More adventures in France Episode 8

The good weather of the past week encouraged us to go much further afield and when Tuesday dawned clear and sunny, we thought it was a perfect day to go to the mountains. The house we stayed in last year has a wonderful panoramic view of the Pyrenees, but the one we are in this year doesn’t so we just had to go and check that they were still there and, possibly, see some snow on the peaks. We didn’t start off all that early (surprise, surprise) and dawdled our way along the back roads to get where we were going, which was a point in the mountains called Pont d’Espagne – presumably a bridge on the border between France and Spain. Consequently we arrived, shortly before lunch-time, at a parking area close to a cable way station. Having been caught out before, we had taken all our winter and wet-weather gear with us, in spite of the hot sun when we left home. It was just as well because the temperature at the cableway station was 2 degrees and there was a fine mizzly-drizzle falling and there was mist all around. After some debate we decided to take the five-minute ride to the upper station, even if we just stayed in the cable-car and came down again. However, when we arrived at the top it seemed clearer and the drizzle had stopped so instead of staying in the car, we opted for a 300 meter walk to the café. There was lots of snow all around and it was really pretty. Plenty of people, too, with skis or proper walking boots. The café was crowded but we found a table and had a sandwich and a cup of coffee, while we enjoyed the warmth and jolly atmosphere inside, thinking that we would go and look for the bridge after we had eaten. But when we pushed open the door to leave, we were greeted by a silent white wonderland, and it was still snowing fairly hard. Luckily we managed to tag along with a fellow who seemed to be with a group of children who had been skiing, who knew the way back to the cable station. By now it was snowing heavily and we were getting quite concerned about the trip down the hill from the lower station, which is a steep zig-zag all the way down. After brushing a 2 inch layer of snow off the car, we were again lucky to have someone pull out of a space close to us, who obviously knew the way to the exit. We followed his tracks and made it safely out of the parking area and also down the hill.
By the time we got back to Espas it was again a beautiful day! Well! Well! Well! what an adventure.

On another day we thought it was more prudent to stay away from the mountains for a while and instead drove a circular route which took us out of our usual towns and villages to some we had never visited before. To those of you with maps who like to know these things, our route took us through Nogaro, Aire-sur-l’Adour, Grenade-sur-l’Adour, and St Sever to Mugron. As we so generally do, we stayed away from the main roads and detoured through all the quaint little villages off the beaten track. Our return trip came via Hagetmau, Pimbo, and Garlin, after which we cut across country and came home on an assortment of farm roads. The weather was again simply wonderful and with Spring well sprung the country side is looking it’s very best.

We keep telling each other that we will not be going into any more churches, but somehow we just can’t resist having a quick peep to see if there are any ancient stained glass windows and we are frequently rewarded. In any case the churches are often situated on the highest point in the area and have amazing panoramic views, so it is always worthwhile.

We sincerely hope that next week will be equally productive.

More adventures in France Episode 7

To those of you who were expecting an action week to read about, I apologise. It was not the cause of the blog being posted a day late.
In fact, the first part of the week was really very dull – quite literally. So, as the weather was not great and we expected house guests for the weekend, we thought a little preparation for that event would be a good idea. So the first part of the week was taken up by very mundane tasks like sweeping, dusting, cooking, Hoovering, cutting grass and generally tidying up the outside of the house and shopping for supplies for the weekend. One could describe it as having nothing to write home about! The weekend was spent entertaining our guests, and driving them around this beautiful area, to introduce them to another part of France. It was a weekend of very late nights, not very early mornings and probably too much wine, but enjoyable all the same. They have now departed though, and all I have to show for the week are two pictures of Spring flowers.
The weather seems to be set for a few days of sun and warmth, so we are planning to make the most of it. With a bit of co-operation from the weatherman, I should have some real adventures to relate next week.

More adventures in France Episode 6

One way and another, this has been a good week. On Tuesday we went over to Peyrusse Vieille where we first visited the Mayor’s secretary to ask for her help with a couple of telephone calls. In this way we managed to establish that our renewed visas were ready for collection; that the cost was less than we had been previously quoted; and that the Treasury Office in Plaisance would be able to provide us with the necessary amount in revenue stamps. Delighted with this news, we went to have coffee with Ady to celebrate. Then the next day we went to Plaisance to get the stamps. This is the town in which we used to do most of our shopping last year, but we have hardly been back there this time, so it was pleasant to visit it again in a different season. As it was a reasonably clear day, we managed to make the return journey as circuitous as possible, admiring all the blossom and flowers along the way.
The next day we set off in good time to go to Auch. The sun was trying very hard to come out properly, without much success, and there was still a chilly nip in the air. The young lady we dealt with at the Prefecture was not the same one who had taken our applications but she was equally friendly and went to great lengths to explain what would be required of us, should we wish to extend our visas for another year. Unfortunately, if we should want to do that, it will mean returning in Winter again as each visa is valid for only a year, and renewal has to be applied for before the expiry date, just as we had to do this year. Pity about that, as it is not the best tourist season. However, we are delighted with our renewed visas, and we now have an actual card saying that we are legally in France and can come and go as we wish for another year.
Friday was forecast to be sunny all day, so we duly made plans for an outing and were up bright and early. I am not quite sure why, as we were not going far at all, only about 30 kms along the road, in fact. But it really was a beautiful day for a change and it was lovely to be out and about. Our destination was a deer and wild boar farm near a place called Le Houga. When arrived, we were told that there was a walk around the farm’s perimeter which would include visiting the enclosures where the deer and wild boar were. We were also told that the walk was about six kilometres long, but having walked it, I very much doubt that – it may have been three, or at a stretch, four kilometres. We were given a little tin bucket half filled with dried maize kernels, to feed to the boar, and off we went. We arrived at the boar enclosures first and by rattling the bucket, we encouraged the animals to come closer to the fence so that they could enjoy the kernels we threw to them. They really are very ugly creatures, much more like a farmyard pig than a warthog, but with a longer nose. The males have quite fearsome tusks and I get the feeling that all of them are probably quite dangerous as, as well as the substantial mesh fence, there was also an electric fence about 30 centimetres inside that. There were several different areas to see, with groups of wild boar in each, in what could have been family groups. The babies were too sweet, as all baby animals are, and quite interestingly had three darker brown stripes down their backs, although the adults are an all-over grey-brown colour.
Having left the boar enclosures behind, we walked through some vineyards before arriving at some open fields with lots of deer in them. One of the bigger stags was not at all shy and came right up to the fence where he stood and posed so that we could take pictures of him. His antlers were magnificent and he was obviously very proud of them too. I think he was hoping fr a few maize kernels too, but by then we had given them all out. It was a lovely day for a walk, and a lovely walk around the farm and at the end of it all, we enjoyed a meal in the farm restaurant. And that was a bit different too. We started with a cocktail of orange juice and Armagnac, as an aperitif. This was accompanied by what looked like a small individual pastry tartlet, filled with wild boar patẻ and cut into four pieces for the two of us. Next to be brought to us was a salad with some deer patẻ and something like brawn made with wild boar meat. Our main course was a venison stew, served with boiled potatoes and chunks of garlic bread and we rounded the whole meal off with a glass of delicious red wine. Mildly sun-burnt and decidedly replete, we returned home agreeing that we had had a perfect day out.

More advetures in France Episode 5

At last! At last! Some glorious sunshine! And how different everything looks under clear blue skies. The blossoming trees are even more noticeable now – the white more startling against a backdrop of bare brown branches, and the pinks brighter and clearer. We drove past a house with a long driveway, which was lined on each side with alternating dark green fir trees and what had been spindly dry branches, but which were now a cloud of soft purplish pink. It looked so pretty. The French are obviously quite garden-conscious because we have noticed that the farmhouse gardens are always planted ‘for effect’. Splashes of brilliant colour around the houses, in each season, are the order of the day. When they get the time to do it all, I really don’t know. They all work so hard already.
We went to visit our friend Ady, in Peyrusse Vieille, and she had been helping her daughter to slaughter thirty ducks and to get them oven ready, for sale. Being the generous soul that she is, she presented us with a duck breast for our supper. I must just say here, that one breast probably weighs about 200 – 300 gms and is easily enough for two people. We were simply delighted to accept the gift although I had never tried to cook one before. Thank heavens for the internet, though, where I found detailed instructions on a video by the world famous chef, Gordon Ramsay. I followed them precisely and we had a meal fit for a king!
Something that I have never mentioned before is that this area of France still practises bull-fighting, although they do not kill the bulls here. Quite a few of the bigger towns have bull-rings and most of the fights take place around Easter time. Special little black bulls are bred especially for the purpose and it is a great excuse for a party. On the top of a hill near to Aignan is a huge cut-out of a bull advertising the Easter bull-fight while at the nearby town of Vic Fezensac, there is an enormous bullring with a large statue of a man facing a bull, outside. I doubt very much if we will be going to view one of these events!
The other thing that we take for granted but perhaps not everyone knows, is the style of building around here. The previous house that we stayed in was originally a double storey stone house with two foot thick walls. (It now has an extension which is modern and brick-built) And stone is a popular building medium for a lot of the older houses. Even older than that though, is what we would refer to as ‘ wattle and daub’, and which is here called ‘colombage’ or ‘half-timbered’. Amazingly, a large number of these houses are still standing, and even more amazing, are occupied. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some of them are a few hundred years old. As one drives around past some of the older farms, it is not unusual to see just the remains of an old barn – the skeleton, probably made of oak, still standing long after the weather has taken its toll on the mud or brick filling. It just goes to show that all those things like building regulations which require one to have foundations of a certain depth, damp courses and the like, are really unnecessary for the house to last. As to the comfort of the houses without those attributes, well, I really wouldn’t like to comment. I just think that people in the old days were a lot tougher than we are now, and somehow managed to survive in houses that were cold, damp and unhygienic!