A little secret ......

As we are about to leave for Spain and will have no internet access for a while, I thought you should know that this is how Jean does the Blog!  In her leopard skin patterned fleecy jump suit with accompanying pink clogs.....

When she finds out about this posting I will no doubt be murdered, so farewell dear world!

Au revoir à la France

So, we are travelling again tomorrow towards Spain and eventually Portugal for the winter.  Our last few days have been very pleasant here, quite mild and sunny with the odd lunch taken on our terrace.  We did try to take a last meal in a nearby village but it seems most are closed for the whole of the Christmas period only re-opening after we have left. 

Sweet Montbazilac wine.

Market days are still important though giving the locals a good chance to catch up with friends in the nearby cafes.
 

Truffles anyone?

We are making the most of the internet connection here before setting off, not knowing how long it will be before we find Wifi again on our travels. 

Happy New Year to all our friends and family.

Our route so far ………  now being continued!

A walk with friends

A few days of magnificent weather before predicted rain, sent us out with our new visitors Steve and Cathy, to make the most of the weather.  All wrapped up, we made a short stroll in the sun up to Pardaillon, our nearest village. 

The next day we woke up to a heavy frost and minus 5° but we were determined to get out again.  There are a number of marked walks in the area so we chose one of these around Loubès-Bernac  where we knew these was a Bar/Restaurant  incase the chill set in.  On the way, we passed a fairly remote building all shuttered up but advertising bread “cooked on a wood fire”.  Upon investigation and per the note pinned to the door, we decided they were open so we peered in and gingerly stepped inside.  In the gloom we found four loaves and some rolls propped up on a table together with a weighing machine which calculated the cost of each loaf.  How quaint and totally unlike anything one would see in the UK.   We left our money for the loaf we had chosen and shut the door again seeing no-one else all the time we were there.  The loaf was very good by the way!

Church in Loubès-Bernac

The walk we had chosen wasn’t very long but had superb views and many old windmills along the route.  We even found a grand log of wood along the path perfect for our woodburning stove - Cathy and I took turns in carrying it.  Once we arrived back in the village Les offered to put the log back in the car while we strolled around to check out the Lavoir and other village relics.  The one pictured below, which we had guessed to be either a well or a horse-shoeing contraption turned out to be a bullock castrating machine !!! ….ouch.   

As it was now lunchtime we decided to go into the restaurant “Chez Nelly”  for the set menu joining around 16 workmen who were already ensconced around a large table and on their second course.  After a lovely four course meal with wine we staggered to the car only to find that our pilfered log had again been pilfered by someone else – what a cheek!     

In the evening we had a great time singing Christmas Carols in both French and English in the square in Eymet, and yes...... the free mulled wine was much appreciated. What a lovely day, I don’t think we could have fitted any more in, collapsing at home at around 8.30pm. 

December scenes

We are still able to go for some lovely walks and when the sun is shining it’s really quite warm. I have included here some of the lovely views and scenes near to our house.

Persimmon - Sharon fruit tree

Scarecrow!

Our house in the distance

Monteton Church 

Much to our surprise Christmas decorations and fairy lights are appearing in the towns and villages even in the smallest hamlets the square will have handmade decorations of some kind or another.  Baubles and tinsel are attached to fir trees which line the streets at road level, there’s not that much traffic but we can’t think these decorations will last that long being blown about with every car that passes.  Our own village is starting to look festive too with a few lights and garlands. These more upmarket decorations we found in Bergerac recently.  

Late Autumn Update

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.

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 11^th we visited the Fete de St Martin – see Jeans Diary entry for more details and photos.

A Pigeonnier - a local sign of wealth

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.  

Eymet on market day

Eymet on market day

Eymet on market day

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!

Settling into 'Columbine'

After two months living in our motorhome we are really pleased to be ‘at home’ for November and December in our little stone house with beautiful views near Duras in the Dordogne.  We even have a resident red squirrel that searches around the hazelnut trees in the garden and pinches the bird seed in the night.

I must say it felt a little odd on the first day after the daily routine we had slipped into, but very welcome,  as the nights were getting quite cold especially if we didn’t manage to get hooked up to electricity.  

Now we have lots of decisions to make about where to put our stuff – so many rooms to choose from,  and  loads of walking about when we have forgotten where we’ve  put them.   We decided the first thing to be done was to have a luxurious bath, next, to find out where to get the wood for the burner in the lounge.  We have a lovely pool but sadly it will not be used this time, it still looks inviting though!

After a trip 2 km down the road we came upon the local woodsman and after much gesticulating and two more trips to ascertain the exact size of wood we would need, we eventually took delivery of our cubic metre of wood.  Now to sit back and toast.

We will be spending the next few weeks sampling the local wine, visiting the local markets and trying the local restaurants.   All for research purposes of course, as we look forward to seeing our friends and family in the weeks to come. 

Below is a map of our journey so far, just over 1000 miles since Calais  …….. to be continued in January 2013 when we head further south.

Atlantic Coast

We really enjoyed our time in the Loire but it was time to head towards the coast and visit some of the towns we had missed last year.  Unfortunately the weather has been very changeable with heavy rain and wind most nights so, those of you with a conservatory can imagine the sleepless nights we have been experiencing.  No-one would ever sleep in one at home!  But then, in the morning,  the sun comes out and the beaches are gloriously empty and bathed in a soft light.  We particularly liked the small ports south of Les Sables-d’Orlonne which are sleepy backwaters at this time of the year and we can park right next to the beach during the day.

 

Click on the photo's to enlarge

                                                       

A few days on and more rain, this time with no sun during the day.  Even so, we are very impressed by the coast south of  Ile D’Oléron and on down to Royan.  I could happily retire here rain or not. 

Things to do in rainy weather:-

1)      Shop for cakes in the local bakery.

2)      Try to get Wifi in McDonalds etc.

3)      Shop again for cakes!

4)      Les, practising his Ukulele, and doing quite well, Steve!

5)      Me, ..…shhhhh!  Knitting!

6)      Eating cakes.

A few more photo's of the little ports around the Gironde Estuary south of Royan.

The smallest Marie we have seen! 

As we only update the blog from time to time you may wish to visit the diary pages on the tabs at the top of the home page.  We tend to update these pages more regularly.

Northern France to La Loire

At last we have enough free Wifi to update the Blog with a few pics of our travels so far.  We came over to France via the tunnel at Calais taking time to see Rouen and Orleans, which are mentioned in the diary pages, and we have also managed to do some cycling.  There is a very good cycle route from Nevers to St Nazaire along the Loire and we will try to dip in and out when the weather and legs allow us.  On the whole the weather has been good with only occasional rain and the odd cold night but it's warmer than the UK, even so, the nights are drawing in fast.  We saw some English motor-homers in Northern France who were making their way down to Spain for the winter towing their smart cars etc. but here in the Loire it's mostly the French doing the tourist route around Les Chateaux.

 

 






Spot makes his first appearance at Rouen Cathedral!

Orleans Cathedral gardens

   



   Fête des Voies Vertes


   Along the cycle route from Broglie to Bernay in the Eure

Aire at La Chapell-St-Mesmin

Chambord Chateau !

Our Farewell Cuppa!

Compared to today's rainy weather we were blessed on Saturday 22nd with a fine day, fine friends, a hot beverage and Thornton's choccies to see us off.  Thanks to all those who came to the Lobster Pot especially 'Spot the dog' who you may see from time to time hiding in our photo's as we travel.  Every time he features in our photo's our friend Chris will donate to charity.

Dorset Views

Staying around Swanage for a few days, lots of walking and cycling in the lovely weather. We really did deserve that cream tea in Corfe with views of the Castle.