In Argeles-Gazost, just near the Spanish border, we stayed in a delightful apartment with space to spread out, laundry facilities and air conditioning, a must as the temperatures soared into the high 30’s in France. On our way out of Spain, we had made sure to stop at the final chance for the Mercadona supermarket goodies (they are the best supermarket in Europe in our opinion), picking up a heat and eat dinner, to utilize the facilities in our accommodation.

This area offered amazing sights of the Pyrenees and we took the opportunity to drive up the “Col du Tourmalet” an iconic Tour de France route. As we climbed, we saw many hundreds of cyclists of all ages and abilities tackling the ride and we in awe as we turned corner after corner and still more were grinding their way to the top. The summit was filled with cars and campervans, cyclists and motor bikers all taking in the view or catching their breath. We continued over the top, heading to La Mongie, a winter ski field and a summer destination for the gondola rides to the summit of Le Pic du Midi at 2877m. The first cabin took us to the Taoulet intermediate station where we changed platforms to another cabin for the second, more spectacular part, with a huge gap of 320 metres between pylons. At the summit, there were a number of panoramic terraces, with views of the Pyrenees mountain range. We braved the cantilevered glass floored platform over the void below and marvelled at the construction of this amazing mountain top structure and observatory over the past 150 years. It was an interesting interlude; we had limited time as gondola operators took a two hour lunch break, so we headed down before they stopped the rides at 1.30 pm. As we headed back towards our B&B, we stopped at the summit of the Col to shop Tour de France souvenirs (bike clothing for Chris!) before driving carefully down the twists and turns of this road, being passed by a keen cyclist that we didn’t catch again for another 15km!

We enjoyed a relaxed evening at a local restaurant, the temperatures were still high as evening approached so eating outside on the terrace seemed a great option, taking in the sights of the hills around us. This had been a lovely transition from Spain to France. The following day started extremely hot, so we found a cave system (Grottes de Bétharram) to explore that allowed us respite from the intense heat France was experiencing. 13° underground, 40° outside. The caves were interesting to wander through and helped take up time in the cool before we drove northwards to our next stop. We managed a very quick drive through Lourdes to see the cathedral and spot the many pilgrims walking around the town. On previous trip to the south-west French region 3 years ago, we discovered a delightful chain of bakeries –( Feuillette) and this trip we made sure to stop and enjoy their baked goodies, cool interiors, clean bathrooms and free parking; we found our first (of many this trip) just out of Lourdes for a late lunch.

Our overnight accommodation was a rural house in the Gers region where we shared a delicious meal with our delightful English/Swiss hosts, before trying to sleep in the upstairs non-air conditioned room. Thankfully there were two fans moving the air for us.We enjoyed the chance to explore a couple of Beaux Villages – Auvillar and then Cahors on our way to the next stop point of Vezac. France has so many gorgeous little villages and we relished the chance to view them on our way.

We had two nights at a lovely rural hotel – with air-conditioning and a pool, vital as the temperatures were now in the low 40’s. We made sure to head out early for sightseeing to try and avoid the worst of the heat. We follow a number fellow travelers adventures on social media, and were most interested in the experiences of Scotty and Linda (Kiwis Fly The Coop) as they meandered through central France in their camper-van earlier this year. I had saved several places in the Dordogne region thinking we must go there, and we were not disappointed. Staying in our small hotel complex, we spotted 3 castles on the cliffs around us.

Driving 5 minutes to La Roque Gageac, a beautiful village hanging off the cliffs above the Dordogne River and wandering the semi-empty streets in the morning shade, we enjoyed views of the town and across the river. Nothing opens here until at least 10am, more likely 11, so it was very quiet. Then we drove another 10 minutes the other direction from our hotel finding the gorgeous village and castle of Beynac-et-Cazenac, visible from our hotel. It was getting warmer but the steep cobbled streets were relatively shady and still not too busy. Taking the quiet rural roads, we found the beautiful Sarlat-la-Caneda, where a market day was in full swing in the old town. It was buzzing with locals and tourists alike. The Perigord region specializes in anything “duck” from canned duck legs or gizzards to foie gras. My dinner involved a delicious salad of leaves, duck gizzards and foie gras and dried duck slices and the late night repeats reminded me that truffle was definitely an ingredient too. It was really hot here, we managed to enjoy the “cool” mornings of low-mid 30’s, but by 1 or  2pm it was time to retreat to our air conditioned room or set up by the pool.

Driving further north, we explored the “middle ages” troglodyte village of La Roque St. Christophe on the banks of the Vezere river, then to Brantome, arriving at our next waypoint near the town of St Junien. These days did not involve much distance, but we managed to extend our timing by exploring these delightful rural villages to arrive after check-in times of 4pm. Over the next couple of days we travelled far and wide, finding beautiful chateaux (Le Rochefoucauld) and the old town churches of Angouleme, coming back to enjoy the pool and cool room.  

Driving north to the Loire valley, we enjoyed the sights of Poitiers and wandered the remote Chateau de La Mothe Chandeniers, as well, passing by numerous sunflower fields, and arriving to our accommodation on the banks of the Loire river, near Angers, to heavy thundery rain and sun – unusual for our trip so far. But it cleared quickly for us to head to a very popular riverside restaurant (Guinguette) for dinner. It was really in the middle of nowhere, but the carpark was full to overflowing and literally hundreds lined up for entry. Thankfully our B&B hosts had called ahead to secure us a table, but the huge venue was accommodating to all who turned up and provided a delicious meal. Once again, we missed having air-conditioning in our bedroom for the 3 nights we were here, but at least there was a lovely pool to relax by and keep cool as the temperatures maintained 40.

It was great to explore, via bicycle, the Loire River trails, heading towards Bouchemaine – a warm day but good to be out on bikes for our round trip of 33km. The final day of our Loire stay, we explored the area around Chateau  d’Angers before heading to Brissac for another beautiful chateau and some wine tasting.   

On our final full day in France we found some amazing stop-offs on the way towards our Chantilly overnight stop. The Loire region is full of stunning 16 & 17th century chateaux. We made a destination stop at the delightful Château d’Ussé, where Charles Perrault was given inspiration to write Sleeping Beauty in the late 1600’s. The castle and grounds were spectacular and it was a lovely way-point on our long day.

Unfortunately as we got closer to Paris, the traffic got heavier and we didn’t enjoy the last two hours of stop/go traffic in rush-hour chaos as we neared our destination, an hour plus later than we planned. Thankfully, we could make use of the pool to refresh ourselves before a final meal in France.

The following day, we drove ourselves to Charles de Gaulle airport and said goodbye to our very useful Peugeot Eurolease, we enjoyed the freedom to roam the back roads by self driving, and definitely recommend the Lease option to any non-EU resident over renting.