It seems to have been a
really busy week but when I look at what I have written in my daily diary, I
can’t quite make out what we were so busy doing. I know that Mary and I have
played a lot of Scrabble which has been wonderful for me instead of having to
play on the computer with a virtual partner, and we have been in and out, here
and there and the time has just flown. I can’t believe that she is leaving
again on Tuesday and will have been here two weeks. Next visit will have to be
for far longer, I feel.
We continued our explorations
of the area by taking a very long and roundabout route which ended up at Auch. The
normal route takes about an hour, there
and back, but we managed to take four hours over it! Of course, we had to go
and admire the stained glass windows in the cathedral which are very beautiful,
and old too. The Grand staircase down to the River Gers, which is known as the
Escalier Monumental is undergoing some renovation and is going to look quite
stunning when complete. They are using very white paving to effect the repairs
and it will sparkle in the sunlight. The statue of D’Artignan, friend of the Three
Musketeers, stands half way up the staircase and looks out over the river.
The following day we
entertained a friend to lunch and then the three of us had a couple of games of
Scrabble. Playing with three is always more difficult than playing with only
two, so it was great fun. I am so grateful for the gift of the Travel Scrabble
and for the fact that I brought it with me. That evening we sat out on the
verandah with our sundowners for the first time since we have been here. It was
unbelievably warm and still, with the birds all busy bedding down for the night
in a tree close by. A great end to the day!
The forecast for the next
day was good so we had made a plan to drive to the Atlantic coast. The forecast
was correct and so we set off relatively early taking our picnic lunch along
with us, for St Jean de Luz. The town was quite busy and a fair amount of
people on the beach although there were very few actually bathing. We found
ourselves an unoccupied bench looking out over the beach and settled down to
have our picnic. After lunch, we strolled around the town enjoying the
different styles of architecture. We were, of course, in Basque country, where
the shutters are all painted red or vivid blue instead of the soft lavender
colours of where we are. Mary was delighted to have good clear views of the
snow-covered Pyrenees as we drove there and back, as she didn’t really believe
the mountains were there at all, and certainly, by the time we returned home
they had ‘disappeared’ again under their blanket of cloud.
Thursday is always market
day in Eauze and we couldn’t let Mary go home without seeing a market. We
wandered around for a while but there was nothing startling to look at so went
home for lunch and took a drive to La Romieu in the afternoon. This little
village has a charming legend which has influenced the town decoration and just
must be seen. The story goes that in
1338 a certain Vincent and Mariette lived in the village and worked in the
local forest making up bundles of firewood. Not long after their daughter
Angeline was born, Vincent was crushed by a falling tree and Mariette went into
a deep depression, dying a few months later. The little orphan was brought up
by neighbours and became as one of their own children. She had always shown an
affection for cats and there were always a few around. In 1342 and the two
following years, the winters were exceptionally harsh, while the spring and
summer were so wet that it was impossible to sow their crops. The village was
in a dire state and when everything else had been eaten, the villagers
considered catching and eating the cats. Knowing Angeline’s love for cats her adoptive
parents allowed her to keep a male and a female on condition that she hid them
well. The famine continued and many people died. Angeline’s family were reduced
to collecting roots and mushrooms in the forest, but managed to survive.
Finally the seasons changed again and good harvests were made. Now however,
with all the cats gone and grain in the stores, the rats appeared and it was
soon obvious that the villager’s lives were once again in danger. By now Angeline’s
two cats had multiplied to about twenty which she offered to release into the
village to kill the rats. Her offer was accepted; the rats disappeared and
everyone lived happily ever after, as they always do in these stories. Many years
later, a sculptor from Orleans heard of the story and decided to revive the
legend by placing sculptures of cats all around the square. They are not really
hidden, but one has to look quite hard to find them all. It is a delightful
story and a charming idea, and a pretty little village as well.
On Friday we ate lunch
out so that Mary could enjoy a good ‘Magret de Canard’( grilled duck breast) at
a local restaurant. It is a place we have often eaten and they did not
disappoint. It was quite delicious. The warm weather of the previous couple of
days turned to cool rain as we got home and there was no sitting on the verandah
that night!
Saturday was a
stay-at-home day when we did various boring chores, but the weather was not
really conducive to going out anyway. It was cold enough to make the fire in
the lounge again and to switch on the electric blanket before getting into bed.
I had a quick peek at the weather forecast for a couple of places and found out
that more snow was forecast for the mountains south of us for Sunday. Brrr!
Well, it didn’t snow
here, thank goodness but was rather cold. Midday temperature was about nine degrees
and after being entertained to a sumptuous and scrumptious lunch by a friend,
we returned home to make a big fire and settle down to some television.
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