It's hunting season

Bonjour!

Hope all is well. It's starting to really cool off here. The forecast for today is a maximum of 14C and an overnight minimum of 2C. We have had much warmer days recently, like it reached 28C last week, it just shows the great variability in the climate here.

The hunters are out. It's hunting season and we see them quite regularly. They have to wear flouro vests these days due to the fact that so many accidental shootings were occurring. On my morning walks, especially when it's foggy, I have been concerned that in not wearing a flouro vest one of them may mistake me for a deer and blow me away. One old guy the other day was just sitting in a picnic chair on the edge of the hamlet, gun on his lap, waiting for a deer to appear. The other day when visiting a little village with mum and dad, we came across this friendly hunter who was more than happy to show us a bird he had shot that morning along with some mushrooms he had found.

It never ceases to amaze us how narrow many of the country roads are around here, particularly as many of the tourists drive around in these massive campervans. Below is a classic example. It's a bridge not that far from us, it looks like a suspension bridge for people, not cars, right, ....... wrong, it's for cars, the first time I drove over it, it was definitely a lung full of air and hold it experience. It's the entry and exit that's so, so tight. Look closely and you can see where numerous cars in the past have had some paint removed from their side panels.

 

Below is another example of how narrow the roads can get. This time I got caught! We love our TOM TOM, it takes us on really interesting back roads all the time, because that's the fastest route from A to B. Problem is our mate TOM doesn't take into account how wide the roads are. Below was where we ended up when TOM was guiding us to our hotel in Lourdes when mum, dad, and I visited the other day. I realized I was finally caught when I heard my side mirror scrap up against the wall! Ouch! It look us about half an hour to back out of there, luckily Dad was able to guide me out.

 

Lourdes is a really interesting place. For mum it was extra special as she went to a catholic boarding school for the deaf from an early age and the story of Saint Bernadette and Lourdes was very well known.

 

As a reminder , as per Wikipedia ..... "On 11 February 1858, a 14-year-old local girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed a beautiful lady appeared to her in the remote Grotto of Massabielle. The lady later identified herself as "the Immaculate Conception" and the faithful believe her to be the Blessed Virgin Mary. The lady appeared 18 times, and by 1859 thousands of pilgrims were visiting Lourdes".... "Today Lourdes has a population of around 15,000 but is able to take in some 5,000,000 pilgrims and tourists every season".

 

I couldn't help but feel religious, the fact that I had gone to catholic schools probably helped too.  Below is to the side of the Grotto and shows a line of people with some type of disability hoping for a miracle.

 



Below is another photo of the Grotto. You can see a statue of Mary just above the Grotto, showing I suspect where Mary appeared, ....approximately that is.  The atmosphere at that spot was pretty amazing, pretty special, you could just sense all the people around you concentrating on their prayers.

 

At one point during the day mum mentioned that we should be anointed with holy water while we were there. I did not have a clue what this entailed but it sounded interesting. Well, before you knew it Dad and I were separated from Mum, told to take off our cloths and wait in a room sitting on a bench in nothing but our underwear. I looked at Dad next to me and thought, "I'm sorry Dad, I really did not expect this". Dad wasn't up for it originally because in his words " I am not catholic", but they managed to talk him into it, because, in their words " it does not matter that you are not catholic". A white rob was tied around our waste, and a guy on each arm threw us backwards into a bath full of cold water and then we were asked to say a few prayers. Mum was subject to the same procedure in the women's section. Well needless to say, we were very surprised by all this. But hey, it was a hot day and it was refreshing. We had a good laugh about it, in a respectful way that is. A truly memorable experience.

 

Below is mum and I lighting a candle for family and friends back home...

The next day we had a fantastic day taking a leisurely drive through the country side all the way back home. Late in the day we arrived at Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, one of the most beautiful villages you'll find in France. As shown below, it sits at the top of a cliff about 100 meters above the River Lot. It's a pretty much an untouched medieval town.

Earlier on in the day we visited the ancient town of Auch. It's well known for its St Mary Cathedral. It has these magnificent stained glass windows constructed by a guy called Arnuad de Moles in the 15th century. This one below was my favourite and shows Adam and Eve and the serpent between them.

Here is Mum and Dad next to the statue of Charles d'Artagnan who was born nearby and ended up serving King Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard in the 1600's. He was the real life figure that one of the famous Three Musketeers was based on.

 

Later that same day we visited Moissac and its amazing 7th century Abbey. Below is a photo of mum inside the World Heritage listed cloister of the Abbey. 

 

 

There was a museum next to the cloister that had this copy of a drawing done in 1832 of pretty much the same spot that Mum was standing ..... 

 

 

Here is a photo of Dad and Connor having some fun in the tree house back here at La Vallee.... 

 

 

And then it was Mum's turn and Sophie joined in.....

 

Here is a picture of the inside of Sophie's ecole maternelle (preschool), she's somewhere behind the teacher... 

Mum and dad had come to visit which Sophie was very happy about. Connor loves to visit, he can't wait till he's old enough..

Below is a photo of some of Sophie's artwork, in the centre, some natural talent shining through I'm sure.... I think Inga's drawing, below Sophie's, is a picture of her mum and dad as well, but her dad needs to put some clothes on.

One rainy day we took mum and dad to see some nearby caves called "Grottes de Cougnac". They have the some really old prehistoric cave paintings dating back 25000 years! Before the drawings were discovered the people that lived in a big old house above were using the caves as a wine cellar! Below is a cute photo of Soph and Connor waiting to go into the caves..

 

Here we are in the caves just before we saw the paintings of the animals including bison, mammoth. We were not allowed to take photos of the drawings.

 

 

 Mum and Soph walking down the main street of Gourdon, the local town where we do all our shopping....

 

Dad took this nice photo of our house here in the hamlet. We love this place and we are going to miss it. Within the month the plan is to move down to Provence for a while. In the shot below, if you look at the door, right in the middle, with the light blue shutters, that's where our kitchen is and the dormer window in the roof above and to the left is where our bedroom is.

Mum is a classic, she loves brothers, religious ones that is, and sisters (nuns). Just about every time we saw one she would say hi, asked them which congregation they belonged to, and then ask for a photo with them. I love that about Mum, talk about confidence. Here she is with a brother she met at the legendary Rocomadour. I've been there about six times and I don't think I would ever get sick of it.

Dad ad I had an awesome day visiting the Dordogne Valley, one of the most beautiful areas in France. Here is dad looking out from above the village of Le Roque-Gageac.

And here is Dad looking out from my favourite view in the Dordogne, from the base of Beynac Castle. You can just see Castelnaud Castle across the valley, up on the hill on the right hand side. During the Hundred Years War (1337 to 1453) it changed hands over six times!  

 

Sophie loves to dress up, particularly in a wedding dress and then Jane acts as the Priest and marries off Soph to Connor, "just for pretend" as Soph would say. Here she is looking very cute in one of her wedding outfits (my cold weather vest is the dress), all designed by one Sophie Scott. 

 One warm day we headed down to the Dordogne river for a swim, there's dad waving hello with Connor.

Mum, dad, and I in Sarlat on market day. That impressive bit of architecture behind us is probably about 500 years old.

My mate, Connor, and I just hanging out and enjoying some lovely morning sunshine on the patio.

 

 

We had our friends Denis and Celine and their two kids, Gabriel and Romane, around for dinner with mum and dad the other night. Celine and her family used to live in La Vallee, our house here, before the big renovation. Her family goes back generations in our little hamlet.

The ladies love Connor. Below is a fine example. Here is Romane looking for a kiss with Connor. Lovely French girl and all but I think Connor just wasn't feeling right about it, I think he wanted to talk some more before taking it to the kissing stage.

Overall, Connor is pretty happy with himself, he's just kind of clicked in with the French way of life.....

 

I took mum and dad to this beautiful little spot near Lacave. Dad took this fine shot, you can just see mum waving at the camera from the left side of this old ruined bridge. There is a little church up on the cliff above.

 

Below is a photo of mum and I in front of Carennac, another favourite village of ours not that far from here. Carennac is classified as one of " the most beautiful villages of France" along with Saint-Cirq-Lapopie and147 others. 

Connor has been helping me out with odd jobs around the house, including giving Black Betty a well earned wash. You can see the sheep in the background, we love that their back in the neighbouring paddock.

 

This is Jane and Connor at a park we frequent on the other side of Gourdon. Knowing that we're heading off soon has made us relish and appreciate even more the local area and its many gems, including this park.

 

Here is Dad holding up a wall of a house in Martel. No, not really, but its worth pointing out the interesting "leaning out" of some of these medieval houses, as shown below.

One day, mum and dad looked after the kids while Jane and I headed out to a local restaurant which had a "mique" lunch day, a specialty of the Dordogne region. It was a massive four course meal including some lovely tender pork and of course the mique, which you can see on the right hand side of Jane's plate. It's like a huge savoury bread and butter pudding, "délicieux" as they say in French. 

Jane and I were celebrated six years since we first met, cheers to that and a big thank you to my lovely wife for putting up with me for that long! This also pretty much coincided with us reaching six months in France, wow. We thank our lucky stars for each day as it passes. When asked, we say to the locals we're on a "grandes vacances" which basically means a big, big holiday.

 

It has been awesome watching the kids grow up. Sophie and Connor have become good play mates too, well most of the time, the photo below shows them hand in hand walking down the main street of Rocomadour. That day a shopkeeper saw us and gave Connor back his snuggle blanket. Connor dropped it somewhere there about three weeks prior and we thought we'd never see it again. Connor just wasn't the same without his "ruggy". She had washed it and must have just kept it and hoped to see us again. How cool is that.

A big thank you to mum and dad for visiting us, we had a great time with them, ate plenty of duck with them, saw plenty of sights with them, and most importantly we got to just hang out with them, in this beautiful part of the world.

Cheers to the happy couple! 

Tout le meilleur et bonne santé

(all the best and good health)

Jane, Soph, Connor, et moi

 

 

 

The reds and oranges of Autumn are appearing

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. 

 

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.

 

some recent photos, bought my first truffle.....

Bonjour

Hope you are well.

Jane and her mum, Jules, are heading to Paris tomorrow for a few days so I thought I would get a blog out there before they go. With two small kids to be looked after, I won't have much spare time on my hands. I'm sure we'll have heaps of fun, looking forward to it.

The weather has been fantastic over the last week with temps hitting 30C and I'm still doing laps daily in the pool. It was Connor's birthday on the  26th of August and Jules was here to share it with him. 

 

It's not often you get to blow out your birthday candles in the South of France.....

 

Earlier in the day Connor had fun unwrapping his presents. This one was a toy petrol station.... in Connor's words "Car, car, car!" 

Here is the unwrapping of the racing car shirt, ....."Car, car, car!"

It was my duty to help put the petrol station together, not as easy as you would think...

At one stage Connor had decided to give Sophie's baby company in her basket...cute hey

 

It's been really nice showing Jules around the sites of The Lot and the Dordogne, which is where I took this photo. The legendary Beynac castle is there across the valley behind Jules, what a vista..

It was a hot day so headed up to the nearby fortified village of Domme where we had a well deserved ice cream. Here is Jules and Soph taking a rest in the shade next to a church there.  Soph was wearing the top Nanna bought her, very French...

 

I've turned into a walker. Just about every morning I head out for a walk of between 2 and say 6 km, and sometimes even close to 10km I'd say when I walk with Denis and Tony. Now those guys are impressive, I'm talking say 6 to 8km power walk nearly every day, yes I did say power walk. I get to see some amazing sun rises and the country around here looks so good early in the day, and then there are the animals you see along the way, red squirrels, deer... Below is one of the sunrises I saw from the back of the house during this last week.. 

I went to the Souillac markets last Friday and bought my first truffle. Here is Tony and I having a good whiff......

 

So that night I decided to cook a batch of spaghetti carbonara with the whole truffle, beautiful! Got the thumbs up from Jules and Jane so I was happy. Below is a close up of the truffle beforehand, just after I washed it, looked like a small pine cone. Apparently the summer truffles are not as good as the winter ones. This one cost me ten euros, I expected to pay much more. 

The following day we all went to the markets at Sarlat. The words, "now that's not a truffle,...... this is a truffle"......come to mind. Check out the size of this puppy..... The width of it was about size of the palm of my hand, all for just 489 euros, or close to $750 Aussie dollars.

Here is my classy looking wife and my gorgeous daughter in a park in Sarlat later on that day..

Here are the girls and Connor in the centre of Sarlat next to our mates the bronze ducks... (by the way we're having duck and foie gras tonight, being Jules' last night here and all)

And here is a nice photo of Jules and the kids just after lunch in Sarlat..... We had duck that day too, we just can't help ourselves! They sell duck and foie gras everywhere here, it's delicious!

Denis and Tony invited us around for brunch during the week. Here we are under the shade of a tree.....

They have a an absolutely beautiful spot here in the hamlet. We were saying if their house was in Australia it would have already been in a bunch of house style magazines for sure, at least Country Style anyway.. Here is Tony showing Jules around..

Ahh, and it's been a while since we've shown you a picture of Keralley and Ziggy, they're well....... Here they are with the kids at the back of the property here....

Bye for now, best wishes

Jane, Soph, Connor, and me, cheers!