June 6, 2009 - A day on the road

We stayed at a rather seedy campsite just a short bicycle ride away from Saint Martin de Londres. The following day, we headed to Carcassonne which was to be the most south-westerly point of our tour. As usual, we stayed off of the freeways (Autoroutes) and meandered mainly along "D" roads. The total journey for the day was less than 100 miles (nonetheless, as much as we generally seek to do) and we passed through numerous villages and one large town. The pictures for this post illustrate elements of some of the villages and the roads connecting them. Click here for a short journey through southern France.

June 5, 2009 - Saint Martin de Londres, France

Saint Martin de Londres - literally Saint Martin of London - is a village of less than 2000 people located in the scrub-land north of Montpelier and close to the cliffs of Pic Saint Loup. In late 8th and early 9th centuries, during the reign of Charlemagne, the community built the original church dedicated to Saint Martin, a Saint "borrowed" from London, England. There is a small bell, housed in a lantern on the slate roof of the church and this was augmented by a high bell bay added in the 18th century.In the 11th century the monks of the Abbey Gellone (Saint Guilhem) built the priory and defensive walls were erected around the town. Later, during the Hundred Year War in the 15th century, a second wall was added. In the lower part of the town the clock tower is one remnant of the medieval walls, and is topped by a conical turret forming the bell housing. Click here for more pictures of St Martin.