We were planning to stay the night at the tiny hamlet of Ruffiac, near Casteljaloux near the vineyards of Bordeaux. It was quite a drive, and things started badly, as we got stuck in traffic before we even reached the motorway. So we decided to make our way towards Bordeaux on small country roads instead. A good choice, I reckon. Not only did we save a fair bit of time, we were also treated to some pretty decent scenery, as we crossed the Marais Poitevin. The marshland zone is divided roughly into two parts – the dry marshlands, and the wet marshlands, also known as the Green Venice. This is where we headed, in search of a place to have lunch. We ended up in a nice small village (the name of which escapes me), where we did indeed find a nice little restaurant where we filled our stomachs (some more Vendean ham and white beans, yummie!). 
From the Marais Poitevan, we got back on the motorway for a while, only to get off again before Bordeaux (didn’t fancy taking our chances there). We then drove across all the way to Ruffiac, where we were staying the night. It was a very scenic drive indeed, taking us through some classic Bordeaux vineyards (the prosperity of the area is just plainly visible everywhere) – we passed not far from Saint-Emillion. We eventually arrived at Ruffiac, which, it turns out, really is a tiny hamlet. Believe it or not, but we were actually staying the night at a proper French Chateau – that’s a first one for me. Pretty cool experience, even if we didn’t stay in the Royal Suite or anything like that.
Actually, our good friends Gilles, Valerie and their lovely kids (who as you may realize, should you be a frequent reader of my blog, are moving to San Francisco) were staying not too far away from our little chateau. And since they are indeed flying off “across the pond”, we definitely wanted to meet up with them one more time. Valerie’s sister (where they are staying) kindly invited us over for dinner… Before making our way there, we took the opportunity to visit nearby Cadillac (yes, the Cadillac car making company is named by one Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, who was sieur de Cadillac), another one rather pretty, well-preserved French village. The place has rather a medieval feel to it, with its cobble-stoned streets, well-preserved city walls (with a few gate towers intact), and a proper, impressive castle as well.
We then made our way to Cerons, just across the Garonne river, for apero and dinner. Fantastic to meet Gilles, Valerie and of course Hector and Celian one last time (until we visit them in the US, of course!). And great to meet Valerie’s family as well (her sister with husband, as well as her dad, were there). The dinner was nice and convivial, as dinners tend to be in France. Must be quite a relief for Gilles and Valerie to finally be off, it’s been a few trying months for them, sorting out all the formalities and practicalities. They will be sorely missed, that’s for sure.
We still had a fair bit of driving to do on Sunday, so got up pretty early and hit the road. The road took us past Toulouse towards Montpellier. We left early enough in the morning, so managed to avoid traffic jams, thankfully. We made a lunch stop at another nice French town we found in our road atlas, Pézenas. It’s a pretty little town just north of Montpellier, a good place for a short stopover. Having walked around its pretty streets for a bit, we found a nice little bistro for lunching, and hit the road again. From there it was straight on to Cagnes-sur-Mer (well, apart from a short detour through the Camargue during which we picked up some fruit and vedge).So that brought end to our camping holiday, then! All in all, a great and relaxing week, I could well consider doing it again!
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