Well, we have settled into our Gite quite nicely. I have mastered the technique for lighting and
running the wood burner and am officially known as the ‘Woodbernerist’. However there were a few mishaps along the
way with multiple lighting attempts and roaring sessions when many logs were
used! Jean is much happier that I can now light with minimal paper and one
firelighter, getting the fire roaring before placing the big logs on, and
turning down the air vent, so we get lovely red glowing logs for the evening.
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| Will we have enough logs for the winter? |
For the first few days we did have a fair amount of steady
rain (not heavy and windy like the UK!) and discovered we had a couple of water
leaks that stained the ceiling, with one dripping around an electric light
fitting. We called out the English maintenance
man (Dave) who came to check it out with his French assistant (Jacques). They told us that as this used to be an
agricultural building the roof tiles just lay on the timber rafters without
being fixed, and there being no waterproof membrane, it’s easy for the water to
ingress. Particularly if the wind has
shifted the tiles. So they went into the
roof space and slid any offending tiles back into place. As we haven’t had any rain for the last
couple of weeks we don’t know if this has done the job, however rain is
forecast next week so we shall see!
We asked them what the building had been used for in the
past and Jacques told us that up in the loft space all the rafters are black
from smoke which indicates that this building would have been used to dry the
plums, that are grown in abundance in this area, to make prunes. This area is well known for ‘Prune d’ Agen’ (Agen
being a local big town) as we see them for sale in the shops and at the local
markets.
We have been out and about exploring the local towns and
sites, so a quick summary:
Duras – our local town that has basic shops such as baker,
butcher, hairdressers, post office, a couple of bars & restaurants,
pharmacy, wine merchant, florist, shoe shop, hunting/fishing shop and on the
outskirts of town a Carrefour supermarket.
So we can get all of our needs locally.
The town sits up high overlooking some beautiful countryside and has a
small chateau that is open to the public.
On November 11th we visited the Fete de St Martin – see Jeans
Diary entry for more details and photos.
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| A Pigeonnier - a local sign of wealth |
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| The view across the fields from our gite |
Eymet – if you ever watch Little England on ITV on Monday evenings
at 8.30pm you will have seen it mentioned and been given the impression that it
is an English enclave. It’s not. It’s a lovely old bastide town that has a busy
market on Thursday mornings.
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| Eymet on market day |
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| Eymet on market day |
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| Eymet on market day |
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| Eymet on market day |
Yes there
are a lot of English about but it is still very French. If you live out here I suppose it is a good opportunity
to catch up with English friends and to buy a few treats such as pork pies,
steak & Guiness pies, Cornish pasties, bacon, sausages, etc. There is even
an English shop that stocks things like Atora suet! However, a walk around the town, with the
printed guide from the tourist office, gives you an insight into the history of
the place from medieval times. As you
walk through the back streets you can see the old timber framed houses. In it’s day it would have been a medieval Milton
Keynes – the bastide square (a pedestrian square with shops in all sides but
with covered walkways and arches) with the streets laid out in a grid
pattern. They were offering the same
size living plot to all to encourage them to come and live in the town. The whole idea was to encourage trade and
commerce. There are bastide towns
throughout the Dordogne
Marmande – we had a quick shopping trip south to Marmande to
try the bigger LeClerq Hypermarche. The
town is on the Garonne river and although we had a quick drive through the centre
we didn’t stop. It looked quite nice and
quite commercial so we may pay another visit in the future. Much bigger than Duras.
Between us and Eymet we spotted a lake on the map with a
footpath all the way round so we had to investigate. The lake is a reservoir and when we arrived
and walked up to the top of the dam we discovered the lake was almost
empty! We walked along the top and up
one side of the lake during which time we spotted Cormorants, Heron, Ducks and
Oyster Catchers. As the water was so low,
what fish were in there must have found it very crowded as there were huge fish
leaping out of the water and belly flopping back in. There were notices stating that the low water
level was exceptional and that fishing was now prohibited. We later discovered the contents of the lake
were not for drinking water but for agricultural irrigation. No doubt it will get replenished in the
winter months.
Our first visitors from the UK
Jean's sister Gill and her husband Rob came over and spent a
few days with us. They flew in from
Southampton to Bergerac using FlyBe, arriving on a nice cloudless sunny
day. We waited by the fence that runs
alongside the runway, and before the flight was due in an airport pickup truck
set off around the perimeter track stopping occasionally to let off airborne
fireworks that ended with a bang. We
realised they were scaring the flocks of birds, that feed around the airfield, before
the aircraft came in to land – mainly Lapwings.
The turbo-prop plane landed and Gill & Rob were out of the building
within minutes – quite different to Gatwick!
Over the coming few days we visited Bergerac (and viewed the
statue of Cyrano) and Eymet, showed them around the area and visited a small
local Xmas fair (Marche Noel), taking in a few meals and and glasses of wine on
the way! It was quite nice to be able to
have some English conversations and a bit of company in our little French
house, it almost as felt as if we lived here.
We visited our nearest restaurant in Auriac sur Dropt for lunch on
Monday (only open Monday to Friday – not at weekends) and enjoyed a splendid
five course lunch, including wine, for 12.60 Euros per person. When we arrived at 12.15 the place was packed
with people. Methinks we will be
visiting there again.
So this morning (November 20th) we woke to a lovely sunny
dawn with a few patches of light mist, however, as seems to happen over here,
the mist filled and the surrounding countryside disappeared from view. Needless to say we had a murky journey back
to the airport, which is about 45 minutes from the house.
Don't forget to check Jean's Diary entries for more regular updates!
