St Sébastien
January can be an odd month here. In November we found that some places were closed, in December more were closed and now in January it seems that everywhere we go doors are closed, the shutters are down and a handwritten sign on the door proclaims the 'fermeture annuelle'.
The annual closure can last from two weeks to three or four months apparently. Some restaurants are closed from November until February, others just for January. Shops are the same. One noted restaurant here is open from Easter until the end of October and some only open for July and August.
That's all very well for the vacanciers - but what about us residents, do we not merit the same options all year round? Well not if you are trying to make a living, it appears. Which makes us wonder what these people do all winter? Do they jet off and spend winter in Australia or the Bahamas? Do they have another business in a ski resort somewhere? Perhaps they are really there behind their closed shutters, sitting there by a fireside in the dark waiting for the warmer weather to appear. Perhaps they have a radar alarm that goes off when the first tourist appears, probably along with the first cuckoo and when the first cricket sings.
This morning we rather fancied a Sunday lunch out for a change. Not having had the foresight to book we headed out early for a well-known touristy village where we know locals go when they fancy a tacky trip out - some of the restaurants there are a cut above the usual touristy menu.
It was a beautiful sunny day here in our little valley and we headed north to admire some views before turning west. As we passed through a delightful little village that we had never driven through before (must remember that one), we saw Gourdon in the distance. The twin towers of the church of St Pierre were clearly visible but below the town was in total fog as if a huge cloud had settled itself into the valley. We were tempted to turn around and head south or east but we carried on hoping to pass through the cloud which we eventually did. Up and down hills we drove and in and out of foggy clouds. Arriving at our hilltop destination we parked and walked to the normally bustling square.
Yes, you've guessed it, the whole village was closed for the fermeture annuelle. Even spookier, the fog that was beginning to lift by climbing the hill and beyond made the village seem more like a ghost town. We could hear people talking somewhere but couldn't see a soul.
Feeling rather let down we came home. Having been unusually prepared for this eventuality, I splashed a leg of lamb with garlic oil, sprinkled it with rosemary and threw it in the oven. We may not have had a nice lunch out in the sunshine, but at least we still managed to eat well.
Showing posts with label tourism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tourism. Show all posts
Sunday, 20 January 2008
Monday, 23 July 2007
All that jazz
Ste Brigitte
Yesterday's weather: Lovely
Last week I was checking the local summer guide to events in the area and found that one of the weekend's events was Souillac en Jazz. The website wasn't particularly good but I learned that there would be bands around the town on Sunday afternoon and from 1.30 there would also be a randonnée jazz, a walk, accompanied by jazz music. It didn't give any more information than the start place and time.
It sounded good so we decided to get down to the town early so that we could get a parking space and have some lunch before the fun started.
When we arrived we found that there were already 3 or 4 jazz bands playing in town and we wandered around, pausing here and there to enjoy the music. We took our place for lunch early, which was just as well as the restaurant terrace quickly filled up. There was a nice jazz quartet playing on the terrace of the bar on the other side of the square and it was all extremely convivial.
At 1.15 the band packed up and we were enjoying our post-lunch coffee. At 2pm we left the restaurant expecting to find the main part of town busy with bands and walkers, but there was nothing going on.
I collected a programme for the weekend's events and found full details of the randonnée jazz explaining that it was a walk from Souillac taking in a couple of local villages and back(several kilometers), all accompanied by two jazz bands and 'please come suitably equipped for a hike'. Unfortunately we weren't and my flimsy sandals wouldn't carry me further than a walk around town. We then found some more posters saying that the jazz bands would be in Souillac during the morning and then there would be two more events, a demonstration of jazz dance at 5.30 and a jazz circus at 6.30.
Now, we like Souillac. It is a very pretty medieval town with lots of narrow streets, a few little specialist shops and some bars and restaurants - but not much else. Certainly not enough to keep us occupied for another three hours before the dance demonstration started.
This is just one little frustration over here. There is a lot going on at this time of year but information is sometimes sketchy unless you happen to be in the very town where it is going to happen, and even then events can change times at the drop of a hat.
However, we had a very nice lunch in very nice surroundings accompanied by some nice jazz music. Who could ask for anything more?
Yesterday's weather: Lovely
Last week I was checking the local summer guide to events in the area and found that one of the weekend's events was Souillac en Jazz. The website wasn't particularly good but I learned that there would be bands around the town on Sunday afternoon and from 1.30 there would also be a randonnée jazz, a walk, accompanied by jazz music. It didn't give any more information than the start place and time.
It sounded good so we decided to get down to the town early so that we could get a parking space and have some lunch before the fun started.
When we arrived we found that there were already 3 or 4 jazz bands playing in town and we wandered around, pausing here and there to enjoy the music. We took our place for lunch early, which was just as well as the restaurant terrace quickly filled up. There was a nice jazz quartet playing on the terrace of the bar on the other side of the square and it was all extremely convivial.
At 1.15 the band packed up and we were enjoying our post-lunch coffee. At 2pm we left the restaurant expecting to find the main part of town busy with bands and walkers, but there was nothing going on.
I collected a programme for the weekend's events and found full details of the randonnée jazz explaining that it was a walk from Souillac taking in a couple of local villages and back(several kilometers), all accompanied by two jazz bands and 'please come suitably equipped for a hike'. Unfortunately we weren't and my flimsy sandals wouldn't carry me further than a walk around town. We then found some more posters saying that the jazz bands would be in Souillac during the morning and then there would be two more events, a demonstration of jazz dance at 5.30 and a jazz circus at 6.30.
Now, we like Souillac. It is a very pretty medieval town with lots of narrow streets, a few little specialist shops and some bars and restaurants - but not much else. Certainly not enough to keep us occupied for another three hours before the dance demonstration started.
This is just one little frustration over here. There is a lot going on at this time of year but information is sometimes sketchy unless you happen to be in the very town where it is going to happen, and even then events can change times at the drop of a hat.
However, we had a very nice lunch in very nice surroundings accompanied by some nice jazz music. Who could ask for anything more?
Saturday, 21 July 2007
Rue des memoirs
St Victor
Yesterday's weather: Better than anticipated. Mr Meteo said rain, we had sunshine.
Happy Saint's Day to Vic.
We have been reading a book called 'Au Revior: Running Away from Home at Fifty'. The title itself appealed and when we read that the author was an Australian lady who ran away to South West France, we thought it would be a good read. It was. But what we didn't know was that she ran away to our little corner of France. What was even more surprising for us was that she had spent six months in an even smaller corner where we had spent many a happy séjour with some very dear friends of ours.
Yesterday afternoon we decided to take a little tour of Ms Moody's stamping ground as a trip down memory lane for us. We rarely go to this area since our friends, sadly, no longer live there, so it is some years since we took the route that we selected yesterday.
Through Cazals to St Caprais noting, this time, the little auberge mentioned in the book, which we had never actually spotted before (it is about 10 years since we last took this particular road), down to Frayssinet-le-Gélat (often confused with our own Frayssinet-le-Gourdonnais), through Pomarède where we once viewed a little house.
The little house in Pomarède, which you will now realise we declined, was an 'interesting' property. In the centre of the village (we had said to estate agents that we did NOT want to live in a village), with a very small plot of land which was being used as a short cut by a tractor as we arrived. The upstairs of the house had two bedrooms, one had to be crossed to reach the second which had a toilet placed in the corner of the room. Nice. There were french windows in the larger bedroom and no balcony so one had to be very careful not to fall out on opening them!
We were delighted that we had decided not to buy this property as the village has probably trebled in size since we viewed it. There are new properties going up all over this part of the Lot in particular. Our own little corner has a certain amount of building but not nearly as much. This is probably because we are on the edge of a National Park and also the ground around here is very rocky and not quite so suitable for new properties. Thank goodness.
From Pomarède we travelled south to Prayssac, site of our favourite weekly market but just out of striking distance for a regular visit. We stopped off here because there was a pottery fair on all day. We are looking out for some nice pots for our kitchen herbs. The plants don't last very long because we are using them all the time. We buy plastic pots of basil, parsley and chives and wanted to put them in something a little more asthetically pleasing. However, we were not going to pay 20 Euros per pot, pretty as they were.
Needing yet more DIY provisions, we then went into Cahors and called in at E LeClerc where I found three very nice clay pots for my herbs and they were only 2 Euros each! Bargain!
Back to the book. It was a good read and reminded us of many happy holidays in the 1990s. Thank you to our friends for letting us share your house for so many years.
Yesterday's weather: Better than anticipated. Mr Meteo said rain, we had sunshine.
Happy Saint's Day to Vic.
We have been reading a book called 'Au Revior: Running Away from Home at Fifty'. The title itself appealed and when we read that the author was an Australian lady who ran away to South West France, we thought it would be a good read. It was. But what we didn't know was that she ran away to our little corner of France. What was even more surprising for us was that she had spent six months in an even smaller corner where we had spent many a happy séjour with some very dear friends of ours.
Yesterday afternoon we decided to take a little tour of Ms Moody's stamping ground as a trip down memory lane for us. We rarely go to this area since our friends, sadly, no longer live there, so it is some years since we took the route that we selected yesterday.
Through Cazals to St Caprais noting, this time, the little auberge mentioned in the book, which we had never actually spotted before (it is about 10 years since we last took this particular road), down to Frayssinet-le-Gélat (often confused with our own Frayssinet-le-Gourdonnais), through Pomarède where we once viewed a little house.
The little house in Pomarède, which you will now realise we declined, was an 'interesting' property. In the centre of the village (we had said to estate agents that we did NOT want to live in a village), with a very small plot of land which was being used as a short cut by a tractor as we arrived. The upstairs of the house had two bedrooms, one had to be crossed to reach the second which had a toilet placed in the corner of the room. Nice. There were french windows in the larger bedroom and no balcony so one had to be very careful not to fall out on opening them!
We were delighted that we had decided not to buy this property as the village has probably trebled in size since we viewed it. There are new properties going up all over this part of the Lot in particular. Our own little corner has a certain amount of building but not nearly as much. This is probably because we are on the edge of a National Park and also the ground around here is very rocky and not quite so suitable for new properties. Thank goodness.
From Pomarède we travelled south to Prayssac, site of our favourite weekly market but just out of striking distance for a regular visit. We stopped off here because there was a pottery fair on all day. We are looking out for some nice pots for our kitchen herbs. The plants don't last very long because we are using them all the time. We buy plastic pots of basil, parsley and chives and wanted to put them in something a little more asthetically pleasing. However, we were not going to pay 20 Euros per pot, pretty as they were.
Needing yet more DIY provisions, we then went into Cahors and called in at E LeClerc where I found three very nice clay pots for my herbs and they were only 2 Euros each! Bargain!
Back to the book. It was a good read and reminded us of many happy holidays in the 1990s. Thank you to our friends for letting us share your house for so many years.
Friday, 13 July 2007
We've been blighted and bitten
St Henri-Joel
Yesterday's weather: Started cloudy, ended clear and sunny - 23 deg.
The wettest spring on record here has, unfortunately, taken its toll on our tomato plants. The beautiful big tomatoes I've been nurturing have succombed to blight and I fear we are losing them all. The cherry tomatoes are prolific on the patio and seem to have escaped, although I am keeping a close eye on them. The plum tomatoes also seem to have escaped. Courgettes too, seem to have suffered from the excess rain and although they started well a few weeks ago, they have virtually stopped producing and their leaves are beginning to go yellow. So I will have to go to market this morning to stock up on vegetables.
Jon is taking advantage of a morning without rain to mow the lawn, which is looking very much greener than it has in previous years.
We took a day out yesterday and went to Figeac, a beautiful town to the east of here. We had a good lunch in the old covered market square and had a long time to wander around the narrow streets discovering all sorts of little shops tucked away. Figeac is one of the places we would love to live if we ever have to consider moving to a town in our dotage (some would say that has already come!). It is right on the River Lot and has everything we could need but it still retains a small town feel to it and doesn't seem quite as much of a holiday town as some of those nearer to us. This is probably because it is on the edge of the Auvergne region, one of the most remote areas of France, although it is still reasonably accessible by train, car and plane as good old RyanAir fly to Rodez.
We went to Figeac a couple of years ago for lunch with my mother. It was just a little pizzeria but they had tables set out in a pretty little courtyard and it looked very inviting. Jon and Mum received their meals but mine never turned up. After about half an hour of trying to find someone to bring my pizza, they had to relight the pizza oven and cook it for me as they had forgotten. Needless to say, we didn't go there yesterday!
Ankle biters
Mosquitos have arrived. We've not done too badly so far this year but we were sitting out yesterday evening listening to the radio and despite liberally spraying each other with repellant and burning a citronella candle we didn't escape. We've got a nice strong repellant which also works against ticks (ugh) but even though it is, allegedly, tropical strength, the mozzies don't seem to be averse to it. Avon Skin-so-Soft is the repellant I used to use before the threat of ticks, so maybe I should go back to that - or wear both.
Yesterday's weather: Started cloudy, ended clear and sunny - 23 deg.
The wettest spring on record here has, unfortunately, taken its toll on our tomato plants. The beautiful big tomatoes I've been nurturing have succombed to blight and I fear we are losing them all. The cherry tomatoes are prolific on the patio and seem to have escaped, although I am keeping a close eye on them. The plum tomatoes also seem to have escaped. Courgettes too, seem to have suffered from the excess rain and although they started well a few weeks ago, they have virtually stopped producing and their leaves are beginning to go yellow. So I will have to go to market this morning to stock up on vegetables.
Jon is taking advantage of a morning without rain to mow the lawn, which is looking very much greener than it has in previous years.
We took a day out yesterday and went to Figeac, a beautiful town to the east of here. We had a good lunch in the old covered market square and had a long time to wander around the narrow streets discovering all sorts of little shops tucked away. Figeac is one of the places we would love to live if we ever have to consider moving to a town in our dotage (some would say that has already come!). It is right on the River Lot and has everything we could need but it still retains a small town feel to it and doesn't seem quite as much of a holiday town as some of those nearer to us. This is probably because it is on the edge of the Auvergne region, one of the most remote areas of France, although it is still reasonably accessible by train, car and plane as good old RyanAir fly to Rodez.
We went to Figeac a couple of years ago for lunch with my mother. It was just a little pizzeria but they had tables set out in a pretty little courtyard and it looked very inviting. Jon and Mum received their meals but mine never turned up. After about half an hour of trying to find someone to bring my pizza, they had to relight the pizza oven and cook it for me as they had forgotten. Needless to say, we didn't go there yesterday!
Ankle biters
Mosquitos have arrived. We've not done too badly so far this year but we were sitting out yesterday evening listening to the radio and despite liberally spraying each other with repellant and burning a citronella candle we didn't escape. We've got a nice strong repellant which also works against ticks (ugh) but even though it is, allegedly, tropical strength, the mozzies don't seem to be averse to it. Avon Skin-so-Soft is the repellant I used to use before the threat of ticks, so maybe I should go back to that - or wear both.
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