epicblogue

2012-02-01T23:38:00.000+01:00

It’s a miserable day – grey cold and rainy. The day feels dreadful because winter feels endless, the world seems in stasis, and the sky sits on my forehead obstructing my third eye.
The cement mixer is chuntering on here and the compressor gragging on next door.
Next door is a painful eyesore. The adjoining terrain à bâtir – larger than our plot was sold in three p

ieces to a kit-form housing firm. Three little boxy houses have sprung up inside 7 months, each without trees, gardens or any kindnesses right in front of us. They look especially grim now as my garden is shrunken and leafless and doesn’t offer us a screen. They must be endured because they will not go away. I tell myself they will have compensations and they are somebody else’s dreams. I don’t know if I am ashamed of my feelings or of having the houses as neighbours. The house I was born in was the same size and boxiness.
God knows what they are doing next door. There are always 3 or more men inside but no materials ever seem to be taken in with them. By now one imagines that such a small building would be fully insulated, plastered and fitted with electricity, water and kitchen. I am dying of curiosity on two counts. One, to see how the house is constructed inside, and two, to find out if they are just playing poker. They come out now and then to make a pi-pi. They discretely hide from the road and the house to the south, but pee where they are in full view of our house. Strange indeed.
Here John and Eugene are doing a fantastic job of putting down a cement floor in the chai. The area of floor that is to be pantry is nearly complete. John is mixing the cement, standing in the drizzle on the back of the remorque, wearing in my opinion, inadequate winter gear.
It took us the weekend to clear the chai out though most of the work was done by John. All his lumber and tools and junk have been rearranged in the new garden shed and my roulotte. I managed to squeeze the preserves and tinned food into odd places in the kitchen and dining room. It felt good to have the space cleared – it was badly organised because the floor is uneven mud and mould liable to flooding and it’s a dark cold damp space at any time of year. It will improve our lives enormously when it is done. All the shelving used to stagger and slouch propped up with odd bricks and planks under its legs – soon it will stand straight and presumably stored tools won’t be tumbling off it in the same way. It will be progress and progress appears tidier at first.
John has almost finished the grenier which is his study/office and once the floor in the chai is laid, he will begin to sort out the upstairs bathroom. We should be able to use it by March though it won’t be tiled for a while longer.
It is time for me to go to the Supermarché. I decided that the market was out this week. It is far too wet. Must go and make a list!

27e Marathon des Châteaux du Médoc

2011-09-14T13:24:00.000+02:00

The story's all in the title.

A marathon where fancy dress is compulsory, where besides the normal water and fruit stations there are wine-tasting stations and which is only two-and-a-half hours' drive from home, must be worth some consideration - that is if you've ever considered running a marathon at all.

The course (26,2 miles of course) is almost a figure-of-8 starting at the village of Pauillac on the Gironde estuary, heading south, to Beychevelle, looping back past Pauillac into St. Estephe and finishing back at Pauillac.

Of the marathons I have run/walked (7 so far) this was probably the most fun. Not necessarily the most prestigious, impressive, challenging etc, but certainly relaxed. It's true about the "oeno-sportif" wine-tasting stations - 20 of them - you do get to taste young wines from some of the most famous chateaux in France but I wasn't quite expecting that people would actually stop and chat around the bar as if they had all the time in the world. It would be very easy to forget that you were running a marathon at all. In fact perhaps some people do forget that. In most marathons there seems to be a drop-out rate of about 5-6% who don't make it to the finish. For the Medoc this figure was about 5% 12 years ago steadily rising to an average of 15% and, last year, to 21%. I guess that because of its light-hearted atmosphere participants think it must be easy and fail to train. It isn't easy and because it is run in early September, it can be hot - especially if you are one of the slower runners. Also, more than a quarter of it is run off-road, on gravel, over bumpy ground in the vineyards and on cart-tracks. There are also hills - and the occasional waits at the bars! All-in-all not a marathon for a Personal Best.

Still, it's behind me now as was a very small number of other runners.

Santé!

(By the way, I'm meant to be a butterfly.)

P.S. It's true! There are oysters and steak en route too!

--

Albania - Not as Scary as They Say (Part 1)

2011-07-21T16:14:00.014+02:00

When we were doing our tour of Europe (and a little bit of Asia) three years ago, we wanted to visit Albania but the reports we received, mainly that the roads wouldn't be suitable for our mobile home, led us to drive round it instead. So, when we set out for Greece and the Special Olympics World Games, we thought we might give Albania another try on the way back, as we expected that our car would be better able to cope with bad roads.

The advice we got wasn't encouraging. The Foreign Office Advice to Travellers said that 3/4 of Albanian road users carried firearms and warned of 100.000 tonnes of ordnance being buried around the country. The Lonely Planet guide said that "only the foolhardy" would drive there and that it's "a really, really hard place to drive". As we thought we were "the foolhardy", we took that as a green light. A person in Athens told us that Albania was perfectly safe if you never let your car out of your sight. This might have made going to bed difficult, unless you slept in a garage. In Ioannina, on the Greek side of the border we were told not to worry. So we didn't, we decided to pop into southern Albania, drive over the mountains to the coast and, if that was OK, to carry on; if not we could turn round and catch a ferry to Italy from Greece.

Before crossing the border, we filled up with diesel. This was a mistake since fuel was easily available in Albania and cheaper than in Greece (or anywhere else, if it came to that). The filling station was a unique experience. The man running it had no arms. When I asked him which was the diesel pump, he pointed with his foot. To pay, since he obviously couldn't operate a credit card machine, cash was the method. I gave him a €50 note and he invited me to help myself to change from the till.

This is a lot of words. Here's a picture taken from our room at Ksamili.

Saranda, a place described in the guidebook as a fishing village, was filled with high-rise (but cheap) hotels, so we drove on 10 miles to Ksamili, a village with only a few hotels but with many collapsed buildings, e.g.:-

Our first guess (and fear) was "earthquake", but no, it was something more uniquely Albanian. After the collapse of communism a lot of speculative building had been carried out, much without official approval. Rather than embark upon expensive and time-consuming (or "chronophage", as the French say) litigation, the Albanian government went for the quick option - collapse the buildings. We saw more than 30 in a similar state around Ksamili.

TO BE CONTINUED

On the Road Again - Welcome to the Hotel Astoria

2011-06-19T23:47:00.002+02:00

We are on our way to help at the Special Olympics World Games in Athens, travelling there by car down through Italy to catch a ferry at Bari. Last night we stayed at a very pleasant small hotel at Cassine, north of Genoa, tonight we are at the Hotel Astoria, Ravenna. Ruth has been wanting to see the mosaics around Ravenna for the last 50 years. They have been waiting to be seen by her since the middle of the 6th. century, so closure has now been reached. The mosaics were made when Ravenna had been briefly the capital of the Roman Empire and was then subsequently part of the Byzantine Empire so the mosaics and the churches in which they are, are a brilliant (literally - they shine with golden tesserae)example of transition both between what were to become the Catholic and Orthodox churches and the end of the Roman Empire.

But another example of multi-culturalism was the meal which we had at the fish restaurant we ate at tonight. My Italian is a bit sketchy (although I hope to ink in between some of the dots in the next few days) and we had aleady eaten our first course before we persuaded the manager to find us a menu. This he did, and gave us one in English and German. This made things a bit difficult as we couldn't explain what it was we thought we wanted from the English menu to the waitress as she didn't speak English and couldn't understand the English menu. Worse, we couldn't understand the English menu either; e.g "some plates in our papers". I sought the help of the German version but that had been translated by the same person who had done the English. I asked for a French menu, so the waitress brought a second German one.(I worked out that "some plates in our papers" meant "our a la carte dishes"). We asked for the Italian menu. We understood that. So did the waitress. After a fairly immense meal, we were given some digestives. Very nice they were too, but I usually expect liqueurs to come in tiny glasses, not in two quarter litre jugs. Good night!

Etape Moto

2011-06-11T14:58:00.000+02:00

The Tour de France is a tough challenge to undertake by pedal-power alone. That's why when 3 of our friends made an overnight stop with us in the course of a tour around France, they rather cheated, I think, in making sure that that they had the added support of 1100cc a piece to help them over the hills.

The Chef de Choeur Wonders What to Do Next

2011-06-11T14:02:00.000+02:00

In my role as a jobbing joint deputy stand-in under-assistant choir master, I sometimes wonder how committed the choir is to serious choir practices. Like, how come they've got time to take photos?

Some Loungers

2011-06-11T13:49:00.001+02:00

When you've been hard at work all morning, eliminating pests from the garden, cleaning out food bowls and culling the fish in the pond, it's good to put your paws up and soak up some UV's. That's what life's about.

Bringing Britain to France

2011-06-11T13:25:00.000+02:00

The winter was very dry in this part of France and the farmers, who normally start irrigating at the end of July, this year started in early May. I was in Britain for about 30 hours at the end of April but just had time to stock up on a few clouds from which we would hopefully be able to extract some rain back here in our garden. Here they are in the back of the car:-

WHY IT'S BETTER TO BE INTELLIGENT THAN BRIGHT

2011-05-31T15:23:00.001+02:00

If you're Bright, it's always possible to find somebody described as Brighter than you, but if you're Intelligent, you'll never find anyone being described as Intelligenter.

HÉLAS AND ALACK!

2011-04-08T16:18:00.000+02:00

Hélas because yesterday, 7th. April, was the last time that I was able to ski until next winter and Alack because the hot weather we are having (35˚ in the garden today) means that next week there will be a lack of snow to ski on. Never mind, though, the sailing season has started!

THE MANIFOLD ATTRACTIONS OF LABATUT-RIVIERE

2011-03-28T19:52:00.000+02:00

The attractions of Labatut were irresistible to residents and visitors alike long before bridge-strengthening works opened the opportunity for a facelift (or, in French, "un lifting") for its shoreline and a makeover (or, in French, "un relooking") of its image. The aspect now presented to the World is now of a fun, exciting and vibrant year-round holiday resort. See what the Press had to say:-

RESTORED CHURCH AT BASSOUES

2011-03-15T20:05:00.000+01:00

FROZEN CASCADES AT PONT ESPAGNE JANUARY 2011

2011-03-15T18:44:00.001+01:00

What really interested me about these scenes, photographed in January, is that the water falling over the cascades is not - as I would have expected - flowing under the ice, but over it. It must say something about how cold the ground was.

What we have been doing and what we hope to do - and Christmas

2011-01-02T15:08:00.015+01:00

We are enclosed today by a cold grey fog.

Each of us in our separate studies is thinking of what we need to do this coming year and what we must do and would like to do. I sit in comfort in the room we grandly describe as the library because it is lined with bookshelves and books. John is camping out in the attic with only a halogen heater for warmth. It is a very grotty space at the present because it doubled as John’s workshop and storage for building tools and equipment. Neither room is tidy or organised. Both rooms are about work in progress – John’s more obviously than mine. He is also fitting doors into the space and gradually will enclose it into a landing, a bathroom, and the attic study/sitting room. The presently phantom bathroom will be connected by water pipes to the dream of a pantry in the first half of the chai or what used to be the cattle-shed. Any plan for development tends to need something else doing first. At present the chai is overrun with rats and mice and I have had to move all foodstuffs not in glass or tin into the passageway. The cats keep the house vermin free except for dead offerings to us but the chai provides a million hidey holes for small creatures.
The garden makes no demands at the moment and the long period of deep frost has wiped out greens that survived last year. It was so mild on the 31st however, that John mowed the whole plot – no spring bulbs showing yet. You wouldn’t credit it looking at John’s workspace but he loves things to be tidy. When John finishes his constructions then I have to sew, mend and clean. My Bernina sewing machine is dying – it is coming up to 40 years of age – made clothes for my children, house furnishings, theatre costumes and recently objects for art exhibitions. I shall have to replace it as it is essential to our projects here. I plan to get into my roulotte and make some drawings soon. It is reasonably warm in there with the heater on though it is a very small space. I have very many ideas to work on all seeming equally immediate.
My project for the year is a French course through the Open University. It is expensive and I am nervous about managing the commitment it will require along with all the other equally important commitments to house, garden and friends.
John completed our sitting room before Christmas – it is tiled and painted and we have a student settee – a door on concrete blocks so we can relax in comparative luxury. It looks good.
John and I had a quiet and pleasant time over Christmas with lovely, thoughtful presents from John’s family. We had oysters on Christmas Eve and small lobsters on New Year’s Eve – today I must make fish soup with what is left. At times though, it did feel lonely just the two of us – we both love to socialise and very much value family and friends. In France families keep Christmas and New Year as a very private time. As yet our friendships are new and untried and life is an experiment right now. It happens to everyone after retirement and at that certain age that one is disregarded – we all have to cope with it and we manage it badly sometimes – sometimes well. No one escapes this ever. Anyway finding our niche here is not straightforward – we have moved town, country, work and also most obviously into a different age group. We hope that friends and family stay constant.
Oh – a few things about living here – constant tripping out of electricity. One day we had no power sockets in half the house – not logically explainable as half a socket worked! John changed every fuse – up and down the steps to see what was on – then he tested every reachable junction box – got the sockets working but the hot water went cold. It has just tripped out again. When it does phones and internets don’t function - I may have to rewrite this. Kettle and any water heating in washing machines causes the problems, we just have to live with it.
Bizarrely our mobiles have become expensive and useless here. Phone credit runs out each month so you buy as little as possible so as not to waste it.

Joyeux Noel - Christmas in France

2010-12-27T14:15:00.019+01:00

John and I want to start the year by rebooting our blog.It is difficult to upload photos because our internet connections are so poor but we both feel it is important and a way of keeping in touch with you all. So once again I shall ‘have a go!’

Today - 27th December is cold and beautiful – not as cold as Christmas Day. John has gone to Cauterets to ski. He is really keen on this new - for him -

(The Pyrenees from the garden)

sport and wanted to go yesterday but for once we were very late getting up. I am very happy not to be up there. I would not enjoy the Cable Cars and I have no interest in downhill skiing at all whereas John is not interested in Nordic skiing. Instead I am at home fighting with my new laptop because it doesn’t have the programmes I need on it.

We tend to go to bed rather late because of watching British TV which is an hour behind us and last night watched the Geldof Live Aid story with interest. This means we get up between 7.30 and 8.30. John leaps out of bed to feed the cats, open the shutters and let the chickens out. Today after John left, I took out hot water for the chickens – not for them to wash but to drink – smashed the ice on the fish pond and brought in more wood for the fire.

The logs had frozen together. John has an improved chain saw and has done a great job in cutting and stacking the log pile. We keep pretty warm in the house by keeping the fire going all day. Our heating is all electric and the power tends to trip out frequently. Heating water in the kettle, dishwasher or washing machine seems to cause the problem – not just in our house but in other homes too. I worry about the damage this constant tripping out does to all our electrical equipment. We are getting used to it. Our logs are delivered in 1 metre lengths and most weekends John saws up enough for the following week.

We did by the way have a pleasant Christmas. Our first in Labatut.

We made a small party the weekend before – a very informal supper for 9 friends – salt beef that I pickled and cooked myself – we mostly spoke French and it felt like a very good celebration of our first full year here. Christmas Eve we had oysters and Christmas Day a walk by the river and supper of roast lamb with R’s redcurrant jelly. It feels a very significant mark/day for us. We talked about what it means to be here and so far from family especially as this year has made it clear how much we are at the mercy of changing weather patterns. Christmastime and family – is this a specifically Christian conflation – families – or tribes predate Christianity but may not survive this new century – what might happen to Christianity if families change into individuals. We both missed our families - the choice of living here is economic – not to escape.

(The newly completed Living Room)

The French here are very family oriented over Christmas and it is celebrated quietly at home and seems not to be as consumed with consumerism as in England - makes it more pleasant for the time being.

Finally a picture of Topaze and Arthur relaxing in the tent where our tenderer plants overwinter.

–

The Authentic End of Summer

2010-10-28T15:11:00.001+02:00

Never mind changing the clocks this weekend, never mind the calendar, never mind Lammastide or whatever, the real end of summer has been marked by the cranes flying south. Friends saw the first group fly over on Tuesday and today we saw the second group (skein?) fly over just before lunch. They arrived in "V" formation then broke up while they took advantage of a thermal to gain height probably sufficient to get them over the Pyrenees.They then formed up again and headed Southwest into the clear blue sky for the coast of Spain. It seems that they arrive in two groups, possibly from separate departure areas? Naturally we had to crane our necks to see them go. (Sorry!)

Despite the thermometer on the door reading over 40 and the temperature in the shade outside being 20, those birds seem to be reliable. When they came over a year ago, a particularly hard frost hit a few days later. Let's see how accurate they are this year.

They should be back in March.

SUMMER PROJECTS

2010-09-18T10:39:00.003+02:00

“Les projets d’été”, as the do-it-yourself shops call them. In France August is the great holiday month. Most people go off for a month's holiday (the same month and to the same places, so the roads and resorts are packed) but a few stay home and carry out d-i-y projects around the house. Since Ruth and I are constantly on holiday and simultaneously and constantly "en projet", we line up for the summer months those jobs which need to be carried out before winter. Last year our priorities were to sort out the garden and insulate and improve the heating of the house. This year we were able to direct our efforts towards "desirable" rather than "essential".

When we bought the house, there were two ugly tin sheds on the adjoining piece of land awaiting the time when it was to become a building site. Every time we sat outside drinking coffee or having a meal, we would think how good it would be not to have to see the two sheds. Solution - we bought the bigger one for use as a studio for Ruth. Now parked overlooking the vegetable garden and chickens (see below) I provided it with insulated floor, walls and ceiling and power and light. Photo above and beneath. Ruth now has a refuge - although I may get around to putting a phone in there - where she can throw ideas and paint around without needing to be concerned about the mess, relatively cool in summer and warm enough, we hope, in winter.

Course Landaise

2010-09-17T15:13:00.000+02:00

SAINT JEAN DE LUZ AND ERROMARDI BEACH BASQUE COAST

2010-09-17T14:47:00.003+02:00

SEPTEMBER WITH T

2010-09-17T14:39:00.001+02:00

T comes to stay

2010-09-17T14:18:00.000+02:00

J and Small T come to Stay

2010-08-22T18:41:00.002+02:00

Small T tries out the pool in the garden

J and Small T at one of the cascades near Pont D'Espagne in the Pyrenees

Fishing near the bridge in Labatut

On and under the beach at St. Jean de Luz

Dinner at sunset overlooking the Atlantic

"Not Only" Vegetables "But Also" Flowers Grow in the Garden

2010-07-03T21:00:00.001+02:00

Smoothing Out the Water in the Pool

2010-07-03T16:50:00.003+02:00

Testing the New Barbecue

2010-07-03T16:36:00.004+02:00

B Comes to Stay for a While

2010-05-20T11:55:00.004+02:00

Well folks - these photos are from November - seven months ago when B flew in for the weekend and we took him up to Hautacam well before there was any snow or any winter either.

John made a trip to the Internet Cafe and got the photos posted. We will add words to them as and when we can. We are sorry to have left you so long without news and our blog.

Here we are in summer after a warm April and a slow wet start to May. The mountains are again covered with snow but the ski season is over even though John tried to stretch it out as much as he could!

In the winter we took J and small T up to Hautacam in a scary white-out. Rather a mistake - but John, J and T did get some better skiing later that week.

Then Hautacam literally blew away in a storm and John had to go skiing at Cauterets.

Here however you see us with B, the mountains and then the Napoleon Bridge dreamed up by the Empress Eugenie (wife of Napoleon III) because it was in such a spectacular situation. B is wearing a shirt rather superfluously asking you to mind the gap which can be seen to his right and which more reckless people than we are attempt to fleetingly fill by leaping from the bridge on bungees.

Oh, by the way the "A l'Amethyste" shop is displayed here as she is seldom far from our thoughts and because it is a shop in Lourdes - which we visited with B - selling gaudy trinkets such as madonnas in a snowstorm, flashy plastic crosses etc. likely to appeal to religious nutters, cynics and magpies. There are many such in Lourdes. (Shops, not magpies)

Raising the Roof

2010-05-20T11:44:00.005+02:00

THIS POST IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION - HA, HA!

At the time of writing (23/05/10), this is just a taster of this Post since the second photo will reveal all and this first one reveals nowt. This is a photo of me about to strike the first blow in the creation of the dormer window in our bedroom (I can now say "main bedroom"), giving views of the garden, wildlfe pond (WOW!)- see "Lake and Mountain", below -, barbecue (CRIPES!), swimming pool *(SHEESH!) and Pyrenees (DOUBLE WOW!).

* The "swimming pool" is a slight exaggeration.

Lake and Mountain

2010-05-20T11:43:00.005+02:00

The Departement of Hautes Pyrenees is an area of mountains and lakes. Well, that's not wholly true. Most of the highest mountains of the Pyrenees are in the Departement, but the topography does not lend itself to lakes. In addition, the part where we live is quite flat. To partly remedy the deficiency, Ruth decided that we needed a pond - and despite the River Adour being within hearing distance in time of spate, like now when the mountain snow is melting. So I dug a hole. Quite a big hole.

The first picture shows our water butt containing the first 1000 litres (450 gallons) of rainwater which went into the hole. This was followed by approximately 8000 litres from the well.

The excavation of the pit yielded a fair amount of spoil which was wheeled away to the top of the garden to produce Mont Labatut, the highest point (arguably) in the village. The third photo shows me atop Mont Labatut with a drink and the cats enjoying the fruit of our labours. The last two photos show Ruth doing likewise. Since the pictures were taken, Ruth has spent a lot of time (and money) embellishing Lac Labatut with a flagstone edging, waterplants and fish.

Saving Private SKB - A Tale of Two Stations

2010-05-20T11:37:00.005+02:00

In World War II, the Nazis developed V weapons ("V" for Velgeltungswaffen = revenge weapons) for use against the UK and advancing allied forces. In 2009, the Icelanders, having borrowed zillions of Pounds and Euros to buy European businesses, were asked to pay the lenders back. Iceland held a referendum and voted not to repay its debts. Not only that, but they invented their own revenge V weapon - "V" for volcano.

SKB, Ruth's grandson, had gone to Zambia to visit his grandfather. On his way back the Icelanders unleashed their volcanic ash weapon. The flight, which should have transited at Nairobi and Amsterdam, petered out in a series of hops at Cairo, Istanbul and Rome before coming to a standstill at Milan. Ashen-faced, SKB erupted. "I'll soldier on by train", he exploded. But the Icelanders were too wily for him. "Ekki svo fljótur , Persónulegur SKB" (Not so fast, Private SKB) they snarled, and snarling thus they flourished their Doomsday Machine - yes, the French railway union went on strike, blocking all exits from Italy. What was SKB to do? Fortunately in a sleepy French village only a few hundred miles away John and Ruth were sitting around with nothing to do but attend a choir rehearsal. Selflessly, they tore themselves away from "Lullaby of Birdland", "Le Loup, Le Renard et La Belette" and drove towards Italy. SKB, meanwhile, had set off by Italian train to Turin and eventually to Ventimiglia, close to the French border. John and Ruth stopped overnight at Aix-en-Provence and collected SKB from Italy the next day. Their plan was to drive to the Channel and see SKB safely aboard a ferry. However, during the course of the drive, they guessed that it might be possible to get a high speed train at Avignon, allowing SKB to reach the Channel in time to catch an overnight ferry. Such proved to be the case. SKB travelled non-stop to Paris, raced across town for a local train and got to the port with minutes to spare. John and Ruth returned home, as they say tired but happy, having covered 1540 km in 27 hours with 5 hours' sleep and no meals.

Have at you, Icelanders! Anyone for Oscars?

(More text follows pictures)

The pictures show SKB with John and Ruth at Avignon and the entrance of Ventimiglia station. Ventimiglia is the station used by residents of Monte Carlo. Whilst waiting there I saw a Monegasque met by not one, but two Maseratis. I wonder if he was an Icelander?
.

Skiing at Cauterets

2010-05-20T11:33:00.003+02:00

Sorry for the layout of this Post. I tried writing text between the pictures, but for some reason it didn't work. The storm Xynthia in March which devastated some of the French coast and killed 27 people in France, as far as I can remember, also damaged and put out of action the ski resort at Hautacam where I had been taking my first halting steps in skiing. Actually halting wouldn't really have been a problem. If I had been able to halt more easily instead of careering almost out of control in places I hadn't meant to be, I should have been happier. Anyway with the devastation wrought at Hautacam (by the storm, not by me) I was obliged to loose myself onto the denizens of somewhere else, as it happened Cauterets.

I was a bit wary of Cauterets at first. The ski slopes cannot be seen from the village as access is by means of cable car. Not having seen the slopes, I wondered whether there would be anything easy enough for me to try. The only way to find out is to go, so I went. The cable car ride is an adventure in itself. The cabins launch out over the village rooftops and then swing up the hill. At the top of the first hill you see what you are in for - a swing over the trees, across a valley and then up the side of a very steep, very high mountain, you look ahead towards the peaks and aargh!, "We can't be going up there!", but we are, up to that little dot up on the horizon. I was lucky, there wasn't anyone else in the cabin to witness my gibbering. I was twice lucky because, before I bought my ticket, an old codger of my age who had just come down gave me his day's ski pass. The picture was actually taken on the way down, towards the bottom, and you can see Cauterets in the background.

Anyway, when I got to the top there is a large cafe terrace (2nd. picture) and some baby slopes nearby. The last picture is from the top of the baby slopes looking towards the cafe.

I went to Cauterets several times during the following weeks and slowly, very slowly, built up my confidence. On one of my last visits I noticed someone obviously very experienced flying down the slope at a helluva speed such that he managed to avoid all those in his path and coast uphill to the cafe. I was impressed. Later the same day I was on the longer slope and having managed a couple of half-decent (I thought) turns, I pointed downhill and found myself completely unable to stop. I flew down the slope at a helluva speed such that I managed avoid all those in my path and coast uphill to the cafe. Coincidence?

Ambush

2010-05-04T15:39:00.008+02:00

Or that might be "am bush". This is a photo taken some months ago. We detected unusual movement in one of our trees. Topaze and Arthur, our cats, had come up with a cunning plan. The idea was that they would both hide in a bird's nest up the tree with their mouths wide open and when the mother bird came back, they would close their mouths suddenly with the bird inside.

Unfortunately the plan did not work as:-

1) The birds didn't start nesting until some weeks later, and

2) They started to fight each other and had to come down as this nest wasn't big enough for both of them.

CELANDINES, BUDDING HAWTHORN AND RUTH HAS A STUDIO AGAIN!

2010-03-25T13:14:00.003+01:00

It is lovely in the garden - not beautiful you understand - but full of new growth and shoots. It is also warm at the moment so it is really pleasant to be outdoors - there has been just enough rain to make it easy to pull up weeds and to dig. The ugly but capacious waterbutt is filling up and there's a tale.
I went to England 2 weeks ago in a blizzard of snow - the plane was delayed 2 hours waiting to be de-iced and take off and the ensuing snow melt is what has mostly filled the water butt. It has been very dry but as yet the garden is green and damp. What a contrast the last 2 weeks have been with early March!
(And here's an example. When I dropped Ruth at Toulouse Airport I was having to chip ice off the wipers and clear the windscreen of ice and snow. When I picked her up a week later, I had the air-conditioning on.)

I had a very good time in England seeing family and friends and talking!!

It is also good to be back at Labatut with John.

John has made me a work space all for myself in the study by putting up the IKEA bookshelves and decamping with his computer and files to the grenier/attic. I feel human again - my own space for thinking, a wall to work on - and it is an attractive and convenient room, too. The books are accessible and both John and I have been enjoying reading again.

I will get photos up for you but we are stilll here and blogging!

It's/was Carnival Time!

2010-03-13T13:25:00.002+01:00

For those of you who may have been wondering what we have been doing since the village New Year bash (featuring the golden voices and red noses of your bloghosts), here are a couple of photos of us dressed for and participating in Labatut's own Carnival celebration. This consisted of a long-drawn out meal - none the worse for that - accompanied by a mystery guest wine, as usual. The main course, which appeared many times, was "demoiselles". No, we didn't know what that was either, but now we know it to be duck carcasses unencumbered by legs, wings etc. flattened out and barbecued. Very messy to eat - especially in costume and more especially while wearing a mask - but delicious even to me who doesn't normally like poultry. 128 people attended and, by my reckoning, about 300 ducks post mortem.

Our costumes, in case you were wondering, were modelled on Carmen Miranda (without the fruit) - that was Ruth's costume, you'll be relieved to hear -and I was dressed as near as we could easily make it to a generic Morris dancer - a complete mystery, even more mysterious than the wine, to which we are becoming (ab)used, to the French. The picture above shows us, a mixed team of British and French, performing one of our thunderously received musical numbers.

(Advance Notice: The village website threatens a gallery of photos taken at the event. If it appears, some of the photos may also be added here.)
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SPRUNG SPRING

2010-02-21T12:47:00.000+01:00

Today this is a cold grey blanket of cloud high overhead but in the distance the Pyrenees are lit by a neon-pale lemony brilliance. They are sorbet snow.

Two days ago it was a warm spring day and we sat outside for coffee with our neighbour. Today there is an icy breeze – we don’t have much wind here so I am not complaining. Anyway the fire is burning inside with a huge pile of ironing next to it. I won’t do the weeding and tilling I planned.

The daffodils are up but not yet in bloom. Some yellow and lilac crocuses and tiny snowdrops have appeared. Not many considering how many I planted but it is early days. The birds have unwisely started courting – as yet there are no buds on the fruit trees or shrubs.

John and I are doing house-keeping tidying-up chores and getting costumes ready for the village ‘Carnaval’. We each have a mask – ‘un loup’ for our ‘deguisement’.

'the spring is sprung
the grass is ris
I wonder where dem birdies is?
Dem birds is on the wing.
But how absurd!
Dem wings is on the birds!'

STORMY WEATHER

2010-02-16T14:39:00.000+01:00

JUST TO TELL YOU THAT THE WEATHER HAS BEEN BAD THIS WINTER THOUGH YOU HAVE HAD WORSE WEATHER THAN US.

We went to Disneyland before Christmas on the overnight sleeper so John could see his family. It is nothing like the Trans-Karroo or the Blue Train or anywhere near as comfortable as the train to university that took 3 days! It had snowed and was bitterly cold. Snow delayed the trains back from Paris and turned the platforms into freezinf trays for 100s of families. but that was the night of the Eurostar fiasco so by comparison we were very lucky.

We went to Spain for Christmas – ALL THE WAY – to the far south to Malaga – not to get warm but to see friends and take a break from the house and its demands.
It rained. It rained very hard. It rained too hard for us to venture outdoors. It did not stop. It thundered, it lightened, it poured. We enjoyed ourselves nevertheless.

In January we set off again to Spain to see the Tamborada in San Sebastian. Once again it poured and we were unable to see the opening ceremony for umbrellas. However the next day we saw and enjoyed the Children’s Parade and had a wonderful fish lunch at a harbor restaurant while the sun appeared.

We had a good Village party on New Year’s Eve. Ate good home-cooked food, indulged in too much wine and stayed out till after 3am. We sang seasonal songs and John was one of the 3 cabaret acts of the evening – a whole new career lies ahead of him and you can read about it on the village website.

We have had days when we have sat outside and the temperature has reached 20 degrees C.

However when J and small T came to do some skiing the weather let us down badly. On our first attempt to go up the mountain the weather blew a blizzard. It was minus 11 on the slopes and impossible to see anything. We had to put chains on the car and as it was a new skill and experience it took almost an hour and involved rolling in the snow on the road side. Coming back down the mountain was scary. The road was invisible – we followed another car down but car and tracks were whited out as we crawled down. We gave up any plans for skiing the next day as it wasn’t going to be possible. In fact we were told that on another ski site someone died that day in an avalanche – there was a code orange on the mountains apparently that we did not know about.

However John, J and small T have been back on the slopes for two days skiing and tobogganing and have enjoyed themselves – John will no doubt do a blog about it.

I have decided to call my soul my own for a day and just be relatively warm and peaceful.

STARTING OVER AGAIN

2010-02-05T10:49:00.003+01:00

Okay I am starting again.
Very ashamed of the long break – sorry folks! We do have difficulties with our internet and I can’t upload photos and sometimes can’t even get into blog edit.
Also – lets face it – I have been finding life a tad demanding recently. It is too much trouble to get into town to the cybercafé. I have only been driving with more confidence since my first cataract operation in November. The world was a great deal darker before the op! Driving at night impossible and I felt unable to see anything on my left side easily – that’s where the traffic is!
I felt beleaguered on every front – cut off from easy conversations and friends and precious family – doubtful still, of my French and questioning myself and the move here.
The thing is I miss you even though I am not sure that you – the virtual audience for our blog exists – and I am sure that the photos are more interesting than the words. I have loads of pictures for you but some difficulty transferring them to a stick and getting to that Cyber cafe

A Merry Christmas to Both of our Readers

2009-12-07T15:15:00.000+01:00

After a year when we have been getting used to living with a different house, different country and different lifestyle, we are going to take a breather. We have both worked hard on the garden (well, Ruth has) and house and haven’t noticed the weekends passing, in an attempt to make things reasonably comfortable, warm and civilised. We are taking a few days off in Spain over Christmas and then returning when we hope to enjoy some results from our efforts. Next year we hope to see some more of this area, France and surrounding lands. We look forward to more relaxing and socialising. We also look forward to entertaining visitors, so if that’s likely to include you, don’t hesitate.

So here it is; Merry Christmas Everyone!

John and Ruth
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COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN - CAN'T GET THE PICTURES! HELP! ITS ALL FUZZY!

2009-12-04T16:51:00.000+01:00

Damn it!
I cannot upload photo images from here.
The frustration is wearing me down. I will have to make the trip to town and the cybercafe!
We are trying to keep the blog going but events keep overtaking us.
The upload photo bar does not even appear on the site!
We will win though - somehow.

PLAYING DEAD - OR - SNAKES ALIVE!

2009-11-05T17:09:00.000+01:00

That great huntress - the Diana of cats - Topaze no less - returned in triumph with her prey.

Being a mistrustful African, I snatched Topaze up and locked her in the house so that I could fully investigate her trophy.

The poor creature was twisted in agony, its tongue lolling from its gaping mouth but never believe a dead snake is dead until you've killed it yourself twice.
However I do prefer to let snakes live. In this case I didn't have to dispose of the body as, soon after Topaze disappeared, the creature reared up lithe and well, its tongue flickering in and out as it posed for our camera.

I gathered it up and John took it to the next-door woodpile that no one uses. I guess that the colder mornings made the snake slow. It was, in any case, a very young collared grass snake and they sham death to avoid being eaten. It was also tiny.

Nothing daunted and having learnt nothing,Topaze captured the snake's brother a week later - or maybe it was the same snake - also a poor student!

After 800 years the English retake Gascony

2009-11-03T09:54:00.000+01:00

Here's what the village website had to say:-

Quand Labatut-Rivière fête la Saint Bienvenue…

En cette soirée du 30 octobre, la salle des fêtes de la Mairie arborait l’Union Jack ! La communauté britannique labatutoise a eu, en effet, l’heureuse idée d’inviter notre village autour d’un remarquable buffet pour que nous fêtions, tous ensemble, la Saint Bienvenue.

Répondant à l’appel, nos villageois ne furent pas en reste et abondèrent un second buffet de nos préparations régionales.

Sympathique joute gastronomique qui a mis à mal un certain chauvinisme bien « franchouillard » et révélé les indéniables talents d’ambassadeurs culinaires de nos amis britanniques. Ceux-ci ont même maîtrisé la promotion de la gastronomie d’Outre-Manche jusque dans les moindres détails puisque chaque plat bénéficiait d’une fiche bilingue expliquant la recette par le menu. Inutile de dire que les goûteurs que nous fûmes n’en restèrent pas à la simple lecture,… ils passèrent à l’acte et y revinrent. Au diable les idées reçues et vive l’entente cordiale !

En fin de repas et de libation, mais d’une voix restée digne et ferme, le porte-parole de nos hôtes fit présent d’un volumineux dictionnaire bilingue destiné à la bibliothèque municipale. La dédicace mentionnée sur celui-ci mérite lecture : « Dictionnaire offert par la communauté britannique à ses amis Labatutois, ce 30 octobre 2009. Puisse-t-il enrichir notre village de toute la diversité de ses cultures et contribuer ainsi, par une meilleure compréhension, au rapprochement de nos communautés. »

Puissent en effet nos initiatives communes, et celle-ci est toute à l’honneur de nos amis labatutois britanniques, contribuer au rapprochement de nos communautés et faire que portes et fenêtres s’ouvrent toutes grandes, ailleurs que sur nos jardins…

Tel est le sens du propos de Robert Maisonneuve qui dans nos remerciements, en qualité de simple convive, a associé June et Bryan Gadsby ainsi que Ruth Hartley et John Corley, chevilles ouvrières de cette bien agréable soirée.

En attendant, bienvenue à vous, amis d’Outre-Manche, vous êtes ici chez vous !

Alain F.

BLACK FROST AND THE GRUE

2009-10-17T13:51:00.000+02:00

The grue flew overheard crying weirdly on three twilight evenings and then winter arrived.

The temperature was zero or below for three mornings and the garden white and crisp.

At midday I walked around my garden crying 'Oh-oh-oh!' like the grue as I saw my blackened vegetable patch and dead flowers.

'Oh-oh-oh!'

We are at some altitude here and sunny days and clear skies mean very cold nights and a rather cool house.

They still haven't harvested the maize around us but soon the trees and the earth will be bare.

We are told that we will be very cold indeed by Christmas. At the moment the clear sunny days make the chill quite endurable.

The 'Grue cendree' is the common crane, or 'grus grus' who fly overhead from northern Europe to Spain and Portugal for the winter

FRIENDS AND FRET SWING

2009-10-17T13:47:00.000+02:00

So this is what good friends are for - they did not use the guest privy but we went to a beer festival in a community hall.
As if by magic - at the beat of the guitar or was it the vanishing of the beer - everyone changed from being old retired Brits to young French music fans.

GUEST LOO

2009-10-17T13:43:00.000+02:00

So you know that you will have every convenience if you come to stay - here is our garden privy uncovered and exposed after John got busy with axe and chain saw and debroussailleuse.

GLUTFUL HORNETS AND BUTTERFLIES

2009-10-17T13:37:00.000+02:00

It was pointed out that it is unfair to boast about our excess of tomatoes to those hardy gardeners struggling with English weather.

Just so that you know that things have equalised -

we have had a glut of huge hornets on our figs competing with many lovely butterflies -actually attacking them - the ground is covered with fermenting figs and flies and smells of rotting fruit which gets tramped into the house.

FRENCH MEDICINE

2009-10-16T12:20:00.000+02:00

It is different to British medicine.

At our ages we have rather encountered it head on.

Once registered with a doctor and CPAM - a whole new experience - we immediately were invited for routine scanning hence my mammography and the envelopes of shit.

The biggest difference is that you get to hold all your medical files yourself - as yet we haven't evolved an appropriate filing system - luckily we don't have to keep copies of the envelopes of shit. I am impressed by this system as it seems to work well for a dispersed small rural population.

I have to collect my mammography Xrays and keep them. I get to keep the results of my blood test (I see them before the doctor!)- and the photos of the corneas of my eyes. I think it makes you feel more in charge of your health.

If you need a blood test the doctor gives you a prescription for the laboratory. Results are next day. For routine colorectal tests you collect an envelope from the doctor and prepare the shit slides yourself for 3 days - then post them off to the lab - results in 3 days - really!

You have to see an opthamologist to get a spectacle prescription - that way they make sure you have healthy eyes as well as being able to see but there are long waits for this service if it is routine.

Medicine doesn't seem to be by suppository as I expected but prescribing seems generous. We pay to see the doctor but prescriptions are free and some treatments or part of the treatment is reimbursed if you have insurance.

You do need reasonable french to explain your symptoms and ask the relevant questions

IMPECCABLE BREASTS

2009-10-03T18:33:00.000+02:00

(This title (awful pun narrowly avoided) is going to get us a lot of random hits!)

There I was by myself - waiting for the mammograph.

T-shirt on, bra off for some development that hadn’t been quite understood/explained.

Chap came in with a load of X-ray plates for the radiographer.

He put them down, stood up – young – 40ish – curly hair, stylish casual shirt, slim hips, tight jeans.

He gestured – "take off your shirt"

And again – "hands on your head"

Then he firmly patted and felt my breasts all around.

Standing back he gave me a wonderful smile

‘Impeccable!’ he said.

I rather hope he wasn’t the doctor!
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ADOPTING ARTHUR

2009-10-03T09:22:00.000+02:00

We heard the faint mewling of a kitten somewhere in the hedgerow but did our best to ignore it for a day.
'Dammit' said I, 'I must go and see.'
A small black and white kitten came out of the woodpile and headed straight for us yowling squeakily. It allowed me to pick it up. A smelly wild male so no chance we would have it. Back on the ground, it went into the kitchen and helped itself to Topaze's food.
We retreated for strategic discussions - could it be the traditional French outdoor cat and Topaze the indoor cat? Vets bills were raised and its inevitable death on the road outside the house.

It got a meal and was put outside to find its way home.

In the early hours I hear an owl hoot and a kitten crying for help as it was carried away.

That was a solution but I did feel guilty.

However next morning the kitten reappeared. Topaze was livid. Spitting and hissing she got the kitten in a half-nelson and tried to bite its head off.

This could be another solution. Let Topaze drive it away. After all what could we do.

She adopted it.

No doubt she will publish another blog about it.

(Yes, I will - Topaze)
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JOHN IN FLUE ENZA

2009-09-26T15:30:00.000+02:00

John is busy.
John has been very busy.
John is allergic to flues and what they contain in the way of ancient grot and dirt.

John has had very bad 'flue' enzasneezing that made working up the flue hell but he stuck it out covered with snot - sorry soot - and grime - but -

we have a wood burning stove in place with a heat-recovery system that will capture heat from inside the flue and warm up rooms other than the sitting room.

FIREWOOD DELIVERY

2009-09-24T17:30:00.000+02:00

Winter is inevitable and so we went in search of firewood.
There is lots of wood from the tempest but it is still green.
We also had discovered that we could put our name down for Labatut wood which is shared out among villagers.
This are photos of our first delivery which John had to move and stack. He did so in record time. We have 10 square metres and have yet to discover how long it will last.

Apparently burning firewood is carbon neutral - as the same amount of carbon is released by rotting wood as by burning wood. I guess there are issues about the cutting and transport of it but we believe our wood to be pretty local - especially the village load.

SEPTEMBER DEW ON THE JARDIN

2009-09-18T17:55:00.000+02:00

These pictures are for a digital hero - my daughter T.
Everytime I take a photo I think of her.
Everyone of these shots was taken blind into the rising sun . .

The morning was so beautiful and the light, spider webs and the dew so magical and mystical. Imperfect as the garden is in daylight - it was exquisite in the new light of a dawning sun.

'Praise for the new light . . '
- somebody sing -

Captain's Log, 12th. September

2009-09-12T17:19:00.000+02:00

This has been another week of progress, fortunately in a forward direction.

Thanks to the loan of a trailer, I was able to get two loads of compost from a recycling facility and 1,75 tonnes of pebbles to put down as hardstanding which will hopefully ensure that we do not get marooned in the house, unable to get out, because the cars are stuck in the mud, like they were last spring.

We also got a tonne of topsoil delivered. (Compost + topsoil) = (hard work for Ruth + lots more home-produced food).

We went to the sawmill and selected a piece of beech which they cut and planed for us. It's a beautiful piece of timber which I have used to provide a shelf in the guest bedroom. As you can see, it takes meticulous attention to detail and painstaking effort to produce cabinet work of appropriate high quality and beauty.

The other thing we did was to order secondary and double glazing for practically the whole house. It is due to be installed by the end of October and one day we hope to be able to pay for it. At least we shall be warm while we wait for the debt collectors to arrive.

Oh, one last thing. One day next week is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Check it out!

Cheers, me hearties.

Cap'n Mad John

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CHORALE AND FORUM AT MAUBOURGUET

2009-09-12T16:39:00.000+02:00

NAPOLEON'S BRIDGE AND ELASTIC JUMPS

2009-09-12T15:14:00.000+02:00

We visited the Cirque de Garvanie.
It was a hot day and there were crowds of people there.
John carried the picnic backpack - thank you I and L!
I took no more photos as it was too hazy but on the way back we stopped at this very scenic bridge - built at the behest of the Empress Eugenis - just to be scenic - and watched mad people jumping off on elastic rope.

THE BACK PACK PICNIC BAG has turned out to be fantastically useful.
Most village and social events that we go to are 'pot luck' occasions where everyone contributes a dish and you bring your own plates, cutlery, and glasses - lots of those for sampling floc, armangnac and wine - mostly homemade. We could not manage without it.
Thanks again!

LE JOURNAL DE TOPAZE 1

2009-09-12T13:46:00.000+02:00

Salut! Je m’appelle Topaze. Oh! I’m sorry. I try to say in English. I am Topaze. When I was a little kitten I used to live with my mummy, brothers, uncles, aunties and cousins in an appentis – ah!, a “shed” - in a big garden. I expect my daddy was there, too, but I didn’t know who he was. I asked my mummy about him, but she always got cross.

Some people who were English came to feed us twice a day. That was lucky as not many humans in France feed cats unless they live with them. John and Ruth came sometimes. When I was 10 weeks old, John and Ruth came and took me to their house. It is very nice but I missed my mummy and the first night away I made lots of shouting. John and Ruth don’t understand cat French but they stayed awake all night trying to understand. I tried again the second night, but I could see that they still didn’t know that I wanted to go home.

As we were all French cats at home, I must learn English so that I can explain John, Ruth and you some of the things that happen to me in their house.

Here are some pictures of me when I first arrive.

John is funny. When it is hot in the day and I like to sleep, he starts to work. I think Ruth likes to rest then, too, but sometimes she is too busy. And sometimes John makes much noise! I think it is better to be a cat!

I write again soon. A bientôt!

Topaze

HAVING A GLUTFUL (2)

2009-09-12T13:41:00.001+02:00

Cripes! It’s even worse than I said! I’d completely forgotten about the massive pumpkins which are girding themselves to strike. One – about the size of a small coronation coach, around which are circling four apprehensive-looking white mice – has already gained entry to the kitchen as Ruth said it had split and probably wasn’t going to grow any bigger so she would bring it in and decide what to do with it. That was over a week ago and it’s still there on the bench, occupying a Geoff Capes space and as yet Ruth hasn’t dared to take a knife to it. The really worrying thing is that there are another 4 or 5 pumpkins outside gaining strength and volume waiting to join it and one of them is already bigger than the one indoors.

And I had a shock when I went into the garden this morning. I knew that there was a Second Planting of tomatoes about to break from the plants which Ruth had put into the ground to produce a late-season crop. What I hadn’t realised was that the first lot were still producing flowers and fruit and were about to unleash a second deluge of tomatoes, equal to the first. A ruthless (n.p.i.)* tomatophobe might have been tempted to sabotage their plans. But it wouldn’t be me. They’re taller than I am.

*n.p.i. = no pun intended

HAVING A GLUTFUL

2009-09-11T21:50:00.000+02:00

I've previously animadverted on the tsunamis of foodstuffs washing over us from the garden. A momentous event occurred today. Ruth picked NO TOMATOES!! We ate NO TOMATOES!! And we SHAN'T be having ANY TOMATOES with our cooked breakfasts this weekend.

We have a new dilemma, though. One of our trees (a fig tree, as it happens) is producing HUNDREDS of FIGS (Capitals Are Habit-Forming, ArEn'T tHeY? I've been to lots of them.) None of our welter of recipe books tells us what to do with a surfeit of figs. Ruth has made fig jam, and it's delicious, but we have so many and it's taking a significant amount of each day to pick them. Does anyone have any recipes, preservation methods, etc.? A recipe for fig wine or fig distillate would be much appreciated by me.

The Invasion of The Tomatoes is not yet repulsed (or would that just be appropriate for peas?). The Second Planting is about to ripen.

GREY WATER ECOLOGY AND GARDENS

2009-09-03T15:10:00.000+02:00

Well I have tried my hand at grey water saving in the past.

This place might offer another and better opportunity to be ecologically pure and righteous.

Well -

And I don't mean the dry well!

Soon after purchase we found that in spite of having an out-of-date fosse (sceptic tank) our sink water goes out of the kitchen and into the 'fossé' or roadside ditch (note change of spelling).

Here is a photo showing the fossé neatly trimmed and cleared by John and full of washing up and laundry water.

Sadly it doesn't go through a reed bed to my thirsty vegetables!

As we use ecofriendly products to wash and launder we don't feel too bad about this arrangement and may live with it till we die!

Anyway everyone in the village has the same system even the Mairie!

ART OVER AND OVER AGAIN

2009-09-03T15:03:00.000+02:00

Well - here it lies - rolled up and stashed or stacked away in the grenier and no new work happening and at a standstill on the ideas from our round Europe trip.

Am I depressed about it?

Probably.

Right now I am far too busy to do more that think about it.

There is also no studio as yet!

John went to a chorale choir evening last night with lots of ladies and some men and it sounds interesting enough to carry on with.

I am thinking of starting an art blog related to this blog but different!!

If I can think of a good name to tie it to.

Who will look at it?

Who knows.

Perhaps I should give it all up.

LE VIN, LES CONSERVES ET LES ANGLAIS

2009-09-03T12:59:00.000+02:00

We all know we are different and we all hope to be unique and yet we all do the same things.

Here we are in France busy growing grapes, conserving our garden produce, 'a la retraite' like a large proportion of the British we met and yet we all like to think that we are the 'pathfinders', the special people doing it for the first time - finding our own way . . .

So though we have so much in common - sometimes we are not too friendly to each other. I guess I have seen these hierarchies and cliques in other expat communities - I guess we have them in our towns and villages back in the UK.

We need the friendship and help of other British people.

Most days for retired folk do not give them easy and constant contact with working French people!

Any how John's grapes are tasty and my shelf of conserves - mostly from overgrown courgettes is increasing! Hopefully they will help to conserve us over the winter.

We are still rather lonely here - missing friends and missing family - and hoping that our circle of acquaintances and friends - French and English-speaking- will grow and enrich us.

CATS HOME - CAT AND PASSPORT

2009-09-03T12:45:00.000+02:00

Here are the cat and I checking her newly arrived passport, the Carte d'Indentification issued by the Societe d'Identification Electronique Veterinaire. As you can see, in the bottom right-hand corner it carries her photograph, not wearing a hat or sunglasses. The form that came with it has a tear-off portion so that modifications can be notified to the authorities. One of the boxes is for a change of name of the cat. The space for inserting the name (that's the "usual" name, not a pedigree) is 33 characters long! Imagine calling that out every night!

Is a name change likely? Probably not as we are intending to have her spayed and she will therefore keep her maiden name.

DEJA VU

2009-09-03T12:31:00.000+02:00

This is where I started from as a child of nine.

My father sold his farmhouse to pay off the mortgage on the farm and built a new home in the middle of a mealie field - all red dirt and dry stalks and no trees for acres around. He scratched out a plan of the house on the earth and built the house from bricks made from termite hills. My mother scribbled out a plan of a garden on a foolscap page . . .

So here John and I are in the middle of mealie farms in France but we do have trees around us.

In front of the house is a fig with ripening fruit.

To the east is a neglected overgrown hedgerow with brambles, may, blackthorn, ash, and dog roses, sloes and a walnut. The nuts - hazels and walnuts are all worm eaten. We gathered a few sloes too late and hope to do better from the fig tree. The blackberries are all too high up to reach. The is also a huge and prolific pear but no possibility of getting any of the fruit.

Thank goodness! It is a huge amount of work preserving it and impossible to eat it all or give it away!

LES RENCONTRES DE MAUBOURGUET

2009-08-25T18:01:00.000+02:00

The 'Rencontres de Maubourguet' are about leisure, art and sport.
In Maubourguet that is rugby - and bull-fighting - and art.

It goes on all weekend and makes for a rather good atmosphere.
I couldn't recognise Maubourguet at all - here is the funfair - and here is the estate agent who sold us our house - but somehow it has become a funfair stall!

The artists are very varied - mostly seem very professional - they turn up for one night - make a piece of art while the fascinated public watch - and it is auctioned two days later even it isn't dry!

BUSY PEOPLE BEING BUSY, CAT BUSY WATCHING BUSY PEOPLE

2009-08-25T17:39:00.000+02:00

John is on the roof again.

Essential work boarding up the gaps under the eaves so that the insulation, the heat, and the cat don't keep escaping.

The cat is a keen observer of people working hard in high places. She frequently checks on John to see what he is up to and to see if she can plan her next circumvention of his careful blocking up of wind-ways.

I decided to make a tiny watering hole for small wild creatures as it has been so hot and so dry recently. It is not beautiful but I hope it will attract a dragonfly or two. So far only a water boatman and a ring-necked dove have succumbed to its charms.

THE END OF THE ROAD

2009-08-25T16:43:00.000+02:00

Ruth coming down the mountain when she comes

This is the end of the road.

From here there are only walks up the mountains. This was Valcebollere and the Auberge des Ecureuils when we met old friends of mine from some 20 years ago. We had a great meal together and talked and talked.

One of the last times I saw them was with their daughter, then under a year old, now a married woman. We had taken the wrong route through a deserted Game Park in Zambia and kept having to dig ourselves out of the sand in dry river beds while elephants paraded nearby.

J and C love walking holidays and are very fit. We followed their advice and walked up the mountain as you can see. It was lovely and worthwhile but I am a plainswoman and can only go up hill slowly.

I also contacted another friend from the past and then remembered the first time another J and her husband B and two small daughters (same age as R and T) stayed with us at Lake Kariba.

We were woken first by a convoy of lorries in the night. New to that aspect of Africa, we were not unduly concerned but at 5 am we were woken by a loud knock on the door. I opened it to find a soldier with an AK47 pointing at me and a number of other soldiers lying in the front garden with guns aimed at me. They refused to allow me to make a cup of tea for friends and family and we were marched off to the football field in the village with every other inhabitant of the area, white and black, while they rounded up 'aliens'. Do you remember this, older kids?
When it got hot around 11.30 everyone got tired and we were all allowed to go home.

At the moment nothing like this seems likely to happen in France.

Are we 'aliens' though?

Brits are perhaps just Brits and maybe they won't send any soldiers to round us up.

Cosmopolite ou Quoi?

2009-08-18T22:02:00.000+02:00

Ever since we have been online via satellite, something strange has happened. We sign in in German. Why is that? Easier than Turkish or Magyar, though!

The other thing is that, on Ruth's computer, "@" has changed into """ (or vice versa) and """ has changed into "@" (or verce visa).

IN BETWEEN A CAT AND A KITTEN - CHATTE ET CHATONNE

2009-08-18T17:39:00.000+02:00

Topaze is growing fast and a couple of Toms have been on the prowl around - one even venturing into the study last night!

Topaze has explored every inch of our house especially the roof spaces She cannot be locked in, any more than the heat and the freezing cold can be kept out.

She has proved to us again and again why we were so cold in April. We were actually living in a barn! The beams, roof struts and tops of walls are Topaze's walkways and exits.

Here is a photo of the quality roof struts over our heads. John is covering them up with insulation as fast as possible.
I have also added picture of that upstairs toilet!

We still are living in a barn but every day John brings about some new improvement as he adds some more insulation and another degree of comfort. (Stop Press! Extra! Extra! We now have an upstairs toilet! Only just though, as, due to the many different sizes of pipe and the materials from which they are made - plus a degree of senile dementia - it took me 4 trips to BricoMarche' in Plaisance before I got the correct pipe union.)

One day Topaze will have to use a catflap in a door. (That one day may be far away!)

Right now she is a free as that icy wind!

NO MORE WATER FROM THE WELL

2009-08-18T16:55:00.001+02:00

Apparently most wells dry up each year and so has ours - this week. (Not a big problem, you might think, but the French are parsimonious and well water is free, whereas mains water is metered.)
10 days ago I could water the whole garden. a week ago I either did the vegetables or the mixed border and pumpkins.

Very soon I could only fill 5 buckets, then just one watering can.

It is very hot - about 36 - 40. No point in holding your breath for a thunderstorm as they are always miss us and are just a field further away.

I thought I would have to watch as the garden died from drought and disease and stress but -

John has made me a tap for the veggie garden from the mains water. It has very little pressure so after an initial brave squirt of 8 ft it dwindles to a dribble and I am back to filling watering cans from it and putting little amounts on individual plants.

New gardens must be watered to get established.

Hopefully in a year or two most plants will survive the summer and I will just nurse the veggies like M. Blandin on the next farm who can grow 20 metre rows of cabbages with one can of carefully administered water.

It is like Lusaka and Zambia again and my childhood in Zimbabwe where water was always in short supply and a reddish colour. I still cannot bear to see a tap running while someone cleans their teeth even if it is me!! <

MAIZE, MAIZE, MAIZE, MAIZE AND MAIS AND FOOD SECURITY

2009-08-18T15:55:00.000+02:00

So its monoculture here as well and no food security.

We are surrounded and dwarfed by the maize that grows all around us.

We chose this place because at least the rural economy was alive even if not well.
We were somewhat surprised that nothing was planted until late in April - only one crop a year? In spite of all that heavy machinery! Well that is because it is maize.

What is maize good for then? (Maize, huh! What is it good for?)

Basically it is for fattening cattle and animals. In Africa maize feeds Africans - by the way - not its primary purpose.

Fact is maize is not a good staple unless you also can get fresh fruit and veg and some protein. In Africa where people can't it is one reason why people succumb to HIV/AIDS. It needs to be supplemented with Soya etc.

Why were so many poor South African women both fat and not very strong - too much maize pap and no real food! It is a serious health issue.

Well it pays to grow it - BUT - IT USES VAST AMOUNTS OF WATER - and it dries up rivers, wells, lakes and artesian basins. (It dries up our well, too. Right In My Back Yard.) (Cultural Note for our male readers. The word "artesian" comes from Artois in Belgium. So Stella Artois actually uses water from doubly Artesian wells.)

So it is bad news. Here people used to grow several varied crops a year - none of which needed this kind of irrigation.

What does maize also do?

It makes people obese. Scientists and physicists are changing the structure of corn starch - modifying it - so that it makes food look lovely and not disintegrate - so ice cream doesn't melt and baked beans shine.

go -on - get a packet of corn starch - moisten it and see how it behaves. It is useful for cooks in small amounts -

You it makes fat and you didn't know how much you were eating did you? Have a look at food labels - go on!

All the way across Europe on our travels there was maize or there was nothing! Only Turkey has a sustainable agriculture.

Hungary had maize. Poland and Romania rural poverty. Maize is taking over the world - wasting water and killing people with malnutrition and obesity.

THE MULTI PURPOSE VEHICLE

2009-08-18T15:50:00.001+02:00

Here it is!

Our new useful and air-conditioned Opel left-hand drive MPV which we collected while back home.

Much cheaper that anything we could find in France and it does all that we need. We now look as if we belong here as every local person seems to have something similar.

JAZZ IN MARCIAC

2009-08-18T10:41:00.000+02:00

We went to the Jazz In Marciac festival - JIM! (Why did they call it Jazz IN Marciac - in English - and not Jazz a' Marciac - JAM? much more appropriate!)

We heard some fantastic jazz - saw some great performers!

Concerts start at 9 at night. The first night we left around 1.30.

The last night we were there - our fourth concert - we left around 3am, and there was still an encore to come!

We kept going on ice cream and booze in the intervals - no matter how great the show it is still possible to fall asleep in the middle of it after 4 or 5 hours! (Not too much booze luckily. On the way home on the the third of the 4 nights we were stopped by the Bold Gendarmes and I was breathalysed - for the first time in my life. Naturally the verdict was "c'est bon". What would you expect?)

We saw Wynton Marsalis, the Buena Vista Social Club and Omara Portuondo, Milton Nascimento, Avishai Cohen, David Krakauer and Kletzmer Madness, Laurent Cugny and the Enormous Big Band - had a astonishing singer - among others- all really enjoyable. We should also mention Marcus Roberts an American pianist. Wynton Marsalis was right. He is a genius of the piano. You should hear him.

Go on line and check out the festival and come and stay with us next year!

AND THE GARDEN . . .

2009-08-10T15:09:00.003+02:00

What a lot of pleasure -
and what a lot of work!

I look at the way things grow and quite unreasonably feel proud. It is after all a felicitous outcome of earth and climate rather than my green fingers though until John put in the pump on the well I did carry about 15 - 20 watering cans of water a day!
It wasn't for too long however.
John also made the raised beds which is without doubt the easiest and pleasantest way to grow veggies.
Homegrown vegetables taste wonderful - if they have enough sun and water.
Garden produce is still a gift - so much richer and more abundant than hoped for and also astonishing. Reminds of my babies at 6 months when you look at an infant sitting up and gurgling and you think did that miracle really result from breast milk?
I am being green and as organic as possible which is actually laziness too because trying to cope with pests is really hard work apart from killing slugs which must be done.
The climate does help. I have been able to grow and harvest plants from seeds which is a first for me but then again it is all about learning new and different ways of doing and growing things.
I am a "une debutante de le potager et de la jardinaire"

WELCOME TO THE GUEST ROOM - ALMOST

2009-08-09T20:16:00.000+02:00

John has worked hard - even obsessively to get this room habitable. It probably is comfortable temperature-wise now but more work needs doing to make it smart.
It was a hot, tough and exacting job. It is likely the neighbours kids have inadvertently learnt a few old English words when John was. shouting at the wall.

Yes I know -
It isn't finished
BUT
it has come a long way. John is being very thorough and careful - about the measurements at least.

There has been some anxiety from family phoning me and asking if I am really sure that it is safe to be with someone who shouts at the building as John does.

It can almost be stayed in. It lacks a skylight and will have a dormer or a velux depending on planning and the mairie.

The thing is that the temperature should be comfortable all year we hope!

ISOLATION OR KEEPING THE KITCHEN WARM AND JOHN HOT

2009-08-09T15:30:00.002+02:00

It was 40 degrees under the kitchen roof while John struggled to insulate it and do the wiring to the kitchen ceiling. He could not reach under the beams and could hardly sit upright in much of it.
Need I say more?

POT LUCK LUNCH ON REPUBLIC DAY

2009-08-09T15:27:00.000+02:00

Okay - this post is jinxed! This it the 4th or 5th time I have tried to get it uploaded. We had a great time on Republic Day at a Pot luck Lunch in our village. In spite of our hastily gathered and inadequate contributuion we were met with hospitality food, wine, armagnac and songs! It was a great day! Watch again because I hope to upload the video of a nonagenerian lady singing local Basque songs.

GOOD NEIGHBOURS AND RIVER RAFTING ON THE GAVE DE PAU

2009-08-06T15:15:00.015+02:00

We were invited by our generous neighbour, Roberto of Ecolorado Rafting, to try river rafting on the Gave de Pau above Lourdes. It was a stretch of 14 kms of river and took us just under two hours to do it. It was great fun. Not quite Sobek thank goodness. I haven't done Sobek - the white water rafting below the Mosi-O-Tunya, Victoria Falls from the Boiling Pot. I have just canoed down the middle Zambezi with family and friends.

It was the first time we put on the wet suits we bought for our campervan trip but did not pack. The day was grey which was easier on my eyes but as we got rather wet - it was just a little cool.

The countryside is beautiful and the river swift and cold and we spun around over rocks, rapids and eddies.

The images are of us on a narrow slipway that took us past one of the weirs and barrages on the river. Roberto was able to walk alongside us and take the pictures for me. You can see Roberto with John in the one shot I took.

There was some rough-housing by the paint-ball team in the first RIB.

It was really a good experience, interesting and to be highly recommended. We would both do it again.

Admittedly this was the easier stretch of river. There is a more exciting stretch below Lourdes if you are more daring than us.

VILLAGE FISHING COMPETITION ON THE ALARIC CANAL

2009-08-05T14:19:00.000+02:00

I didn't catch anything. It is difficult to ask for help with a jammed fishing reel when you don't have a French dictionary with you. They load hundreds of trout into the Alaric canal and people in camouflage - chaps actually - fish them out competitively with bait - no spinning - the canal is rather narrow as I discovered.

I was hoping to add fish to our menu and fill up our empty freezer!

BULLFIGHT

2009-08-05T14:11:00.000+02:00

The South of France is serious bullfighting and hunting country. Here there are two sorts of bullfight. Traditional Spanish with Matadors and Picadors and the Course Landaise which we haven't seen but the bulls aren't killed. Not sure about people though. On Republic Day we went to a local event 'without death' that turned out to be three children training to be bullfighters with young steers or bullocks! The kids - two boys and a girl were about 13 years or so - I will upload a short video if I can - meanwhile an image perhaps if the internet connection allows.

ARROSAGE - JUST ABOUT THE SIZE OF THINGS

2009-08-05T14:00:00.000+02:00

So you know.
When this photo is uploaded - currently each image takes 30 minutes or forever - you will see the reach of the irrigation spray and the size of our house. It explains the broken roof tiles we inherited and the current damp carpet in the bedroom.
The farmer whizzed around to correct the alignment of his system and no permament harm was done. The water was delicously cool but rather powerful.
I wish he hadn't missed the vegetable garden as our well is beginning to run dry and it is very hot at the moment.

BLOG OVER

2009-08-05T13:57:00.001+02:00

It is time to end this blog – or is it?
It is a blog for you – and for John and me but does it work?
Does it serve any useful purpose for us?
We have been useless at keeping it up to date partly because we have had so much else to do but also because our internet connections are so slow.
Anyhow – whatever – whatever – I will do a few more blogs with pictures but very short and see if anyone notices or comments.

MIRANDE AND THE COUNTRY AND WESTERN FESTIVAL

2009-08-05T13:47:00.001+02:00

So come and stay L and E and enjoy!
Another part of my Immersion course was visiting Mirande. I was taken to the centre of things by the redoubtable M-S, my tutor and host. There I acquired a cowboy hat for gardening and bought a Bad Boy hat for John to wear on the ride-on mower.

CIRQUE DE GARVANIE AND THE LAST GLACIERS

2009-08-05T13:24:00.000+02:00

Isn’t it beautiful!
This trip was part of my French Immersion course.
The Cirque de Garvanie is a vast natural amphitheatre surrounded by mountains and cataracts. Roland with his great sword cut a great chip off the ridge in the fight to prevent the Moors invasion of France.

There was a grand spectacle being staged in the valley to which we were invited. Sadly I had the flu and we had to miss it.
From further west and higher up the Col des Tentes it is possible to see this glacier. ‘Those who know’ the “They’s of wisdom’ say the Pyreneen glaciers will have disappeared in 30 years time.

Balancing our two Bits*

2009-07-26T20:42:00.000+02:00

We have two Missions. The first was doing our bit for towards kick-starting the World economy out of the credit crunch by investing in materials and equipment for our new home. It looks as though our efforts in this sphere - filling our home with White Goods, some of which are apparently manufactured in Europe – and consuming hectares of sustainably-managed temperate forests, are beginning to meet with success. So, with the arrival of our deep-freeze – expected for this week or next – this phase of our work is drawing to a close.

Our second Mission is to play our part in saving the planet. To this end Ruth has planted vegetables in our newly-created raised beds which should make us near to self-sufficient in fresh food. Organic and air miles-saving at the same time. Unfortunately this plan somewhat undermines our mission to spend as much money as possible since it releases us in part from the cash economy. A further disadvantage is that our garden is so productive that we are being threatened by a surfeit of good things to eat, up with which we cannot put. This week our tomato plants, grown to over 6ft. (2m) high and groaning with fruit which menaces to all ripen at the same time could begin to overwhelm us. The above-mentioned deep-freeze is part of our plan to counter the approaching vegetable tide by a battery of preservation methods including freezing, sterilising, drying, and the range of pickling in oil, vinegar, alcohol and sugar. We managed to withstand the onslaught of the courgettes without the aid of any of these methods but it was a close thing. The next crop to threaten is the French beans. Followed by the French potatoes, French melons, French marrows etc.

*This reference has nothing to do with our new kitten, provisionally named TwoBits for delicate anatomical reasons while we tried to think of a suitable name. The name we eventually chose for her was Topaze. She’s ginger, so you can see just how fitting this name is.

P. S. In celebration of the French National Day, 14th.July, we might have called our kitten "Catorze" Waddya think?

GROWING THE GARDEN

2009-06-18T15:55:00.000+02:00

It is hard work clearing the brambles!
Here is a wheelbarrow of clods and couch grass dug from a square metre of earth, a pile of 20 or so bramble roots excavated from the ground and a square metre of cleared earth. It is slow and the weather is hot and steamy. We aren't winning but as long as we attack them every day we don't lose the battle either.
The slugs are a pestilence. There are large orange and red ones, medium slim grey ones, small white ones, and the regular brownish ones too. I have a slugicide award and carry a slug killer in the form of a sharp knife with me in the garden every day.

The garden has a deep and reasonably loamy soil over clay and is moastly well-drained so plants grow easily and well even when the weather is not sunny.

FOOTNOTE
though we now have internet we are having troublle uploading. I will make another attempt at the next opportunity.

THE DOORWAY TO OUR HOUSE

2009-06-18T15:41:00.001+02:00

The previous owner of our house was an artist or painter - a tradition kept up by ther mouse and me.

We were fascinated to find two painting by him of the house before it was altered and extended.
You can see the 'sitting-room' as it is today and as it was some 40 years ago. It isn't possible to take a photo that sees what the artist did as I can't make the wall transparent but you will see that somehow he included my coffee mill in the painting in the exact place that it occupies today.
We had some trouble with this room at first as it was the only warm room in the house and has old-fashioned pub-like qualities so we inadvertently designated it - the Snug.
The second painting shows the original cottage with the cruck beams of the grenier and a pond outside the house. As we discovered the kitchen is sited on a pond, the sitting room has a spring in it - ole - and chai does fill up with water.

FAVOURITE THINGS AND MICE

2009-06-18T15:25:00.000+02:00

We don't miss out on the local culture. Basque singing, Occitan singing aand now Portuguese Dancing. One of the muscians had a strange instrument. Has anyone any knowledge of the origins of this odd fellow? Do you suppose he is from Brazil or Africa? ? Party time! celebrating that all important first birthday! We have a talented mouse living with us again! Fond of sugar though she is, she has taken the time to make a scuplted head of a cat for a sugar cube. We have met a kind rescuer of kittens and some of her proteges and a small ginger cat called Twobits or Nemesis of Mice will be coming to live with us in another week or so.

TAMING OUR WILDERNESS

2009-06-11T11:46:00.000+02:00

Trying to do this blog and fight weeds and blackberry roots and creepers takes some doing. There simply is not the time for both Hope I havent uploaded this lot before but the computer doesnt let me see what I am doing picture wise till it is done.
Hopefully these arent repeats.
Here is Guy on the tractor making the first cut;
Next John - happy as a man can be when he is either cutting down something with a machine or lighting fires. Here am I in the mud trying to make sure that I can leave the property in the car!

We must really be in France

2009-06-03T15:47:00.000+02:00

John has already made the local press as you can see from the photos. My nose features over someones shoulder. We are also on the front page in the far distance at the end of the table.

Yesterday we spent a day which suggests that we are settling into the French way of life.

The first of the two events was the annual Repas of the local Société de Chasse (hunting club). We had been recommended to attend by Eugène, the builder who had largely rebuilt our house over 40 years ago and who came to sort out our blocked toilet a couple of weeks back. He assured us that there would be plenty to drink. The repas was advertised to start at “Midi”. Aware that “midi” could mean at 12 noon sharp or, more vaguely, “lunchtime”, we turned up at 12 but, seeing that there weren’t many people at the “Foyer Rural” (function room attached to the village Mairie), we popped over the road for a beer at the village shop/bar. At twenty-to-one, seeing that a few people were starting to arrive, we went back into the Foyer Rural and found that people were grouped around the bar drinking aperitifs. Apart from soft drinks there was whisky, port and pastis. The French prefer these drinks before a meal rather than afterwards. We had a couple of ports – with ice – and were then bought some pastis by someone were talking to. The meal consisted of mushroom soup, crudités, wild boar stew and then barbecued wild boar chops. They must have been enormous boars, judging from the size of the chops and many of them must have died to provide us with lunch, as all the courses seemed to arrive twice. Personally, I was looking forward to the wild boar ice-cream but Hester Blumenthal’s reputation doesn’t seem to reached here yet and the next courses were salad, cheese and fruit tart. To accompany these we had, successively, red, white and rosé wine, apparently produced in Labatut and, appropriately, they were also rather tart. Finally a large bottle of unlabelled Armagnac arrived and despite my protests (nah, not really) we had a pretty good glug of that.

After that we went home, drank some wine and watched an incredibly long TV special of aged French rocker Johnny Hallyday at the Stade de France performing everything he had ever sung over the past 50 years. How French is that?

CAMPING CAR TO CAMPING

2009-05-19T16:50:00.000+02:00

And there we were – moving into our new home!
Next to Laika it looked rather small and I was convinced that it wasn’t big enough to hold all the camping van stuff – especially the books!
It took me all day to unpack the van while John swept out the rooms and fought with the spider webs and pigeon and mouse dirt and mould but we did it and the place looked a mess but could be lived in except that it was bitterly cold!
Spring turned out to be very wet and miserable and the house extremely cold. ‘Withnail-bitingly cold and I frozen”. It is stone and had been empty and shut up for thirteen years. It was weeks before the temperature inside moved up to double figures. We had electricity but so little amperage that we could use one radiator at a time without tripping the main fuse.
There was no hot water.
For over a week we bathed in a saucepan those needy bits of us that we felt could be exposed enough to risk pneumonia.
So no warm south for us for a while then.
It had been warmer on the campsite outside the van!

BUYING - WHAT HAPPENED - JOHN'S POST

2009-05-19T16:49:00.000+02:00

BLUR IN ENGLAND

2009-05-19T16:30:00.000+02:00

WHAT WE DID IN ENGLAND WHILE WE WAITED.

It was all a bit of a blur!
It was packed with old and dear friends (as well as some cheap old ones John says) and family as well as all that essential business and administrative stuff and swine flu jabs.
The camera didn’t catch up with us and neither did we!
If you aren’t represented here it may be that you weren’t blurred enough snapshots being what they often are.

HANGING ABOUT

2009-05-12T10:10:00.000+02:00

This is where (and how) we lived while waiting.

We went to an agricultural show so that John could learn how to be a farmer.

We went to an Occitan concert so that John could find a choir to join.

It was John’s birthday – as you can see he takes champagne very seriously.
We went skiing so that we could have something to do in our long days of leisure and retirement. This was a birthday present for John. The ski slopes are about an hour and a half from our new home.
We waited at cafés.
John cycled to Lourdes
We cycled around looking at the storm damage near our soon –to-be village.

So here are the photos.

AT LAST - THE PHOTOS!

2009-04-29T15:17:00.000+02:00

After so many weeks we feel very diffident about getting back to blogging. I feel guilty in fact – as if we had stood you all up.
After so many weeks it won’t be possible to fill you in properly about all that we have done and seen since our last proper blog so realistically we will need to start from now and cheat just a little.
We wanted you to know what the house was like when we first saw it, what we thought, and why we chose it over the others that we saw. Inevitably it doesn’t tick all the boxes on our list but no place could for anyone however we do feel more and more as if we made the right choice for the most important reasons.

Lets start our story a little nearer the beginning. We saw 7 properties around Marbourguet, near Tarbes on our first Monday here. They were all more possible that any we had seen previously – though rather more money. None was a complete wreck and all had gardens – my prime requirement. All offered John renovation work but all could be lived in without great discomfort. None gave us that necessary ‘coup de coeur’ that made us like it till the last viewing.
The agent’s pictures made this house look attractive. It was on first sight however disappointing, very small, and built right on the boundary by the street and the adjoining property has two ugly metal sheds on it right in front of the view from the windows. I decided against it at once. Inside however, the proportions were actually elegant and the rooms sensibly arranged. Most houses we saw that had additions and alterations had been ruined and made more inconvenient, this one had not. Inside it reminded me of a Cape Dutch house – dark wood ceilings and beams but not gloomy because of the high and large proportions of the windows - all this in a very modestly sized building.
It had been used as a holiday home. The front living room had two bedrooms off it with a shower between them. There are doors everywhere and a long corridor that leads to a large lean-to kitchen. This in turn goes into a ‘chai’ or lean-to shed with a mud floor that must have flooded. A staircase went up to an empty ‘grenier’ or attic (with crux beams) but full of pigeonshit and then surprisingly into a large study with a view over the garden from which we could see the glorious snow-covered Pyrénées. There were no lights but the rooms were quite bright even though it was winter.
The house had been empty for 13 years and ivy and Virginia creeper (No, not the notorious Creeper sisters!) had been allowed to grow over the front door. The garden was brambles and vines and thick grass even at the end of winter. It had pretty much been left intact – there had been a bonfire of rotted stuff from the house and a pile of abandoned grotty household bric-à-brac. The ground was a field with a shallow ditch around it but also an overgrown hedgerow with several quite big trees in it. All round the house are farms, over the road, a large house divided into three and the tiny village a good kilometer further on. It has a convenience store that sells bread, a school and a bar.
So here are the pictures from our first viewing – more to come later!

SORRY SORRY AND SORRY

2009-04-17T11:48:00.000+02:00

Dear Blogfollowers - if you have not given up on us both. we have so much to tell you but - my computer has been out of use and is still not up and running - more or less since England. So no blogs no photos and no internet.
We are fine - very busy with house but longing to tell you all about it!
Apologies but one of those things - will blog soon;
Miss you all!

APOLOGIES

2009-03-19T15:10:00.000+01:00

Apologies and then some more!
We have been without convenient internet connections and I have been without my computer and so unable to do any work on photos for you.
We have loads of pictures to show you and loads of stories to tell.
At present we are both in Cyber-base a free internet site that is part of the local library in Maubourguet, the small town close to the village where our future home is to be.
Cyber-base is a fantastic resource but we hope soon to hava a landline and internet connections of our own.
House buying has been a huge saga just as you would all expect or have experienced. We hope to complete the purchase next week - this was delayed by a week due to the unsurprising problems of moving money around when all financial nerws is so bad.
As soon as I can I will post pictures of the smallish house that we are buying.

Meanwhile the mouse in the van still is on board and nest building! he/she ate her way into the top of a carton of tomato juice. John still wanted to have it for breakfast but I explained that mice dip their tails into cartons of juice so that they can suck the moisture off the tip and no I wasnt even going to drink it with vodka!
We had an excellent three weeks in England and saw friends and family and had such a good time that it is hard to know why we would live anywhere else but there - except of course for the weather.
It is spring here and deliciously warm however - perhaps you will all come and visit?

CRASH!

2009-03-11T13:16:00.000+01:00

Ruth's computer has crashed, so here is a nearly-finished post she wrote:-

MICE, MOVES AND LA MAISON DE JOHN AND RUTH

It has been a long gap since our last blog.
We have spent three weeks in England and a week driving back to Tarbes.

The weather has been terrible everywhere in Europe. We left Tarbes Lourdes airport in a rainstorm and arrived in a Cambridge thick with snow and freezing.

Back at our campsite a family of mice were in charge of the wheely cabin. We are not sure when they joined us. Possibly somewhere in Eastern Europe – maybe they are Romanian mice – or they could have joined us in Sicily straight off the raft from North Africa. It is most likely they are French country mice as this is where we have been stationary for the longest period.
I woke one night to the sound of tiny feet scratching their way round the van. The next night an owl hooted and we heard its claws scrape on the top of the wheely cabin. A search revealed a nibbled cardboard box of biscuits and not much else. Before we left for England I spent some time storing food as carefully as possible and blocking up some of the gaps around the hot air ducts under the cupboards.

In Cambridge I bought humane mouse traps at that wonderful ironmongers, Mackays. We hoped that the mice would have perished in the below zero temperatures in the van while we were away or met their death at the claws of the owl or in the flood that threatened to overtake the wheely cabin from snowmelt and rain, but as you have guessed, they had made themselves more comfortable while we were away. They used the sheepskin for nests, explored the rolled bedding and investigated the cutlery tray. last heard behind the electircal box that works everything in the van.
You can't see them or catch them or persuade them to leave.
First thing at the new home will be une Chatte or cat or both!
We have been struck by financial blow after blow or crash!
Perhaps we will just have to continue our lives as trailer trash with the economic migrant mice!

A Counterblast to "A Lonesome Road"

2009-02-08T14:08:00.000+01:00

Ruth promised you a poem from me. This is it

Journeys Ending

You need a travelling companion?
It might as well be me.
I’m just as good as Valium,
but better than that, I’m free.
I long ago stopped trying
To win the human race.
And now I think I’m dying,
Just keeping up the pace.

Now down at heel, behind the wheel
Around the World we travel,
Until we feel, that very soon we’ll
Start slowly to unravel.
Yet still we talk, it’s hard to walk,
Our arches begin to sag.
With plastic mac and haversack
I go with my old bag.

WORKING FOR THAT PHD AND THAT EXHIBITION

2009-02-04T15:01:00.000+01:00

We wait for notaires and conveyancers to do their work and we do ours.
This is our actualitié in winter in the wheely cabin.
Wheely cabin fever setting in!

CHICKEN STEW ON THE LONESOME ROAD

2009-02-04T14:47:00.000+01:00

I invited this rooster in for a stew but John doesnt eat poultry.

He has a poem to add to mine.

LONESOME ROAD

I’m travelling down a lonesome road
Won’t you come along with me?
I need somebody by my side
But anyone won’t do –
It must be you! It must be you!

I started travelling long ago
My mother held my hand
My father took his rifle
As he walked across his land
I told them I was fine alone
I was ready to leave home

I’m travelling down a lonesome road
Won’t you come along with me?
I need somebody by my side
But anyone won’t do –
It must be you! It must be you!

I was no longer lonesome
With my lover by my side
Travelling was sweet and easy
The road was smooth and wide
But men can be forgetful
Though babies come to stay.

I’m travelling down a lonesome road
Won’t you come along with me?
I need somebody by my side
But anyone won’t do –
It must be you! It must be you!

I walked beside my children
And I held them by the hand
but children must be free and
as soon they could stand
they saw the open road
and they ran away from me.

I’m travelling down a lonesome road
Won’t you come along with me?
I need somebody by my side
But anyone won’t do –
It must be you! It must be you!

So you’re travelling down a lonesome road
Could you come along with me?
If you need a new companion
Some traveller by your side
It may as well be me.
Frankly I am getting tired
And anyone will do – and anyone will do

The road is always lonesome
But it won’t be always long
We can go along together
We can sing this lonesome song.
I need somebody by my side
And anyone will do – and anyone will do

I’m travelling down a lonesome road
Won’t you come along with me?
I need somebody by my side
So why not you? – so why not you?.

Syndrome (de) Mémoire Fausse

2009-01-27T17:04:00.000+01:00

While we have been travelling around Europe we have largely been out of range of good English language radio (or any other language, as far as I could tell) – the World Service of the BBC having substantially disappeared from the terrestrial World to the Online, which is fine if you have internet access but not otherwise *. As a result we have had recourse to local stations. With a few exceptions - Turkey being among them, where we could listen to a channel playing Turkish music - there was no local traditional music, only the same fodder, mostly post-pubescent nymphets squealing in pseudo-American accents about “ivry tam Aa see yaw fez”. The nymphets generally went on to tell about how the object of their affections made them “feel saddisfaad, deep down insaad”. Anyway, that’s when we plunged the CD’s into the player.

Now that we are in France we have a choice between Radio’s “Culture”, “Musique (Classique)”, “Info’s”, “NRJ” (Energy –geddit?) “F U N” and, what is currently playing in the background, “Nostalgie”. This last plays hits from the 70s and 80s, rather as Radio Two used to. Given the world-wide dominance of American and British pop music, most of what is on Nostalgie might as equally be aired on an equivalent UK station but occasionally a piece comes on in French or a familiar song is played in a version which was not successful in Britain. When that happens it’s a shock. It’s as though The Grim Reaper has abruptly appeared at your dinner table or you spot a helicopter in a depiction of the Crucifixion and nobody else seems to notice or find it odd. I’m suddenly hit by the idea that memories that I thought I had of thirty years ago which I believed were common to everyone of my age were not shared as much as I thought. Perhaps that’s true even of close friends?

A lot of the music of twenty to thirty years ago is still played frequently on the radio and so to an extent is still current, but in the mid-70s I lived in Belgium and had a brief exposure to French pop music. Quite a lot of that I hadn’t heard since, but now, here on Nostalgie are Maxime le Forestier, Sheila, Michel Sardou, Gérard Lenorman, etc. sounding just as they did then and wiping out the intervening years. It’s weird, man! (On the other hand, I have seen photos of them as they are today – French singers going on forever, like Cliff Richard – and they look older than I do. Well, they must do, I don’t look as old as they do, do I?)
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*I suppose the advent of mobile phones has made those public service announcements which used to be broadcast on Radio Four on the lines of “could Miss Jacqueline Armstrong from County Durham, believed to be travelling in Devon and Cornwall in a Ford Anglia, registration number 531 PTN, please contact Newcastle General Hospital in connection with her sister” obsolete. I wonder when they stopped? Did anyone notice?

WHY TARBES AND THE HAUTE-PYRENEES?

2009-01-26T15:18:00.000+01:00

Why this part of France ?
We started looking at Languedoc-Rousillon and the areas of France that John knows and likes. Montpellier is too expensive so we looked in a rough triangle between Beziers, Narbonne and Perpignan and went as far west as Carcassonne. This is wine country in recession and tourist country so, sadly, it’s dead in winter. We hit two main problems. Affordable houses were in dying hamlets and no houses at our price had gardens. The houses are stone and attractive – part of once semi-fortified villages on rocky hills and outcrops but all required very hard and major renovation work.

Nothing seemed right. In desperation we moved our search north and west to the Charente where we hit a week of arctic weather, van trouble and snow and ice. The property here was much more what we were looking for but the area though beautiful, didn’t feel right for us. This may sound strange, but it was too provincial and too French especially by comparison with the South of France which has a mixed community into which we felt we might assimilate better.

Absolutely by chance we had stopped in Tarbes, a place that meant nothing to us, to see friends on our way to the Charente. They sang the praises of the Tarbes climate and the local house prices but as it was dark when we arrived in Tarbes we had no idea at all about the appearance of the town or the region until we drove out the next day imagining that we would not be back.

We had, however, established contact with an estate agent in Tarbes and were sent some properties to look at that seemed promising. Our Charente shortlist still hadn’t given us ‘le coup de Coeur nécessaire’. We were cold and the van was b***d so we went back to Tarbes, looked at some properties and are still here enduring ‘les tempêtes’ and waiting to see if the place we like may become ours at some happy future moment.