A week of ups and downs. The
weather changed almost daily, and places that we wanted to visit were closed ,
or we were baulked in some other way, but still had an enjoyable time.
After five days of being
able to see the Pyrenees so clearly that they seemed a mere arm’s length away,
the clouds came down over them and by the time we fetched Mary from the airport
there was nothing to see at all, and she still doesn’t believe that they exist
at all. It was quite hot though and to make matters worse, Goldie
developed an overheating problem. To
cool the engine down faster, it helps to put the heater on, believe it or not,
so every now and again we had to do that. Not the most comfortable of trips and
not a good first impression for Mary.
The following day there
was a visit from the char lady scheduled after lunch so we decided to go out
and not be underfoot. However, we had hardly gone a kilometre down the road
when Goldie made it quite plain that she was really unhappy so we turned around
and went back, where Pieter and Neels took bits apart until they had found the
problem. They nipped off to Nogaro where I think the car parts store is
beginning to recognise them, and bought a new part, came home and fitted it and
hey presto! we were back in business. We still went out for a while but most of
the afternoon was gone and we didn’t have time to go very far.
On Wednesday, a lot of
the day was spent preparing for a dinner party and although it was nice for me
to have some help and company, it was a bit of a wasted day for our visitor,
although I think she enjoyed the company that night as much as we did. I also
think we all ate too much as it is quite a while since we last had a three course meal of that magnitude, but it
was fun to prepare and as there were few left-overs, must have been tasty.
Thursday saw us saying
goodbye to Pieter at the crack of dawn. He intended driving to Caen in northern
France – a distance of about 700 kilometers – and needed to be there by three
in the afternoon to catch a ferry across to England. There is a wonderful
motorway these days which one can get on to not far from here, which whizzes
you all the way north and makes circumnavigating Paris a real doddle. He called
us at about 3.30 pm to say that he was about to board the ferry and that he had
made the trip in good time. We were sad to say goodbye, but glad to know that
everything on the car was working well. The day was a little cloudy and after
the heat of the previous two days we expected the worst, but went out anyway to
La Bastide d’Armagnac, which is always beautiful in any weather. Mary had said
that apart from sight-seeing, she wanted to eat some real French food so we
started off by having some delicious crepes
and coffee in the delightful coffee shop there. There were not many flowers
in the flower boxes in the square, but with the church on one side and the
other three sides all colonnaded, with the higgledy-piggledy cobble-stones all
the way around the centre paved area, it is a perfect example of a mediaeval
village and we just love it. On the way home we had intended to call in at the
little church of Notre Dame des Cyclists to look at all the many cycling
jerseys left there by Tour de France riders for many years, but sadly, it was
closed until the end of the month when it will reopen for the summer.
Friday was rainy and grey
again but we are getting wise to this weather pattern and waited until after an
early lunch before going out. We had noticed the illuminated electric signs
warning of an Airbus convoy that night so we first made a short detour into
Eauze to have a look at the Airbus in parts, loaded onto its transporters. The
size of the aircraft is very impressive when one is standing right next to it
and a bit frightening to see it all in pieces. The main piece of the fuselage
is carried on a vehicle with 48 wheels! Neels’ comment was ‘Think of the tyre
bill!’. As we had thought it would, the
day cleared and by evening it was truly spectacular. The sun only sets at 8.30
or later if it’s a clear evening so we had more than enough time to do a long
leisurely round trip which covered a lot of the area that we got to know so
well in 2010, when we spent six months here. The late afternoon light bathed
everything in a golden glow and our visitor was duly impressed. Once the warmer
weather took over from the cold, the plants really pulled out all the stops and
within a matter of days everywhere was a mass of colour and the fields were
again the lush greenness that we know and love. The trees have all greened over
and the little forested areas in between the fields are a delight with the many
different shades of green.
The forecast for Saturday
had told us that it should be fine and not too hot so we had decided that it
would be the perfect day to visit Seviac where there are some spectacular Roman
mosaics. The whole area is still a work in progress, and although we have been
there three times now, we see evidence of new excavations every time we visit.
We could only marvel at the intricate patterns in the mosaics and wonder how
many hours work went into creating them. The whole villa has been dated at
round about the 4th century AD, so we were wandering around a site
that was more than 2000 years old. This time, there was a new passageway that
we couldn’t remember seeing before as well as a swimming pool with a mosaic
bottom, which was all the more amazing when one considers that it would have
been underwater all the time it was in use.
Today has been a day off
for the driver; a day for catching up on the washing; for playing a few games
of Scrabble and generally catching our breath. It has been grey again with a
cold wind but fortunately no rain. It is cold enough to get the fire going
again and I think we may well switch on the electric blanket tonight!
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