We love a day trip, both here and at home in Australia. It’s great jumping into the car and just heading off, without any fixed plan. However, on this occasion, we did have a destination in mind, a little village that had been recommended as ‘un beau village de France’. How could we resist?

Gargilesse-Dampierre was only an hour and half en voiture (by car) and the scenery en route was as we have now come to expect..beautiful. We’re not blasé though, there is always a lot of ooohing and ahhhing as we drive along tiny country lanes and through small hamlets.

The unconventional author George Sand (born Aurore Dupin) lived in Gargilesse for a period of time and her cottage ‘Villa Algira’ is now a tourist site. She wrote some of her prolific novels there, the number of which was only surpassed by the number of ‘romantique liaisons’ she had, including one with Frédéric Chopin during several years. It ended very badly, but she didn’t let the grass grow under her feet, she soon found another, much younger, lover. Take that, Chopin!

As we were promised, Gargilesse was simply stunning and it’s understandable why it is so popular now with artists or other creative types, as there is a painting or photo opportunity around every corner..

The château and  Roman church dates back to the 13th century and the frescoes in the crypt of the church are just awe inspiring. I’ll let my photos speak for themselves but, suffice to say, we had a wonderful day out…