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.