Jours de chat de l'été...

Forgive me father.... oh, not really a confession, but I am sorry that I haven't been posting my blog lately. It just seems we are busy, but never seem to do anything. I have written bits and pieces, so now with less than a week to go for my summer, I will attempt to put them together in a coherent, entertaining prose.

vert provence

Back deck in prgress

I have been coming to terms with having only one week left here in France. I know I am very lucky to spend 9 weeks here each summer, but it is now time to gear down and savour the last few days. From our original to do list we still only have the back deck to finish. This was really only going to be a planning year, and find a contractor, but it has gone ahead. We have just heard from our contractor again and there are further delays as we wait for the wood and the deck will be done maybe on Wednesday? During construction, the chairs and table are all over the back yard, and we have to search for the little shade as the framed in deck sits in the shadiest part of the yard, but as the weather goes, we are seeking out any sun we can get... due to a unseasonably cool and cloudy early August. With the delay in the deck,  Steve has taken on painting a wall in the kitchen, as well as getting ready to paint the front window shutters, and our barn door, which we close up when we lock up the house each fall. We hope the touch of "vert provence" will enhance the "quartier".

Lac St. Pardoux

La Plage

We did rent the 'only car in the village' twice over the past few weeks and this gave us a chance to stock up on some of the heavy supplies. If you are planning a late summer visit, we have plenty of beer, wine, sparkling wine, sangria and sparkling water, but the way we are going through them, I can't judge how long the supply might last.  We have spent a couple of days at Lac de Pardoux. The large lake nestled in a forest is about 30 minutes away. It has several beaches, camp sites, sailing, water skiing along with a pool and waterslides. Our destination was one of the sandy beaches. Armed with our beach mats, towels and lunch, we were off.  The water was great, and the crowds were very manageable. After soaking up a bit of the bright sunshine, we retreated to the shade of the trees. Heading down for a quick dip every now and then was a great relief to the sunny days which have been in short supply this year. According to the locals, this has been one of the "worst" summers in a long time. On a different note, just a few days ago, our French friend, Laure, told us about the local uranium mining and how the lake bottom was contaminated and only tourists will swim there. Doing some research, it seems to be under control and all levels are within the "healthy" limits. There will be another test in the fall, so we will check back into it next year, unless we start to glow in the dark.

Last Wednesday, we were hiking in the mountains of Blond with the above mentioned our French friend, Laure and her daughter, Claire-Andrea. They took us to many of the famous "mégalithes" scattered across the mountains.  Now when they say Mount Blond, it is more of a bump in the road than a mountain as we know them, but still there is a fabulous view from the top of Mount Blond south towards Spain.  During our first summer here, we tried to find these sites on our own, along with friends, Sharon and Dennis. That year we were only able to find one of them, which turned out to be our final stop this year. Claire-Andrea had grown up in the mountains, so she was able to navigate the back roads to all of these very interesting pre-historic sites. These monuments date back as far as the Neolithic time through the Bronze Age. Now we have the map and the brochure, we are set to be better tour guides next time.

Fred and Ginger

Steve's "chatons" are doing well.  We have named them Fred and Ginger because Ginger is a ginger and white cat. The names are gender neutral as we think Fred is female and Ginger the male. They are growing quickly and are becoming less fearful of him and of our open kitchen window. I hope they will be ready to fend for themselves by the end of September when their surrogate mother heads for home.

Nazi Occupied France

Our good friends, Linda and Andrew had good news this week, as not only have they sold their house, the woman who bought it, has sold her house in England for cash, so the deal will move ahead quickly, well as quickly as things like this move in France. Other homes in the area have been on the market for years in some cases. They are off next week to view houses in southern Spain. We may be losing some great neighbours, but we are gaining a bedroom for Spanish holidays. They have already found a replacement for their services of keeping an eye on our place when we are back home in Canada. We are having a final dinner at their house on Thursday evening. We bought a bottle of one of their favourite wines, a very big splurge for $30.00 Canadian. (we could have bought about 10 bottles of a nice wine for that price or about 22 bottles of Steve's "vin mousse". They have told us stories from the war years here in Bellac, and the French resistance which was quite strong in this area. We heard about a hotel that was taken over by the Nazis which the resistance targeted with explosives several times.  This apparently angered the Nazis and it was not uncommon for them to take out their frustrations by shooting the locals. There are also tales of secret torture rooms that the resistance used when they captured Nazis and booby trapped safes. I can see a book in my future. ( I didn't say that I was going to write it, maybe just find an interesting history to read.)

Over the summer, we have been getting more adventurous with our cheese selections. We have moved from the basic cheese section in the grocery store to la charcuterie (deli).  We are able to buy just a un peu de cela and un peu de ça just in case we run into any type of cheese we don't like, which hasn't happened yet. On a recent dinner at Laure's apartment, we had a cheese course before the dessert, and tried a few cheeses that we wouldn't have been to fearful to try on our own. It will be hard to go back home to the expensive cheeses, but there is nothing quite like a nice old cheddar.

Sangria

As Labour Day draws near, I have my last to do list written, with the most important to do item is to enjoy my remaining time in Bellac. We have a concert at the pub tonight, which will be a great evening after a morning in the garden getting it ready for winter.  We have harvested the final tomatoes that were planted for us by Robert and Tric back in May. There are still a few peppers both green and hot spicy on the vine. With the deck construction, there are a few plants along the edge of the old deck that have seen better days unfortunately. So just a friendly reminder if you were thinking of visiting the house before we arrive, the Topsfields set the bar very high for getting the garden ready this past May for our arrival.

The final few days and the week ahead have seen a return to summer weather. We, like many French without air-conditioning have closed up the shutters and are doing our best to keep the cool inside. In fact we have been inside all afternoon on this Sunday with the exception of bringing in the laundry. We are planning on still heading down the hill to the pub for a couple of cold beers as we enjoy a final Sunday afternoon concert. At least the house will be cool on our return. And yes it was. The duo that was playing at the pub was a quartet last summer. They were ok, but too many self-reflective downer type songs instead of some up beat pop. I'm sure they play for tips and drinks, so we get what we pay for. After one drink, we were ready to trek back up the hill to home, with the vision of a cool beer out on in our jardin. If I'm lucky, I will find time during a busy week to post one last time next Saturday before my train to Charles de Gaulle airport. Enjoy the last week of "summer".

A Holiday in a Holiday

As we wake on a cool and cloudy Saturday morning, we reflect back on our recently concluded quick get away to Paris. It was a great visit as we got a chance to see some of our favourite sites and discover some new ones. We stayed in a new neighbourhood, Place d'Italie. The Hôtel de la Place des Alpes was chosen due to its proximity to the train station, metro and bus connections, lots of good restaurants and a great price, 76.98€ or about $114.58 a night with all taxes and breakfast included. It turned out to be a new favourite hotel, especially at the price.

Steve in our hotel room.

But the price might have been due to the construction all around. Thanks to the new double glazed windows,  it would have gone un-noticed but opening the windows let in the new sounds of Paris. All over the city, streets are torn up and work is going on. Whether it is just to keep up with the aging infrastructure, or getting ready for the 2024 Olympics, it is a sign of the times in Paris.

The Petit Palais was a nice surprise, as in all of our trips, we have never been there. It is the art gallery of the collection of the the City of Paris. Not only was it a very varied collection of painting, sculpture and decorative arts, it is a beautiful building and a welcome shelter from the rain. The weather this past while has been very unsettled.

Lobby of the Petit Palais

Unlike the weather south and east of us, ours has been cool and damp. While the clouds may make look stunning in our holiday snaps, they have their way with the plans of holidayers. The showers forced us into a small Japanese restaurant for a delicious lunch before they parted just as we arrived at a hidden gem in the Marais. The sky cleared as we found Jardin de Ann Frank. Just a block away from the bustle of the Centre Pompidou, it is peaceful oasis. Located in the rear courtyard of several traditional Parisian apartment buildings, we were all but alone in the sunshine. One of the chestnut trees growing in the garden is from a graft of a tree Anne could see from her window. Our garden tour continued with the Jardin du Luxembourg. We were followed by a patch of blue sky as the rest of Paris seemed to be shrouded in black, ominous clouds. We found two of the laid back chairs and enjoyed a snack as we soaked up some of the brief sunshine that the day had to offer along with the peace and quiet that the gardens have to offer.

Jardin Luxembourg

In an example of the fact that you can never go home, we went back to a favourite restaurant we had enjoyed back in 2006.  We enjoyed several great dinners there over a week's stay in Paris with the mousse au chocolat being the pièce de résistance. Now there is no menu and dinner is only à la carte. Our waiter was not of the traditional French waiter that we had appreciated so many years ago. He was young and had an attitude. On arriving, he said to sit at any table that was set for dinner, but at the same time a regular diner was heading for his table which we had our eyes on and we were hijacked to a table which we were told we would enjoy more, that it was their best table. In retrospect it really was a great table, and it had more space than most diners in Paris are entitled to.

Le Pierrot Restaurant

It is hard to describe his manner, but in watching him interact with others, it was not reserved for the tourists. It culminated with the arrival of the bill. I pointed out that our first two glasses of wine should have been at Happy Hour prices and not the regular price of the next two. He left our table in a huff and crumpled up the original bill as he headed back to the bar. The waiter returned with the correct bill and a lukewarm apology for the mistake.

Tour Eiffel

We followed the meal with a wander down to the Tour de Eiffel to watch the light show that it is now so famous for. It reminded us that some of the best things in Paris never change.

Our culinary tour of Paris included quiche, croque monsieur, pizza, pasta, saucisse de Lyon, Japonaise, traditional French sandwiches and even KFC. It came after enjoying our first Happy few Hours at a sidewalk cafe near our hotel. Like they say, same same but different. Even KFC tastes different in Paris.....

Home now and we returned to see the framing of our new deck finished. We were even visited by the contractor on Friday evening shortly after we arrived to see if the few little changes he had to make met our approval. We had talked about an extra step down as we raced towards home on the train and found out it was such a good idea, Alan had the same great idea and we arrived finding the extra set of steps. He will finish the job when he arrives back from Switzerland doing a job for Apple as he is one of their contractors for new stores. Also, the lumber yard which specializes in long boards of douglas fir will be open by then.

We have a dinner this evening with Steve's friend, Laure and her daughter. Tonight it is her turn to cook. Next week we have booked a rental car for some local days out. With only 3 weeks left for me before I fly home, we still have a lot of French living to stuff in. Steve will be here for the month of September on his own. It will give him a chance to get started on painting the kitchen and maybe even on some canvas for his own enjoyment.

A mural in our neighbourhood.

Arc de Triumphe

D'Orsay Museum

More murals

Jardin Luxembourg

Jardin de Anne Frank

Jardin de Anne Frnak

plus tard

Our two new friends.

Today is the first day we have woken up to rain. The weather here has been unsettled, but we have never had a day with steady rain. We have always been able to get out and about. Even yesterday we walked to the garden store and grocery store, did some gardening, cleaned up in front of the garage, and even went out for an evening stroll down to the river. It looks like a day to study some more French, catch up on the blog, some cleaning and do some reading. Not such a tough day since the sun will come out tomorrow. The kittens are getting bigger. While there were 4 of them when we arrived, we now only have 2 regulars for breakfast and again dinner. We hear that the mother has been run over, so they are orphans, but are part of a community here in the Chapterie.

After starting this blog earlier in the week, I can't even remember what day I was writing that first paragraph, but not much has happened since then. We have settled into our routines of nice simple daily life. The highlight of the week was our small dinner party with Steve's friend, Laure. We had an delicious meal starting with a salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta cheese, followed by pasta with moules and pesto, and it was concluded with homemade and homegrown rhubarb crumble. The dinner was delicious but it was a lot of work, not only for Steve in the preparation, but the evening was like a 3.5 hour French class. Laure speaks a little English, and we speak a little French, so we all worked hard to communicate but we all learned a bit more of each other's language. We are getting together again in August at Laure's apartment to meet her daughter and enjoy another French lesson. Along with our simple daily life, Sunday was haircut day. Last year we bought a shaver for beard and hair trimming. While there are several hair salons in town, living the simple life calls for home hair cuts. My hair was growing quite wild, so I was the first in the chair this year. Sitting on the back deck with my shirt off, Steve was just getting started when all the neighbours came out into their gardens. Normally we see no one until the one time we would have liked to have the garden to ourselves. Needless to say we finished the trim in the bathroom. The results were surprisingly good, and I didn't even need to tip.

Popping its top!

As I might have mentioned we are awaiting our plumber to return tomorrow to replace our water heater. On Saturday we noticed that the top of the heater had popped up. The foam insulation inside has risen like a soufflé or it's like when you pop open a tube of Pillsbury cinnamon buns and the dough explodes out. We are just hoping that it will make it through the day. Talk about waiting until the last possible moment to replace it is sort of like when you are trying to find out where empty really is on your gas gage.
As a quick update, the new water tank is outside as the plumber/electrician tries to disconnect the old one. There seems to be a wiring issues. Just like on tv, something always comes up when you renovate old homes. congés d'été. I might not get to enjoy it until March on our return in the spring.

We have also heard back from the contractor who may do our new deck out the back garden but at €2000 ($3000) we might have to do some creative bookkeeping to create our grand plans. On checking on-line we fount that the quote is within reason for a 19 square metre or 200 square foot deck. That will be a late August project as the contractor is off to the Ukraine for holidays, and lumber yard doesn't open from

The garden from the balcony.

We have been busy in the garden as the tomatoes are ripening along with the peppers. We have bought a few more bedding plants for the pots, and we even have two gladiolas that are blooming later than the rest of the bulbs that I planted last year.

Now that we have reached the four week mark, almost half way through my summer, we have plotted our our plans for August, still leaving some time for you last minute travellers. Also for you last minute travellers, please pack a jar or two of green relish. Our supply is running out.  You might want to check out www.airfarewatchdog.com/ for some good deals.Yesterday we did stock up on a few things such as a box of wine and a box of sangria and barbeque meats for next few days. The goal is to not walk to the grocery store for the next 3 days. A chance to empty the frigo of all the left overs and odds and ends. We had homemade hamburger patties last night, and have beef and lamb kabobs and fish to add to the leftover moules. Needless to say we are not starving.

Ground cover

We have 5 days in Paris starting August 7, and we have booked the local rental car for two periods of time later in August when we return to do some local running about. Now that it is only €9 a day it is great way to have a car and get around. Walking is great, but the car gives a bit more freedom.

Looking back up to the house.

Garden and deck from the balcony

Garden

New plant in garden

The tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers

Steve's Hollyhocks just getting started. Tune back next summer.

Bordeaux and beyond

Today we are back at home after a short break away discovering new, at least to us, areas of France. We rented the only rental car in town and headed southwest to Bordeaux. Heather and Marion had told us of their adventures there, so it seemed to check a few of our boxes. It is an easy drive from Bellac but there are several areas where nice 4 lane freeways turn into 2 lane roads running right through small towns and then open up again. Since most of the freight in Europe is delivered by trucks, there are hordes of them on the highways. On certain highways their speed is restricted and they form a line in the right lane while cars pass by in the left. There is ongoing highway construction to complete these freeways but you are never quite sure what you will get, and now without a map, and relying solely on the GPS means having to trust virtual reality over my own instincts, which are usually pretty good. On our way home from this trip, we entered home into the GPS and told it to take the shortest distance, not necessarily the quickest, as we were paying ,20 €/km.

Sunflower Fields

 It took us off the main highways through picturesque villages, and alongside fields of sunflowers. On looking at the maps online when we got home, she did take us the most direct route home, so next trip we will trust her.

Bordeaux is La Cite du Vin and is on the banks of the La Garonne. The best way to describe the city would be to take best of Paris, and compress it into a nice walkable package. The only thing missing was a park like the Jardin du Tuileries or Luxembourg Gardens, but we must admit we didn't make it up to the Jardin Public.

Steve at the Mirror Fountain

 The fountains were wonderful, especially the Miroir d'Eau, which is a fountain you can walk through. It was an nice relief from the 40° heat. Considering the heat and our heart attack patient, we saw the major sites of the city in our day and a half, and enjoyed watching people from the river side pub with a happy few hours. Cutting through the heart of the city is Rue Sainte-Catherine which is the longest pedestrian street in Europe and has great shopping and eating opportunities.

From Place de la Victoire to the Apple Store in Place De la Comedie, Rue Sainte-Catherine offers something for almost everyone. At the far end of the core of the city was La Cite du Vin. A museum/wine centre for everything wine. Not only is it a museum of wine making, it also has tastings and wine appreciation programs. Not far along the river back to town, was an outlet mall and many restaurants. We stopped for an overpriced Frappacino from Starbucks, at least it was cold.
Away from the modern we stumbled into the Village Notre-Dame. It is an old neighbourhood with many antique stores and a stunning church.

Happy Hour

A picnic was held on the steps of the Temple Notre Dame.  With the heat and an all day tram pass we were back and forth to the hotel for some air conditioning and then back out for more exploring. Later that evening as we wandered looking for a place to eat, we both were taken with a back lane that ended at a small restaurant. We checked out Chez Marcel et Lilly. Here we had the best burgers we have had in a long time. The service was great, local beer was cold, and the burgers were delicious. It ended an excellent day. As we were heading back to the tram, the winds whipped up, and we were in the middle of a thunder storm. It was an abrupt ending to the heat, but the cool rain was a nice change.

Vern on Pont De Pierre

Port de Bourgogne

Place de la Bourse

Place des Quinconces

Monument aux Girondins

Sculpture in Bordeaux

Grosse Cloche

Saint-Andre

We left Bordeaux the next morning and headed to The Great Dune of Pyla, the largest sand dune in Europe. From the huddle of gift shops and restaurants, you can either hike up through the sand or take the stairs. We took the stairs and they were a workout in themselves.

The Great Dune of Pyla

 At the top of the stairs the dune kept going and going..... The views were magnificent of both inland and out to the Atlantic Ocean. The dune stretches out to the south, and we could see specks of people trekking across the top of the dune. We stayed closer to the stairs, and sat down to enjoy the views. Heading down the west side towards the ocean, we kept expecting to see the shore, but there always seemed to be another ridge blocking our view. It was an unexpected gem and well worth the drive and €4 for parking. Another surprise was the restaurant we picked on the way back to the car for lunch. The moules et frites were a wonderful treat. This meal set us up for the next adventure in getting to La Rochelle. The dune was a bit out of the way, and we had to retrace our steps back to Bordeaux and around the ring road to get onto the A10 heading north.

Great Dune of Pyla

 Up until this time, the GPS had all of our hotels listed in and so we didn't give it a second thought to check for the hotel in La Rochelle. As we were getting closer, there was not sign of it listed on the screen. Entering the suburbs of La Rochelle, we tried a hotel in the same chain of hotels and let her take us there. Driving in any city can be confusing and stressful as it is all new with ins and outs all over the place. Well we passed by the train station, and then down a main boulevard to wards the old harbour.

Harbour in La Rochelle

 As we turned into a square we saw the Ibis hotel, and luckily found a place to pull over. I got out to plead for help from the nice woman at the front desk. She pulled out a map and traced the route to our hotel, which included a stretch right through a normally pedestrian only block.

Grosse Horloge in La Rochelle, and our hotel in the background (green sign)

 The desk clerk said it would be fine since we had reservations at the hotel. Steve was hesitant, but I said we need to go for it, and with a few strange looks and a comment or two from the street performer on the high unicycle, we made it across to our hotel. The next challenge was to find parking, which can sometimes be a problem when you stay in the centre of cities. The parking lot we were sent to was closed for the set up of a festival or performance, so we kept trying further away. The main parking lot in town was full, and we kept going as our frustration level was rising.

Us in La Rochelle

 We finally made an illegal left turn and down the wrong way down the ramp into a large parking area, which at the time we thought was in the middle of nowhere. Trolling up and down the rows, we finally found one of the few empty spots. The next challenge was figuring out how to use the parking meter. You only had to pay for parking between 9:00 am and 12:00 and then again from 2:00 to 6:30 pm. Overnight was free. So I put in enough coins to get us through until 9:00 am the next morning. Then we headed back to the hotel on foot, finding that the walk was less than 15 minutes. Not so bad after all.  The next morning, I headed out before breakfast to check the car, and discovered that the largest part of the parking lot was free all the time, and at this early hour, there were a few empty spots, so we were able to solve our parking dilemma. So even though our introduction to La Rochelle was slightly tarnished by the parking issue, we quickly got over it as we discovered what a lovely town it is. La Rochelle is a harbour town that has been redeveloped into a tourist treat. Along the harbour front are shops, restaurants, bars, stalls selling tourist and artisan items and street performers. In the older part of town leading up from the harbour are more shops, boutiques and a bustling market place. It is a wonderful town to wander in.

Vern at the Plage de la Concurrence

 There is even a beach just off the main part of the harbour. Across the bay are two islands to continue a beach type holiday. We hear the aquarium is a destination, but it is not our cup of tea. We are so glad that during the endless parking lot search we didn't just keep going home in desperation.

Friday was departure day, and after filling up at the breakfast buffet at the hotel,  we were back up the same streets to return to the car. We enjoyed the scenic drive home and while travel is fun, it is always nice to come home. It wasn't long home that we were planning our next adventure, a few days in Paris in early August.

We have also had the first visit by the plumber who came by to fix our water heater. Well he did arrive, but he had recently lost his credit card, and didn't realized that he would have to drill a hole in the wall, and leaving for Blackpool tomorrow, he thought it best to postpone the new tank until next Monday. After a pot of tea and sharing travel adventures Gary was on his way, and we were back to writing, gardening, painting........ We will just have to keep emptying the drip pan for one more week.