Twas the night before....

 Our last night in France. We leave tomorrow to head back to beautiful NZ, family and friends. It will be wonderful to be back home for awhile, but we will miss so much here too.
It has been an absolutely amazing 16 months which we will never forget. What a privilege it has been to live in this fantastic country and meet such a great group of people who will be friends for life. 

Bill and Betty our wonderful across the road neighbours.

The 'Team',
'Captn' Steve, me, Chris, Les, Jay & Martin. Wonderful fun friends whom we will see again!

Before leaving Moulin du Bayle we have had a very busy last month or so travelling to places new and to local parts unseen. The following is just a snapshot of what we have seen and done. We spent some time in the Loire Valley which is beautiful and completely different from our part of Southern France both in the landscape and the architecture. 

The Troglodyte houses in Saumur were amazing. These homes were carved into the side of hills after the people who were mining the limestone for local buildings realised that they could make their homes here too. People are still living in these villages today, inside the temperature never changes from 13 degrees so it is pretty cool. Not great for a cold fish like me!

Chateau Breze is a beautiful castle in Saumur. It's 'point of difference' is that it is a chateau within a chateau. Not only is there the chateau you see here but also a Troglodyte one underground as well. 

There is a huge 'moat' all around the chateau, on one side is the above ground chateau and on the other the Troglodyte one with kitchens, workshops, a winery, bedrooms, halls, shops....fantastic!

The fairytale chateau of Chenonceau is another beautiful Loire Valley castle.  

Chenonceau is built across the River Cher. It is a stunning piece of architecture with an amazing history. It has housed the French elite as well as being a place where a number of famous artists, philosophers and musicians visited and worked. During the first World War it became a hospital and the story goes that wounded soldiers used to put fishing lines out the windows to catch the trout.  

We spent a day at Versailles which was another jaw dropping experience-such opulance almost seemed obscene. Not difficult to understand why the 'have-nots' eventually got fed up and revolted!

The ground at Versailles are huge. We walked for awhile and then decided  to hire some bikes so we could  cover more ground. The grounds and gardens are amazing, the statues are huge. A beautiful place that could easily take you several days to get all around.

We arrived back from our road trip to get ready for our departure. This meant lots of packing of boxes to send home (expensive exercise!), having meals and drinks with friends and of course the dreaded packing and cleaning. All of which seemed to go by in a blur. 

We are now in Nice, our beloved 'Pugette' (car) left yesterday with her new owners and tomorrow we board a plane for home!

Thank you France for a wonderful 16 months, we will be back!

Au revoir pour maintenant la France!

Update Finally!

Once again time has got away on me and I haven't done an update here for ages. So..here goes, a brief overview of what's been happening in the South of France this summer in pictures!

Martin taking part in a Tug-of-War, it was the English against the French, and Dutch. There was much huffing and grunting (not so much from Martin who chose his position carefully!) They ended up coming second, not bad for a bunch of 'older' folk!

 

We had a great visit with Bill & Deb Ussher. The weather was not so great but the castles, markets, jousting tournaments and of course wine was pretty good with such neat company!

One of the tourist attractions at Carcassonne Castle during the summer is a jousting tournament which we went to with Bill and Deb. It was fantastic, the horsemanship of the 'knights' was amazing.

Bex was our next visitor on the first leg of her big overseas 'tour'. It was great to show family around our neck of the woods.

One of the first things we did with Bex was go to the James Blunt concert at the Carcassonne Castle. What an amazing venue for a concert, in the heart of an ancient castle! The concert was pretty good too!

A bike ride is a must here in the South of France!

Cousin Tracey came for a visit too which was lots of fun. Back to Carcassone castle!

Our latest neighbours! Donkeys appear to be very popular here especially with our more 'alternative' locals. These two are VERY vocal, especially in the middle of the night!

Martin met some wonderful Spanish/Americans Auri and Pete, while playing tennis. They invited us to a Paella party they were organising.  What we didn't realise was that there would be about 3 courses before this amazing dish was served and then another two after that. Needless to say we rolled our way home!

More food! Martin's idea of 7th heaven!

We have been doing quite a bit of exploring in our local area during the month of August as it is what is commonly known as the 'silly' season here. It's when France is on holiday and tourists rule the roads and the holiday places so we thought it best to stay close to home til it's all over. We recently visited another Cathar Castle called Peyrepertuse. It has to be the best castle we have been to, literally carved out of the rock on the top of a mountain around 1070! Hard to get your head around something so old when we are SO young by comparison in NZ.

This is one small part of the castle. it is huge and at one time might have housed over a thousand people. It is the only Cathar castle that was never conquered by invaders. I'm not surprised, one look at the climb up and I'd have given up too! In the 21st century there is a road most of the way up, thank goodness!

Well, that's a brief look at some of what has been happening here this summer. It is now officially autumn but no-one has told the weather because it has been very hot and sunny for the last two weeks which is a bonus. Our time here is drawing to a close and we will be leaving in 5 weeks with very mixed feelings. But until then there is more to see, do and drink! Til the next time....hopefully a lot sooner than this time!

Our latest Adventure

Our latest wee trip away was to the Camargue on the Mediterranean coast. We travelled with our English friends Chris and Jay and had a great time. We even were lucky enough to be at a place called Le Grau du Roi when they were having a festival which included the running of the bulls through the streets, a fantastic fireworks display and a great band in the evening. There is a distinct Spanish flavour throughout this area, the buildings and some of the customs particularly are very Spanish in nature.

Our 'cheap and cheerful' hotel in Aigues Mortes. Right on the canal which had variety of barges of all shapes and sizes, many of which looked like permanent homes.

Aigues Mortes is famous for its walled city and tower which has had a chequered past including being a women's prison. Not a place you would want to be banged up in for sure! Chris and I walked around the top of the battlements which stretched for a good 2 or more kms right around the town. Inside the walls is a maze of little streets filled with shops, art galleries, bars, cafes and restaurants.

From Aigues Mortes we walked along the canal to the seaside town of Le Grau du Roi. A really lovely little town with a distinct Spanish influence both in the architecture and the customs. It was 30+ degrees so we were really ready for a drink and sit down when we got there!

The two amigos, Martin and Jay outside the Grau du Roi bullfighting ring. We were told that the difference between the bullfighting in France compared to Spain is that the French do not believe in hurting the bulls so it is more 'humane'?!

Martin's lunch at Grau du Roi...frogs legs, calamari and wonton tapas! There was a wonderful range of cafes and restaurants to choose from, especially fruit de la mer (seafood) and pizza, which the French seem to be crazy about!

Every year in Grau du Roi they have a festival which includes the running of bulls in the street and we just happened to be there on the weekend that it happened! It is extremely well organised and clearly the locals all look forward to it. Especially, it seems, the young boys and men whose 'job' it is to run after the bulls and try and catch and/or pull down the bull before letting it go. There was lots of testosterone and posturing present, especially in front of the young, rather attractive girls watching on the bridge!

We took to the top of the bridge to get a birds eye view (and to stay out of the way of the thundering four legged, two horned, wild eyed beasts and the crazy people chasing them!).

Number 15 (in the front) was particularly 'brave' (foolhardy?) and was frequently the one to hold on longest and several times was able to pull the bull down. Not, however, without a few bumps and knocks which seemed to be particularly dramatic whenever he was in front of those lovely young things on the side of the bridge who, concerned, would race out to see if he was alright!

You can't catch me I'm.....getting out of here!

And of course there is always the local band to start and finish the proceedings!

That night there was an amazing fireworks display that must have gone on for nearly half an hour. There must have been thousands of euros worth of firepower! Afterwards there was a band playing, guitars, violins, saxs, trumpets, drums, singers, the works, which was fantastic. Unfortunately the 'Mistral' winds, which are common in these parts, were blowing a gale and made standing around cold, blustery and not terribly pleasant. But a fantastic day and an experience to remember for sure! In another blog I'll post a couple of short movies of the bull running. It was quite a spectacle!

Our first NZ visitors!

We were very excited to have Bruce and Adrianne Beer to stay with us for a few days as part of their extensive Northern Hemisphere travelling. Before they arrived the weather here had been amazing with long hot days and temps up in the high 20's and even the odd 30+ day. The day before they got here down came the rain and the temperatures and that was pretty much how it stayed the whole time they were with us!!! Martin even lit the fire again most days and I had to drag out some winter clothes that I had carefully put away. Go figure!

Welcome to the sunny South of France!

However, intrepid travellers that they are this was all taken in their stride and we managed to climb a few hills and see a few castles, wander around Andorra, see the Mirepoix and Esperaza markets as well as attend a pizza and ice cream afternoon at the home of my French teacher whose husband is Italian and makes the best thin crust pizzas you can imagine. They met most of our new friends over drinks and meals and we managed to down a fair bit of wine and cheese and enjoy ourselves despite the weather! We were sad to see them go!
I have included a few pics of some of our exploits.

Up with the clouds on Montsegur. What a climb (1200 m above sea level) but the view, even through the mist was fantastic. Adrianne wore her new trekking shoes from Switzerland and bounded up the slopes with ease!! A little interesting history:  This was a Cathar castle like many in this area, a place where the Cathars could find refuge from the Catholic 'holy war' against them. During 1243/1244 the castle was laid seige on the orders of the Pope and the King of France. this lasted for over ten months and eventually  over 200 Cathars hold up there were given the option to renounce their Cathar faith or be burned at the stake. On the 16th May 1244, 220 Cathar faithful, men, women and children, marched down the mountain and climbed on to the pyre. All died and there is a memorial to them commemorating their martyrdom on the way up to the castle. Quite a story huh?!

Another impressive 'pile of rocks' as Martin would say and another steep climb to get there. Puilaurens castle has had a number of different residents, from Cathars seeking shelter, to royalty, to a garrison of soldiers. It also had to be defended from Spanish invasion a number of times until it was finally abandoned. How they could build such huge structures perched on the top of steep rocky mountains is a feat of monumental proportions I think!

Amazing views 360 degrees around. Worth all the panting and puffing to get there!

Boy is that first glass of wine...I mean water...going to taste good after we get down from here!

It was really great to be able to share our little part of France with others, we felt like proud parents showing off our new offspring!

 Next month we have Deb and Bill Ussher and Bex coming so we can do some more showing off...I mean around!

A trip to Bonny Scotland

We had a wonderful trip to Scotland and England last month. Before we left all our UK friends here warned us to take plenty of warm clothing, raincoats and mozzie spray as we would, apparently, be eaten alive by mosquitoes and drowned by torrential rains in Scotland. We did as we were told and piled our bags high ready for the onslaught. What we had for three glorious weeks was a bit of cloud, a few chilly days, half a day of rain and not a mosquito in sight! We drove our hired car up the east coast of England to Edinburgh and on to Inverness and then to Skye and down to Oban, and the Isles of Mull and Iona. Then back to England and the Lake District before heading to Kent to visit my Aunt and Uncle.The countryside was diverse an absolutely beautiful. So often reminded us of the South Island of NZ. 

 

 

 

Edinburgh Castle was great not that different to our own local Carcassonne Castle, which, if pressed, I would have to say I prefer! Beautiful sunny day, loads of tourists, we walked from our apartment through the cobbled streets and up the hill to the castle. The stone buildings generally seemed rather drab. Still, maybe that's their appeal, old and grey with age! Great restaurants and cafes though. Martin had the regulation haggis for breakfast! Yuk! Scottish salmon though...to die for!!

Went to visit Nessy in Loch Ness, but she must have been away for the weekend cause she didn't make herself known to us. What a beautiful part of the world! The lochs are absolutely gorgeous and even on a misty morning like this one.

Martin will tell you that he climbed Ben Nevis (in the background), what we actually did was take the cable car up to the top of a mountain beside it and walked over to the viewing platforms. Still a little snow, and very windy but wonderful views of the surrounds. Being a loyal NZ'er I would have to say that it is not a patch on our South island mountains though! They have a mountain bike track that stretches from the top of this mountain to the bottom which looks absolutely terrifying! Apparently they have had national championships on it and the new one they are building will be even more challenging. Thank goodness Chris wasn't here or he might have been tempted!

The Isle of Skye was lovely, very rustic and full of little seaside fishing villages. We had a great night in a pub with some of the local old timers who regaled us with stories from 'around these parts'...at least what we could understand of them. The more they drank (and boy did they drink!) the harder it was to make sense of the brogue! Once again we were made very welcome and everyone was most impressed that a couple of little Kiwis should make it this far up into the world!

Oban was a really great little port town, we loved it so much we stayed three nights! It was from here that we took the ferry to the Isles of Mull and Iona. We stayed in a hotel that catered mainly for bus tours (largely elderly English) but we were given an amazing room that had recently been redecorated overlooking the harbour at a very cut down price...so who could resist!? The first night we were invited to  a Scottish evening in the hotel which comprised a Trivia Quiz and a Scottish duo singing local ditties accompanied by a young bagpiper in full Scottish regalia! We managed to get 6 out of 20 questions right to which our fellow contestants gave us a big round of applause when they found out we were from NZ (I think they felt sorry for the poor confused colonials!). Then commenced the singing and dancing part of the evening. Boy, how some of those oldies could get around the dance floor! Lots of line dancing moves and even a few jives. Great time had by all! The Isles of Mull and Iona were lovely, like walking back in time. Iona would be a great place for a 'get away from it all' holiday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way back into England we passed by Gretna Green. There were several weddings happening so we said a quick "I do again' and left them to it!

Back in England and we headed for Hadrian's Wall and found the most amazing working archaeological dig in a place called Vindolanda. There were apparently at least seven Roman Army forts here from as far back as 2000 years ago. The people who are excavating here are largely volunteers who come for several weeks or more each year to be part of this amazing experience. They are daily uncovering relics of daily life in the fort. One volunteer told us that she and her husband had been coming every year for 8 years for their summer holiday. She said that they had only touched the surface of what lies beneath and that the dig could continue for at least another 100 years! The museum here was fantastic, everything from Roman soldiers shoes, to children toys and clothes as well as some beautiful hand crafted jewellery and much more. The most special part of the display are what they call the Vindolanda Tablets. These are really like postcards from the past, stories in letter form that tell us about the daily trials and tribulations of people from our distant past. There are letters from leaders to captains, from wives to husbands, shopping lists and even a letter from a mother to her son saying that she had enclosed socks and two pairs of underpants! This is a must for everyone coming to this part of the world!

Some of the volunteers getting down and dirty!

 We finished our trip in the Lake District which was once again absolutely beautiful and a place we will certainly come back to as there is so much more to explore.

We stayed in a very posh hotel right on the edge of Lake Windemere where the breakfasts were so good we decided to stay another night! 

A brief glimpse of a really fun trip. Another wonderful opportunity that neither of us take for granted!

Oops! Where did the time go?

Whoever said that time flies when you're having fun was right on the money, the proof being how long it's been since I've updated our blog!

Life in the South of France continues to be wonderful. Summer is here and the weather is hot, sunny and bustling with the sound of bees and birds at work. Our days have already become long, night not arriving til well after 10pm, so lots of time for walks, bike rides, barbeques and the odd glass of wine and slice of cheese!

We are still enjoying wandering the countryside on our bikes. This particular ride with friends ended up being 28 kms, hence the need for a walk every now and then!

I have never seen so many cherries as we have had so far this summer. The trees are groaning with fruit everywhere. There are trees all along the sides of the road and you often see the locals parked under the trees with their children standing on the roof picking the best cherries from the top! I am convinced that Martin is going to turn red from all the ones he's eaten.

Heaven!!

Blogger is causing me untold problems uploading photos so will post another blog real soon!

Spring has Sprung!

Spring has arrived at Moulin du Bayle with daffodils and other spring flowers I cannot name popping up everywhere. The skies are blue and the temperatures during the day are 18-20 degrees but seems a lot hotter if you are out of the breeze. The trees too have begun to take on the spring feeling with blossom on some of the fruit trees.

First signs of spring, the gardens are full of spring flowers. Our daffodils planted last year are popping up everywhere!

 Martin finally got to go skiing and had a wonderful day. He and a friend went to a ski field called Ax Les Therme in the Pyrenees and an hour from home. There are 65 kilometres of groomed slopes catering for all abilities. They enjoyed beautiful sunny conditions skiing in 12-15 degrees C. Muscles a bit sore the next day but heading back again next week!

Great facilities with so few people!

The town of Ax Les Therme, very pretty, wonderful patisseries!

The Pyrenees as a spectacular backdrop.

A very happy chappy!

We spent yesterday, Sunday, enjoying the 'Carnaval de Limoux', which takes place for 10 weeks (Jan 30-to Easter ) every year  in our closest large town-Limoux. The tradition of the carnival has been handed down from generation to generation. It is the longest running carnival in the world apparently and is quite a spectacle with up to 100 bands taking it in turn to lead the carnival with each day in the weekend having a different 'theme'.  Locals dress up as different characters with the focus being on the masks that they wear. Some of them are incredibly intricate. Small children too, take part dancing and skipping in front of the band.Yesterday it appeared to be related to outdoor pursuits like mountain climbing, skiing, hunting etc. We sat in the sun at a lovely cafe with a carafe of rose and a large number of locals listening to the music and watching the masked procession go by. At each bar the procession stops and are given free drinks and food so the whole parade can take quite a long time! Confetti is thrown as they go by so the streets (and people) are covered in confetti wherever you go. A really enjoyable experience. We'll be back to see more masks and costumes!

In the Place de la Republique (Square) you can buy masks, food and there are simple rides for children.

Happy people, music, singing and dancing...so cool!

Children lead the procession, they have all the 'moves' just like the adults!

 Another day where we pinched ourselves and thought how very lucky we are to be here in France!