Where-ever I lay my hat

Wednesday dawned a lovely day and I felt much better after a few good sleeps but am still not pleased I climbed the mountain again – I got over that by Monday morning and now just think it was a stupid thing to do. Probably in a couple more days I’ll be proud of myself again. We went for a walk along to the bean patch, through the fields, wildflower meadows, orchard, along the river and past the weir, and through the tree nursery, to take some pictures of our work. It is an extraordinarily beautiful walk to work! Then we had to say our goodbyes, which was a bit sad but they were really happy with our work and said there are very few WWOOFers as conscientious as us, which we thought was really nice. We drove to Carcassonne and initially wondered what all the fuss was about, although the town centre looked a bit walled and Spanish feeling and quite nice, we decided to just keep driving. Then we turned the corner to have the old city on its hill in front of us and realised what the fuss is about! It’s a medieval fortified city and very spectacular from below so we stopped at a picnic area by the river and had our lunch with a view of the cite. Then we strolled up and through the walls into the old cite and it was really pretty, lots of medieval signs and old stone and half timbered buildings and it had lots of character despite being covered in tourism businesses. On the way out the other side our camera ran out of battery and we saw some of the most spectacular views of the walls and turrets. There was also a great view over the terracotta roofs of the town below all at different angles and slightly different shades of terracotta. It was a lot like the pictures you see of Florence and even had a beautiful cathedral in the background. We had also forgotten to take any money with us so couldn’t even get a postcard of it. We knew we would miss some things when we decided we couldn’t afford a second camera battery but we’ll have to take better care to have the other camera as well when the battery starts to get low. We simply hadn’t expected such a spectacular place – always expect the unexpected!! By the time we left it was getting on in the afternoon and we carried on driving. After several attempts to dry mint for tea in Izaut that always got caught in a rain shower and therefore only rotted, we had eventually decided the back shelf of the car was the best place to dry herbs so we had mint and camomile drying during the journey. We also discovered that once they are quite dry they start blowing around so we also know when they are ready – very convenient aside from having to stop and pack up the herbs or hunt them from all over the car when we stop. As we left Carcassonne we joined the Canal de Midi and followed its course for a while. It is rather pretty and we would rather have been on the canal than driving in the hot sun but it was miles and miles of plane tree lined canal and could get tedious after a while so we contented ourselves with our lot. The scenery got gradually dryer and there were more irrigators out in the fields and the towns started to look less lovely – probably because its hard to look lovely in dry stony areas with little colour. It was almost like Central America in places with the dry landscape, Spanish style houses and looking relatively impoverished, even the big posh houses. Then we headed into the hills again and there are some beautiful hills and valleys and the towns got prettier again. We headed to Colognac in Department 30 where we eventually found la Domaine de la Cledette and met Bernard and his son Christophe. They are both really nice and made us very welcome and we have a great little unit to live in so have been able to spread out all our stuff. We have found there is a leak in the car somehow and the boot is all wet so everything had to come out in hopes we can find and fix the problem. It does seem that they may not have much for us to do or learn here as they are trying to sell the property so have stopped the projects that we were interested in and don’t seem greatly enthusiastic about the remainder. We may have to do a wee attitude adjustment and see it as a holiday where we do a little work for our accommodation and food, rather than as a learning experience. We’ll see how things go in the morning. Christophe loves sport and was delighted to have Steve to watch the football with, which also made Steve fairly happy to sit and watch sport on tele for a while. I think we have to go along to one of Christophe’s games at some stage too. The area is lovely and although the driveway is long and terrible it’s a very quiet and beautiful remote location in the hills. It seems there are wine regions nearby and Steve was excited that a lesser-known region is just nearby that he likes the wine from. So we should have plenty to occupy our afternoons. We had a lentils and rice dish for dinner followed by cheese – a lovely selection of French cheeses from this area, Jura, and the mountains. It’s the sort of thing that we wanted to experience in France in terms of food because its was nothing out of the ordinary for them, the cheeses were all part eaten and a couple getting a bit old but all delicious and the sort of thing we pay a fortune for in NZ only for a very special dinner.
Thursday morning was a slow start and Steve went down to supervise Christophe leaving for school while I slept in then we had breakfast and Bernard came back from his work (he drives the school buses morning and evening) at 9.30 and we then got started on some work. It was only raking up the cut grass and sticks off the lawn and then weeding the currants. They were covered in convolvulus so it was a bit of a job and will continue tomorrow. We had a nice relaxing afternoon just resting on the lawn chairs with a book and a glass of wine. This is definitely getting a bit more like the ‘French dream’ the English have. We cooked dinner, as they didn’t get home till 8pm so I cooked Lee’s vegan cauliflower cheese recipe and we thought it was not bad at all.
Friday was another slightly slow start. We did more weeding of currants and a flower garden we hadn’t noticed but could turn out rather pretty without its weeds. It was warm and sunny and we tried to cautiously work a bit on our tans but after covering up after 11 we had no sign of the sun having touched us! Very unlike NZ. In the afternoon it rained and got a bit cold so we stayed indoors and chilled out and got the dinner sorted. We spent a while looking at farms to try and sort our next place after discovering the planned next one had cancelled us. Bernard had bought a chicken for our lunch and knowing how expensive organic free-range chicken is, I don’t like to waste it so we had chicken carbonara for lunch and chicken paella for dinner and had leftovers of both for us on the weekend while Bernard and Christophe are away, and also stock for making something else. They seemed quite happy with their meals (we got full marks in Christophe's cooking contest) and Christophe made a peculiar dessert, made more peculiar by me helping him with the completely incorrect idea of his plan. It was entertaining.
Saturday was wet and we decided not to go anywhere but to do some work instead and have a day off another day. We got a bit of weeding done and some cleaning of the kitchen when it got too wet outdoors. Other than that we spent a lot of time trying to organise our next farm as the host we were going to didn’t get our email so organised something else and cancelled us. We may have got things sorted for the last three farms in the north but need to get confirmations back from them. We resent a lot of emails because we think lots simply didn’t go when were at Lee’s, and we also sent a lot more and made a couple of phone calls. We had a trip out to St Hippolyte de Fort to the supermarket and to get petrol. The petrol prices are going up and apparently (according to Christophe) all of France believes the world is about to run out of petrol. Actually the fishermen at the ports are on strike about the cost of petrol and blocking the petrol tankers from getting in, hence increasing the cost of petrol and making everyone panic and queue for miles for petrol. This is French logic. We struck it lucky and had no queue but had seen plenty on the journey up here. We also got a bottle of local wine (Pic St Loup – has anyone other than Steve EVER heard of that region!!!) and had it with our dinner – it was absolutely divine and dirt cheap so was a real treat.
Sunday was also wet – very wet and having lamented there not being a pool when we arrived here there now is, as well as an outdoor shower. We spent some of the morning cleaning the kitchen again and then braved the outdoors in the afternoon and got some more weeding and strimming done. We also watched the grand prix at Monaco and thought it was a shame because we are only 3 hours away and one of the farms we could have gone to would have been only 30min away and we could have at least got to the outskirts of the race. However that was the farm that’s now cancelled on us, we would have been camping, it rained for a chunk of the race and it would have ruined our budget rather badly. The tele was perfectly adequate given all the circumstances and it was a great race. Although we are getting pretty stressed about farms to go to we chilled a bit in the evening and reminded ourselves that we are sitting having French wine with our dinner that was dirt cheap and really good and we are in a beautiful location in the south of France and most people we know are working at real jobs (sorry). So despite the stress our lot is actually rather good.
On Monday it rained, on Tuesday it rained and it thundered and lighteninged and it rained. There were a few dry spells each day so when we could we did some outdoor chores – mainly weeding and putting up tomato poles. Otherwise we cleaned in the kitchen and the gite. In the afternoons we read and sorted farms and I worked on our house and kitchen design. In the evenings we had dinner and then wine and cheese. Bernard is really treating us with the cheese and we had a lovely Camembert, a firm Savoie cheese, a Gorgonzola and a gorgeous local semi firm brebis (sheep’s cheese). We just have a small taste of cheese and a small glass of wine each evening after the meal and its fantastic. Its interesting that in other cultures we would eat a lot more and drink a lot more but a little is perfectly adequate and means you take your time and savour it and have more to look forward to the next night. I think our culture is becoming gluttonous and it’s not necessary.
On Wednesday we decided it was time for our postponed day off and so we set out despite the rain. It turned out to be a good decision because as soon as we got out of the mountains it cleared up and by the time we got to Pont du Gard it was hot and sunny and we were far overdressed. The drive there was lovely and there were a couple of pretty hillside villages above rivers that we might try and go back to – especially Sauve. The poppies are flowering and we were driving through vineyards most of the day and the colours are lovely. Everything is so green again here – possibly something to do with all the rain! Pont du Gard is a Roman aqueduct that runs 48m above the river and spans 275m carrying 20million litres a day. The aqueduct is built on three levels of arches and is pretty spectacular; particularly that it is still standing. We walked across it and to a couple of viewpoints then around the edge of the demonstration garrigue (local scrubland landscape with flowers and olives etc) following the course of the aqueduct. Off the actual bridge the survival hasn’t been so great and lots of parts were tumbled down but usually in huge chunks of half an arch. There were parts where the water channel could still be seen. We drove on to an abbey to see a cave abbey but it was too expensive so we had lunch under an olive tree by some huge purple poppies and carried on to Beaucaire (which was pretty on both sides of the canal du Rhone) and across the Rhone to Tarascon. The Rhone is one of those rivers that is just so huge that it actually isn’t pretty, evidenced by a total absence of cafes along its banks, although it is impressive. Good King Rene built a great chateau on the edge of the river, which is fairly intact, and there’s a statue of the Tarasque, which was a half lion, half armadillo monster that terrorised the town in the 9th century. Next stop was Arles, which has lots of Roman remains including a huge intact amphitheatre that is still used for concerts and bullfighting, an old theatre and baths. All were having work done on them but were interesting to see. We didn’t pay the high prices to go in because we are cheap and have probably seen better ones before or could see it from the fence anyway. The town is really pretty with narrow colourful streets, pretty alleys and a nice church doorway with elaborate carvings. After a stroll about we headed south just into the Carmargue. We went to Gallician, which is on the canal du Rhone a Sete and a lake and we had a walk (got rained on in customary fashion) and a drive along the lake to look at herons and birds. We saw a couple of modern Cabanes, which are the traditional thatched cowboys huts. We also saw a small herd of the wee black Carmargue bulls, which are really pretty. Then it was time to head back, through more vines – some with convenient labels for the tourists, Syrah, Cabernet, Chardonnay, and Grenache – for a great dinner of flambé lapin and potato gratin. It was a really nice day and the weather was kind to us by being not too hot after Pont du Gard and not too wet.
Thursday started off wet again and so started with cleaning but it cleared up and we worked outdoors for most of the morning pruning the chestnut trees. It was fairly hard labour as we only have lightweight choppers and most of the branches are a bit too thick for them. Many will need to be done later with the chainsaw. We got wet and had to take shelter a couple of times but it was mostly ok. After leftover rabbit for lunch Steve did some more strimming and I prepared the dinner and made brownies, and we spent our spare afternoon just chilling and browsing travel books of France and cookbooks.
Friday was another day off and we saw the sunrise but it quickly disappeared into the fog. We decided to go anyway and had lovely views of the mountains (just wee ones) in the mist. It was a 1 1/2 hour drive to the Gorges du Tarn with several photo stops along the way because the scenery got progressively more stunning. We had an unplanned stop when we saw a whole field of poppies beside the road. The poppies at the moment ore amazing and there’s often poppies between the rows of vines and the roadsides and fields of grain filled with poppies. This was the first easily accessible one so we had to get some photos. The Gorges was pretty stunning as the river cut down through the granite of the Massif Central. The top is a flat plateau called Causses, which have a unique flora although fairly desolate. We started off driving over the Causse de Cevennes then down into the gorge. The sides are fairly steep and bottom narrow and you have to wonder what possessed anyone to build a house there in the beginning never mind whole villages springing up. There are still villages with no road access (and whoever first thought of putting a road through there mush have been mad). The farming would have been pretty harsh and there are remnants of narrow terraces clinging to the hillsides. However the villages were gorgeous and Ste Enimie had a medieval town, which was truly stunning with its narrow alleys meandering up the cliff and gorgeous gardens and roses climbing the warm hues of the stone walls. La Malene was also pretty but had a motocross event on so was a bit noisy for us and we got bread from the boulangerie and carried on. We found a nice picnic spot under an overhanging cliff in a quiet bend of the river (although the road ran right beside the picnic table is was still lovely). We made a couple of wee detours to pretty towns like St Chely du Tarn, where a mountain stream gushed over a ledge into the Tarn and the road in was precarious through narrow tunnels and a one way bridge. We stopped at Pas de Sorci where the river squeezes through a narrow gap and declined to pay the euro to climb the rock but strolled along the river a bit. All our strolls were slightly hazardous, being on cliff edges, but also because the wildflowers were amazing and I would frequently stop without warning and get totally sidetracked taking pictures of the flowers. There were also butterflies and lizards to be avoided at every step. I always get enthusiastic about wildflowers and Michelle and I always used to squeal about them but the wildflowers here (France) are something else. Just along the roadside at Pas de Sorci there were red, blue, purple, white, yellow, and pink flowers. After we left the Gorges we headed to Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, where the famous cheese is made. We paid for a tour at le Societe, in a very snobby way, as it’s ‘the’ place, even though 2 others offered free tours and in English! We were rather happy with the tasting but disappointed by the lack of touristy souvenirs as we wanted to get something tacky for us and for Rosie (who is the fab lady that runs the French cheese shop in Christchurch www.fromage.co.nz - we are thinking about Rosie a lot on this trip when we taste some amazing cheeses and we wish we could share them with her). We also tasted at Papillion and another Roquefort and then headed home. We went via the Causse Noir where we saw some of the sheep that are responsible for the cheese we just ate. I thought that was pretty cool. As we were coming up the hill back to the house we noticed piles of salt on the road and workmen clearing several slips. The piles of salt got deeper until we realised it was hail and was up to 4 inches deep beside the road and on some of the fields. There had been a huge hailstorm on that side of the hill only, at our place there was none but over there the tomatoes looked dreadful and lots of crops were lost. It was quite bizarre to have spent the day in almost summer and come back through winter. We had a bit of Roquefort after dinner and finished off the amazing Brebis that I like so much.
Saturday was another work day and we worked in the chestnut wood and did strimming and weeding and it was relatively dry all day. I even got to sit outdoors in the afternoon and read my book in the sun. Then we went mushrooming with Bernard and Christophe. We find it amazing that an 8-year old has a fair idea what mushrooms are ok to eat and what not and what an amazing way to grow up that is. We picked girolles (chanterelles) mostly and scrambled all over the hillsides of the chestnuts woods. We also found a cepe and a few other edible but not great things that we left behind. It was very cool to do but in that way of things here that its just part of life. We had a small panic when Steve disappeared and then we heard a huge crash and no sound from Steve for a while. A huge tree had just fallen down 20m from him with no warning, but he was safe, if a little disturbed. Dinner was steak au cheval and unfortunately my piece of meat was rather chewy, which has a tendency to put me off eating meat for a week or two, but other than that the taste was good.
Sunday was, unusually, wet. We sanded and painted indoors for the morning and managed to do a bit more in the chestnut wood in the afternoon and have some time just to chill out. I think the rain is getting to us all. Bernard is grumpy (we’re hoping it’s the rain and not us) and we are all a bit on edge so it’s not as lovely a relaxing place to be as it was when we first arrived. Some vitamin D would not go astray.
Monday started off looking pretty miserable too but we decided to pack up the bikes and clothes for all weathers and go down to the Carmargue. We went to Aigues-Mortes, which is a medieval walled town and was very pretty. We did a bit of souvenir shopping and had a quick drive down to the saltworks, with its big white mountains. We started seeing flamingos along the roadside so were pretty happy already, and got a couple of close pictures. Then we drove to Les Sts Maries de la Mer, named for 3 Saintes called Marie who sailed there and were related to the Virgin Mary. It’s now a kind of gypsy pilgrimage and there’s a gypsy fair every May. The market was just finishing up and we managed to get some cheese for our lunch and had a quick look around, the herb stands were particularly nice, then headed to the edge of town and got the bicycles ready. We cycles 12km along the edge of the beach of the Camargue national park and it was mostly lovely cycling although there was abit through the sand dunes that we had to get off and walk and it was defiantly a mountain bike track in parts. We saw loads of flamingoes and kept trying to stalk them to get good photos but they just calmly walked away without you really even noticing they were getting further from you rather than closer. We cycled to a lighthouse and stopped on the way back for lunch. It was pretty hot and the sun shining at last so we were happy to discover we had come to a naturist beach so we could have a swim and dry off in the sun. it was lovely to swim in the med and the water was lovely. Lunch was bread and cheese and some cherries that we had got for 1euro for 500g. we had been so careful with the sun up till now that we knew we could be out in it for 3 hours without getting burned but apparently the sun is different here because we both got burnt (although not badly and it will probably tan). It was great to have the bikes as it gave us freedom to explore and it was really cool to be cycling in the Camargue – this is what this trip is supposed to be about! We carried on driving around the big lake and stopped at an amazing viewpoint where ther happened to be a small group of wild ponies grazing in the rice fields in the sunshine and looking really gorgeous. We also saw some Camargue bulls and tasted saussison made from them. We got limited to viewing from the car by millions of mosquitoes around the lake but they were not there at the salt mountain we went to photgraph before heading home again. The drive home was lovely through rice fields and vineyards and into the mountains again s the light started to fade with pretty colours in the layers of hills. Dinner was bit late and we were pretty tired by bedtime.
Tuesday was our last working day and we didn’t have much left to do to do our hours so we puttered about pruning chestnuts and I had to make a brownie for Christophes birthday. I also brushed the donkey for a while and she loved it. She is apparently a pet but doesn’t get much attention and seems like she could be a rather sweet donkey with a bit of love. Her coat certainly was rather neglected and she clearly loved the good scratch. We had some leftovers for lunch then went to Sauve for a wee trip. Its really very quaint and attractive although you probably wouldn’t describe it as pretty. Theres lots of medieval houses and along the river front they are up to six stories high although less at the back as they go up the cliff. The river was fairly swollen and theres another river joins it coming down the hillside in the town. Actually it looks like it’s a spring just coming out of a wall in the town but the volume of water was vast so it couldn’t be a spring. The were quaint narrow streets and domed archways running between them and the men were out playing petanque in front of the brocante (antique store) which had a gorgeous dress and some fabulous old iron work outside it and the courtyard all planted with big plane trees for shade. The old bridge across the river was really pretty and there were some wee ruins up on top of the hill. Its was a really lovely atmosphere. We then drove down a couple of gorgeous vineyard valleys towards Laroque and went in search of some more of the wine we had liked, which we eventually found back at the supermarket. We got back in time for Christophe getting home from school and Steve played badminton and football with him for a while and we got the car packed up. We had trout for dinner and another 2 new cheeses and Bernard gave us a bottle of wine and sounded genuinely appreciative of everything we had done in the very reserved way of a Frenchman.
On Wednesday 4 June we left La Cledette at 7am and basically spent the day driving to Fayence in Provence. We went past Nimes, Arles, Aix-en-Provence and down to the coast to Cassis. Cassis looked really pretty and we spent about half an hour looking for a park but found none to look around the town. It looked pretty modern and brightly coloured in a very pleasant way and was certainly bustling. We eventually found a parking area on the way out of town by the sea and so had our lunch on the rocks beside the med. It was hot and sunny and we had this wee bit of coast all to ourselves for a while. We couldn’t see the town, only the cliffs outside town and a few houses scattered up on the hills, a couple of rocky points jutting out into the sea with wee stone huts on the end and a few yachts. The med really is a beautiful blue and the sky is a slightly different shade of blue like in the paintings and that surprised me. Lunch was also pretty impressive in a very simple way, we had a fresh baguette which was great and some Roquefort and a white cheese from Roquefort too which I think was about the nicest cheese I’ve eaten. We took a couple of motorways through Toulon, which we saw nothing appealing about and headed to the coast again at Lavandou and followed the coast raod along and up to Saint Tropez. It seemed pretty otherworldly for us to driving along these gorgeous Mediterranean beaches and towns following the signs to Saint Tropez. We had a stroll about in Saint Tropez and looked at all the huge posh boats parked right up in town and their inhabitants sunbathing in full view of everyone. Some of the boats were magnificent and some just clearly indicated more money than sense and for showing off rather than being much to do with boating. We didn’t see anybody famous (although I probably wouldn’t recognise them anyway). The beaches are actually quite a long way out of town and there is a bus service that runs to them, although I’m sure the rich and famous don’t take the bus! The traffic leaving there and all the way along to Sainte Maxime was terrible and we crawled along, although some of the views were pretty. There was more lovely coastline and bright Mediterranean villages along the coast until we headed inland and north. Fayence is a gorgeous town that sprawls up a hill and is postcard perfect. We arrived at Lisa’s place and had a look around and got settled before dinner. It’s a beautiful old stone farmhouse with an addition on the side and a lovely covered porch outside our room and a pool that looks over the hills and the village. Its rather luxurious compared to some places we’ve been and we were not at all anxious about coming here as after talking to Lisa on the phone it felt more like we were coming to visit a friend than to work in some strangers garden. There’s a 500 year old oak tree sheltering the house that is pretty stunning. Theres also a Scottish couple here WWOOFing and they are really nice. We had a very pleasant dinner and chatted for the evening.

We did a couple of hours work on Thursday morning and worked out what part of the issue with work was. It takes her at least twice as long as an average person to do anything because she gets distracted so often and so what she thinks is four-five hours work only takes us two or less. She also can’t plan what needs to happen next so actually isn’t capable of telling us what she needs done because she doesn’t know. We left at 10.30 after saying fond farewells to Andy and goodbye to her, and drove straight down towards Les Eyzies. On the way we stopped for a stroll aobut at the base of le Roc St Cristophe, which is an amazing cliff with old dwellings cut into big channels along its length. Its just above the river Vezere and even the views from below it are great. We didn’t go in because we’ve been before and our budget is not doing well. We also ahd a brief stroll at Abri de la Madeleine which is another cave dwelling with a chateau incorporated, however we couldn’t see much and didn’t go in. In Les Eyzies we checked the tour times at Abri Pataud then had a brief stroll around and went to the campground and pitched our tent and had some cheese and bread for lunch. It was lovely to hang my hammock under a tree and just relax for a while. We walked back into town in time for the 3.30 tour which was really interesting and we saw where they had done a dig and then the artefacts from the dig. It was really interesting although turned out not to be the museum we had expected. Les Eyzies is as stunning as we remembered and it was amazing to just stroll along the tiny narrow streets with houses built into the cliffs and the cliffs towering above us with huge overhangs. The architecture is amazing and the colour of the stone gorgeous, giving the whole place lots of charm despite the throngs of tourists. The shops are all fois gras and gift shops or cafes with not much of a real local economy evident but its still lovely. We spent the evening just chilling out at the campground trying to read/ organise more places from the WWOOFer book (with a glass of rose in my hammock!). we discovered the couple camping next to us were also kiwis from Dunedin and on a cycling holiday in France for a couple of months, so we had a lovely chat with them and shares tales and tips.
On Friday morning we packed up the tent feeling fully refreshed from having our own space for a while, and headed to Sarlat. We had been before but on market day and it was lovely to go on a regular day, although it was still bustling because it was a holiday. The streets are lovely stone again and lots of cute winding alleyways with surprises down nearly every one – statues or cute houses or beautiful quaint architecture. It’s a medieval town with a really nice atmosphere and just very pleasant to stroll around. We headed south after that and spent most of the afternoon driving and discussing plans for our property and what we’ve learnt so far. We were surprised to see snow still on the Pyrennees and also surprised by how beautiful the whole area is, although in a different way to the Dordogne. The mountains and lovely and cute villages clutching to the sides of the mountains are really pretty. The air is nice and clear and even though its drizzly and cloudy its very beautiful and atmospheric. We arrived in Izault de l’Hotel about 5pm to Karen and Lee and had a while to settle in and a look around before dinner. They are really nice people and have a wee boy called Rowan who is three and normal for a three year old. They live in one room (with a mezzanine sleeping area reached by a ladder) and we have a caravan that is parked under cover. Its pretty comfortable and a lot nicer than the caravan Leni had that she was going to rent out to paying guests. They have 1 hectare by the house and another four further up the river and they keep 150 laying hens and grow trees and vegetables. They’ve been here 3 years and are still getting set up and had been WWOOFers for years before that so can tell us lots of tales.
We started off on Saturday morning going with Karen for the morning chicken routine then had breakfast and headed into the forest with Lee to collect bean poles. It was an area of forest that has been partially cleared of box (I didn’t know it grew to trees of up to 5m tall rather than the ornamental things we see as garden borders!) we collected what we could then cut down a lot more. It was beautiful working in the forest even though it had been raining and we got absolutely saturated from the wet ground and leaves dripping. It was pretty hard work scrambling up and down the hillside with long branches and cutting them down and trimming them and we were pleased when the church bell chimed one so we could stop and head back for a bowl of warm soup from Karen. The walk back was lovely too, through fields with wildflowers all over the place and the gentle ching ching of the cow bells and birds singing. After lunch we just spent the afternoon relaxing and reading some of their books, which is another impressive collection. Steve helped Lee collect the bean poles from the forest in the trailer and we did the chickens evening routine ourselves.
Sunday is usually a day of rest but because we’ve just arrived we worked a few hours. We started with the morning chickens which will be my regular chore and then after breakfast went with Lee to the other block. The walk there is lovely, along the river that flows beside the house and through fields and orchards. It was really nice working in a field in the mountains (well its really only the foothills of the mountains but it still has a mountain feel to the air and again the gentle ching ching of cow bells. We finished weeding the rows of chestnuts and got some lunch then headed out to explore. We drove further south to near the Spanish border and did a wee walk in to a very popular lake with an amazing waterfall. We were above the level of where iceflows still remain on the mountainside and it was gorgeous. It was rather a climb though which we were’nt aware of when we started. We climbed over 400m vertical height in 45 minutes and it was hard slog. The view at the top was probably worth it but it also got rather wet and we were fairly wet when we got back to the car. It was a gorgeous valley and we saw real mountain shepherds herding their sheep and goats on the mountainsides. It really felt like what I imagine the Swiss alps to be in summer (except for the rain) with gorgeous fileds of wildflowers, cowbells and shepherds. We tried to drive into spain on the way back but the road was closed for some reason so we just headed straight back and relaxed in the sunshine and watched our clothes dry for a while before dinner. The meals are great and very sustaining. They are vegetarian but with lots of variety and very nutritious and good and just what you need after a days work (or mountainclimbing). Its taking me a while to settle here, I think because I’m a bit nervous after the last experience. However they are very nice and we’re getting used to their routine and working out our own need for our own space too. There’s quite a bit to learn here and they have lots of different experiences to learn from too. We are also surprised by the fact that we don’t seem to be useless and as someone had said to us that we have common sense and that helps a lot.
Monday morning after chicken chores and breakfast we were in the potager clearing weeds, cutting down tree broccoli and getting rid of aphids. The potager is beside the chicken shed but the chickens don’t go out on it at all and we threw buckets of weeds over the fence to the chickens – it became apparent why chickweed is named – they pick that out pretty quickly. After lunch we went for a walk up the wee hill near here, which has a wee ruin on top and lovely views of the mountains and the village. It was pretty warm all morning and during the walk up but once we were up on top we started hearing thunder from both directions so headed back down again and got back before the rain. It was nice for one day not to get soaked. Karen’s parents and aunt and uncle had arrived and are very nice people. We just relaxed in the garden for a while before dinner. I have a favourite spot near the caravan which is a garden wall and from there I can see over the house garden, the river, the henhouse, the horses grazing in the wildflower meadow across the river and up to the hills. Its gorgeous and very relaxing and so I scrubbed it down so it was really comfy to sit on and I can also do my yoga stretches there. Karen and Lee had dinner with her family at the gite in the village where they are staying so we fended for ourselves and did the chickens before bed.
Tuesday was another day near the house and we started off weeding nursery trees but when we finished Lee was still out so we just continued with weeding and manure spreading on the potager and Steve cleaned out a chicken house for Karen. Lee was surprised when he got back how much had been done and seemed like he only expected us to do the trees. Lunch was a real affair, with Karen’s cousins also visiting and we all had lunch together outdoors round a big table. It was really nice and a nice rose flowing freely and good food and good company and we felt very privileged to be included as that is what is portrayed in England as the French dream. The hard slog behind it is not recognised and that those days are rare, so for us it was a lovely treat. We went for a walk up the hill again after lunch, this time with painting things (and a book for Steve). It was very pleasant to just sit in the shade of an oak and paint a French village and the mountains. The layers of blue of the mountains blends into the green of the closer hills and the woodlands and fields. The terracotta roves really stand out and you can see cattle grazing on the meadows and it’s a very peaceful scene. There was only the occasional cloud shadow drifting lazily across the landscape and we had to be careful to stay out of the sun as it got pretty hot. We collected rose petals on the way back down to make some rose-petal syrup and when we got down everyone was out. I had a quick bath in the river, which was extremely cold but it felt glorious. That feeling on your skin of tingling with real cold but the sun shining on you at the same time is delicious. I sat on my section of wall to dry out then did some stretches on the wall before dinner, which was bean stew Karen had made for lunch.
Wednesday we got a sleep in as Karen did the chickens and after breakfast we went back over to the other block to spread black plastic in all the spaces between the nursery trees and block it down with tyres. Then we trimmed and sharpened the box poles we had cut in the forest and started making bean frames. On the way back to the house we nearly stood on a wee roe deer just by the river and then watched it bound off and upset the dogs and fly over fences. We did a little more nursery tree weeding after lunch until it started to rain again. It seems to rain most days here in the afternoons which kind-of limits us exploring. The fact that its simply gorgeous just right here doesn’t inspire us to go far either. We made elderflower fritters for the family for an afternoon snack, which proved and great conversation piece, and then were left to our own devices for dinner again (more leftover bean casserole) and a quiet evening reading their great collection of books and just chilling. I’m really enjoying it here now and am learning lots about different ways of doing things and also about managing WWOOFers as Lee is great to work for and has lots of very effective strategies for managing us. They also seem pretty happy with the work we are doing and we are really enjoying it. The variety is really good and Lee likes to do something different each day so he doesn’t get bored. At first it seemed like it was pretty tough to spend a whole 5 hour block doing one activity but he actually interrupts us frequently to teach us wee things and show us things and that means we get wee breaks so its never actually the full slog.
Despite never working solidly the five hours, by Thursday we were both feeling a bit tired. We finished off the tree weeding that we started yesterday then went back to the other block. Steve had a hard morning trimming the sharp points on the box sticks so they would go in the ground while I tied them in pairs with wire and helped Lee set up the bean frames. When we were done it looked from a distance like a tribe of Indians were moving in and setting up tee-pees all in a line. We did a bit more weeding of the potager then had a quick lunch of leftovers and headed out for the afternoon. We headed to Spain, which is only 45 minutes away. We thought it wouldn’t really be any different to France but were very surprised in the change in architecture almost as soon as we crossed the border. The houses became more like Swiss mountain chalets and there was lots of development going on and nice new ski accommodation complexes of stone and slate roves that match the local style well. We stopped at the supermarket to get a few things and were also surprised how much cheaper things were – particularly alcohol and petrol, so we filled the car up before we left Spain. We drove in to Vielha and then up into the mountains at Boqueira where we climbed to the top of the pass that was 2074m high. There was still quite a bit of snow there and we went for a stroll around. The scenery was stunning, we could see to far distant mountains with the sun shining on peaks, amazing green valleys and gorgeous chalet villages clinging to the mountainsides. We had followed the river Garonne right up and were near its source where it was little more than a mountain stream. It’s hard to imagine it becoming one of the major waterways of Europe when it’s a wee mountain stream. The flowers on the top of the mountains were gorgeous and we had a glorious time being able to be high up in the Pyrenees without having to climb a huge hill. Lee is very keen that we climb the mountain near their house but its short route is over 600m ascent and a hard slog even to fit people so I’m trying to be sensible and say no to climbing it even though I’d really like to. I’m just not sure I’m capable of it. We got back from Spain a bit late and had a picnic dinner sitting on the wall in the garden then an earlyish night.
Friday was a bit damp so we stayed close to the house and weeded the potager until I had my doctor’s appointment. Karen came with me and did all the translating which was lucky because getting a Depo injection in France is much more complicated than you would think, as its not done anymore and it took a couple of phone calls and then we’d have to pick up the prescription and go back to the doctor. The whole process will take several days. However the doctor visit was quick and easy and we got back in time to do a few more small chores before everything got rained off again. The family were out for the afternoon so we had a quiet afternoon in the house reading and putting all the ideas we’ve come up with so far on this trip onto paper. It has become apparent that if we use the land like we want to then we actually have quite a lot of it! We are learning a lot more about permaculture and it fits well with what we are hoping to achieve and is also a very efficient use of land.
Saturday was wet again and we had been thinking of going up the Cagire (with some vigorous encouragement from Lee) but called it off to try again on Sunday. We spent the morning plastering which was very enjoyable and fairly therapeutic. It was an old stone wall and the best technique was to fling the plaster at it so by lunchtime we were thoroughly plastered. We finally got my prescription in the afternoon and then sheltered indoors till evening. We all went out for aperitifs with Frederic sho lives down the road and has made an irish pub in his garden. It’s a pretty cool pub and he likes to gather musicians there and is pretty good himself on a bodhran and fiddle. He was trying to persuade me to play and didn’t believe me that I was incapable even though I had my own bodhran. We had a very pleasant evening and said goodbye to Karens family partway through as they are leaving in the morign and we won’t see them. Her aunt had made a strawberry tart, which we had for our dessert when we got back then went to bed early.
We got up and looked at the weather at 6.15 on Sunday and the Cagire was not to be seen but when we got up again at 7 it had cleared a lot and there were blue patches in the sky so we set off for the cheats route from the back which involves the car doing a lot of climbing and leaving 600m vertical ascent for us. The car struggled a bit with its part and we had a brief stop when all the dashboard lights suddenly went on, but it settled after a rest and carried on up. We left it for a rest and set off up a trail ourselves and had been walking 20minutes up a steep hill when we realised it was the wrong trail so went back down and started again up the right trail. We took it very slowly and had lots of rests and hoped the cloud would clear. We met and English couple part way up and they said the cloud would clear at 11, which it immediately did but only for ten minutes. The fist part of the trail was downhill through the forest then up a forestry trail to the refuge. After that the ‘track’ ended and we really were on mountain trails, which were often very poorly marked and we thought it was a bit risky at times when we were in thick cloud and couldn’t easily find the trail. The scenery was gorgeous and we wandered (trudged would be more accurate but less romantic) up mountain meadows and through beech forest. The cloud drifted in and out and was really lovely in the coulours of the beech and pine forests and drifting over the ridges. There were lots of flowers everywhere including the last of the daffodils (a bit later there than everywhere else) and we saw a meadow of tiny purple flowers that were all close dup but had huge drips of dew on each one and tinged it purple so it was a sparkling field of purple dew. The middle section of the trail, wihich was the steep mountain meadow trudge) was hard going and very steep but once we got up to the pass de l’ane it was sligltly easier going. By the time we reached the top the cloud was really thick and we could barely see each other never mind any view (which is apparently spectacular). We headed quickly down again to find the trail before the cloud got any thicker. We climbed an extra wee bit to also get to the top of Pique Poque (turning into munro baggers) and then carried on down. The down was hard going and very steep and slippery in parts. The wind changed direction part way down which meant rain but fortunately it held off until we were back on the forestry trail and even though we were thoroughly wet at least we’d done the hard stuff. Once we got back to the car we headed south to Luchon to see if the thermes there were open and we were lucky and got in just after 3.30 for two hours before we had to head back. The Thermes are really interesting and unusual. The main feature is an underground cavern which is naturally hot and wet – so a natural steam bath. They have put paths and seats along its 160m length and you can wander round and sit in the steam baths. Then you go out and soak in a regular pool at 32º for a while then si on a lounger. The process is quite regimented and you have about 15 mins for each. We did 3 cycles and it was a lovely way to relax although very different to what we were expecting. The vaporarium is unique in Europe so was neat to have done although we probably wouldn’t have chosen it normally but it was great to have a treat after our climb. We got back to the house and got ourselves some leftovers for dinner and went to bed. As we were driving back the Cagire stuck its head out of the clouds briefly just to taunt us. We were still very happy to have done the climb even without the view and I’m very proud of myself for managing 6 1/2 hours walking and 700m vertical ascent in total.
Monday was wet and miserable and so we were saved from the box forest. Instead we did a bit of work for Karen and made some covers for her trays of herb cuttings and planted up a tray of cuttings. We stayed indoors for most of the afternoon and read books. It was interesting watching the river rising during the day and by the afternoon it was a raging torrent and the rock that was over a foot out of the water when I had my bath was now a foot under water. It cleared up a bit later on so we went for a walk along the lane until we could see the next village. We picked some wild strawberries to sustain us on the walk – they are only about a half centimetre across but very tasty. Its still lovely to look at the wildflowers as we’re walking and I certainly haven’t got at all used to it in the time we’ve been here and still really enjoy every field – and of course the cow bells.
Tuesday unfortunately was a bit clearer and we were not saved from the box forest, although it was not as wet and miserable as the first time we were there. The big problem was that I was simply exhausted and couldn’t cope. I was given the stripping task to do after the boys had cut the poles and I managed till about 12.00 till I had to give up, having lost the feeling in my right hand, having blurred vision and my left arm finally got exhausted from taking over with the scythe. I slept for the afternoon, got up for a while to read a book and went back to bed after an early dinner. It was really a shame because it was our last evening with Lee and Karen and they had invited us to a dinner party with some friends, which we had to turn down.