Bonjour!
Autumn is gaining momentum, the red and orange colours in the trees and vines are starting to appear. I'm looking forward to seeing it in full swing. Mum and Dad have been here which is fantastic, it means a lot. We've had some quality time visiting many places and a just hanging out at home. Below shows Dad and the kids having fun, you can see some leaves that have already fallen. Sophie had some eye make up on which she applied herself with some red felt pen!
We had a day at the famous Sarlat markets on Saturday, here we are on the way out of town. It's mum's favourite town she said last night, although there is so much to choose from.
We had dinner one balmy night at our American friend Beth's place up in the hamlet. She cooked up steak on the Barbie with some help from her Australian assistants ( Dad and I ), Australians being known experts in the BBQ field and all. These steaks were huge, like about 8cms thick, and it was the nicest tasting steak I've had in France so far. It was a great night, thanks Beth.
This is a favourite photo of mine taken a little while ago in the nearby beautiful town of Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne, one of those classic days with not a cloud in the sky.
Ken and Marg Simpson, Jane's godparents spent five days with as recently, which we really njoyed. They really know how to have fun and they have a real interest in French culture and history so there was plenty to talk about and plenty of places to visit. I also received some handy cooking tips from Marg, a seasoned expert in the kitchen. Here they are with Connor who for some reason was wearing Jane's new boots....
We have been going to French lessons each week with our lovely teacher Allison. Here she is with Jane and you can just see, in between, Connor's hand reaching up to grab one of his toy cars. We usually do the lessons in the morning when Sophie is at school.
Here is Connor taking a rest, Allison's Persian rug is as good a place as any.....
Here is Sophie on the steps of the near 900 year old church at Carennac, one of our favourite little towns. I think Sophie has a real flair for acting, or something in the arts, she is so expressive. One thing is for sure, she will and already is heaps of fun.
We had this amazing day with Ken and Marg while they were here. The day was filled with a big round trip of the northern Lot region including Carennac where we had a picnic by the river, the rugged hill top castle at St Cere, the quaint bastide town of Loubressac, and then on the way home we stopped at another favourite, Martel, where they were luckily having one of their annual festivals. Here we are watching a play in the centre of the old village centre, all in French so we didn't really have much of a clue of what was going on, but hey, it was enjoyable and interesting. We felt like is was very much a local do and that we were just about the only non-French people there. I love those random occurrences where you find yourself submerged in French culture.
At this Martel festival they had a gourmet food section, it was dinner time, so of course we partook. Here is Ken, Marg and Soph before we bought our meals, ..... in fine form.
Ken took this photo as we were leaving, what a memorable day!
Our region, historically known as the Quercy area, is well known for its duck products. And as you know we love these products. The secret behind the tasty foie gras (liver fat) and the huge size of the duck breasts we buy is the force feeding of the ducks in the last weeks (I think it's 4 to 8 weeks) of their lives. They literally grab each duck once a day and funnel grain etc into its belly. This, I'm a bit uncomfortable with, but to be totally honest not that uncomfortable that I'd stop buying these products. I've heard they end up looking forward to their daily funnel down the gob session - I'm not so sure. But hey the French are proud about their duck and they don't mind showing off their methodology. The photo below was outside one the foie gras shops you see all over the place.
Here is Ken in front of the nearby Abbaye-Nouvelle which I love to visit. It was founded in the XIII th century by the monks of the Abbey of Aubazine. The Hundred Years War against the English and the Religious Wars saw it heavily damaged.
I just had to take a picture of this as an example of how seriously the French take lunch, even for the wee ones. This is the menu at Sophie's kindergarten which shows the parents what the kids will be eating for the month of September. So on say Tuesday the 19th of September the menu is Charcuterie ( a selection of cold meat slices) for an entree, Saute de porc gratin de courgettes ( sautéed pork with gratin and courgettes) for mains, and fromage and glace (cheese and ice cream) for deserts. This is while I'm having a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich at home. Sophie is just doing half days, she does not realise what she's missing out on!
Here is Marg, Ken and Sophie in front of La Roque-Gageac, one of France's "most beautiful villages". It's an amazing spot with the village sitting along a narrow strip in between the golden cliffs of the famous Dordogne Valley and the Dordogne River. If you look closely you can see the remains of medieval fortified houses half way up the cliff above the village.
Any way I'll sign off for now and follow this up later with a few more photos of our adventures with Mum and Dad. I just wanted to say thanks so much to Jane's mum, Jules and Marg and Ken for spending time with us all the way over here. We really appreciate it and enjoyed your company immensely.
Autumn is gaining momentum, the red and orange colours in the trees and vines are starting to appear. I'm looking forward to seeing it in full swing. Mum and Dad have been here which is fantastic, it means a lot. We've had some quality time visiting many places and a just hanging out at home. Below shows Dad and the kids having fun, you can see some leaves that have already fallen. Sophie had some eye make up on which she applied herself with some red felt pen!
We had a day at the famous Sarlat markets on Saturday, here we are on the way out of town. It's mum's favourite town she said last night, although there is so much to choose from.
We had dinner one balmy night at our American friend Beth's place up in the hamlet. She cooked up steak on the Barbie with some help from her Australian assistants ( Dad and I ), Australians being known experts in the BBQ field and all. These steaks were huge, like about 8cms thick, and it was the nicest tasting steak I've had in France so far. It was a great night, thanks Beth.
This is a favourite photo of mine taken a little while ago in the nearby beautiful town of Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne, one of those classic days with not a cloud in the sky.
Ken and Marg Simpson, Jane's godparents spent five days with as recently, which we really njoyed. They really know how to have fun and they have a real interest in French culture and history so there was plenty to talk about and plenty of places to visit. I also received some handy cooking tips from Marg, a seasoned expert in the kitchen. Here they are with Connor who for some reason was wearing Jane's new boots....
We have been going to French lessons each week with our lovely teacher Allison. Here she is with Jane and you can just see, in between, Connor's hand reaching up to grab one of his toy cars. We usually do the lessons in the morning when Sophie is at school.
Here is Connor taking a rest, Allison's Persian rug is as good a place as any.....
Here is Sophie on the steps of the near 900 year old church at Carennac, one of our favourite little towns. I think Sophie has a real flair for acting, or something in the arts, she is so expressive. One thing is for sure, she will and already is heaps of fun.
We had this amazing day with Ken and Marg while they were here. The day was filled with a big round trip of the northern Lot region including Carennac where we had a picnic by the river, the rugged hill top castle at St Cere, the quaint bastide town of Loubressac, and then on the way home we stopped at another favourite, Martel, where they were luckily having one of their annual festivals. Here we are watching a play in the centre of the old village centre, all in French so we didn't really have much of a clue of what was going on, but hey, it was enjoyable and interesting. We felt like is was very much a local do and that we were just about the only non-French people there. I love those random occurrences where you find yourself submerged in French culture.
At this Martel festival they had a gourmet food section, it was dinner time, so of course we partook. Here is Ken, Marg and Soph before we bought our meals, ..... in fine form.
It's very hard to say no to ice creams in that situation and you have to have deserts, right. Here is Soph and Connor enjoying theirs. Connor looked like a clown serenading the market crowd using his ice cream as a microphone.
Ken took this photo as we were leaving, what a memorable day!
Our region, historically known as the Quercy area, is well known for its duck products. And as you know we love these products. The secret behind the tasty foie gras (liver fat) and the huge size of the duck breasts we buy is the force feeding of the ducks in the last weeks (I think it's 4 to 8 weeks) of their lives. They literally grab each duck once a day and funnel grain etc into its belly. This, I'm a bit uncomfortable with, but to be totally honest not that uncomfortable that I'd stop buying these products. I've heard they end up looking forward to their daily funnel down the gob session - I'm not so sure. But hey the French are proud about their duck and they don't mind showing off their methodology. The photo below was outside one the foie gras shops you see all over the place.
Here are the kids (post bath and in PJs) and I coming back to the house from feeding the chickens one fine evening.
Here is Ken in front of the nearby Abbaye-Nouvelle which I love to visit. It was founded in the XIII th century by the monks of the Abbey of Aubazine. The Hundred Years War against the English and the Religious Wars saw it heavily damaged.
I just had to take a picture of this as an example of how seriously the French take lunch, even for the wee ones. This is the menu at Sophie's kindergarten which shows the parents what the kids will be eating for the month of September. So on say Tuesday the 19th of September the menu is Charcuterie ( a selection of cold meat slices) for an entree, Saute de porc gratin de courgettes ( sautéed pork with gratin and courgettes) for mains, and fromage and glace (cheese and ice cream) for deserts. This is while I'm having a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich at home. Sophie is just doing half days, she does not realise what she's missing out on!
Here is Marg, Ken and Sophie in front of La Roque-Gageac, one of France's "most beautiful villages". It's an amazing spot with the village sitting along a narrow strip in between the golden cliffs of the famous Dordogne Valley and the Dordogne River. If you look closely you can see the remains of medieval fortified houses half way up the cliff above the village.
Any way I'll sign off for now and follow this up later with a few more photos of our adventures with Mum and Dad. I just wanted to say thanks so much to Jane's mum, Jules and Marg and Ken for spending time with us all the way over here. We really appreciate it and enjoyed your company immensely.
A beintot et bonne santé,
Jane, Sophie, Connor et moi.
