By the first Aussie ‘shiela’ to stay at La Giraudiere – she doesn’t drink beer, but she certainly loves her wine – so she’s well at home in France!
As I’m the first Australian to stay at La Giraudiere I’ve been asked to tell you of my journey here and what I recommend others could do if coming from Australia.
There are many ways to exit Australia by flight. All Australian mainland capital cities have international airports, as well as Cairns in Far North Queensland. All flights from Australia to Europe or America, whether major nationals or cheaper airlines are usually between 13 and 20 hours duration and have at least one stop of a few hours somewhere in Asia along the way. Because of this Australians also tend to have longer holidays abroad, with a minimum of 6 weeks being quite common.
Personally I prefer to fly Qantas or a partner airline wherever possible. But that said I have many friends who have had excellent flights on one of the many other airlines available out of Australia. As I am from Canberra I departed Australia from Sydney to Singapore and then London. However these days you could choose to fly into Frankfurt, Rome or Paris rather than London. My flights this time were not my regular economy. I was lucky enough to have upgrades to business class on both flights, but the most memorable and enjoyable was travelling on the A380 Airbus from Singapore to London.
If you get the chance to travel on an A380, I can highly recommend it. There really are no words to truly describe it – even magnificent doesn’t cover it! The plane is so large that each class has its own entrance. You do not see any other section but your own, even during the flight. Each seat is a skybed that lays completely flat for sleeping, along with inbuilt back massager! The first time I have ever really slept on an aircraft – and certainly the first time I have never experienced jetlag when landing in London. It will be extremely hard to travel back home in economy now.
Naturally the meals and drinks were everything expected of business class and more. For breakfast you ticked a menu of what you would like (and the choice was almost endless), what time you would like it and then in the morning it is individually hand delivered on a tray to your seat. Yes, my smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and fresh (and it was fresh) orange juice, was one of the most delicious aircraft meals I have ever had (and I have experienced previous international business class flights as well as first and business class domestic flights).
After my non-jetlag flight I enjoyed a week in London with friends, catching up on a few West End shows, buying half price on the day tickets at Piccadilly and enjoying the summer restaurant scene. Then I flew to Nice in the French Riviera, where another friend met me. We then drove an hour south to the little beachside town of Saint Raphael and old port of Frejus. This was my home in France for the next 2 months. I explored the culture and history of the Cote d’Azur with passion – from Nice, Antibes, Cannes, Ste Maxime, St Tropez, Toulon, Agay Grasse to Mougin. I immersed myself in the food and wine of the region, enjoying every mouthful. Then one day in my GoAbroad volunteer e-newsletter I saw volunteer work in South-West France. How wonderful – almost on my doorstep – I just had to do it!
I applied and got accepted – I was over the moon! The region looked fantastic, it had a wealth of history, old castles, chateaux and villas, wine and cognac grapes grow amongst plentiful farms of sunflowers, corn and maize. I was also looking forward to being able to mix with the local French farmers and town folk and meeting a varied group of international people all eager to help restore and renovate a villa for school groups and holidaymakers in the little town of Brossac, 100kms north-east of Bordeaux.
While the French train system is excellent, to travel from Saint Raphael was rather cumbersome and time consuming. It would take 3 train changes and 12 hours to reach Chalais station, which was10 minutes drive from Brossac. The trains either went back up to Paris via Lyon and down to Angouleme and Chalais, or back to Nice then across to Bordeaux and up to Chalais. Wow, another massive journey and I wouldn’t even be leaving the country this time! My friend offered to drive me and I accepted (before I knew how long that would take!)
We set out while it was still dark at 06.45. The morning was cool and fresh, with very little traffic as we drove through Saint Raphael/Frejus and on to the motorway. I thought we were making excellent time, passing the turn-off to Marseilles around the hour. At 10.30 we stopped near Montpellier for a coffee. As we passed certain towns and sites my friend would tell me the history, but said we couldn’t stop to explore as there just wasn’t time if we were to make La Giraudiere by 5pm. However we did stop briefly at the lookout for Carcassone – a marvelous historical walled city – that I will have to spend a day or more at another time. By lunchtime we had just passed Toulouse, the home of the Airbus factory. I saw the Espace city from the motorway – while even my French friend had never done a tour of the factory, it was certainly another thing for my must do list – next time!
Just short of Bordeaux we turned off the motorway and headed for Libourne, which would then take us on up to Chalais and Brossac. We were immediately in farming country. The gorgeous stone cottages and sunflower fields that looked so homely, were soon replaced with endless rows of vineyards and massive chateaux and villas, all which appeared in immaculate condition. My friend was stopping every few minutes for me to capture the scenes. At St Emillion they were harvesting the grapes for Bordeaux reds, some by hand and others my large machines. I felt so privileged to see this happening right next to the road. This certainly was the best part of my days’ journey. Even after the many photo stops we still managed to make La Giraudiere by 5pm, where we were warmly welcomed by Paul and the team.
The total distance travelled that day was 830 kilometres. If I had known the amazing towns and history of the region I was to travel through before I left Saint Raphael I would have taken anything from 3 to 7 days to get to La Giraudiere. Unfortunately, the French seem to take their history for granted, but for me coming from Australia, we don’t have this kind of history and this is one of the reason I love Europe so much. To not be able to make the most of it while I am here seems such a waste. Thankfully I am getting to see much of the region, the people and the lifestyle during the days off here at La Giraudiere – from Bardenac, Chalais, Barbezeux, Aubeterre, Rioux-Martin, Angouleme, Cognac, Bordeaux and more.
So if you are coming to La Giraudiere by plane, train or road via Bordeaux or Angouleme I would suggest you research your route, what is of interest along the way and spend a few days exploring these places and the countryside before settling in at La Giraudiere, especially if it is Saturday, Sunday or Monday as these are our days off!