Vive la France!

I've been home over a week now. Home to miserable, muggy, wet weather. Away from my Grandad and his lovely sunny weather. Back at work and stressed as ever! The rested feeling never lasts long does it?

My desire for anywhere but here seems to be getting stronger with each trip abroad. The minute my feet touch English soil, I feel my jaw start to tighten, my shoulders becoming tense... I have to start planning my next trip straight away. I never used to be like this, I used to be happy to wait a whole twelve months for my next holiday. But now? I feel completely depressed if I haven't got something else in the pipeline, something else to plan for and look forward to.

The space between trips is getting shorter and shorter - this time we only have a month between one and the next. But it isn't so much the need for a holiday to me anymore, it's just me, it's who I am. I am a traveller. I don't want to be still. You never know when it all could just end, I don't want to miss one thing. I want to see the world, see how other people live, I want to absorb as much information as will fit into my brain and then I want to come home and write about it... while planning the next journey.

Our last few days in France were lovely. I spent hours at night, sat with my Grandad in the crisp cool air in the garden, talking about his life, the places he's been and how he ended up there. I love hearing my Grandads tales. He is a traveller too. So is my Mum. We always have to be heading somewhere.

We didn't do much for the last two days, just had a nice relaxing time on some long walks with the heat on our backs. We went to my Mums favourite little town - Auvillar. A lovely sleepy little place.

Full of lots of quaint little houses, with flowers dripping off the walls, each in competition with its neighbour.

We ended up getting stuck in there as well! It's a tiny little place, you have to go through a clock tower to get in and it's all walled with only one way out. When we came to leave, there was a wedding just starting up. The wedding car had parked right in the middle of the road so nobody could drive out! the way we came in is a no exit but we thought we had no choice. We reversed all the way back round the one way system to the entrance... only to find someone had parked a van right in the middle of the clock tower!!! we were stuck for over half an hour!

We had a long walk through the orchards with the dog...

...and took some silly photos along the way, playing in the dead sunflowers!

I wanted to measure myself against the sweetcorn - it's not even fully grown yet (I'm small, but not that small - I look like a hobbit here!)

I miss those big skies and that gorgeous scenery! My heart belongs to you, French countryside!

My hubby smells like river!

You know how they get, they see the water and get all excited, wanting you to throw something in for them to go fetch and once they're in you just can't get them out.... No? Is that just mine?

We drove up to St Cirq Lapoppie today which is a good two hours away - Paul has been dying for a swim in the river ever since we got here! The scenery is beautiful up there. The swimming spot is a really still section of the river and always quite warm but still cool enough to be refreshing on these hot days.




In the summer, the kids dive off the bridge into the river but I don't think it's deep enough at the moment, Paul could stand up right in the middle.

The main village at the top of the (very steep) hill is one of my favourite places in France. It's like a Hansel and Gretel gingerbread town with its lovely little turreted buildings and crumbly plaster, all decorated with rosy coloured geraniums and grape vines.




The streets are lined with quaint little craft shops and teeny little bars. Each building is slightly different and has it's own distinguishing quality.




The view back on the road is stunning, especially during the golden hour where the glint of the sun on the buildings makes it look like you could just break off a little corner and have a nibble.




Lovely day!

We had a quiet one yesterday, after a big lunch at "Petit Robinson" we went back to the house for a long walk into Moissac with the dog. We walked along the canal and you could practically see the autumnal leaves changing colours in front of your eyes. Rich oranges, yellows and some almost pink. I've never seen autumn here before but it is lovely.



When we got into town, we were stopped by a parade of hundreds of soldiers walking through the streets fully armed and singing the French national anthem.


I think it must have been something to do with the second world war. Today marks the first day of the war so perhaps their procession yesterday commemorates the last day of peace before the war. I'm not sure.



A lot of people were very brutally killed in this area by the invasion of German armies. One village we drove through yesterday had all the men hung from the balcony of their mayors house. Another town still bears the bullet holes on the outside of one of its buildings where all of its men were lined up and shot dead. There are memorials on most of the country roads in this region.

Once we got past the troops, we enjoyed having a nosy at all the boats, especially the Moet Chandon boat! Very posh!



We had a little walk around town and up to the cathedral but the long trek had almost killed the dog so we didn't stay long!






Can we go home now???

Scarecrow Festival

In France, before the kids go back to school in September, lots of scarecrows appear around all of the little villages near my granddads house.

Yesterday we drove up to St Clar to have a swim at the lake there but were disappointed to find that it was closed now the kids were back at school. Instead, we had a drive around the local countryside hopping out of the car every now and then to snap a photo or two.






Normally when I visit, it's the beginning of july and all the brilliant sunflowers are at the best, gazing up at the sunshine with a smile on the big round faces. In September though, the are just starting to be harvested for their oil, they've all dried out and are looking very sad indeed!

We stopped at a tiny little village called Fleurance which had dozens of scarecrows standing guard outside shops, houses and some on the or lunch break having a picnic of bread, cheese and wine on a bench opposite the green grocers.




This lady is employed as the bouncer at the local bar. You would't mess with her would you? Have you seen those shoulders?




This scary Mary is protecting her husbands motor bike - ready to shout "stop thief" at anyone who even thinks about it!




This old fella was much more friendly and greeted me with a traditional south of France three cheek kiss. I was a bit worried about his cauliflower ear though, he told me it came from a lifetime of playing rugby and there was nothing much the doctor could do! Poor thing.




Paul rather liked the look of this beauty, she runs the local salon and came running out still holding her rollers and hairdryer when she saw my hunk of a husband!




This is Francois, the village baker. We bought a loaf from him and not only was it cheaper than the supermarket but it was delicious too!




Even this old girl thought so. She was looking weary after along day swimming in the river so grandad gave her a bite of our loaf.

Funnily enough, Fleurance is a very quiet village, we hardly heard a sound while we were there!

A lazy start to the week

We're having a lovely lazy time here in the south of France so far... I know, lazy doesn't normally come into my vocabulary but I think I really need it! After arriving late on Sunday night, I slept for a good ten hours awaking the next morning with a really bad headache. We did nothing but laze around the house yesterday, playing with granddads new dog, Sisko. He's a great big golden retriever who looks more bear than dog! His tail was docked before my grandad had him and he seems to compensate for his lack of wag with a ridiculous over dramatic pant / snort (think bulldog but ten times louder!)




My headache carried on throughout the day and turned into a migraine after tea so I went to bed at eight o'clock with a freezer block strapped to my forehead and slept right through to nine am today!

Today I feel much more clear headed and it's the first day in weeks that I haven't felt tired! We took it nice and slowly again this morning and then went to Nerac after lunch. Nerac is a lovely old town on the river which was once part of England although there is nothing much there to remind you of it's heritage these days!




We had a pleasant walk along the river snapping photos of bright turqoise dragon flies with big black wings.




We then strolled up to the main square for a drink and then down to the park on the other side of the river which was a lovely mix of green and gold in the first few days of autumn.





We had a Barbie this evening (which Sisko loved!) and I sit outside tapping away, still light and still a nice balmy temperature.

I plan to quiz grandad in a little while for my new book (yes, I have started writing!)... That's if he ever gets off the blower! He has a better social life than I do!