Indian food, Fireworks & Ruins

Last night we had a great "welcome back to france" night.   S&S, our lovely friends who watch the dogs when we are away, invited us over to their home for Indian.  S&S have a catering business here in France, called Spiced Cuisine.  S makes the most unbelievable curry!  There were 10 of us and dinner was amazing.  

After dinner we went to a pyro-lumino-symphony on the roc del thaluc (or Château Inférieur)  in Peyrusse-le-roc a small village not far from us. The fireworks/light/music show was on the Château Inférieur. The Château Inférieur is a ruined castle. Peyrusse-le-Roc was known during Roman times for the richness of its silver, lead and antimony mines.  The fortress here was besieged in 761.  It was taken by the English in 1163 and later occupied by Simon de Montfort.  The town began to lose its importance from the end of the 16th century.  In 1668, the castle was already in ruins.  All that remains are two towers; the northern one serving as a watch tower is described by the Ministry of Culture as the finest example in the Rouergue.

we took this back in November when we biked to Peyrusse-le-roc

we were sitting so close to the fireworks....that would never happen in the states

It was an amazing night.  So many people were in the village and we sat on the side of the hill right in front of the ruin.  Music, lights, fireworks and an ancient ruin.  It was a great night.

Paris - day 3

Tuesday – Day 3

We had enough of the metro yesterday so today we decided to try out the velib, which are the free bikes all over paris. It’s pretty cool. There are stations all over the city, notes on maps and all you do is take a bike from one velib station and return it at another. You do have to subscribe first, but that only takes 5 minutes or so. We did the short-term subscription, we had a ticket with a number on it and all you do it key in the number and choose to take a bike and your set. The rates are 1 euro per day and if you keep the bike for under 30 minutes you don’t pay anything else. If you keep in longer than ½ hour it’s something like 1 euro an hour. But what we would do is ride towards our destination and right before the ½ hour was up, we’d ditch the bike and rent another. I don’t recommend it to everyone though, you really have to be a confident cyclist because it’s pretty crazy on the roads. The first day we saw 3 accidents, not with cyclists, but with scooters/mopeds and cars. There are many streets which are highlighted green on maps and these have bike lanes, which are much better.

We started out renting some bikes and riding around the 7th. We were going to go into the Rodin but we got lost on the bikes (something very easy to do) so it took us longer to get over there than we had planned. So we ditched the bikes and walked around the 7th for a bit. I had lunch plans in the 4th, I was meeting Leesa, Barbara and Dawn! So excited to meet some fellow bloggers. Leesa picked her favorite restaurant in the Marias so I left Bruce at the Rodin and hopped the metro over to meet them. We had a great lunch at a super cute place called “le loir dans la theiere. 2 ½ hours went by so fast but I had a lovely time with the girls. They are all wonderful, friendly, warm and super cool.

just cruising around

one of the velib stations

Bruce and I had planned to meet in front of the Rodin at 4:30, but I didn’t leave lunch until 4:30, so I was a bit late, he didn’t mind. I found him at the bistro on the corner, at the bar, drinking a pastis. He had a great day at the Rodin, he took his sketchbook and spent the entire time sitting in front of amazing sculptures.

Rodin sculpture

Pastis

We had dinner plans with Sebastian, his parents live near us in the Aveyron. They retired down here many years ago and we met Sebastain over Christmas. He and JP live in the 11th and we met him at his flat for dinner. Lovely lovely night, a great bottle of Burgundy, excellent meal and delicious dessert. We’ll be seeing him next week when he comes down to the Aveyron.

Another long day, but so much fun. Not sure I could live here full-time, I’d be exhausted, but part-time, oh yes!!!

The first 4 hours in Paris

Our train left Rodez at 11:45 this morning.  We dropped the dogs off with S&S at 10:00 am.  We feel so comfortable leaving them with S&S, no worries.  I also had a chance to see Fanny (my hen) who now lives with them.  She's doing great and it makes me so happy.

The train took about 7 hours and it was great...no stress.  No need to drive the car and find parking here in paris.  We listened to music, I did my french homework and Bruce drew.  Nice ride up to Paris.

We arrived at 7 pm and took a taxi to the hotel.  We are staying in the 11th at the grand hotel francais.  It's lovely and clean and modern, a great choice.  We showered and then went out to dinner around 8:00 pm.  We walked around and found a cute bistro called "les funamuble" which means "tightrope walker" in french.   We sat outside as it was a beautiful warm evening. I ordered the poulet with riz de coco and Bruce had the entrecote with fries and of course we had some Gaillac vin de rouge and an amazing dessert that was a mi-cuite chocolate, yummy.  Next to us was a couple about our age and they had their daughter with them.  5 minutes after we sat down we started talking with them and continued to for 2 hours.  They were lovely and when they left both of us said "those are 2 people we'd love to hang out with".   We finished our meal and asked for the check.  The waiter informed us that the couple paid for our dinner!  Seriously, they bought our dinner for us!  How unbelievable is that.  We spoke with the waiter and he said they just live around the corner, come in all the time and he knows them very well, so Bruce left them a note giving them our cell phone and email.  We told them we'd love to get together again before we leave on Friday and we thanked them for the meal...telling them it was very classy to do that!  

So, that's it.  Our first 4 hours in france and we met a lovely french couple who bought us dinner.  Don't tell me that the french are not friendly...they are wonderful people when you open up and speak to them.  

We are both very excited to be here until Friday.  I think we both needed this.  I'll get a chance to meet Leesa and Barbara on Tuesday and my sister comes in on Wednesday with her students from her school and also my brothers niece is with my sister as well.  It will be such a fun time. We'll take loads of pictures and update each day.  Sorry that I don't have any pictures yet...stay tuned.

18 vins à gôuter

some of the wine we were to taste

On Monday we went to a wine tasting at Marin & Pella's home. We were set to taste 18 different french wines. We arrived at 7:00 pm and immediately started our tasting. We began with the whites, 7 of them

1. Domaine Octavie, Savignon de Touraine (Loire) 2008
2. Voignier, Domaine de Lascours (languedoc) 2008
3. Château Marie du Fou, Blanc, Fiefs Vendéens-Mareiul (Loire) 2008
4. Mâcon-Solutré Domaine Pascal & mireille Renaud (Burgundy) 2008
5. Pinot Blanc, Cuvée Traditionnelle, Robert Faller et Fils (Alsace) 2007
6. Gewürztraminer, Cuvée Traditionnelle,Robert Faller et Fils (Alsace) 2007
7. Rasteau, La Galopine, Domaine des Escaravailles (Rhône) 2008

Yummy. Liked #2 - hint of green apple, a bit tarte and crisp. #4 was good and #5 was very good, but could have been a bit colder. #6 was very dry, not so sweet and very nice.

All of these we done on an empty stomach. argh! There were 12 of us, from France, England, Belgium, New Zealand and America (us). 4 of the people (including the host) we knew from the English Library in Villefranch, everyone else we didn't know but got to know very quickly. Everyone was lovely.

our new friends

Bruce and Guy talking about the wine

Guy Boursot who owns a wine shop just south of Calais, France brought all the wines to taste and Laurent Cagnat who is a wine dealer who lives near Villefrance coordinated the evening, his wife cooked the meal, which was wonderful.

We all wished we had a bit of something when we started, to soak up a bit of the wine.  But the first tasting was amazing.  Before starting the red Laurent's wife brought out some bread and fois gras (made by her grand mére).  Amazing.

After the white can the red (yes!).... Here is what we tasted.

8.  Brouilly Domaine de Chêne (Beaujolais) 2007

9.  Bourgogne Joseph Faively (Burgundy) 2006

10.Château Massmier la Mignarde, Tradition (Minervois) 2006

11. Château de Lascours, Nobilis, Pic Saint-Loup (Coteaux du Langeudoc) 2007

12. Rasteau, Les Sabilères Domaine des Escaravailles (Rhône) 2007

13. Syrah, Domaine Bassac, Vin de Pays des Côtes de Thongue, 2007 (Organic)

14. Château Baret, Pessac-Léognan (Claret) 2000

yummy is all I can say.  I like whites but really don't drink them much, we love the reds so this was really nice.  The only problem we found (and others too) is that by the time we reached the reds we were a bit "buzzed" and talking more with others and didn't take as many notes as when we were drinking the whites.  But here is what I wrote.  #8 - just an everyday wine, sort of like a vin de table.  #9 - very very nice, #10 - very strong tanin, good taste, good after too, #11 excellent, #12 good, #13 really nice, #14 amazing (of course this was 17.40 euros a bottle).

All the others were an average of 7 euros a bottle, not bad.

Then it was time for dinner.  Here was the menu.

the dinner menu

sitting down for the meal

across is david and leslie

How fast time goes when you are having a great time.  We sat next to Claire and her husband Pierre.  Pierre works for the marie (mayor) of Villefranche and Claire is the english teacher at the private school in Villefranche.  On my right was Nick a great man to know as he's a mason and carpenter.  Lived in the Aveyron for 15 years.  Wonderful people and funny too.  I didn't look at my watch until we were leaving and it was 1:00 am!  oh my.  We got home at 1:30.  

We had a great time, ordered some of the wine we liked and met some wonderful people.  It was an amazing evening.

Life at Los Costes

I haven't been updating my blog very much, only because you are probably not interested in our boring days.  We get up around 8am, have coffee and breakfast, take the dogs out, check emails and then decide what to do that day.  If it's Tuesday or Friday I get up earlier to go to french class until noon.  If it's nice in the morning we either take the dogs for a hike, go for a trail run or go for bike ride.  We either go into town to do shopping or go to the market on Thursday or Sunday.  We take a nap most every day and right now are obsessed with watching the Giro d'Italia (kind of like the Tour de France of Italy), so we are home between 3-6pm.  Pretty simple life and I'm sure you are not interested in hearing our daily itinerary.

Last time I posted I was in tears because Rhoda and Lefty were killed by a fox and we were taking Fanny over to my friend Dawns house.  Well that didn't work out.  Her 4 hens are very small and the first day Fanny was great but on the second day she decided to bully them.  She wouldn't let them eat or drink or even go into their coop.  Dawn is new to chickens and was having a hard time seeing this happen (it always does with chickens, they need to figure things out and re-do the pecking order) and I didn't want to upset her so I told her I'd come to get her. Then I decided to email the ladies who take care of Dashell & Stella when we go away.  They have 3 golden retrievers, x number of cats and chickens.  I thought they might know someone who would take Fanny.  In no time flat I received an email back telling me they would take her. They are so lovely.  So we took her up last Thursday.  One of their hens is quite large which might make it harder for fanny to bully and they have a coq (he keeps order in the flock).  They emailed us later that afternoon and things were going well. We haven't heard from them so we figure the chickens are still working things out (which they have no problem letting happen) or she's fit in fine.  I'm thankful for them, they are lovely people.

2 weeks ago we were visited by JNRR and her adorable dogs.  Felt like I have known her for a long time, maybe because we have corresponded via email and blogs for over a year.  We had a great weekend visiting a few vide greniers (kind of like a huge yard sale), going to a party for our friend Ben, cooking together and drinking great wine. 

this is Bruno 

This is Louis

This is just a man at one of the vide greniers

Yesterday JNRR came over again for a short visit and we had quite an adventurous 24 hours. We snuck onto the property that we have been looking at to buy and were surprised to find one of the side doors open, so we went in and spent about 1 hour in the house looking around.  I was great to get her opinion, because the place is structurally sound but needs loads of TLC and it's huge.  

Today we had a bit of an epic.  We have been having some problems with Claude, our 1985 Peugeot station wagon.  Our mechanic said it's was the starter (he can't take it until Tuesday) so some days it will start and others we have to pop the clutch (so amazing that works).  Yesterday as we were coming back to the house I noticed the gas light was on (Bruce was driving) and I asked him if we should stop for gas. "No, I think we are ok".  We made it home no problem, but this morning Bruce was heading over to pick up some croissants and the car wouldn't start, so he popped the clutch and it started, but when he turned out of our driveway into the road it stalled...it was out of gas. Argh!  So JNRR had to drive us into town to get a gas can and some gas.  Claude was left on the side of the road out in front of our house, when we got back JNRR and I had to push him to get him going (Bruce helped to)...but then JNRR slipped and fell and right as she did a big bus (for hauling kids to and from school) came ripping around the corner. Close call, she was almost road kill.

This is Claude 

Luckily after many tries Claude came back to life.  If JNRR wouldn't have been here we would have been stranded for a while.  I knew she came here for a reason!  Claude will go to the mechanic on Tuesday for a new starter.  Once he's all fixed up we are planning a trip to Brantome to visit JNRR to see her lovely house, spend some time in the beautiful Dordogne and see the boys, hopefully very soon.  

We have had lovely sunny warm days and a few nights some great thunderstorms.  We opened the pool 2 days ago, although we haven't ventured into it yet, still a bit chilly.  We are excited to go to Paris (mid-june) to see my sister and brother-in-law and my brothers daughter.  My sister is an art history professor and is bringing a group of her students over to europe and my 17 year old niece is coming too.  We'll spend 4 days in Paris and we can't wait.  Bruce loves Paris.

The wild poppies are in full bloom and are stunning!

That's about it for us.  Just a simple life in southwest france.

Mes Poulets

our kids - rhoda (in front) fanny (blonde) and Left (our roo)

When we moved here in October, well actually months before we actually arrived I always spoke about getting chickens.  I have never had chickens before and I wanted to wake up to fresh eggs and have these little pre-historic birds clucking around.  Over Thanksgiving dinner I had mentioned this to our friend Ben and 2 days later he was at our front door with 3 chickens. Here's the post from last year when we got them.

Every morning I would get up and go up to the coop (which is an old shed), open the door and say "morning birds".  Usually Rhoda would be roosting on the 2x4, Lefty would be sitting on a concrete block and Fanny just standing there.  We didn't have a run for them (with a fence) because it wasn't possible where the coop was located, so they were free-range.  They would wander off into the forest and come down to the front door for their treats.  Lefty was the best roo you could have.  He was injured before we got him and his left leg didn't work very good so he was very submissive for a roo.  He wasn't aggressive and he only cock-a-doodle-doo'd once in the morning.  He was very sweet.  Rhoda and Fanny were sisters and were such a team, they were always together scratching around and if I would call them they would come running down the path, hoping for some treats.

On Thursday I let them out of the coop and went about my day, just like any other day.  We went into Montauban for 3 hours to do some shopping and when we came back Fanny was standing right at our front door, but there was no sign of Rhoda or Lefty.  It's very unusual for the ladies to be apart so we went looking for them.  We looked everywhere but they were gone. Not a trace.. it's like they just disappeared into thin air.  I was in tears, I knew that something got them.  Either a fox or a hawk or maybe an owl.  We are thinking a fox, because we have heard that foxes can clear out a whole flock in a day without leaving a feather!  

My heart was/is broken.  I loved those birds and Rhoda was my girl.  She was the leader of the flock and so cool.  And Lefty, well, he was a super roo.  Fanny was very freaked out and for 2 days stood at our front door.  Never venturing out to scratch or anything.  She would go up to the coop to lay her daily egg but would run back down to our door.  I knew that it was only a matter of time before the fox came back for her so I talked to a friend of mine who I go to French class with about taking her in.   "Of course" she said.  She just got 4 hens (3 weeks ago) and loves them.  Her and her husband have 2 kids who love the chickens too.    So yesterday we took her over to their house and it went great.  Fanny was let into the run and she got along great with the other girls and started scratching around (something she hadn't done since the Thursday).  She was eating and laying in the sun and looked so happy.  My friends daughter is 9 and loves the birds, she spend most of the time checking up on Fanny to make sure she was OK. I left feeling very good about my decision to give Fanny to them.  I know that she will be safe and happy.

I still get choked up when I think about Rhoda and Lefty, having to die like that.  I know they are just chickens and we eat chicken 2-3 times a week, but these birds were my pets, part of our family and very cool.  I will never forget them and when we get more birds, which I will when we decide where we are going to be (Los Angeles or France) they will have a fenced in run.  I think we were very lucky they lasted as long as they did...I never thought they would get killed though, it just never crossed my mind.   I will say though that Rhoda and Lefty had a wonderful life here...being able to run free in the woods is something most chickens don't get a chance to do.  They were spoiled birds for sure and I will miss them.

Rhoda and Lefty

Rhoda and Fanny

The girls would come running when I called them

8 months

the yellow in this field is blinding

That's how long we have been here...8 months today.  We arrived in Paris October 1st with 2 bikes in their carrying cases (big rolling things), 2 dogs in their crates (remember one of our dogs is an 80 lb. golden retriever and his crate is huge) and 2 large bags.  Getting to the rental car was hell. 

It's now 8 months later and we haven't had a fire in 2 days and that was only in the evening when it was raining (which it has been for a week!), we have had 2 visit from family and friends, we went to Belgium, Bordeaux and Beziers (didn't realize all the b's).  We have made many trips to Toulouse (mostly to visit notaries), we've ridden about 2500 miles and seen many villages, towns and cities, breathtaking.  We have made new friends, reconnected with friends we met when we were here last year and Bruce reconnected with an old friend from high school who lives with his lovely wife and his 2 boys in Bordeaux.  I still take french lessons 2 times a week in Villefranche and we are finally at a point where we can understand most of what our old neighbor says.  Well, Bruce can understand most of what he says, I'm about 50%.

We had a lovely February and March (especially because my family visited), April was so much fun, going to Belgium and Steve and Lisa coming over.  Thanks to Steve Bruce started climbing again (first time in 6 years).  

Steve and Bruce getting ready to climb

Bruce on his first route in 6 years

And then there is the rain, argh!  I know that it rains here (that is why everthing is so green) but it's been really hard for us.  I really didn't realize how much you take the sun and nice weather for granted when you live in Los Angeles.  Sure, some days are cloudy and usually smoggy but it rains maybe 1 week a year.  It's May 1st and it's a beautiful day and the weather says nice for 12 days.  Ah, please let a rain-free spring be here...or better yes pre-summer as we want to open the pool.

We were going to go to Italy to see the Giro d'Italia but have decided against it for financial reasons.  Remember we are not working here!  We are OK with it, it will be nice to stay around our area and ride and relax.  In June we are heading up to Paris for 4 days (to celebrate Bruce's 40th and see my sister and brother-in law), that should be really fun.  I hope to meet up with Leesa and Barbara while I'm there too.

July is going to be crazy and I can't wait for it.  Tour de France, riding Mt. Ventoux, our great friends K&E coming over, it will be a wonderful month.  

We are truly happy here and love it more every day.  It's wonderful to wake up happy and content.  It's a bit crazy that we are now on month 8.  It's gone so fast.  Right now it gets dark around 9:00 pm...it seems like yesterday when it was getting dark at 4:30.  That was when we didn't have a television and we had CD's we'd put on and open a bottle of wine and listen to music.  There are a few songs that will always remind me of this time, right when we arrive in France in our little house in the woods with nighttime arriving so early.  Those are good memories even though I cursed the wood burner every day.

We have a few things up our sleeves, but too early to talk about them now.  Things are in the works and we hope they will work out for us.  Right now we'll just enjoy every moment we are here and thank our lucky stars that we were able to come here and have a year in France.

One cool thing is that we have had 3 sanglier sightings.  This morning was our 3rd, we have been hearing a boar in the woods at dusk a crazy cry/snort/growl, but this morning I was out with Dashell at about 7am and in the meadow was a boar, not huge, but not a baby.  It was super cool...don't get that in Los Angeles.

this isn't the one that was in our yard, but same size

Le printemps est arrivé

We have had the most amazing weather since I decided to stay in France and not go back to Los Angeles for 10 days. Maybe france is telling me something or thanking me for staying. We had 2 really great days this week (well, basically every day here is a great day - but even better when it's sunny and 70). Wednesday we went for a long (3 hour) bike ride. It was the first time since early October that I wore biking shorts (not long insulated biking tights), no hat, no neck warmer, no winter gloves, no "windstopper" booties over my cycling shoes, no 4 layers (smartwool, jersey, long sleeve jersey, wind jacket). It was glorious!

my happy partner

ah, le printemps!

great view

the cutest little guys ever!

These donkeys were so cute.  When we stopped at the side of the road they ran over to the wall for some love.  If we lived here full time I'd have a couple of donkeys.  

Yesterday we went over to Ben & Anke's house in Najac.  Ben has 2 girls from his previous marriage and Anke has 2 girls from her previous marriage.  4 girls, ages 6, 8, 10 and 11 (talk about drama).  We decided to bring the dogs and go for a hike around Najac, down into the valley along the river and back.  A great 2 hours (we did stop for a picnic lunch too - the french always have to stop and eat).  Most of the hike the dogs were off leash, but when we were leaving the village, coming back into the village and passing the sheep farm the dogs had to be leashed - all the girls took turns walking them.

Ben and Lola

Lola walking Dashell (notice the castle of Najac)

Sandra walking Dashell

Chloe walking Dashell and Phoebe walking Stella

The gang!

the sheep farmers home

I'm so glad I decided to stay here in France and not mess up my inner peace with crazy Los Angeles.  We will have to go back in 6-7 months and I'm sure it's going to be hard adjusting, so right now I'm just taking it all in and loving my life and the spring weather.