Summer solstice, a good excuse for a party

 Bonjour!

Well I'm sitting on our deck, it's very peaceful, just the sound of a few birds, it's 9:20 pm at night and I just popped around the other side of the house and the sun is still about a thumb's width above the horizon. You've got to love these European summers. The kids are in bed, just, and we had some lovely duck tonight, it's becoming a bit of a weekly regular. It's just so yummy. We were wondering why more Aussies don't eat it regularly, probably more of a cultural thing. A possible business venture we're thinking?

We had a little party on the weekend. It went well, about 20 people and a really good vibe. It was mainly to celebrate the summer solstice. Here a few happy snaps taken. Firstly the two party girls, Jane and our good mate, Beth, who lives up the road - they amazingly have the same birth date, 29th of June!

Here is Beth and I......

 

 

Connor at one point had taken off with our mate Clive's base ball cap, as shown below...

Our little party on the deck in action....

Here is Sophie and Connor around the camp fire with Sabina and Mark and their kids...

 

This is a classic. Everyone has been talking about this stray dog that has been doing the rounds of the surrounding villages. A few days ago we went for a drive and on the way we spotted him on about 5kms from here on a country road. The same day we spotted him about another 5kms from that spot in Payrac. The following day we say him about 15kms from there at Gourdon. This guy travels. Guess who turned up at our party.....

Threw him a sausage, .......hope he finds an owner. He's hard to catch, I tried to when I saw him that first day.

The day after the party we travelled about an hour away to this very impressive old castle, Bonaguil. It was one of the last fortified castles built, completed in 1510. During the French Revolution the owner at the time disappeared and it ended up in the hands of the local municipal. Below is a photo of it taken across the valley.

They had an art exhibition on the Sunday at Bonaguil, hence our visit on this particular day. Here is Jane and Soph at the foot of the castle.

You can actually walk to the very top of Bonaguil. Here is a photo from the very top looking into the guts of one section of the castle. There were dungeons underneath, the whole lot, definitely recommend a visit.

Connor and I went for a drive a few days ago. Instead of a visit to one of our usual kids parks I decided on a visit to Cougnaguet, a fortified mill I had been wanting to visit for some time. It's amazing to have those types of options, I'm savouring it.

First we drove past Rocamadour and hung out for a while admiring the view as shown below.

Then it was onto Cougnaguet. It's a fascinating, beautiful spot, hidden away amongst the hills around Rocamadour, next to a flowing stream. It was built in the 14th century by monks from an abbey 2kms away. It was fortified because during the odd famine they were occasionally attacked. The old guy that I think lives there actually showed me how it works, with the very old machinery still there. Connor had a ball. He was occupied with a couple of dogs and throwing rocks into the stream. The photo below shows the front of the mill...

 

And this second shot is taken from the back of the mill. That little structure below the second window from the top left is the remains of an outside loo!

Pancakes are becoming a regular fixture in the Scott family weekly menu. I'm trying to master the art of making sweet crepes too, .....which obviously means a lot of taste testing in various cafes, a necessary part of the job. Here is Sophie helping out Connor with one of the pancakes I made. She also lent Connor one of her hats as Connor's was missing at the time.

 

 

Thanks to Sabina's directions we found this beautiful little spot on the banks of the Dordogne River. It's where her two kids go swimming on a hot day.

Lastly I just had to show you the inside of St Andre's Cathedrale in Bourdeau, where Eleanor of Aquitaine married King Louis XII of France in 1137. It blew me away. During the French Revolution they used it as a store house!

Au revoir et bonne santé,

Jane, Sophie, Connor and me.

A weekend at the Atlantic Coast

Bonjour all

Well we hit the Atlantic Coast last weekend. Two weeks before that we were on the Mediterranean, exciting times. Again we picked up Soph from kindy at midday on Friday, and drove south, as shown below...

Well, this was taken at one of the freeway stops. The freeways are great in France, and the freeway stops as well, where I've seen open air gyms, open air showers, and great picnic areas.

The drive down was fantastic. We spent about a hour or so driving near the foothills of the snow capped Pyrenees, around Tarbes and Paul, and reached Saint Jean de Luz, in the heart of French Basque Country with plenty of light to spare. It's about 20 kms north of the Spanish border. Below is a photo looking back at Saint Jean de Luz from the port's edge. I took this on Sunday morning when going for an early morning walk.

We caught some sun on the Saturday morning. Here are kids playing on the sand....

And here is Jane making the most of the conditions too .....

The beach itself actually reminded us of Bondi Beach, both long wide sandy beaches next to old school type beach holiday buildings. It's when you go a few streets back into the old part of the town that you get a real feel for the Basque area and people. We met this really nice Basque lady who ran this classy clothes shop. When we were in the shop she knew we were concerned about Connor running out so she closed the shop for us! Felt like Becks and Posh for a second, just a second. And then she ended up giving me a really nice shirt for free!

Below is a photo of Connor and I in one of the those back streets. The church behind us is France's largest and finest Basque church. The inside blew me away, lot's of ornate dark wood. This was where France's greatest king, Louis XIV, married Maria Teresa, daughter of King Philip IV of Spain, in 1660. This guy was pretty impressive, he was known as the Sun King, reigned for a record 72 years during which France was the leading European power and he was succeeded by his five year old great-grandson. He outlived both his son and grandson heirs to the throne.

 

 

On Sunday morning, we headed north and ended up dropping into Bordeaux and having a picnic lunch at one of the small parks in the centre of town. It was a nice sunny day and the town looked fantastic, heaps of beautiful grand old buildings. Here is Jane and Connor kicking the soccer ball around, nice spot.

 

One of the main reasons we decided to visit Bordeaux was to see the Unesco World Heritage listed Cathedrale St-Andre. This was where Jane's very, very, very distant ancestor Eleanor of Aquitaine married King Louis VII. Yes, believe it or not, I did say distant relative, and I know it's a hard one to believe, but hey what a story! I've been to an extended family gathering of the Wyndhams, Jane's maiden name, and there she is, Eleanor of Aquitaine amongst the top of the family tree. Now she was an incredible lady, she had ten children all up including Richard the Lionheart, she first married King Louis VII of France and then after an annulment she married a chap by the name of Henry, who soon became King Henry II of England! Below is Jane and the kids outside the entrance to St-Andre, amazing church, amazing history.

Bonne santé and chance dans la vie (good health and luck in life), a bientot

Jane, Sophie, Connor, and me.

 

Turned 45 on Tuesday, a milestone to remember

I turned 45 on Tuesday, bit of a milestone, what a way to spend it, great day. Started off driving Sophie to the bus stop, which I totally enjoy. She said I was not able to open my presents until I saw her at lunch time.

Jane and Connor headed off to do some admin in town, and I was able to go for a nice long walk in the country side. It’s looking so green and lush. Seeing a lot of eagles flying around. Seeing a few snakes too. Most of them are harmless, apart from the “viper”, the name kind of suites for a venomous snake, hey. Saw one of those a few weeks ago, just lying in the middle of the road, they’re only about a foot long. We’ve seen heaps of deer, Jane nearly drove into one of them on the way into Payrac one day. Have seen heaps of rabbits, and a few squirrels too. 

Jane and the kids picked me up near noon and we headed off for lunch at a worker’s restaurant, one that I’ve wanted to go to for a few weeks. They usually serve just local workers, and it’s more the traditional type meals. Thirteen euros for a simple, very yummy, three course meal, well the soup we were a bit unsure of, but the rest of it was really tasty. We ordered the nine euros kids meal for Sophie, and that was, believe it or not, confit de canard, duck in other words, a bit different from the ole chicken nuggets and chips! It was a memorable lunch, just perfect.

 

Here is Soph and I tucking into the delicious deserts, tre bonne (very good)

Then we had our good friends, Beth from up in the hamlet, and Tony and Deni, who are basically our next door neighbours, around for a few drink and nibbles. That was really nice. I told them about the blog, so they’ll probably read this - thanks for sharing my birthday with me guys!

 

A highlight was definitely the cake that Denis made for me, as shown below, very chuffed, thanks Deni!     

 

Yesterday, being Wednesday, the day Sophie does not have school, we headed down to Cahors, the capital of The Lot, to go to an antique book market and for some shopping. Before that we visited and had a picnic lunch at probably one of the most famous bridges in France, the medieval Valentre Bridge. It spans across The Lot River into Cahors, as shown below.

 

 

Construction of the bridge started in the 12^th century. The fortifications of the bridge have worked pretty well over the ages, with the English during the Hundred Year War and Henry of Navarre trying but not succeeding to cross it.   Here is a photo of me at the top of some stairs on the bridge, Sophie and Connor were very keen to follow me up there, I don't think so,...... note how worn the stone steps are.

 

The temperature hit 28 degrees today, loving it. We’ve decided our French language progression needs a move along so we rang up a tutor advertised at the Payrac baker. Our first proper lesson is today and we have homework still to do! Our new tutor, Allison, recently broke her ankle so we are visiting her in this classic big old renovated building in Montfaucon, about 15km away, where she is staying and receiving treatment. She was saying when we first met her that beforehand the building used to be a seminary for priests and before that it was fortified stronghold for the English during the Hundred Year War – love the history in the place!
   

Good news! Sophie has progressed to full days at kindy, well she will phase into them. She has been going just from nine to midday, but today she will have lunch there, probably three courses :), then she will finish at 4.30pm, a couple of days a week to start off with. She seems to really enjoy it. 

A beintot, et bonne santé (bye for now and good health)

Jane, Soph, Connor and me. 

 

Enjoying the warmer weather

Bonjour all

The warmer weather is settling in and we're making the most of it. Here are the kids and I taking in some Vitamin E and keeping Ziggy and Coralie company. A few times a day these two usually bellow out loud, I think it's because they want some love, or food. Sabina has said they need a lot of love and attention so we head over to their pen most days.

Below is us after our second swim in the pool since we've been here, taken a couple of days. It's so nice to finally be using it. The water is still very cold though. I'd say it's still about 16 degrees.

Here is Jane enjoying a glass of the legendary Cahor red after dinner on the back patio. It's probably close to 9.00pm at night. The summer days are fantastic over here, really long, and there are no insects to annoy you, so mozies, no flies. 

 

Connor is taking on a new persona, I think it's being in France that's doing it. He's going to be an ultra cool little kid I'm sure. Here he is at the beautiful Eyrignac Manor Gardens we visited the other day. Connor insisted on wearing my shades.

Here is Sophie enjoying the gardens, you can see Eyrignac Manor in the background.

We have sheep in the paddock right out our window, it's great. Here is Sophie and Connor staring out at them through our kitchen window, making baaaa, baaaaa noises I'm sure.

 

Over the weekend we went to three vide greniers ( means "empty the attic" in English). This is where each village has a bunch of stalls where the town folk try to flog off their unwanted bits and pieces. There are variations on this with some villages adding on a few other fun things to do, like food and drink stalls, kids rides, live music. It's basically an  excuse for everyone to get together and enjoy some nice weather. Below was taken yesterday at the vide grenier just outside of Gordon, our local town. You can see the bastide and church in the centre of Gordon up on the hill in the distance, great spot for a get together.

After perusing the Gordon vide grenier it was time for a break and a snack. Here is Jane and the kids taking it easy in the back of the Renault.

 

 

The other day we visited the local doctor to check up on a few things and basically to make contact. I quizzed him on his thoughts re alcohol consumption. He said one beer and two glasses of wine per day is fine, and then he went on to say "I sometimes have more, I'm only human".... That's good enough for me, santé!

Meilleurs vœux (best wishes), a bientot
Jane, Sophie, Connor, and me

 

A weekend at the Mediterranean

We just had a fantastic weekend at the Mediterranean at a little town called Collioure, about 15 km from the Spanish border. We picked up Sophie from school at midday on Friday and headed south. We arrived at the coast at about 5pm, despite a couple of breaks, including lunch, on the way down. Jane clocking 138km per hour at one stage certainly helped. I think we had a tail wind too. And it’s windy down there. I have not seen so many wind turbines in my life, some of them right near the highway.  Close to Collioure Soph saw snow for the first time on top of a huge mountain, which I suppose was the beginning of the Pyrenees.  

The photo below shows Collioure and surrounding area, taken from a 13^th century Cathar fort we visited on the Sunday. It’s amazing how they have cultivated grape vines on the hillsides. They were growing out of gravel!

 

This photo below shows Jane and Soph on the first night we arrived when we were having a good look around the town. You can see that 13^th century fort I took the previous photo from on the hill up on the left hand side.  We stayed at a nice hotel right next to the sea, just over that hill on the far left. It was about a 15 minute walk along the coast into town, great walk and much needed considering the size of the hotel breakfast meals we enjoyed.

 

Here is Sophie on the swings at Collioure. The town is absolutely beautiful, I could easily go back there. It’s well known in the arts arena as a few famous painters lived there and were inspired by the place. Matisse was one of them. The place has a real Spanish feel to it too.  

 

This photo shows Jane and the kids down next to the shore with a very old sea side church in the back ground. It was also used as a lighthouse. I was very tempted to jump in. Connor had a ball throwing rocks into the sea, he was allowed to this time considering the whole shore is made up of pebbles.

 

On the Saturday we headed out for diner. This photo was taken by the waiter just after we sat down. Sophie was having a nap in the pram next to Jane. What a backdrop hey. It was special, probably the best meal we’ve had since we’ve been in France, due to the food, the location, and the company of course :)

 

This photo was taken on mother’s day (the French one) last week. I had planned to take Jane out for lunch, but by the time we visited an antiques market at a nearby town, La Bastide Murat, we were running out of time. Luckily at the market they had a little hot food stall, which served up some simple hot food for us, complete with a couple of plastic cups filled with red wine. They lent me a tray to take the food to Jane and the kids who were in a nearby park as shown below. Jane really enjoyed it, which was the main thing. And the kids had a playground to play on which was a bonus, for them and us. 

Lunch is served.....

Enjoying our lunch, with the whole park to ourselves, Connor was probably over to the left on the slide, what a spot

Summer has arrived, well not really....The sunny weather has certainly arrived, yesterday was nice and warm with hardly a cloud in the sky. The sun going down at about 9.30pm is great too. They’re forecasting  temperatures in the late twenties later this week. Summer actually doesn’t actually start until the 21^st of June, which is also the longest day of the year, strange hey. It feels like it’s starting now. I’m looking forward to that second dip in our pool.

Sante (cheers in French, it actually means “health”),

Jane, Sophie, Connor, and me