We had some old friends from our time in Alpe d’Huez who we had kept in vague touch with and who had wanted to set themselves up in a small village in France. Well they had done it and the village in question was Aigne. It is pretty off the beaten track in the Languedoc region but the town did boast a campsite so we thought we would pay them a visit.
As we drove from Castes we crossed a range and the other side the country became dry. It was quite quick but almost from the moment we crested the last hill the scenery became a lot more arid and the buildings took on more of a Mediterranean look. The area was crisscrossed with deep gorges and obviously picturesque villages dotted along them. As we got closer to Aigne we really felt like we were heading into the unknown and quite a remote part of France.
The village itself boasted a restaurant and our campsite and was surrounded by vineyards. It was really very pretty and we had a fantastic time catching up with old friends and seeing the amazing job they had done renovating their old barn into a beautiful home.
We spent a couple of days there and decided to venture out for a hike (surprise surprise). The one we chose was about 35km away as the crow flies in the Haute Languedoc natural park but it took us almost an hour to drive there through some breathtaking scenery.
The hike began in a small village at the bottom of a valley and we wound our way quite steeply up one side towards the top. It was definitely getting warmer and also quite humid so we were pretty sweaty by the time we reached the top. I had been worried that we hadn’t heard water as we were walking up but Sarah heard a waterfall and we clambered down the valley and found ourselves an idyllic pool ready for a quick swim.
It was icy cold but just perfect for cooling us down and we enjoyed lazing about on the rocks drying off ready for our walk down.
The heat and the hike seemed to go on and on and on but the scenery was easily spectacular enough to keep us going but we were both quite exhausted by the time we got back to the camper.
We took a road trip to the coast near Béziers and while the traffic got busier and busier our friends knew a place right on the water that served excellent fish and was away from the bulk of the tourists. The restaurant was set in a harbour and the fare for sale was last nights catch…perfect. It was a little different as as you entered the restaurant you had to pick your fish out from the display and then this was simply grilled and served up to you (along with some rose!) It sounds simple and it was but often the most delicious things are simple and we had a great long lunch.
We ventured up the coast to Valras-Plage which was the centre for the tourists and once we found parks we had a little walk around before gorging ourselves on banana splits and Dame Blanches just to round off our decadent lunch.
We left Aigne with full bellies having had a great time catching up. Next stop was to be the Cévennes. T