Chateau de Vilandry

There has been so much to see and our time very limited but we decided today to go to Chateau Villandry, not so much to see inside the castle but because the gardens are world renown. It was another hot day and when we arrived we were not thrilled to see that hundreds of other people had had the same idea. I am sort of allergic to tour buses, and there were a lot of them, but we persevered and made our way in the gate. This chateau has a five hundred year history but the part that interested us is the love story between the couple who bought it in the early part of the twentieth century, A Spanish doctor, Joachim Carvello who had been doing research in Paris when he met a young American heiress, Anne Coleman, fell in love and in 1909 bought the Chateau and decided to recreate the gardens in the Renaissance style and the result is wonderful. They poured their hearts and resources into the project and in the late 1920's first opened the chateau to the public and by doing so encouraged other chateau owners to do the same. 

There are a number of gardens within the walls; the magnficent flower and vegetable garden which changes three times each year,

the garden of love, rich with symbolism, very some of the 52 kms of perfectly manicured boxwood can be found,

the water gardens, where canals feed off a lovely lake and provide water for the dozens of fountains and irrigation for all the plantings, and a welcome relief from the heat (as one naked little girl in a fountain seemed to have discovered)

the fairly recently added sun and cloud gardens, a mass profusion of colour, more English in style than French where the cloud garden is all blues, whites and purples (my favourite of all) and the sun garden is yellows, oranges and reds.

There was also a maze, a medicinal herbal garden and long, long walkways through vine arbours and bordered by more than 9000 yew trees and even a lovely wooded area with views over the gardens and the valley. Even though there were so many people there the property is very extensive and we could never felt crowded. The property is still owned by Henri Carvallo, the grandson of Joachim and Anne, and it is obvious by the care and attention that he is still working on new additions to make it an even more spectacular place while still maintaing the intrinsic value of the original design. His grandparents would be proud of him. We loved our time there and could have spent all day. 

Flying over the Loire

 I should have learnt by now - after all we have been married 30 years, but this year for our anniversary I surprised my sweetheart by arranging for us to have a flight over the Loire Valley with our host from the gite that we were renting. Firstly, Gord doesn't like surprises - I do! I guess I keep forgetting that fact and secondly, I had not learnt that you do not arrange for a seasoned pilot to fly in any old airplane. Gord wanted to know all about the plane and the qualifications of our pilot before he was happy to put his trust in a stranger and his machine and the only answer I had was that he "seemed" like a nice fellow. Anyway, all doubts aside, well maybe not aside but ignored anyway, we put our lives in the hands of the nice fellow and took off for a ride in a little, tiny, tinbox  Cessna for what turned out to be a most enjoyable hour.

Gord - less than sure about this idea!

It has been hot and very windy this week and our host suggested that we leave early in the morning. We arrived at the airport, the only other car there was our pilot's and we got there in time to see him up a ladder with the gas hose. The windsock at the end of the runway was pointing straight out and we were told that there would be a fair bit of turbulence at the take off but once we were up it shouldn't be too bad. The Loire Valley is huge and the Cessna was slow so we only got to see a little part of it but it was so much fun. The valley is very fertile and I loved looking at all the patchwork of the farms spread below.

France has been experiencing a drought and over the last couple of months they have had practically no measurable amount of rain - a delight for the tourists but getting to be a desperate situation for the farmers. We had been struck earlier in the week with how low the river is but flying over we got a clear picture of how bad it is.

The very low Loire

 The whole of the sand bank on the left side of the river should be filled by now. It is not a very deep river but even so it is in a crisis situation and water rationing abounds. Watering restrictions have been in place for some time and now the swimming pools are not to be filled. Surveilance aircraft check to make sure that the law is being followed.

It was fun too, to see the little villages and to even fly over the hamlet that we are staying in and have our hostess come out and wave as we buzzed the site.

Montreuil Bellay

Of course the highlight for me was to fly over the chateaux, to see ones we had visited on the ground and to see a few more that we wouldn't have had a chance to see.

Chateau de Brissac

Chateau de Saumur

As expected, many of the grand country homes are impossible to see from the road as they are well protected from the trees - but not from small low flying aircraft!

A small private (!!!) chateau

It was a wonderful experience and it could prove to be quite expensive because I was captivated and now think that in addition to starting my new business, adding french windows, shutters, wrought iron gates etc to the house, gardening (I will tell you about that tomorrow), we also need to get a small plane. I can't believe that Gord isn't just dying to get one after all the fun we had today!

20 down - 980 to go!

There are apparently over 1000 chateaux in the Loire valley. We have been blitzing them but Friday is our last day and I think that the next two days are going to be really, really busy. Here is a sample of what we have seen:

Chateau de Montgoffrey

Chateau de Langeais

My favourite! Chateau de Chevenceau

Chateau de Saumur

Chateau de Chiverney

Chateau de Chambord

Chateau de Serrant

... and that is just a sample of some of the chateaux that we have seen! I know what you are thinking and you are right - Gord has been incredibly patient! The amazing part is that he seems to have really enjoyed it too. The chateaux are not close! That means a lot of driving and trying to navigate busy twisty roads, but we have had a lot of fun. We haven't gone in all of them but a lot more than I expected. What we have learnt is that chateaux come in all shapes, sizes, conditions and settings. The earliest date back to Medieval times and the biggest and most popular are still working on improving and upgrading the buildings. In addition to all the castles that are national monuments and are open to the public we constantly come across other little chateaux that are private homes or this one, a lovely hotel.

Chateau Hotel de Crissay

This is where we will have to stay next time!

From cars to castles.

In an effort to balance our chateaux viewing we set off this morning for Le Mans, the home of auto racing in France where the first 24 hour endurance race took place in 1923. During the 24 hours the cars will travel a distance of over 5000 kilometres with a rotation of three drivers. It is an enormous strain on the car to keep up that pace and they not only race specially made cars but also high performance cars that are available to the general public, though not in our budget! The race is about to start with the qualifying rounds taking place at the beginning of next week and the race itself on the following Saturday/Sunday so there was lots of action around the track as they are getting ready. Gord spent a wonderful hour in the museum, one of the few museums that he enjoyed more than me. We actually drove a portion of the track as the race is held both on the closed Bugattit track as well as the public roads. Actually we drove the Monte Carlo track just before the start of that race too - maybe there is something to this?!? but I think that the tours of the chateaux this week may prove to be a greater endurance for Gord than the Le Mans race!

Le Mans actually has a fascinating old centre complete with roman walls and a spa. There are dozens of half-timbered houses that date back to the 15th century and lovely cobbled streets and lanes, with the magnificent St. Julien's Cathedral in the centre of the town.

On the way home from Le Mans, we happened to drive past another chateau (remember who the navigator is!) Le Lude is on the banks of the Loire and is still the home of the Count and Countess of de Nicolay and has been owned and lived in by descendants of the Talhouet family for over 250 years. It was fun to go around this one as it is a real home and we were very much aware of the occupants. The principal rooms were the only ones on the tour but they were magnificent and rich in history and interest. The gardens were lovely and very extensive and I particularly enjoyed seeing the stables and some lovely old carriages. Everything felt very much as it would 100 years ago and it was easy to imagine visitors arriving through the cobblestone village streets, through the impressive gatehouse and up the gravel driveway to the chateau.

Another good day, and a balance of interesting things for both of us!

Life in the Loire

I woke up this morning to the sound of a rooster close by. He heralded the morning for quite a while and I finally gave in and heeded the call to rise. It wasn't long before he was replaced by a cuckoo. We have heard them in the distance and love the sound but this one was very close and I now know why someone decided to stick him in a wooden box and only allow him to come out on the hour! Actually, I am loving listening to the sounds of the birds, it will be all to soon before we hear the sound of buses and cars and an overenthusiastic cuckoo is certainly an improvement! 

We had breakfast in our lovely little cottage and then set out to see the sights.

The fields around here contain the expected vineyards but there are also acres and acres of wheat which is just now turning golden. It is a beautiful sight in the sunshine with the red poppies growing at the edge. Unlike the praries where the fields go on forever, here they are quite small and a small cornfield may very well be next to a vineyard or a field of potatoes.  We are continually surprised to see how much of France is rural and there are pretty little farms everywhere.

The Loire valley is vast, both long and very wide and the river splits and merges with numerous tributaries and throughout the whole vast valley are sprinkled the most amazing chateaux, country cottages for the once rich and famous. Every town and village has its own chateau. We started on two today, first Le Chateau Azay-le-Rideau built on the quiet river Indre and said to be the most romantic chateau in the valley. It is very pretty and sits on a little island in the sleepy river but it was smaller than I expected. It has been carefully restored and while there is little in the way of furnishings, the grounds are lovely.

Le Chateau Azzay-le-Rideau

Then we went to Le Chateau de Usse, a fantastic confection of a storytale castle rebuilt in the 15th and 16th century on the site of a medieval castle and said to have influenced Perrault to write The Sleeping Beauty. It is so large that it was hard to get a photograph. It is an enormous white palace that backs onto the dark forest of Chinon which makes it all the more impressive. Both Gord and I were mesmerized by the perfection of the place.

Le Chateau de Usse

We came back to our humble little cottage but it wasn't long before we too were feeling like royalty.  Our hosts had prepared an amazing dinner for us and served it to us in the privacy of our own dining room. It was wonderful! We had a great four course meal in our own place and all we had to do was sit and enjoy it - they even did the washing up! We may not be living in a chateau but at least we are being treated as though we were! It was a perfect way to celebrate Fetes des Meres, Mother's Day, here in France.

A picture perfect picnic place!

Well we ended the day yesterday deep in the country, about half an hour north of Limoges. We had booked into a hotel that was an old farmhouse that had been carefully restored with exposed stone walls and timbers. It was very charming and we had a delicious dinner served in the former orangerie before falling into bed. Today we set out for the Loire and had lots of time to do the rest of the trip so we took a cross country route. It was a glorious day, bright blue skies and sunshine though much cooler than it has been in Provence. We followed the Vienne river and visited several picturesque towns along the way getting out for a little visit at each.                        . 

The Mill in La Trimoulle

The Church in Montmiron
But the best was the little town of Angles-sur-l'Anglin. Here the town tumbles down the hill to the river from the ruined castle at the peak to the watermill on the river at the base of the hill. Narrow cobbled streets lead up the hill to the haute village where the local specialty is lace, a centuries old tradition that is still very much alive. As it was lunch time (always a 3 hour closure) I had to be content to look at a few window samples and brochures but it certainly added to the interest of the place. We had a picnic lunch by the stone bridge by the river, looking up at the town and the castle and I could not imagine a better spot for a picnic.

The lovely Angles

 We were alone too, at the start. When we were just finishing our lunch a wedding party arrived to take photographs, not the traditional style but in medieval costumes! We left them in peace and then went on towards our new home for the next week, another converted farmhouse just outside of Saumur. This time we are living in the barn, actually just one end of it, but again, it has been very tastefully restored. It is a charming place, completely surrounded by roses with the vineyards just over the fence. It is very comfortable furnished and has all we need and will be a great base for our visit of the Loire Valley this week. 

The happy couple

The Lot Valley

This morning we left Meyreuis under cloudy skies (what is this wet stuff?? we haven't seen rain for weeks!) but the sun soon won over and we took the road through the Gorges de Gargilan on our way to the Lot Valley. One of the benefits of the cooler weather as we are a little farther North is that we are getting an instant replay of some of the lovely flowers that I have been enjoying this past month in Provence. There the roses and poppies are really over but here they are still in full bloom and I will never have enough of of either of these two lovely flowers. This is an area of France that we saw briefly when Dean and Kathy were here but it is one area that I really enjoyed and even after today I feel that I would love to come back to explore further here. We drove from along the river to the picture perfect village of Estaing, which nestles beneath its  massive chateau on the riverbank. We had a picnic lunch by the 13th century stone bridge that crosses the river and felt that we could not imagine a more perfect setting. Truly the highlight of the day! 

From here we drove to Conques, one of the most important sites in France. (It should come with a warning that "you can't get there from here" as it is so deep in the countryside that it took an hour to get there and an hour to get out and while extraordinary, we were not sure that it was worth the trip. Again it is a picture perfect village with cobblestone streets lined with half-timbered cottages that seem to lean precariously inwards but the centre of the village is a massive church and abbey , part of which dates back to the 9th century. Here the treasury holds the most important collection of medieval gold and Renaissance gold work in western Europe. The place was swamped with school and tour groups and we were content to look at the highlights displayed in the postcards and move on. In oder to enter the town we had to purchase an annual pass which is affixed to the window of the car, a clever marketing tool when there is no way that most of the people who go there would ever find it again in a lifetime much less a year.

The church in Conques

 By the time we made it to the autoroute we were actually happy to pay our money and make some much needed progress up north. Sadly we had to hurry past Limoges, famous for china, and Aubusson, known for its rugs to the little place that we had chosen to stay the night. I was sad anyway, Gord is not really interested in china except as a place to put his food or rugs except as something to wipe his feet on and he had done more than enough driving for one day.

The Gorges of the Tarn

When I was a girl my parents brought us to France on many occasions, too bad that I was not mature enough to appreciate the travels then. Once thing I remember clearly is Mum and Dad driving us through the "Gorges duTarn", a 30 KM drive through deep gorges that the river Tarn has cut through the limestone. I remember, not the beauty so much, but the fact that my parents were disappointed in our lack of appreciation and our great desire to just get to the campsite and get out of the car. So I felt I owed it to them, while we were living here, to repay a visit to the area and yes, Mum & Dad, it is truly spectacular. We passed magnificent rock sculptures, charming little villages clinging precariously to the sides of the gorge and at the base a sparkling river. Although there were numerous camping spots, this time we chose to stay in a hotel in the picturesque little town of Meyreuis. The hotel was in a lovely setting on the bank of the river which meandered through the town. We had a balcony looking over the little stone bridges that crossed the river and there were three little ponies grazing on the bank on the opposite bank - all quite lovely. The hotel has been in the same family for five generations and although we felt a little sorry for the last of the five generations who now has to carry the mantle whether he likes it or not, we were grateful for their hospitallity and service, a perfect place for our first night on our slow journey home.

A picnic in the hills with MJ

It is driving me nuts that I am still without my camera still so I shall have to paint the picture with words...

Today is our last day in the village so we took our dear friend MJ on a picnic. I brought the food and she brought her little black dog Zazou and chose the place and Gord drove. It was a hot day, over 30 degrees but as MJ does not hold with air conditioning so we drove with all the windows open, me in the front seat and MJ in the back holding Zazou, who had his head out the window with his ears pinned back by the wind.  The wind helped all of us cool off a little and after all, none of us were worried about our coiffure. MJ directed and we followed a main road for a while before we turned off and drove up a narrow winding road for about 20 minutes as MJ entertained us with stories from the village, interspersed with directions to 'Gaeton' to slow down! We came to a pass in the hills and from there we had a glorious view of "our" valley and of Mt. Ventoux, the "papa" of the mountains who MJ tells us watches over all. We unloaded our picnic things, baskets, blankets and bottles of water and set off for about a 15 minute walk further up the path. We came to a site that our guide declared was perfect and she chuckled as I laid out the blanket. We spread out the lunch; pate for the boucherie in the village, fresh baguettes bought when they were still warm, olives and wonderful cheeses and MJ brought a huge basket of cherries that she had picked that morning. Within a couple of minutes it was obvious that if not exactly sitting on an ant hill, we were surrounded by them. Gord and I were certainly ready to pick up and move but MJ said that as these were large ants (so big they almost looked like charicatures) she assured us that they would not bite and while I madly flicked them off the cheese and meats, she instructed me not to kill them but to simply move them as we were in their space. Gord and I decided that the only advantage of the blanket was to show up the ants more clearly, it certainly did not keep them away! We ate, chatted, sureptisiously flicked away ants, rested in the cool breeze in the hills and before too long it was time to head back down the mountain and back to cleaning up our little house. I wish you could have seen our friend, she was a picture as she walked down the hill in her long black skirt, plunging white tank top, strappy sandals, and carrying a large homemade walking stick, with a huge old basket over her arm with the cherries and her scruffy little black dog running in front of us. The sun was warm, the day lazy, there is much affection between us all and life is good!

Time to say good bye...again!

It is very mixed emotions that we cleaned up La Maison du Four and prepared to once again take our leave of this little village that we have come to love. We have missed our family in Canada but this place has brought us so much joy and a richness that is hard to put into words. it will always hold a very special place in our hearts. Yet we feel real peace and a sense of completion as well, it is almost as though, unlike the first time that we left, we are now ready to move on with whatever the next chapter of our lives looks like. We have had extraordinary weather which makes up for the very bad winter that we experienced. It has been so hot that the lavender is even coming out, several weeks ahead of schedule and something I never expected to be able to see before we left. We expect to be back to visit but we doubt that we will ever spend an extended time here again. So it is with deep gratitude that we say goodbye and also sadness for the friends that we have met and come to love and now leave behind. We have had our goodbyes, lunch in the Cafe de Poste with G & M, drinks on the terrace with B & J, a wonderful picnic up in the hills with MJ and her dog Zazou, and cherries just picked and still warm from the sun from our friends Stephan and Marie, and now we are off.

May, the month for roses

For some time now I have been meaning to do a post about the roses here. May is the month for roses in France before the heat becomes too much for them. Apparently this year the weather conditions have been just what they needed and the show has been spectacular, the locals say that this year has been exceptional. I have taken dozens of photos, I just can't stop.

 There is something so beautiful about the way they look climbing over the golden stone walls, or cascading over softly coloured shutters. They are everywhere we look, and every colour, red, yellow, pink, white, sparsely petalled like a wild rose and densely petalled in a kind that I have never seen before, dark pink on the outside and paler pink towards the centre. It is called the Pierre de Ronsard and I think it is beautiful.

The roses seem to grow effortlessly as the containers that some of them are in would appear to be quite inadequate. I never see a flawed rose either so I think that their owners must come out at night and carefully go over the bush looking for dead flowers and cleaning them up before morning. I am completely taken with the roses and want to come home and plant a rose garden, and somehow I have to find a Pierre de Ronsard to feature in our garden!

Cherry time

When we arrived in France this spring the cherry trees were in full blossom. We were so happy to arrive in time to see this as the valley looked spectacular. There were fields and fields of beautiful white blossoms. Coming from Vancouver where the ornamental cherry trees are pink, I didn't even know that fruit bearing trees had a white blossom. Before too long the flowers were all gone, the leaves appeared and then the tiny cherry buds arrived. We cannot believe how fast the growth appears and pretty soon the tiny buds grew and turned red and now we are surrounded with full, fruit laden cherry trees. Sometimes they are so prolific it is hard to understand how the limbs can stand up with all that weight.

And the cherries are delicious!

There are little stands set up everywhere, I bought some the other day from a lady with a little wooden shack under the trees that I had to pass over a wooden bridge to get to. The cherries were picture perfect, still warm from the sun and as sweet as could be. Yesterday, we picked some up from a little stand at the end of the driveway to a farm and we were requested to just drop the money in the box. And the price? Well yesterday's were 1.50 euro a kilo!! We have had Jen with us from Paris for the last couple of days and all three of us have really enjoyed them and I will forever think of cherries and Jen together. They are in such abundance and so delicious, now if I could just think of canning a bunch and bringing them home.........Don't worry Gord, we have too many linens to consider bringing cherries home as well, we had better just continue to enjoy them here!

On our own again... but just for a day!

Today was the first day that we have had on our own for quite a while, a chance to do exactly as we wanted. We have loved having the company but have tried to make it the best holiday possible for each of them so left on our own what did we choose to do? 

Well, after coffee in bed and a little reading we got right back in the car again. This time we measured out a distance from the house and then Gord got out of the car to jog the route home and I headed off to the market. Gord is feeling the need to exercise as we have been having a lot of full French meals lately. I certainly need the exercise even more but (as I always say) it can wait, I needed the market more. It was fun to go to all my favourite stalls and to take as long as I wanted without feeling any time pressure. (The fact that Gord might have passed out on the road from over exerting himself after so long never entered my head.) I spent ages in the market picking out some presents and taking a final look at everything and I left feeling quite satisfied; I think that I have bought all I need and can be at peace for some time. Don't quote me on this when I return to Canada!!

Back at the house we had a lovely lazy lunch on the terrace, a nicoise salad made from fresh produce that I had picked up at the market and great bread from our boulangerie. Lunch was followed by a game of scrabble, a little reading, a little snoozing and before too long it was time to get ready to go visit some friends for an 'appero' before dinner.

We took the pretty scenic back road; past the now heavily laden cherry trees, the prolific vines, through wheat fields still sprinkled with poppies, along little roads lined with trees that make a emerald archway over the road as we drove through to the home of our friends. Then, sitting in the shade of the still hot sun, we had lots of laughter, outrageous stories, refreshing rose, wonderful olives from their own trees, and a bittersweet time as we prepare to say goodbye. The sinking sun turned the countryside golden as we returned home for a light dinner on the terrace at 9:00pm. The scented air was still warm, the village very quiet as we watched the lights start to appear in the valley and we basked in the silence and peace of the village.
Ah, another wonderful day in Provence and although it was a day on our own, we spent it pretty much the same way as all the other days when we have been blessed with the visit of friends, just taking it all in and revelling in the joy of being here.

Training Day

As soon as our friend Fraser arrives back in the Pacific Northwest he is taking part in one leg of the seven part "Ski to Sea" relay race. He is to tackle the canoe section and as he has not even paddled in a canoe for at least three years, we decided to help him out by giving him a practice run on the Sorgue River. The source of the river is at the very picturesque Fontaine de Vaucluse a kilometre or so from where we started, and the water runs fairly quickly through about 8 kilometres until it comes to the pretty town of L'Isle sur la Sorgue. There the water parts and encircles the village and runs off in several different directions. There are numerous water wheels on the river which, while no longer functional really add to the charm of the place. I love this area and was really excited to get to see it from the water instead of all the little side roads that we have come to know. 

So we paid our dues, picked up our paddles and life jackets and met our guide by the side of the river. The canoes look as though they have been through several battles with ignorant tourists so at least we knew that we would not be the first to inflict damage on them. They were a little wet and so I carefully dried my seat with a kleenex and took my place. We were told that we would be portaging over a couple of dams so we should store our shoes and socks, and that there would be a "leetle surprise!" Off we went. The day had been forecast to be sunny and warm and while the temperature was no issue, the clouds started to roll in as we made our way downstream. But despite the clouds the river was beautiful, the houses on either side like something in a magazine and the water was clear and fast and lovely. In no time at all we came to the first dam, pulled our canoes up, gingerly walked down some steps fastened to the side, tentatively made our way over the mossy stones and then hopped back into the canoe which had made a much faster but not so neat trip down over the dam. The seat was a little damp, but not to worry, I was really getting into this now and was having too much fun to notice a slightly damp behind.

Once underway again the river moved quite quickly and I am afraid that Fraser really wasn't getting much of a workout. I on the other hand was getting none at all as Gord was quite happy to go it alone and do both the paddling and the steering. The canoe had no hull so it was a little like paddling one of the teacups at Disneyland and I was very happy to sit in the front, grinning from ear to ear, enjoying the quiet beauty of the place and the whole experience. The skies were a little overcast and the ominous rumbling only made the ride feel more enchanted. We could have been going down the Amazon with the sparkling emerald water, the stillness and only the birds for company. After the second portage over the dam we were feeling like pros and the whole trip was going very well when I thought that I heard rapids and by the grin on the face of our guide, I had a strong suspicion that I knew what the "leetle surprise" was going to be. Fraser and Michele were the first to go down and Michele's scream made me determined to stay quiet. The whoosh down the rocks was fun, the only problem was that that whoosh of water came right over the top of the canoe and absolutely soaked me. That water had been in the depths of the earth just minutes before and it was very, very cold and now not only were Michele and I soaking wet but we were sitting in it. So much for cleaning off the few drops of water that I had seen before I sat down! I wrung out my shoes, that I had foolishly not put in the barrel, used my sun hat to bail water and tried to pretend that I was really hot and that this was a bathtub and not a plastic canoe full of cold mountain water. Nevertheless, we had fun. We laughed at ourselves (and the couple who seemed to spend more time going backwards than forwards and who seemed extremely interested in the low growing vegetation that was on the side of the river) and continued to glide peacefully down the river. Our plans had been for Michele and I to spend some time wandering around town while the guys went back to pick up the car but we were not going anywhere but home. The minute that we got back in our car we whipped off our soaking pants (the guys were much drier having had the sense to sit in the back of the canoe) turned up the heat and headed for home. Michele had a blanket to wrap around her naked legs but I just had an old t-shirt of Gord's. It was at this moment, arriving home half naked and drenched that we were welcomed by our new and very sophisticated neighbours (see yesterday's blog). 

Ah well, we had a lot of fun but I am afraid that it wasn't exactly a useful training session for Fraser and that if he goes at the speed that we sauntered down the river at, it may take him 8 hours to do the 8 miles.

Let's just hope that he has half as much fun as we did and it will all be worth it.

New Neighbours

(I left the battery charger for my camera on one of our trips so there will be no more photos until it arrives in the mail. It is killing me not being able to take photos but Gord really enjoys walking for more than 3 minutes at a time...... so photos to come!)

Photo courtesy of Dean - all the big windows are on the other side

For all of the time that we lived here last year we watched construction on the house across the way. We had no idea for whom the house was being renovated but we figured that they had to have an endless bank account because the workers were there, almost every day, (this is France, no one works every day and certainly not during lunch time, afternoon rest, Friday afternoons, if it is raining, holidays, "ferme exceptionals" etc etc). We thought that we saw the owners once during our time as a very elegant couple that we had not seen before were there on one occasion looking around the house and everyone was working that day, the architect, contractor and all 6 builders. When we arrived this year the house looked just about finished but every couple of days there would be a small project and about a week and a half ago a team of people arrived to finish off the place. They were interior designers and drapery installers and even without translating the logos on the vans, I certainly recognized the tools of the trade. Then last weekend the house was suddenly occupied. There appeared to be a couple about our age, several adult children and even a couple of possible grandchildren. They have a terrace that looks directly onto ours and for the first time since we have been in this house we felt as though our precious terrace was invaded by onlookers. They had a cocktail party (with at least one person that we recognized) and after polite "bonjours" across the little road both households pretended that we could not see what was going on in the other house. I was immensely curious and at dinner took a seat at the table with a perfect view through their french doors so that I could surreptiously snoop while seemingly occupied with entertaining our guests. We were very confused. The family spoke French yet had the same foreign non-EU license plate that we had. Who were they and where had they come from?

On Wednesday we took Fraser and Michele to a little restaurant for dinner that we really enjoy in a little village not too far from here. (Actually they took us but our intention was to take them!!) Who should walk into the restaurant but Monsieur and Madame plus a couple of adult children. Since there are only five tables in the restaurant it was hard to not notice each other and we smiled and nodded when they arrived in case they also recognized us. After the dinner, Gord and I went over and introduced ourselves to our new neighbours, French speakers from Cameroon. We would not have ever guessed that. The conversation was a little awkward as the parents spoke no English and the daughter just a little but they were very nice and were happy to say that they are moving permanently to the village in August. When I asked Madame if she was pleased with the house she replied, "Enchante, en-chan-teeee!" so I guess she is happy but stopped short of inviting the nosy neighbours to come in for a look. Anyway we said our goodbyes and see you laters and took off. 

The next afternoon we arrived home and to our horror all the family were standing on their terrace waving. It could not have been worse timing because Michele and I were hardly wearing any clothes and we were hoping to slip into the house unnoticed. We sat in the car, as close to the door as possible, and when it seemed as if they were ready to ignore us we made a dash for the door. (To find our why we were in a state of undress you will have to read tomorrows blog.) Anyway, we must have made an appalling impression as this morning the house is all closed up, the shutters are locked and the family have departed. I am not sure if they are trying to get their money back or put the place on the market because of the crazy Canadians across the street but I think I am definitely out of luck for having a tour of their house this year!

Nicolette

Oh my gosh, I am a princess!! 

We decided to bring Fraser and Michelle down to the Cote d'Azur and show them around Nice and Monte Carlo and I found a good deal on a hotel in Cagnes sur Mer. After price and location, my first choice in a hotel is character and this one sounded promising. All the reviews were good except for the comments on how difficult it was to drive to the hotel. Well, I thought, we have Gord and he is practically French in how he manages to navigate the tightest turns and narrowest roads so that will be no problem. After all, last week he drove down a flight of stairs, how hard could this be. Well….. the reviews were correct. The road was certainly narrow and after pulling in the side mirrors and having Fraser walk ahead to guide him, Gord managed to park in front of the hotel. Here there is parking for "5" French cars or 2 N. American cars so we fitted our car into the jigsaw puzzle, gave our car keys to the concierge and checked into the hotel. Only then did I realize that we were actually staying in the castle!

 The chateau dates back to the 13th century and it is quite amazing. It sits high up on a cliff with views out to the Meditteranean. The 20 rooms are in a bit of a rabbit warren and I hope that we will be able to find our friends before it is time to check out tomorrow. We were planning on dropping off our things and then carrying on to Nice for dinner but after this experience this afternoon, I am not sure that the car is going anywhere before it has to. Our room is called "Nicolette" and her tragic story is retold in beautiful script on the wall. Just for tonight I will be "Princess Nicolette" but I hope that I manage to keep my head! We have a lovely French window which opens up to a little wrought iron balcony and views to the old village below and the beautiful blue sea about 2 miles away.

 I can almost imagine Nicolette standing at the window and watching for her love to return from across the sea. Fortunately for me, my love is right here and we are off to find a quaint little restaurant in the village for dinner.

What a great day again, started out buying more old lace in the Provencal market, coffee in a wonderful old cafe in Aix-en-Provence and now here we are living the life of the rich and famous on the riviera. Such fun, if only for one day!