Our place in France Chapter 24

My Goodness!! What a hot week we have had. It was almost as if the mercury had got stuck at 33 degrees for the days with night time temperatures of around 19 degrees. Not a breath of wind for relief and a clear sunny sky every day. Needless to say, the only way to deal with this sort of weather is to stay indoors with all the windows and doors closed, during the day and all the windows and doors open, at night, with the shutters closed. Fortunately, just when it started to become unbearable, we had a light shower of rain. Not really enough to do any good to the crops or gardens but at least some of the steaminess was washed away.

Of course, we still had to go out to get fresh vegetables, mainly salad ingredients and, since the air-con in the car works well it was a good time to go for a drive. So we attempted the impossible.

A couple of weeks back when we went to a village called Boisse Penchot, to look at a bicycle for Jenny to borrow, we set the TomTom to take us there as we hadn’t been before. Along the way, we turned into Villneuve because we needed to buy a stamp, and then we took the wrong road leaving the town. However, nothing fazes  ‘Jane’ and she quickly worked out another route for us and we were  soon zooming along. Zooming along so well, in fact, that we missed the next turnoff and she had to re-calculate again. What a bonus that was! Our new route took us past a most magnificent Chateau called Chateau de Marinesque. It is privately owned so one can’t go inside, but just from the outside it looks wonderful. It is actually a fortified  monastic  castle with a four storey battlemented square tower and a round tower which is really the staircase to the upper floors. The grounds around it are beautifully manicured and are obviously irrigated as they are a fresh green colour when  most of the countryside is dry and brown. When I got out of the car to take a picture, there was a  lovely fresh smell of mint and when I looked down at the ditch running along the roadside, I  saw that mint was growing all along the sides. Much better than  a farmyard smell, I can tell you!

Further along this ‘wrong’ road we passed a stunning little crucifix at the side of the road. I think I have mentioned before that one sees crucifixes all along the roads, at intersections, and I believe they date back to the Middle Ages. Because travelling was quite dangerous – highwaymen and bandits were quite prolific – travellers would stop at each intersection and ask God to bless their onward journey. Some of them have disappeared, or disintegrated, leaving only a stone plinth behind; others are still there but are badly in need of some TLC but there are plenty that are obviously well looked after . The one at the entrance to Ols stands on a small pillar and has a small trough of red geraniums at its foot. However, every now and again we come across one which is really special and this was one of those.

At the time, I knew that I should have said ‘Stop!’ and taken pictures of both these scenes, but I didn’t, thinking I could do it on the way back, but of course, on the way back we did what “Jane’ said  and didn’t pass that same  way again. So while we were out, I suggested that, as it was really quite cool in the car, we should go see if we could find the ‘wrong’ road again so that I could take my pictures. It was a bit difficult because we weren't quite sure which wrong road we had taken but after a while we found landmarks that we recognised and were soon back at the Chateau  and  shortly afterwards at the little cross. I keep calling it little because it is – only about 35 centimetres high but so beautifully carved and decorated that it made us glad we had gone back again.

Apart from that one small excursion we have stayed put and tried to stay cool. Thank goodness for a fan in the bedroom and one at my desk. They are our saving graces.

Our place in France Chapter 23

Well, this has been one of those weeks that I warned you all about. Absolutely nothing to talk about and no pictures to show either.That's not to say nothing was achieved during the week. We learnt a few things which, to us, were quite interesting but surely not earth-shattering to a lot of others. For example, in the very hot weather, we discovered, it is better to keep the windows closed even if the sun is blazing down on them. The double glazing works both ways - keeps the cold out and also the warmth in, in winter, but keeps the heat out in summer. We keep windows open all night to allow the cool breezes in and then close up at about 10.30 the next morning. It is amazing how much difference it makes. Never to old to learn!
Something else I learnt this week was that I really cannot multi-task any more. Nowadays, with no Ouma's Rusks on the supermarket shelves, I have taken to making my own. Early morning coffee just wouldn't be right without rusks. The mixing and baking is not a problem - I can now bake them without a recipe - but the drying is complicated. I can't dry them in the gas oven as I can't set it down low enough, but my microwave/convection oven has a maximum time of 90 minutes on the timer and they really need to dry for three hours. So the process is :- set the convection oven to a very low heat; set the timer to 90 minutes and pop the rusks in. Ninety minutes later when the beeper goes off, do it all over again and this time I can go away and forget it and just let the oven cool down with the rusks still inside. Well, this week there was something we had to do; a place we had to be, at a certain time,
But I was sure there was time to do both - bake the rusks and put them in to dry AND be where we had to be. After all, everyone can multi-task, can't they?! Phase One was a doddle and in no time they were baked and semi-cooled. I put them into the oven to start Phase Two and just before that was over, Neels was saying 'Come on! We have to go!' so I rushed to the oven which had just beeped, reset it all and left in a bit of a whirl. Well.......of course we stayed longer than I expected we would but it shouldn't have been a problem, except that when I reset the oven I forgot to reset the temperature to the very low heat that was needed, so it stayed at it's default heat of 180 degrees, and when we returned, we were greeted by a nasty smell of burnt cake and an ovenful of charred remains! Oh dear! One for the garbage bin. The next day I started again and with no distractions, managed to produce a decent batch of early-morning-coffee-rusks. Eat your heart out Ouma!
The thing that we had to do was to go and fetch a bicycle from a neighbour. No, don't fall about laughing, it isn't for me, but for Jenny, in preparation for their holiday here in September, but the neighbour was due to leave the next day and apart from collecting the bike, we wanted to say goodbye too. The bicycle duly came home and for a couple of days Neels had great fun cleaning it all up and adjusting the gears and brakes so that everything worked well and smoothly. Another thing to tick off the list.
Apart from that, we really didn't do anything. Keeping cool kept us occupied us for some of the time and then relishing the one unexpectedly cool night. A foretaste of things to come, perhaps.

Our place in France Chapter 22

This week was a more social one. We had two special meals out and met a lot of new people. Not, of course, that I am likely to remember all their names!

To begin with though, there was something else to attend to. Next month Jenny and Ryan will be visiting Europe and want to do some mountain-biking while they are here. So we have been hunting around for a suitable bicycle for to borrow or hire. One of the options was to borrow a bicycle belonging to our hairdresser, Jayne, who lives in a small village called Boisse-Penchot which is about 40 kms north east of us and on the Lot River. We offered to go and see the bike, so on Tuesday we set off just after lunch, eager to explore new roads. We set the Tom-Tom from the house and then immediately confused it by going to post a letter at the post office, which wasn’t on ‘her’ route. However, she quickly recovered and we were soon on the right track. A few minutes later though, we missed a turn-off and didn’t turn around to go back to it, but once again she quickly ‘re-calculated’ and gave a us a new route. How pleased we were with that, as we drove through huge swathes of deep forest with charming little villages dotted along the way. We are always amazed at the hidden gems that we keep finding all over France. Most or the route was on the Aveyron side of the Lot River but just before we reached our destination we came to St. Martin-de-Bouillac – a big name for a small place, but it has an impressive narrow bridge across the river. We drove across and parked and then walked back to take some pictures of the river, and of the lovely flower baskets arranged along the hand-rail of the bridge. When we got back to the car we noticed the strange trees that were providing the shade. We later found out that are Indian Bean Trees (Catalpa). Very unusual, with enormous leaves and long slender seed pods that look like very long young beans. After admiring the trees which look quite out of place as they are tropical and shouldn’t survive here, we went on to Jayne’s house.

Boisse Penchot is a medium sized village on the banks of the Lot. The house is a little four-square building perched precariously between the road and the river, and has been a ‘work in progress’ for the past two or more years. The place was pretty much a ruin when they bought it, but with her husband a builder, things have moved along quite nicely. There is still a huge amount of work to do, but what they have achieved so far is amazing and beautiful. They both work which cuts their time down considerably but they don’t really seem to be worried about how long it’s going to take. After a cup of tea and a chat, we had  a look at the bike which is very smart, but is not quite what Jenny wants. But not a wasted trip at all. We have seen where Jaye lives and we had a wonderful drive out and back. In the way of GPS’s, even though we put in the same start and end points, just reversed, we didn’t retrace our steps but came back on a different road, seeing even more interesting little places.

The following day we had been invited to a 70^th birthday party. Our neighbour-over-the-back-fence has a house which she visits from time to time throughout the year, and as she has owned it for about 20 years, she knows everyone in the village, all of whom were invited to the party. Add to that about 20 guests from all over the world consisting of family, extended family and friends and you have a fairly large crowd – probably about 50 to 60 people. It was a midday event and a wonderful, delicious and extensive spread of finger snacks had been laid out in the barn. The weather was perfect – clear skies and just a hint of a breeze, so everyone could sit out doors on chairs on the lawn. It was so relaxed. Everyone mingled well and we were introduced to a number of new people. The trouble is that few of them were locals and those that were, we already knew. Anyway, it was a lovely day and by the end of it we also had a bicycle to borrow for Jenny.

To round off our week, we joined our next-door neighbours for a barbecue. This is the family of the British architect who restored the house we live in and who live in Bath but come here from time to time to stay in their holiday house. Initially we thought that they were stiff and stand-offish but as time has passed we have got to know them well and the evening that we spent with them was delightful. Once again the weather allowed us to eat outdoors and for once there appeared to be no midges or mosquitoes to annoy us. The conversation ranged back and forth, covering a whole range of topics, which was really rather fun.

We had thought of going to another ‘vide grenier’ on Sunday but when we discovered that the temperature was forecast to be 36 degrees, we baulked. Walking around in such heat in the sun is not my idea of fun and Neels agreed, so we stayed home with the shutters closed and tried to stay cool

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Our place in France Chapter 21

In this world of ‘Democracy Rules’ decisions are made according to a majority vote, so I am pleased to be able to tell you that the blog will continue indefinitely. Should an occasion arise that prevents me from posting a chapter, I will at least leave a note to that effect on the website, so that you will know that we haven’t fallen of the globe or, worse still, forgotten you all!

In the time since my last blog, we have really been quite busy, contrary to my comments about being nothing more than day to day dreary drudgery!

To start with, Tilly came to spend a week with us and brought Jack with her. As it is some time since we had a four-year-old in the house, we had to make a few mental adjustments. It turned out to be a lovely week. Tilly is such an easy guest and didn’t seem to mind if we had our evening meal at nine o’clock at night, because we had been sitting on the veranda, drinking chilled rosé and discussing the affairs of the world.

On one day we went out for a picnic, to a place near the river which I had seen as we flashed past, on one of our drives out. I was sure I knew where it was and could get back there again with no problem, but I think we took a wrong turn somewhere and after driving for miles decided to go back to our starting point, which was Cajarc. By then, little Jack was as fed up with the car as we were all so we thought of looking for a picnic site on the banks of the Lot River, right there. But there had been a big fair and market and  there may even have been a concert, the previous day, so the whole riverside area was maze of tents, scaffolding and people. However we were all hot, hungry and thirsty and when we came across a wooden deck jutting over the river we unpacked all our picnic goodies and settled down, in spite of a large notice that  stated that ‘use of the jetty was strictly forbidden except for members of the Lot Boating Club’. How lucky that none of us can read French!

On another day we thought that the model train museum at Lanuejouls might be a better idea as, at least, we were sure we knew the way there. Well……………talk about a hit!! We had taken along with us a low plastic stool, as having been there before, we realised that most of the displays would have been above eye level for Jack. And that was a good idea, and one that Jack immediately caught on to. He grabbed the stool and rushed to the first display, plonking the stool down and jumping up on to it. Then he would hop off, move along a bit and do the same again. It is a fair sized museum and there are about fifteen exhibits and probably about seven trains running, ranging from a titchy 0 gauge line with an eleven millimetre track, all the way up to a fifty millimetre track. How he enjoyed it! It was  nearly  as exciting for us, to watch his excitement at seeing all the little trains rushing in all directions. My favourite memory of the afternoon is a ‘snap-shot’ that I have in my mind of Jack, perched on his stool, hands on knees, peering under the arches of a bridge at a train running along a lower line.

The house felt very empty after they left but there was no time to sit around and mope. There was a stack of washing and ironing to get through, and had to be done soon as it is probably my  least favourite part of keeping house.

The following Thursday was haircut day and, as usual, the haircut lady came to us. This is a real bonus and we always have a great chatter while she cuts first Neels’ hair and then mine, which I wash while I wait. Hair gets cut in the kitchen with an old sheet laid out on the floor and the chair in the middle of it. After wards we just gather up the corners of the sheet and toss the clippings out on to the garden.

Shortly after that the English neighbours arrived with their two little girls and as Christian’s brother, George, was also here for a day or two, the village was fully occupied. It had a noticeable buzz for a while, and that wasn’t just the cicadas that have made their annual summer appearance. It is so strange to hear ‘Christmas beetles’ when you know that it’s not Christmas, but it definitely matches the weather conditions – hot and humid.

There have been days in between which have been cooler and even a bit of rain, but most of the time it stays hot. Our poor flowers have had a rough time of it though. We had two large pots of petunias balanced on the front wall on either side of the letter box but, to our amazement, one was blown off in a high wind. The amazing part was that it seemed to have been carefully lifted off the wall and placed on the bottom step, about a metre below. We tut-tutted and muttered about …teenagers… but when it happened a second time, we realised that it was the wind. So we had to bring the two pots up on to the veranda, which I like as they are closer to the tap for watering!

Fétes and fairs have the order of the day since summer and the holidays started. Each town or village has its own weekly farmer’s market but in addition to that there are all sorts of high jinks and goings-on all over the area. We are not yet confident enough to go to an outdoor meal by ourselves, and chat to whosoever sits next to you, but give us a bit of time and we will be there. A lot of events we catually missed because we didn’t know that they were going to happen. Then we started to buy the weekly local newspaper and hey presto! we knew what was happening and when.

Today we attended the mother-and-father of all car boot sales combined with an antique fair. There were literally hundreds of cars and four times that many people, with stalls as far as the eye could see. Sadly the chances of finding an antique gem are very slim – too many people watch Antiques Road Show or Flog it and they also know what to look for before anything gets to the stall. Still it was fun for a while, but extraordinarily hot and we came home again about two hours later having only seen about a quarter of the stalls. Meanwhile, we were entertained by watching the pony carts that were offering rides to six people at a time. Six carts and eleven hoses were kept pretty busy all day with both children and adults enjoying the twenty minute ride in to Villeneuve and back, a trip that takes about three minutes by car!