Nostalgia forever as Randall lined up Yvonne's evening DVDs. First 'Notting Hill' then 'Roman Holiday' followed by 1946 'Notorious' (Cary Grant/Ingrid Burgman). It gets better with 'Lost in Translation (twice). Then drum roll over to 'Casablanca'. As I write this my partner is watching 'Pretty Woman' for about the tenth time over the years. By now you might be asking 'Do you need to go to Europe to watch old DVDs?
But with a bit of a stretch it all fits in.
This part of France is all about nostalgia. We are still dealing with the Hundred Years' War and the wars of Religion. The Industrial Revolution has decimated the region and most people, apart from the British and Dutch, are old. One cannot possibly start to count the homes we have seen that must be empty most, if not all of the year. WWII has also left a mark or two with any number of local sensitives still to deal with still.
So we have spent this second week at the markets of Brive, Martel and Bretonneux. Brive was good as usual but the others were too small and too quiet to be interesting. We have chased down duck food and will leave happy with what we have had. We have walked in the forests and explored several areas despite the heat. We have happily launched into the Dordogne river at the local base de loisir. Very cool in every respect. As Yvonne's drawing confidence improves she has managed to fit in several sketching sessions in a few villages and blending into the scene splendidly.
We have revisited Cahors and driven over a fair bit of the Causses.
And all the time we cannot get over the feeling of being at the top of the world. The views are horizon to horizon and we never get sick of them. Especially at Loubressac which we have gone back to at least four times. My seat next to the Loubressac church has been there for hundreds of years and I would happily sit there with my picnic lunch of duck and a local rosé watching life in the valley until whenever.
When we disappear into the woods we enter another world.
And all the time we can feel the slowness of it all. People are friendly and unhurried. Drivers on the narrow roads the same. We love it all and are ready to settle in for more.
So Sarah do not fret too much it might work for us yet. I just have to figure out how to turn back time. I'm working on it as best I can.
Today the schools broke up and the roads are filling up. Apparently millions more French will holiday in France this year than in previous years. And we think they already have difficulties travelling outside France.
But time waits for no one and we will almost meet up with Le Tour tomorrow as it leaves Nuits St Georges for the Jura. The next challenge is to find a nice place for Yvonne's birthday lunch.
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