shopping areas so we saw the quiet side of most of the sleepy but pretty villages.
We were lucky enough to have a couple of beautifully sunny days. One of which was spent at Lourdes. I didnt know what to expect from this trip as I think a trip to the Vatican is quite tough to top in terms of the wow factor. And as was my suspision it didnt quite top that. It was however beautifully located and certainly had a fantastic atmosphere. I learnt quite a lot about the catholic faith and saw a lot of very inspiring sites during the visit. I did have some trouble making my way up all those steps in the heat though, and at one point was wondering whether to ask Adrian for a piggy back.
Following our trip to Lourdes we visited the Grottes de Betheram, where we were guided into the caves by an english/spanish/german speaking french man who gave us lots of interesting facts. I found the temperature change really strange as outside it had been topping 40 degrees C whilst down in the caves it plummeted to a rather chilly 13 degrees. I enjoyed the first hour or so but once we'd decended 800m to the bottom of the caves, taken a boat trip, walked some more and looked and nothing but rock formations, my concentration did start to waver if I'm honest.
Most of our evening were spent bar-b-queing by the pool and drinking too much wine but we did eat out on two occasions. We didnt find this was cheap. And Adrian and I's first experience of eating out in Orthez was a little bit of a let down. The food was pretty awful. I ordered the soup to start but what can only be described as some kind of raw meat based broth appeared in front of me. I politely smiled of course and just are around the meat but it left a pretty nasty taste. Adrian order fois gras, and he didnt look like he'd be ordering it again in a hurry. And I wont even get into what the wine tasted like but lets just say I think I'll be sticking to water next time.
Our second meal our however was a success. This was on our final night when we all went out together. The restaurant recommended by the farmhouse owner was a bit of a palava to find but we eventually tracked it down after taking some shoddy directions from a number of locals. (saying that it may have just been our shoddy translation - this is more likely i suspect). The restaurant was beautiful. Somehow we all managed to order in french which was no mean feat for those of us who haven't had to use another language since highschool. Everything was perfect, and it was a fantastic way to end a holiday.
It was a nice break away from life in Surrey and really quite relaxing - minus the bugs that is. I dont do bugs, and more recently have found out that Adrian doesnt either so neither of us were enammered when we found a pretty big creepy crawly climbing the wall. Adrian donned all his protective gear (a sock to cover his hands and a book to catch the spider with. But once he opened the window to let it out something twice the size crawled in. I was not impressed and certainly put a substantial amount of effort into screaming my head off with fear.
Our landing was well timed and coincided nicely with my parents arrival at Biarritz airport. We drove a further 60 miles or so before reaching the secluded cottage itself. It was pretty picturesque and we were greeted warmly by the owner who gave us french bread, cheese and wine as a welcome gift. I was more excited that she had a collie cross living on the property (called Perdy) so I gave him lots of cuddles.
Unfortunately the weather wasnt too kind to us that week. We had frequent showers which meant that we werent able to get much sunbathing in, but the boys werent too phased by it as they took full advantage of the lake at the bottom of the hill where they could fish for hours on end. I think they managed a grand total of 20 fish caught in 4 hours which we were all quite impressed by. They all went back though as we were all feeling a little buddhist in our believes and couldnt bring ourself to eat them.
We had a few excursions to small villages for a couple of days. But we kept forgetting that the french have a mid day break where they all take a siesta and have a few hours where they shut up their businesses. Unfortunately this kept coinciding with our poorly timed visits to shopping areas so we saw the quiet side of most of the sleepy but pretty villages.
We were lucky enough to have a couple of beautifully sunny days. One of which was spent at Lourdes. I didnt know what to expect from this trip as I think a trip to the Vatican is quite tough to top in terms of the wow factor. And as was my suspision it didnt quite top that. It was however beautifully located and certainly had a fantastic atmosphere. I learnt quite a lot about the catholic faith and saw a lot of very inspiring sites during the visit. I did have some trouble making my way up all those steps in the heat though, and at one point was wondering whether to ask Adrian for a piggy back.
Following our trip to Lourdes we visited the Grottes de Betheram, where we were guided into the caves by an english/spanish/german speaking french man who gave us lots of interesting facts. I found the temperature change really strange as outside it had been topping 40 degrees C whilst down in the caves it plummeted to a rather chilly 13 degrees. I enjoyed the first hour or so but once we'd decended 800m to the bottom of the caves, taken a boat trip, walked some more and looked and nothing but rock formations, my concentration did start to waver if I'm honest.
Most of our evening were spent bar-b-queing by the pool and drinking too much wine but we did eat out on two occasions. We didnt find this was cheap. And Adrian and I's first experience of eating out in Orthez was a little bit of a let down. The food was pretty awful. I ordered the soup to start but what can only be described as some kind of raw meat based broth appeared in front of me. I politely smiled of course and just are around the meat but it left a pretty nasty taste. Adrian order fois gras, and he didnt look like he'd be ordering it again in a hurry. And I wont even get into what the wine tasted like but lets just say I think I'll be sticking to water next time.
Our second meal our however was a success. This was on our final night when we all went out together. The restaurant recommended by the farmhouse owner was a bit of a palava to find but we eventually tracked it down after taking some shoddy directions from a number of locals. (saying that it may have just been our shoddy translation - this is more likely i suspect). The restaurant was beautiful. Somehow we all managed to order in french which was no mean feat for those of us who haven't had to use another language since highschool. Everything was perfect, and it was a fantastic way to end a holiday.
It was a nice break away from life in Surrey and really quite relaxing - minus the bugs that is. I dont do bugs, and more recently have found out that Adrian doesnt either so neither of us were enammered when we found a pretty big creepy crawly climbing the wall. Adrian donned all his protective gear (a sock to cover his hands and a book to catch the spider with. But once he opened the window to let it out something twice the size crawled in. I was not impressed and certainly put a substantial amount of effort into screaming my head off with fear.
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