The holiday got off to a good start with an upgrade to business class on Emirates A380 from Dubai to Paris. What a treat that was and obviously choosing the people to upgrade has nothing to do with what you wear or what designer label baggage you have.
I was so excited (even for an ex stewardess!). We thought it would be a great opportunity to sleep the last part of our flight especially with mattress, pillow and blanket supplied, stretched flat out all very comfy and cosy. But I think the excitement of it all kept us awake for most of the 7hr flight, well me at least.
With a long wait at Paris, CDG airport for our flight to Toulouse we whiled away the time people watching & dozing. It’s a very busy airport.
A night at Toulouse in the Holiday Inn Express at the airport and we woke refreshed and ready to start the day. We picked up our car and guess what, another upgrade. I had ordered the smallest, cheapest available and so we were glad of the upgrade especially as we later needed to put 2 bikes in the boot.
With gps navigation on we hit the road on the right side which is left over here and managed to get all the way to Valence sur Baise without a hitch or a wander to the wrong side of the road. The countryside along the way was beautiful and reminded us of the southwest of England on a beautiful summers day. Field after field of sunflowers which unfortunately were not standing proud and smiling at us but heads were drooped and looked rather weary. I thought it must be the 40deg heat, yes it was the hottest day this year, but have since been told that we missed the sunflower season by about a week they are nearly ready to harvest and that’s the reason they look so wilted and sad.
Our house is right next to the village square and church. Across the road is a patisserie and a restaurant that does a plat du jour for E12.50 That’s entree, main, cheese, dessert and as much wine as you want. Not bad value but I fear I will never get on the bicycle if I eat there too often.
Our courtyard complete with BBQ and grapevine
In the village we also have a pharmacie, 2 hairdressers, doctor, physio and 2 more patisseries. There was a tabac and a butcher but a supermarket opened up just outside of town and so slowly businesses are closing down. Sad for the village but it seems to be the same wherever you go, not just here in France. We don’t seem to see many people, in fact at times it is eerily quiet. We are not quite sure what the locals do all day or if even anybody is living in the houses behind the shuttered windows. But I can say it is a very pretty village and very old.
We soon found ourselves at the bike shop and purchased 2 bikes for what it would have cost us to hire 2 for just 2 weeks.
This way we have the bikes for the 6 weeks we are here and can use them for bum training and just meandering around the local villages. Although I have since learnt you don’t meander when you ride with Jerry! and it is very hilly around here, so its a slow old ride for me, but very pleasant.
Our first ride was into the next large village/town called Condom (ahem!). It was about a 20kms trip, up and down and up again all those blasted hills. I arrived a sweaty, exhausted mess and plonked myself down at the first cafe I came to in need of a rest, coffee and cake. A lady sitting at the same table gave us a once over look, I thought oh dear do I look that bad. Then she asked if we were staying in Valence? Well we are so we said yes then she asked if we were Jean & Jerry!! How about that. Maggie it turns out is a friend of Rob & Leslie who own the house we are in and knew we were arriving, heard our Australian accents (do we really sound Aussie its only been 34 & 37 yrs since we left UK) saw we were on bikes and put 2 & 2 together! How’s about that for a coincidence.
We feel we are like kids in a candy shop at the supermarket. Our first 2 days we ate nothing but delicious crusty bread, an assortment of cheeses, ham and terrines. The choice is phenomenal and inexpensive. Fresh, juicy sweet peaches are so moreish and I can drink the wine!! no headache so far. Good job we are riding bikes as I fear we would turn into little dumplings otherwise, the food is just so deliciously mouth watering and moreish.
We have spent the week touring local towns and villages on our bikes or in the car. There seems to be a market everyday of the week somewhere close by and at weekends we are lucky that this month there are village fetes and vides-greneieres ( car boot sales) every weekend and some midweek. Each place we visit is jaw droppingly beautiful. So old and beautiful each one has a central square and each has an abbey or castle, all steeped in history, so much to soak up and take in.
We leave you with some photos of the past 10 as we have wandered the countryside.
As i build limestone walls in the cold and wet perth winter, paint the interiors of dreary houses and do repairs to Dept. Housing I feel so sorry for my friends suffering their way through the picturesque villages of France.On the strength of that I am of ti buy a dozen french reds........
ReplyDelete