Bonjour
Nous espérons vous êtes bien (we hope you are well).
We are heading south this Friday so I thought I would send over a few photos from our last couple of weeks. We were a bit unlucky with Spring here, weather wise, but we've been lucky with Autumn, the weather has been great. I woke up the other day to see this stunning sun rise....
Below is a photo of our little hamlet taken from the ridge that you can see in the photo above. Our house is pretty much in the middle of that group of houses you can see...
We had a lovely dinner with our French friends, Jean-Marc and Fabiennne last Saturday. Guess what we had, yes, duck! Fabienne had cooked these duck legs in cepes (mushrooms) and red wine for about five hours, ahhhh, delicieux!
Before dinner Jean-Marc and Fabienne took us all for a drive to see this huge natural spring and following that we went for a walk in the woods.
We recently had dinner at our friends place, Denis and Celine. Denis is actually a trained chef, and boy does it show, highlights included the home made foie gras as an entrée served with a mildly sweet white wine, and the slightly baked rock oysters with leek and cream, it was like being at a Michelin-starred restaurant!
Here we are, post night fall, heading back from closing up Toni and Denis' chickens while they are away on holidays, the kids love it and the fresh eggs are a treat.
Below is Beth, Jean-Marc and Fabienne around our place for dinner, guess what I cooked, yep, you guessed it, duck. These were the huge duck breasts marinated in cepes, our favourite.
The other day we went for a walk and came across these sheep. I think they thought we had arrived to give them a feed.
I took this photo of Sophie and I in front of this magnificent old deserted chateau in a village called Aynac. Daughter and Dad bonding time, love it..
I thought I would include a few photos of some of the sights I see on my morning walks. This at the bottom of the gully behind our house...
This is heading back up towards the house..
This is next to the local spring, special spot..
This is what remains of an old ruined house half way up the hill...
Nearly home. This is looking across the valley towards Souillac. You can see Tony and Denis' house on the right and the clouds sitting in the valley to the left. You can see a huge mound of rocks just below Tony and Denis' house. This is where, many years ago, the famers put the rocks that they collected, one by one, from all over the surrounding paddock, in order to make the land more productive.
Here is Sophie on her last day of school in Payrac, with the head mistress Natalie. She asked that we stay in touch with the school so the kids can see how Sophie is going. Jane was up till 1am that morning putting together a little bag of lollies for each kid (29 of them) along with a little toy koala. Needless to say that was a big hit with kids.
Below shows an impressive Renaissance church, built from 1540 to 1550, in a village called Assier about 30 minutes drive from here..
Going shopping with the kids is always a challenge, that's along with trying to interpret all the food labels. One way to tackle it is to borrow one or two of these car trolleys, a good distraction....
Here is Connor having a good look at the chickens at the back of the small farm here. The two geese, a male and female, you can see in there as well, are literally mates for life.
Below is a photo of the Château de Rastignac about an hours north west of here. It's really interesting to us for two main reasons, one, we were offered to rent part of the renovated quarters immediately behind the chateau. We could have been living there instead of here at La Vallee, and secondly the link between it and the White House in the States. Thomas Jefferson , during his tour of Bordeaux in 1789, viewed the chateau architectural drawings and when he returned to the US he shared what he had seen with the architect who designed the White House extensions, that's how the story goes anyway. Comparing the two as shown below, I think there is something in it. What's also interesting is in 1944, the fleeing Nazi SS forces attempted to burn down Château de Rastignac in retribution against the French Resistance. Using phospherus as an accelerant, the fire burned for five days, and all that was left was the external walls.
Here is a photo of the White House for a comparison....
And finally when we leave here this Friday we have a night on the way down at Roquefort, where all that famous Roquefort cheese, sold throughout the world, comes from. I'm quite excited about this as I've decided it's my favourite French cheese, not an easy choice I can tell you. Below is a photo of Connor, on his own accord, reaching across to slice himself a bit of Roquefort cheese. This love of Roquefort obviously runs in the family.
Nous espérons vous êtes bien (we hope you are well).
We are heading south this Friday so I thought I would send over a few photos from our last couple of weeks. We were a bit unlucky with Spring here, weather wise, but we've been lucky with Autumn, the weather has been great. I woke up the other day to see this stunning sun rise....
Below is a photo of our little hamlet taken from the ridge that you can see in the photo above. Our house is pretty much in the middle of that group of houses you can see...
We had a lovely dinner with our French friends, Jean-Marc and Fabiennne last Saturday. Guess what we had, yes, duck! Fabienne had cooked these duck legs in cepes (mushrooms) and red wine for about five hours, ahhhh, delicieux!
Before dinner Jean-Marc and Fabienne took us all for a drive to see this huge natural spring and following that we went for a walk in the woods.
This isn't the most flattering photo of Ziggy and Kirerly, but I just had to take it. It's them heading over to the owners other farm where they'll spend the winter, mostly in doors I imagine. They're been a constant source of companionship for us here at La Vallee..
We recently had dinner at our friends place, Denis and Celine. Denis is actually a trained chef, and boy does it show, highlights included the home made foie gras as an entrée served with a mildly sweet white wine, and the slightly baked rock oysters with leek and cream, it was like being at a Michelin-starred restaurant!
Here we are, post night fall, heading back from closing up Toni and Denis' chickens while they are away on holidays, the kids love it and the fresh eggs are a treat.
Below is Beth, Jean-Marc and Fabienne around our place for dinner, guess what I cooked, yep, you guessed it, duck. These were the huge duck breasts marinated in cepes, our favourite.
Every now and then you see reminders of the second world war. We had a picnic in a little park, one day when we out exploring some high country east of here, and I noticed this memorial stone on the park's edge. It was in a small village. The plaque reads "Ici le 11 Mai 1944 est tombe Emile Gauzin assassin par les Allemande", and in English this basically reads "Here on the 11th of May, 1944 Emile Gauzin was assasinated by the Germans"
Later that day we visited a beautiful old church built into the side of a cliff with a stream cascading below. Here is Jane and the kids at this beautiful spot...
I recently met Sophie's best friend at school, Rachel, pictured below. It was so cute, she had picked some flowers from her garden to give to Sophie.
The other day we went for a walk and came across these sheep. I think they thought we had arrived to give them a feed.
I took this photo of Sophie and I in front of this magnificent old deserted chateau in a village called Aynac. Daughter and Dad bonding time, love it..
This is next to the local spring, special spot..
This is what remains of an old ruined house half way up the hill...
Nearly home. This is looking across the valley towards Souillac. You can see Tony and Denis' house on the right and the clouds sitting in the valley to the left. You can see a huge mound of rocks just below Tony and Denis' house. This is where, many years ago, the famers put the rocks that they collected, one by one, from all over the surrounding paddock, in order to make the land more productive.
Here is Sophie on her last day of school in Payrac, with the head mistress Natalie. She asked that we stay in touch with the school so the kids can see how Sophie is going. Jane was up till 1am that morning putting together a little bag of lollies for each kid (29 of them) along with a little toy koala. Needless to say that was a big hit with kids.
Sophie brought home her exercise pad with some of the semester's activities in them. I thought this was really interesting. Here they have to draw lines connecting two of the identical type cepes (mushrooms), complete with the name of each variety. It's a good example of how food and nature are so important to the French.
Below shows an impressive Renaissance church, built from 1540 to 1550, in a village called Assier about 30 minutes drive from here..
Going shopping with the kids is always a challenge, that's along with trying to interpret all the food labels. One way to tackle it is to borrow one or two of these car trolleys, a good distraction....
Here is Connor having a good look at the chickens at the back of the small farm here. The two geese, a male and female, you can see in there as well, are literally mates for life.
Below is a photo of the Château de Rastignac about an hours north west of here. It's really interesting to us for two main reasons, one, we were offered to rent part of the renovated quarters immediately behind the chateau. We could have been living there instead of here at La Vallee, and secondly the link between it and the White House in the States. Thomas Jefferson , during his tour of Bordeaux in 1789, viewed the chateau architectural drawings and when he returned to the US he shared what he had seen with the architect who designed the White House extensions, that's how the story goes anyway. Comparing the two as shown below, I think there is something in it. What's also interesting is in 1944, the fleeing Nazi SS forces attempted to burn down Château de Rastignac in retribution against the French Resistance. Using phospherus as an accelerant, the fire burned for five days, and all that was left was the external walls.
Here is a photo of the White House for a comparison....
And finally when we leave here this Friday we have a night on the way down at Roquefort, where all that famous Roquefort cheese, sold throughout the world, comes from. I'm quite excited about this as I've decided it's my favourite French cheese, not an easy choice I can tell you. Below is a photo of Connor, on his own accord, reaching across to slice himself a bit of Roquefort cheese. This love of Roquefort obviously runs in the family.
A bientot et tout le meilleur (speak soon and all the best)
Jane, Sophie, Connor, et moi
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