Another well-occupied week which really started on Sunday
when we took a major detour on the way back from the supermarket and came
across the most breath-taking autumn colours yet. I keep taking more and more
photos of the trees and their amazing leaf colours and I apologise if I am
being boring, but, for us they are simply amazing and I keep thinking, ‘This is
the very best. They can’t get better than this!’. And then they do. We are well
aware this all this show is only a fore- runner to the bleakness of winter,
but, my goodness, it only makes everything so worthwhile.
Pieter arrived back for a brief stay, mainly to be able to
attend a lecture in Rodez, which just slotted in nicely with a business trip to
Paris the previous week. This time he caught a train in Paris which dropped him
off in a town we hadn’t visited before – Brive-la-Gaillard – more or less north
west of us. It is approximately the same distance away as Toulouse, to the
south. That’s about one and a half hours drive. Sadly the day was grey and
gloomy and not at all good for pictures, although I have to be fair and note
that there was nothing that really caught my eye as a ‘Kodak-moment’. On
Tuesday evening, though, on the way to eating out (Pieter’s treat) we saw a
sunset that vied with the trees for amazing colours. Not a wonderful picture, I
know but there was very little ambient light and I have a fairly basic camera.
I missed a great photo opportunity on Wednesday when Neels
and Courtney went to fetch a stere of
firewood. That is one cubic metre to all
you non-Frenchies. The car manages half a stere at a time so it entailed two
trips to the farm we get it from. At the farm there were only the two of them
to load, although the farmer helped a bit with the first load, and then back at
the house we formed a chain from the car to the wood pile and we all worked up
a sweat getting it off-loaded. It would hae been a good picture but I just didn’t
think of it at the time.
Saturday was my birthday and I was very spoilt. A few cards
had arrived by mail, which had been spirited away until the day so I was
presented with those when I woke up. There were plenty of messages waiting on
my phone too when I woke that up and more kept arriving. Before long there was
a tap on the bedroom door and Courtney appeared with a plate of freshly made
pancakes with a variety of toppings for me to add. They were delicious. and I
have decided they make the perfect breakfast food. The calls kept coming and
then later in the morning our English neighbour who is only here now and again,
came over to chat to us, having arrived late the previous night. When he heard
that it was my birthday he went off and re-appeared some time later with a
charming card and a bottle of champagne. Spoilt indeed!
So with a birthday at each end of the week, we started on a
high and ended on another high. Only Neels’ birthday was really part of last
week’s story. I am really impressed by the colourful ‘decorations’ put out by
the fields and general countryside, in our honour. It doesn’t get all dressed
up in its finery for everyone!
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