At long last we managed to find time to visit one of the
small towns near us – namely St Salvadou. We drove through it some time ago and
thought it was rather dreary, but now, with the gardens all planted up and a
few spring blooms in evidence, we have changed our minds. It is, in fact, quite
an attractive little town with most of the houses built of the lovely pale
local stone, with black roofs. The church, of course, towers over everything as
ever. Apart from a roofer who was doing some repairs to one of the houses,
everything was closed and silent. Will we never learn??!! It was, of course,
Monday, the day when everything closes. Still, it gave a us a chance to look
around. We had hoped to drive on to another village close by, but, would you believe
it, it started raining so we headed for home again instead.
The rest of the week was fairly uneventful with the weather
very unsettled, so the men got on with the front porch cover. One day was too
windy to be handling huge sheets of extra-thick glass; another was too wet, so
it was Thursday before they could really get stuck in to the job. Earlier in
the week they had managed to pull, push, shove, haul and lift the very heavy
framework, with one pane of glass in it, up into position, so now it was a matter
of getting the second pane in. It was fairly nerve-wracking to watch as they manoeuvred
the large, slippery, heavy piece of glass into place – one standing on the
porch, the other teetering on a narrow ledge outside about six feet up. But it
was done, and on Saturday the third (and last) piece was put in, so the job was
almost done.
On Friday we had been invited to meet some other ex-South
Africans who settled here about five years ago and have been spending their
time restoring an old cottage to live in. The meeting had been arranged by
Jayne, the lady who came and cut our hair, who is English. She and her husband
live not too far away from the ex-South Africans and are good friends. What a
delightful and entertaining group they all turned out to be. We had been
invited for about 3.30 pm, so, with an hour and a half’s drive ahead of us we
left the house at 2 pm, not sure whether we had been invited for tea or early
dinner, but looking forward to it. From where we are to where they live, we had
to first meander down in to the Aveyron River valley and then climb up, up and
over the Aubrac Hills before going down again to the Dourdou River valley and
once more up again. It was quite a trip, but we had been given very precise
instructions on how to get there. I loved the one bit that said, “….bear left
at the iron horse” and couldn’t wait to find out what that was. It turned out
to be another of these animal sculptures such as we had seen in Baraqueville –
this time a life-sized horse made out of welded together bits and pieces of old
iron. They are amazing art works.
During the drive when we had climbed up the Aubrac Hills, we
reached a certain point which was the highest in the area and the views were
incredible. The day was sunny and warm, so there was a little bit of haze on
the horizon, but even so, we could almost see forever. When we returned later
that night, in the dark, we could see lights twinkling on and on and on. So
pretty.
Our ex-South African hosts were Alan and Michelle and Alan
had kindly offered to meet us in a small town nearby and lead us to their
house, but when we arrived at the meeting place in St Cyprien-sur-Dourdou, he
suggested that we leave our car where it was and go in his car, and he would
take us on a scenic route back to the house. Only too delighted, we hopped into
his car and off we went. First, he took us along the Dourdou River to an
ancient Roman Bridge which is still used today. According to Alan, the bridge
is even used by delivery trucks as long as they are narrow enough to fit
between the side walls. This is an amazing fact as the bridge is almost two
thousand years old. From that point, the medieval town of Conques and the Abbey
of St Foy is around a bend in the river, but
Alan said that visiting the town would take a whole day, so instead we
drove up the hill to a view-site overlooking the town. It is certainly a
spectacular town and one that we must definitely visit soon. It is one of the
major stopping places on the Route to Compostella and pilgrims are still accommodated in the abbey and
cared for by the monks. Our hostess for the evening, Michelle, works in the
Abbey and told us that at times and in season, they have anything up to
eighteen hundred people through the abbey per day. They work very hard!
Jayne and her husband arrived a little while after we got to
the house and we sat out on the balcony enjoying drinks and snacks, while
enjoying the view as well. From their house you look down over fields and trees
to a river, and it was extraordinarily satisfying to sit and watch the birds
flying around, the calves in the next door field prancing about and listen to
everybody chatting
The rest of the evening passed off very well indeed. Apart
from all the rest of her talents, Michelle is a first-class cook, having at one
stage run a restaurant in Durban, South Africa. So we were treated to a superb
meal and delicious wine. The chat continued into late at night and then Jayne
and her husband took us back to our car as it was on their way home, and we set
off on our drive back again. A delightful afternoon and evening altogether.
This week has ended on a truly gastronomic note
as, on Sunday, we went with our hosts (who own the gite) to visit friends of
theirs who live about twenty-five kilometres north of where we are. This lady,
too, is a superb cook and we were once again treated to a delicious meal. When
we arrived a bit after midday, it was sunny and warm enough to sit outdoors for
a while, although we moved indoors to eat. What a good idea that was! We had
hardly reached the coffee stage when the heavens opened and rain started
pouring down accompanied by lightning and thunder. This really is the weirdest weather.
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