France
A few of our favourite places and contacts in France.
Since we moved here we have got to know many places in the Languedoc, both particularly in our own Département l'Hérault and the neighbouring one le Gard.Apart from Die and the Diois (see also the Wirksworth page) we have also enjoyed travelling in many other areas particularly in the south and east of France.
Not far from Die the Palais Idéal du Facteur Cheval is an inspiration - one (post-)man's achievement in work and in retirement!
Mary is particularly attracted to the Cathedral in Chartres (this is one of many websites with good pictures and descriptions, or look at the diocesan site).
Among excellent B&Bs we like is La Métairie near Avranches in Normandy (convenient for ports of Cherbourg and Saint Malo) which is run by friends Liz and Jon Bushell. We have also enjoyed staying in one of the chalets in the Camping l'Hirondelle near Châtillon en Diois in the Drôme; and in the gîte in Anduze belonging to Brian and Pat Wills.
Maps fascinate me, and I've recently come across 18th century Cassini maps of France on the web. César François Cassini de Thury (1714-1784) mapped the whole of France and his son Jacques continued his labour to have the maps published at the end of the 18th century. Main roads at that time began to be lined with the trees we find so picturesque now, and the symbol for principal roads on the map (like our red roads now) shows the trees as dots on either side of the road. Make sure to look at the key (comment lire la carte) when you visit the website.
The site I've found only has south of France maps, but the link I've given takes you straight to the Gard and Hérault map page, from which you can click to enlarge one of the two maps. It's difficult to print the map pages but I have reassembled a pdf of the area round Lunel which you can see here.
For French weather site click here. I have looked at several weather sites and this seems by far the best free one! If you go to the Lunel page you will find it animated on this site!
