Sommieres, Languedoc-Roussillon region - France

So, here we are at Sommieres which is in the Languedoc - Roussillon region of southern France. The site is fairly quiet with spacious pitches (almost 4 times the size of some of our previous pitches). It is approx 1 mile to the medieval village of Sommieres and is linked to the camp site by a cycle track. 

The site is 4 * and offers some great facilities including a tennis court. Harry and I spent a very enjoyable hour or so knocking a tennis ball about - couldn't exactly call it a game of tennis but we appeared to be entertaining the sun bathers at the adjacent pool.

The camp site is also part of an estate which has 50 hectares of vin yards which produce 400,000 bottles of wine a year. We were invited to a wine tasting session over at the domaine where we sampled 7 different types of wine and a wine liqueur. An interesting tour with the added bonus of sampling the wine.

The cycle route also goes to different villages in the area. and one day we set off to explore. We arrived at the nearby village of Junas, parked up the bikes and went for a wander. We came across this place (which is described as a site of natural interest). It is hard to describe but hopefully the following pictures will give you a sample of what we encounted. 

In amongst all this we saw a lizard which was about 45cms long. Certainly the biggest lizard either of us has ever seen. Sadly it was too quick for us and it disappeared into a crevace before we could get a picture.

On the cycle back from Junas we stopped to say hello to some white horses of the Camargue and they were grateful for some grass from the other side of the fence!                                                                        

                                                                             

Saturday is market day in Sommieres and what a busy market it was, everything from local produce to antiques - it was a good job that we both had our rucksacks as the fresh produce was very tempting.  There were also stalls selling fish and seafood with tables and chairs everywhere where folk were sitting eating  oysters and drinking wine. There was also a large flea market with everything from old street lights to used corgi cars selling for 3 for 1 Euro. I could just imagine the fun Ben, Alfie and Louie would have had                choosing some for their collections. Sophie and Loren too would have enjoyed looking at the jewellry all at very reasonable prices.                                                                                                                           

We also did the walking tour of Sommieres, we had a map which gave explanations of all the local sites.The Roman bridge over the river was built between 19 and 31AD and here are some of the original arches.

Houses were later built over the arches and are still very visible in the shops and restaurants.                                                                      

All this walking about gave us an appetite so we stopped for lunch at this lovely little terraced cafe (specialising in savory galettes and sweet crepes)  overlooking the river - wonderful. 

                   

The river was teeming with fish of all sizes and we had great fun watching the herons and ibis trying to catch their lunch. The local fishermen were also trying their best too. But the best was when Harry spotted a king fisher sitting on the embankment. We stopped and waited patiently - then it happened. The king fisher dived into the river, got his fish and flew over to the other bank to eat his catch.                                                    

We had only planned to stay at Sommieres for a few days but it has stretched out to a week. Tomorrow we move on again, this time to Narbonne for a couple of days and then on to Auch.

So until next week, lots of love from Harry and Kath xxxxx