Ambialet on the Tarn

The area north of Albi heads into the southern parts of the massif central. Here you find quite a few little villages tucked away in the valleys or on hilltops. Ambialet is one of the nicer ones. Not too much to explain about these places: an ancient place for an abbey, a hilltop church, some camping and canoeing on the river, some fantastic scenery and one or two local cafes to take a relaxing drink. Not we need more relaxing at times these days.

Toulouse Area

On Saturday we drove into Toulouse where we bought a few little things and walked the old town with other tourists and the locals. As a university city and the centre of the French aerospace industry, the town is fairly lively and enjoyable. We came home via the canal de midi where there were plenty of walkers and cyclists out enjoying the afternoon. Not much action on the canal itself though; perhaps because it was towards the end of the day. The boats that we did see were parked near villages with the occupants either wandering around town or taking it easy on deck with a book and drink in hand.

Harrison William Kingsley

We are now also copping some well deserved feedback from son Daniel on the non appearance of Harrison William Kingsley on the blog. So to correct the situation we publish this photo taken we assume as he was heading home from hospital a week or so ago. We understand that he has been to watch his first rugby match when Daniel played his semi final. We hear that the Wallabies have left Australia for France under a fair bit of pressure and that Daniel might be planning for Harrison to join his cousin Jayden in the Wallabies team for RWC 2027. We have not heard a view from Kylie on this yet (nor Ash and Rachael either).

Admiring French Engineering

We are two weeks into our stay in the Tarn area. One thing that we have agreed on over here this trip is that we need to stay at least two weeks in an area to get through the “excitement” of exploring a new area and come to grips with living day to day. So this next week will give us another chance to test things out a bit further. We do agree that this area has plenty of potential with the bigger towns of Montauban, Albi, Toulouse and Castres being within easy reach and we like the interesting bastide towns to the north of Albi. Also the canal de Midi is about an hour way. We are now certain that buying in the countryside as seems to be the case for many English is not for us. If we wanted that sort of lifestyle we could follow that up in Australia and not have to take on the other challenges of communication, culture and language etc. So our discussions are now moving from around locations to the more important one of what sort of life we would be taking on over here.

Politics

President Sarko has returned from his US holidays, flashy image intact. Paris Match is in the news for photo shopping his midriff spare tyre; teachers are getting ready to return to work and to face a reduction of 12,000 people in the Education department and Sarko will now face up to making all the changes he has promised. The Left is in disarray and their battle to find a leader and a political direction is about to start.

Here in the South, things are starting to warm up around the Rugby World Cup. There is lots of positive publicity on the power of the All Blacks. France is quietly confident after winning two warm up games against England, but they are wary of the pool games as they are in the pool with Argentina and Ireland - the pool of death! French rugby has quite a few south sea islanders playing professionally (Fiji, Samoa, Tonga) and so there are footy jumpers etc starting to appear in shops. Cannot say Yvonne is wildly enthusiastic about being here for the event but she is slowly getting used to the idea. She likes the idea of moving camp so is looking forward to our next two gites and the change of scenery.

Castres - centre ville

Otherwise, this has been a more routine week, one where we have been able to catch up with our domestic chores, including reading and the plethora of ABC podcasts. We made another visit to market day on Wednesday at Realmont. We also took a trip down to Castres to check out the town and the excellent Goya museum. Several trips have been made to Albi. A visit to the wine town of Gaillac and the real estate agents located there.

The weather has also retreated once again into cloudy days and showers. This has been a very challenging summer for most of Europe. We wonder if we are more sensitized to events being over here with floods in England, fires in Croatia, Italy, Portugal and Greece. Quite a few tourists perishing in the alps as they get caught in the weather changes and here in France, the regular news clips of campers spending their day wading around the campsites cleaning up. More than a few campers have headed home early, umbrella sales have doubled and museum visits and tourist tours are also up.

How time flies - 36 years already

This week saw another milestone go by, our 36th wedding anniversary. So how to celebrate! Yvonne suggested that we have a special lunch in Castelnau-de-Montmiral, the small bastide village that we were so taken with last Sunday. So we did enjoy a great meal there in Les Consuls Logis de France. We also checked out the local market which was on then and also took a slow walk around the village to get more of a feel for the place. We are now thinking more about the potential of this village.

In our very conservative approach to changing our place in the world, we have decided to come back through Castelnau-de-Montmiral on our way back to Paris after our stay in the Herault next month.

Cotton Club in action, Albi

We enjoyed our weekend and a catch up with a couple of Australian friends who are enjoying a trip to Europe. With them we managed to squeeze in a visit to the old parts of Albi and Cordes sur ciel - the town in the sky. On Saturday evening we also went along to a jazz band spectacle in Albi in their outdoor theatre, very enjoyable and entertaining. Local events are starting to diminish as the run down towards the end of summer continues.

Cordes sur Ciel

On the way home we again came past Cordes sur Ciel. What an impressive looking spot it is and we can see why it attracts a lot of interest.

We managed to avoid any rain and we have had another good day out and about.

A quiet bit of Sunday thinking

We never made our walking destination and we spent the rest of the afternoon investigating several bastides. We had several long discussions on just how interesting these towns were and whether we might have finally found somewhere to come back to. Some thinking going on to disturb the brain cells. Wonder how our investments are going to go over the next few months??

Is this it?

Last Sunday we decided to take a picnic lunch and to head towards the Gorges de Aveyron and perhaps some bushwalking. So we headed towards the wine town of Gaillac and then further north towards the Lot region. The first bastide town we wandered into was Castelnau-de Montmiral. Whilst we did see the sign prohibiting parking in the central square, we did expect the road to easily let us do our usual quick drive through. So it was a bit of a squeeze as we headed past the square and down the street and our exit through the old city gate. Yvonne did the usual eyes shut and big intake or air whilst Randall did the usual very accurate judgment of car width and turning circle.

Exploring Bastide Country

As we head into our second week in the Tarn, we aim to explore more of this interesting area. If we combine a history of religious persecution, war with the English and some of the remoteness of parts of the area, then today we are left with a number of fortified hilltop villages. For some of the lucky or more enterprising places this has meant arrival of artists and others interested in restoration, more than a few interesting restaurants and a general pleasant ambiance. Although now a city, Montauban is one of the better and bigger examples.

Ingres Museum Montauban

Over the rest of the week we spent a few hours keeping up with happenings via internet, catching up with reading, visiting the local market to of Realmont to stock up with produce and checking out the large bastide of Montauban. Montauban is an old bastide with a renovated central precint. Museum complete with somewhat out of context, but authentic, torture rack! Ingres paintings were good too!

At this stage of our stay here we have been very impressed with Albi and Cordes, the countryside is somewhat interesting without being spectacular and we are looking forward to exploring further into the Aveyron region next week.

Monesties Centre Ville

On the way home we spent a few moments checking out the nearby village of Monesties - another “Un des plus beaux villages” of France. The locals here were preparing for a communal evening meal and concert as we walked by. We checked out a small art gallery on the edge of town and watched the locals playing boules before heading home.

A new Discovery

Again thanks to Catholic persecution around 1200-1300 and again because of protection from the Count of Toulouse at the time, we are now able to visit and enjoy the town of Cordes-sur-ciel. A classic movie set for a medieval movie complete with long winding uphill trek through a double layer of walls to find at the top a covered market place, square with a great panorama of the surrounding countryside. It also seems that the artistic community is first to “discover” these places and to set up their workshops and small shops. A big magnet for one,Yvonne Kingsley. We had a very pleasant lunch outdoors under the big roof of the covered market, interrupted by several knights on horseback and their wenches as they publicized a jousting festival being held that afternoon. So of course we had to see all the little shops before winding our way back down through the town. An enjoyable visit.

A quiet coffee or Two

We find Albi, a medieval city, to be a treasure with a great pedestrian and shopping area radiating out from the massive fortified cathedral. The cathedral is certainly a statement of Catholic power over the heretics they managed to hold power or kill over the centuries. And for us it is a great area these days to sit in one of the many cafes surrounding the square, basking in the sun and watching the tourists going by. A very tough life indeed!

Randall had an interesting chat with this new friend whilst Yvonne checked out a few shops. He took a while to get her to understand his french so spent most of the time reading the local paper.

We have enjoyed our evening walks around the back roads although we are noticing the days shortening and it is dark by around 9.30 pm around here.

Our new Blogging Office

The gite has been quite tastefully renovated and fitted out, one of the more comfortable gites we have had. We must be adapting somewhat to this non city living as we are now quite used to no cars going by, no neighbour noise, big country views and no latte’s on tap. Or at least one of us is.

Think the chairs have been in the family for a few generations as they sag more than a little with our weight! Maybe the local cheese is a factor too.

We are on one level again here and that is now our preferred layout. Two bedrooms, the main one quite large and beyond expectations. Could be a bit more light though.

On the road again-moving Southwards

Despite yet another traffic day declared “rouge”, we had an easy run south-east to Denat, a small bastide like village about 10 kms south of Albi. We realize that the holiday season is rapidly ending as most of the predicted heavy traffic areas are now in the direction north, towards Paris and beyond. The gite is located just out of the village (300-500 metres) on a small working farm. It is the original home and the owners live in a newer house about 40 metres closer to the road. We share our space with a rooster, chooks, sheep, doves and pigeons, ducks and the occasional rabbit.

La Rochelle-worth a detour

Things are also different in La Rochelle. Here the sights are open all day and quite a few of the eating places and shops are open all day. Must have something to do with the influx of tourists over summer and it makes a hell of a difference to the general ambiance of the place.

We spent quite a good day here, mixing in two nice meals with a visit or two and a little shopping and promenade around the waterfront. La Rochelle is very well served with public transport park and ride and with city provided bikes. This year quite a few other cities are also starting bike systems where the bikes are located at various places around town and you can use as available. In La Rochelle, we think that you get the first two hours for nix and then you pay a euro or two per hour after that. There is a nice acquarium here which is open until 11pm so they can do it in some places.

Summer Entertainment

On the other hand, we have enjoyed some of the entertainment that happens around the place over the summer breaks; a nice couple of hours of opera singing in Chauvigny, a great concert of swing jazz also in Chauvigny and a performance of African dancing and singing in La Puye (small village).

We are yet to master the art of being in the right place at the right time so we have missed a couple of open air operas that were just that bit too far away to comfortably get to. Next time.

An Occasional grumble can help?

To keep up with the objective of testing our ability (and capability) to actually live here, we are using Poitiers as a main base. This translates into at least two trips into town each week for internet access or any general shopping. The other day to day issues are invariably about time: something that most French people seem to have plenty of. It is perhaps the most difficult thing for us to deal with. Some supermarkets and almost all shops in towns up to the size of Poitiers (80k) close for at least 1 ½ hours over lunch. Including most boulangeries where we go hunting for the baguette. It is much cheaper to buy fuel at the bigger supermarkets but of course these also shut for lunch; here 2 ½ hours till 3 pm. You may not believe it but cheques are still very much in use here too. Nothing can make you happier to see the old timers finishing their usual chat with the check out chick and to then proceed to pull out the cheque book. Keep the supermarket queing system in action if nothing else.

Most museums and like attractions are also shut for lunch. On Mondays, towns up to and beyond the size of Poitiers are virtually empty and closed all day. So, you can think of starting the day slowly and getting into town around 10 am, take a slow coffee in the nice tabac/brasserie just on the main square of the town, followed by a visit to the local sights and then perhaps a quiet lunch in that attractive place you noticed or have read about. But what happens more often than not in our case is that you are just that bit late getting to the visit or activity you really want to do and are then left with having to mark time until 2 pm or later. This “problem” does not seem to worry rural/small France and perhaps the culture likes it that way. But it seems to us that things would run a lot better, more efficiently and bring in more tourist euros if people worked these things a little harder.

Another writer in Montmorillon

There is a theme park near Poitiers called futurescope which is based on evolution of the moving image. Some of the tourist income is being used to generate other tourist ventures in this area. A birds of prey demonstration at Chauvigny and renovation of the old part of Montmorillon being two of these newer projects.

Chauvigny velo-rail

For those interested in the life of a tourist this has meant a short guided walk around central Poitiers, a visit to exhibitions in Chauvigny and Melle, a guided tour of parts of Chateau Touffou and general walks around Montmorillon (which is trying to specialize in books, literature and calligraphy) and the spa town of La Roche-Posay. We also had a ride on a rather innovative bike on train line (Velo-Rail) over 17 kms around Chauvigny. All complimented appropriately with the occasional lunch or dinner.

Chauvigny en haut

We have spent our time here in much the same way as we have over the last few weeks: sometimes getting out and about in the car, travelling a couple of hundred kilometres each day, mixed in with visits and walks around the local villages.

La Mare-Clos Des Chenes

The gite is about 5 years’ old, modern in design and fit out and quite compact. We are adjacent to the owners’ home which looks great and it has a nice relaxed feel about it. The owners are a younger couple who are friendly and helpful. As it happens they left us for a short family holiday in a gite in Burgundy. Not sure how or where they get their income from but it looks to be a very comfortable existence. Pouille is a small hamlet without any form of shops/tabacs. There is a tabac/auberge about 3 kms from here in another hamlet but we have yet to make it there when it has been open.

Gite Pouille-Clos Des Chenes

After a very enjoyable week in Champagne-le-sec we have moved a few kilometers north to the hamlet of Pouille, just south of the road from Poitiers to Chauvigny (and then Chateauroux/Limoges).
Here we are well situated being 15 minutes from central Poitiers and 5 minutes from Chauvigny, a reasonably sized medieval town. The country here is very rural with corn, wheat and sunflowers. Horses are also more of a focus here, mainly for recreational use. The roads are quite busy as there is a lot of tourist and business traffic heading in most directions (Paris, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Spain) and after all it is now August and France is on the move

PS from Jaulzy

One historical note for today. This picture is of the chateau which was just below us in Jaulzy near Compiegne. Our gite is hidden in the trees to the back right of the photo. If you are thinking that one could spend a few interesting days living around here, then be aware that photos do not tell the whole story. You cannot see ambience on the net and I could not help thinking whilst here just what would I do if this chateau were mine. One step outside and you quickly descend into a rural backwater or similar.

We are slowly learning to be just that little bit more careful about locations (or else our expectations are increasing the longer we stay here).

Our local church

Some of the small villages around here are re-discovering their heritage. This local church was cleaned up about five years ago and they discovered a range of frescos inside the church which have been restored. As it turns out, there is, to us, a lot of colour inside these places. There are quite a lot of Romanesque churches around the place and so we did check out a few as we were passing through.

For anyone considering a secondary home, we have come to understand that you would have a very wide range of opportunities in this part of France, providing you were not going to die for a local coffee shop and boulangerie. Possibly a bit difficult a concept for generally city based Australians, but we could see the sun and land hungrier English becoming interested here. Despite what we have read about real estate in the Vienne, there appear to be endless opportunities in the hamlets around here.

Ancais in the Marais

We also had a day or so exploring the “Venise Verte“ area near Niort. This is a marshy area full of very small canal systems, walkways and bike paths created in the middle ages in times of religious troubles when refugees fled into the marshy areas to avoid persecution. The weather was quite kind and we had a good time on our hired bikes exploring a few of the small villages.

One of your bloggers at work

After getting a bit behind in the blogging scene, we also made time to get some more updates ready for publishing. This gite had also been designed for handicap access and so there was a fair bit of space for the two of us to spread into. The local area is mainly sunflowers. We also found a local milk depot where we could by direct some great local cheeses. Hamlets in this area of France are many and they are usually only a couple of kilometers apart. So we also tried a few walks in vain attempts to keep the kilos from accumulating further. Not working too well though.

Yet another Gite.

But we liked the new gite a lot and our hosts were terrific, friendly and very helpful. The gite is on a single level, totally renovated with all mod cons. We were only there for a week and it quickly passed. We filled the time visiting nearby villages and hamlets, the towns of Poitiers, Niort and Angouleme.

All of these larget towns were less than 1 easy hour away.

Champagne-le -sec has about 5 English renovations either in place or underway. Our hosts liked the idea in principle but one is a neighbour who they have not seen for over 12 months. A younger family where the bloke bought quickly some two years ago but apparently has had a bit of a change of heart or finances and the place has been on the market for over 12 months now. Tempting, tempting opportunity but we resisted!!

Not Vienna nor Venise but La Vienne

We had a hiccup a couple of weeks ago when we found out that our paperwork had not made it back to a gite owner and we had lost our gite near Angles sur l’Anglin. We found out on a Wednesday evening before the Saturday that we were due to arrive. The gite owner was embarrassed and contacted the local tourist people in Poitiers early Thursday morning. One helpful operator and after some discussion we had ourselves another place. Located in Champagne-le-sec, about 50 kms further south in the Vienne.

So we lost a gite that Randall had carefully researched via the web and gained a gite at the last minute based on a simple description of the place. Angles sur L’Anglin is a pretty village belonging to “One of the most beautiful villages in France” association whilst Champagne-le-Sec is a small hamlet of 200 souls; no coffee shops and no boulangerie. A subsequent visit to Angles sur L’Anglin revealed a dying village!!!