Lamastre

Another week has passed with no news from the Notaire, it must only mean that everything is going smoothly!!!!!  I tried to phone last Thursday, but it was a public holiday, forgot my phone on Friday and on Monday they are closed anyway, so I’ll give them a call tomorrow and find out what’s going on.

In the mean time, along with the continual work on the building site, I’ve had chance to explore Lamastre, the local market town a bit.  An old mining town from years ago, a bit grim and grey but pre most industrial action, so the coal was shipped out and the area is now quite and calm, the mines closed years ago.  It reminded me somewhat of Dartmouth, from the steep narrow streets lined with granite houses, though miles from the sea and rising on both sides of the valley.  It’s remote here, three quarters of an hour drive to the nearest large town of any note, so it’s similar to Dartmouth in that respect too.

Spotted an interesting fence, rather a fun idea that creates a bit of character to an otherwise bland back street.  

As time is moving on I am becoming increasingly anxious to get my garden planted before the summer gets underway.  A challenge, I know, being hundreds of miles away from a property that is not yet mine, but I’ve done a fair amount of seed sowing this last weekend in preparation.  My mad february purchase of thirty or so packets of seeds in Aldi one evening has come in handy at last, rows and rows of tiny plants are starting to appear from the compost, a mixture of vegetables and flowers, that’ll be ready to transplant within the next couple of weeks.  Hopefully they won’t get too large to untangle or too stretched by being planted so close together.  The whole thing is a bit of an experiment so we’ll just have to wait and see.  I keep reading my permaculture gardening book and have some interesting ideas to try out once things get going. Less work and more produce - can’t be such a bad thing to try.

madrid in a day

Madrid was two busses and a metro ride away.  By the time we got into the centre the temperature was already more than warm.  Joy’s thing was to stop and have a cappuchino ( I never checked how to spell one) and a cigarette whenever she needed to take stock of the day, so, on arrival that’s what we did.  Not having a guide book or even a map by then, we decided to wander through the streets and discover what we found.  Not a plan that would work in London, but within twenty minutes we’d stumbled into the main square, past a pasty shop selling the most delicious looking wares and found the main tourist office.  Equipped with touristic map we continued, checking out the shops and sights as we went.  I’m sure that all the tourist gifts are made in the same factory in China, I’ve seen the same things available on three continents, all minorly modified to be seemingly local.  I didn’t need anything but it never seems to stop a good browse.  A great shop with a window full of crisps, loose crisps in a huge container. I expect you could buy them by the sack load or individually depending on your immediate requirements.  We followed the map, cappuchino by cappuchino, taking in churches and bridges, buildings or architectural note, housing galleries and museums, bridges and views highlighted on the map.  We never found the pasty shop again so lunch was from a back street bakers, some interesting and tasty savory and sweet pastries eaten in a shady park below the cathedral. The temperature moderated our going in the afternoon, it was hot, and the botanic gardens a welcome calm after the busy streets and arcades of the city.  But we had to continue, by late afternoon we had had enough so we stopped and had a meal,  the spanish probably thought we were having lunch, but it was easily late enough to be an early dinner, it was still hot and there were still a metro and two bus rides back to the campsite.  Followed, at the other end by a longer than short walk through some dark woods to find the campsite and Percy again.  Madrid was great, a tidy, small capital city with beautiful buildings and a swanky upmarket feel, I liked it and would go back for another look, but definitely feel more at home in the more arty and relaxed Barcelona.

street art magic

choose your pasty here

impressive town hall

crisps by the kilo

cathedral, completed only twenty or so years ago

Joy posing outside a large and fancy building

neptune doing his stull in the middle of a roundabout

the calm of the botanic garden

vertical gardening in the city

chateau land

Day 4

Another big road day.  We had a great run round and play at the campsite playground before heading off in the hopes that someone would sleep for a while.  It worked a treat.  Flew through Chartres, the cathedral standing proud on its hill.  Sleep dictated that we continued, heading south the whole time back out in to the flat plains again, all wheat and grain.  Through Tours centre, over the river Loire in the heart of chateaux country and hung a right.  Tania had been hard at work, cross referencing guide book, campsite book and atlas to find us our next overnight location.  A free camper van park literally just outside a chateau, with lovely restaurant along side.  It was nice to arrive early, and have the remainder of the afternoon to play with.  The bikes came off the back of Percy and we set off to explore.  How good was it to stretch our legs and get a bit of exercise after being on the road, lovely.  Alix loves her bicycle child seat and we covered a good 18km before returning for a great restaurant meal, the first of our trip.  We slept well in the company of so many other motor homes and woke to another sunny day.

bridge over the Loire River in Tours

Tania and Alix ready for a bike ride

Percy with some of his mates

Day 5

The gardens of the Chateau of Villandry were restored in the early 20th century by a foreigner (to France) who then went on to encourage the local chateaux into organised tourist attractions.  We decided to visit the gardens which were out of this world.  Not to copy or recreate, but just for the sheer grandeur and extravagance that the rich folk of bygone years were able to command.  I needn’t write much, just enjoy these photos.

Chateau Villandry

veggie plot

no, not for walking on

box, yew and russian lavender

less is more, and it can't get much less than this!!

an avenue view

great for spotting hearts and crowns

who imagined this in the first place?  what were they on?

Alix, Me and Tania 

We hit the road after lunch with the hope that we could reach Paranquet by dusk.  A tiny village on the borders of Dordogne and the Lot and Garonne where Mark lives.  A winter colleague and friend from Lou Rider, he has a great little house by a river and is spending summer cooking in the local campsite bar/restaurant.  I have said for the last three years that i would visit, and now is the perfect time.  Caroline, his girlfriend and her three kids are there for the summer, there’s a pool and plenty of great things to see.  A must visit.  

It was dark by the time we arrived, saved again by Charmin so we didn’t even get to see where we were till the morning.  I had a beer with Mark and a great catch up chat, it was lovely to see him and an added bonus that everyone else was there.  

les jardins extrordinaire

And on again.  Back with Julien and Vivien in an area that we had planned to visit earlier in the season.  The Ariege, a mountainous region peppered with villages and small towns, beautiful wooded valleys and rocky outcrops.  An area once thriving with small industries, mines and farming communities to supply their needs, it has suffered from depopulation since the industrial revolution but is becoming a more popular destination for folk who are looking to live far from the rat race.  It was the first area that I visited when I ventured to france three years ago and it still appeals.  

Our hosts suggested that we catch up with them at a local event not far from their house.  We found the Jardins Extrordinaire which was hosting an artistic weekend with numerous instillations and artistic displays, one of which were Susan and Claude, who we were about to spend a week with.  Unfortunately we passed their circus location a little after they had finished, but the gardens were truly extraordinary.  Check out the photos, describing them could take an age.  I’ve gathered numerous new ideas for the future and we spent a very enjoyable afternoon exploring the site.  It never ceases to amaze me the ingenuity  and inventiveness of artists and the time invested in temporary instillations. 

We overnighted in the camping van and joined our hosts the following morning.