No Particular Place To Go

Another Monday morning rolls around, and it’s time to move on once again. Packing up the motorhome has become second nature to us—a routine we’ve perfected down to a fine art. Securing everything, emptying the tanks, and getting ready to hit the road feels almost automatic by now. But today, there’s a market on, and the allure is too strong to resis, so I leave John to finish packing up. What starts as a quick look soon turns into a bit of an adventure, trying to navigate my way around the stalls they are crammed into every nook and cranny. There’s the usual mix of fruit, vegetables, and clothing, but this market has something extra—livestock. Seeing the rabbits in their cramped enclosure, I couldn’t help but wish I could open the cages and set them free.

Our destination today is Fleurance, a place that’s almost like a second home to us. We’ve spent time house-sitting in the area before, and it’s become a spot we gravitate to almost every year. As we walk through the market, we bump into John, one of the homeowners we’d house-sat for several years ago. It’s a pleasant surprise, although we were disappointed to have just missed Janet.

The weather during this trip has been a rollercoaster—scorching heat one moment, then rain, chilly evenings, storms, and lightning, before flipping back to high temperatures. It keeps us on our toes, and the constant change adds an unpredictable element to our travels.

Lectoure is next on our list, a place we know well and where we decide to celebrate my birthday but with most restaurants full there isn’t much choice but the view from where we sit is good and dessert is delicious.

The next morning, we continue our adventure, parking up in L’Isle-de-Noé for lunch. From there, we set our sights on Marciac, where we plan to spend the night. This time, Marciac is much quieter; the jazz festival has just wrapped up, so we’re able to secure a spot at the aire instead of the grassy field we ended up in last year. The village, though calmer, is still buzzing with activity as the event organisers clear up.

With the weather shifting unpredictably each day, we decide to head out in search of a more secure park-up spot. 

Nothing changes in Fleurance, market day and the air raid siren still goes off at mid day

Catching up with John at Cafe Du Centre

Parked up in Lectoure with a view across the valley and we can see the farmers light working late into the night

The artwork changes every year in the Lectoure

We spend a stormy night in Lectoure

Lectoure dinner with a view 

Thankfully we took some photos before we had to tackle opening the sachets of Mayonaise, that was a challenge

At the least the desserts were better than dinnner, John always picks the nicer dessert

At L’Isle-de-Noé we park and have our lunch next to the Chataeu and river

The streets are much quieter in Marciac tonight

Late evening walk around Marciac Lake

When we spot a sign for Movenpick Ice cream we couldn’t resist, they had run out of vanilla, so we had banana, chocolate and nut

Coordinates for Aires used in France 

Fleurance

N 43° 50′ 51

E 0° 40′ 18

Lectoure 

N 43° 56′ 11

E 0° 37′ 34

Marciac 

N 43° 31′ 38

E 0° 9′ 31