Monthly Archives: July 2012

BUBBLES AND FIREWORKS!

It’s good is buying houses round here! We should do it more often. Most readers know of the local product – a sort of slightly fizzy, colourless drink called Blanquette de Limoux. (Google it or go straight to its website – you might end up buying some; Rachel did!) Well, on Tuesday morning we had one bottle of Blanquette on our winebar. By the evening, we’d bought a house (sort of), drank a bottle of blanquette and we had two bottles of blanquette on the wine bar. (You might need to read that again!) By midday Wednesday we had an extra bottle of local red as well (which we hadn’t bought).

Better explain! We re-visited the house in the morning, with the agent who picked us up here at the campsite to save us going down into Quillan. We measured some rooms and walls (we can’t think in square metres, we need length and breadth in feet!), asked lots of questions and forgot to take photographs. We came away to talk about it over lunch and phoned Nathalie (agent) to make the offer. She negociated for us and got the ride-on mower, the big ‘american’ fridge and the dishwasher into the price we wanted to pay and a deal was agreed.

 I went to the little café at the site entrance and said ‘We’ve just bought a house’, then, a bit tentatively, ‘do you happen to have a bottle of Blanquette already chilled?’ ‘Of course’, said Sophie, ‘c’est indispensable – en Aude. Which one do you want?’ Then she refused payment, as the site’s contribution to our celebration. Next, Nathalie’s boss, Marie, came round with the ‘offre d’achat’ for us to sign, and brought with her – a bottle of  blanquette. But she wouldn’t have any herself because she was still working and driving.  We shared the chilled one with ‘neighbours’ from Normandy and so ended up with two bottles on the shelf, instead of one, having drunk one. Simples! The neighbours were leaving next day and before they went the gave us a bottle of Fitou.

 Wednesday 25th was a big day – or evening – here in Puivert. There had been no local celebration of the Fête Nationale on the 14th, and this was the substitute. About 200 people gathered here on the campsite, on the pitches with the most open view of the lake, for a communal meal. 

Rimg0039

 Not just residents on site – there probably aren’t that many, but locals and some who had travelled from further away. The meal was a splendid 3-course do – 4 if you count the apéritif with nibbles and pâtés and drinks as alcohlic as you wanted to make them. Then a starter of duck liver pâté: 

Rimg0046

Followed by a daube de boeuf, tarte aux fruits and coffee. During the meal, there seemeed to be an endless supply of red and rosé wine, which no doubt contributed to the general conviviality. 

 

 

Rimg0044

 

The sun had gone down, with the last rays shining onto the castle, not behind it: 

Rimg0045

 

So now it was fireworks time. Well, what a display! All reflected in the lake, of course. Here are a few pictures, but I’ll put an album on Sky Drive and the best way to see them would be as a cross-fading slide show, if you can do that, with music, of course, as we saw them in the first place. 

Rimg0058
Rimg0065

 

Rimg0076

 

We just can’t imagine anything like this event in England. Jeannine, Sophie’s no 1 helper, had taken trouble to do a seating plan and place us (the only English) where she thought there would be a good atmosphere. She got that right, too, people were very friendly – including the man who will be our refuse collector! He teased us with some local dialect, but others were quick to translate. 

But the evening didn’t end with the fireworks! There’s an evening market just outside the site every Wednesday, and this week that was ‘enhanced’ by the disco which continued till sometime after 12, but no problem to us. 

Rimg0110

When I thanked Sophie and Jeannine for the evening (or for their work) next morning, they both took the line that we were to be thanked for being there (!) and Jeannine was very anxious to know that we had been happy with the placing at table.

 We’re starting to unwind and relax now, and consider ourselves ‘on holiday’. We’ve had a swim in the lake the last three days – just as well it’s there, because temperatures have soared. Even at 7 pm yesterday evening (Thursday) when we went shopping it was still 33° in the town (Lavelanet).

 Unfortunately, the lawyer whom everyone (except the original agent) has recommended to us is on holiday till August 6th, but we’re told there’s still a reasonable hope that we may take possession of the house at Sonnac by mid September. Here’s another little picture: (anyone know how to make them bigger?) 

17db

 

 

BUBBLES AND FIREWORKS!

It’s good is buying houses round here! We should do it more often. Most readers know of the local product – a sort of slightly fizzy, colourless drink called Blanquette de Limoux. (Google it or go straight to its website – you might end up buying some; Rachel did!) Well, on Tuesday morning we had one bottle of Blanquette on our winebar. By the evening, we’d bought a house (sort of), drank a bottle of blanquette and we had two bottles of blanquette on the wine bar. (You might need to read that again!) By midday Wednesday we had an extra bottle of local red as well (which we hadn’t bought).

Better explain! We re-visited the house in the morning, with the agent who picked us up here at the campsite to save us going down into Quillan. We measured some rooms and walls (we can’t think in square metres, we need length and breadth in feet!), asked lots of questions and forgot to take photographs. We came away to talk about it over lunch and phoned Nathalie (agent) to make the offer. She negociated for us and got the ride-on mower, the big ‘american’ fridge and the dishwasher into the price we wanted to pay and a deal was agreed.

 I went to the little café at the site entrance and said ‘We’ve just bought a house’, then, a bit tentatively, ‘do you happen to have a bottle of Blanquette already chilled?’ ‘Of course’, said Sophie, ‘c’est indispensable – en Aude. Which one do you want?’ Then she refused payment, as the site’s contribution to our celebration. Next, Nathalie’s boss, Marie, came round with the ‘offre d’achat’ for us to sign, and brought with her – a bottle of  blanquette. But she wouldn’t have any herself because she was still working and driving.  We shared the chilled one with ‘neighbours’ from Normandy and so ended up with two bottles on the shelf, instead of one, having drunk one. Simples! The neighbours were leaving next day and before they went the gave us a bottle of Fitou.

 Wednesday 25th was a big day – or evening – here in Puivert. There had been no local celebration of the Fête Nationale on the 14th, and this was the substitute. About 200 people gathered here on the campsite, on the pitches with the most open view of the lake, for a communal meal. 

Rimg0039

 Not just residents on site – there probably aren’t that many, but locals and some who had travelled from further away. The meal was a splendid 3-course do – 4 if you count the apéritif with nibbles and pâtés and drinks as alcohlic as you wanted to make them. Then a starter of duck liver pâté: 

Rimg0046

Followed by a daube de boeuf, tarte aux fruits and coffee. During the meal, there seemeed to be an endless supply of red and rosé wine, which no doubt contributed to the general conviviality. 

 

 

Rimg0044

 

The sun had gone down, with the last rays shining onto the castle, not behind it: 

Rimg0045

 

So now it was fireworks time. Well, what a display! All reflected in the lake, of course. Here are a few pictures, but I’ll put an album on Sky Drive and the best way to see them would be as a cross-fading slide show, if you can do that, with music, of course, as we saw them in the first place. 

Rimg0058
Rimg0065

 

Rimg0076

 

We just can’t imagine anything like this event in England. Jeannine, Sophie’s no 1 helper, had taken trouble to do a seating plan and place us (the only English) where she thought there would be a good atmosphere. She got that right, too, people were very friendly – including the man who will be our refuse collector! He teased us with some local dialect, but others were quick to translate. 

But the evening didn’t end with the fireworks! There’s an evening market just outside the site every Wednesday, and this week that was ‘enhanced’ by the disco which continued till sometime after 12, but no problem to us. 

Rimg0110

When I thanked Sophie and Jeannine for the evening (or for their work) next morning, they both took the line that we were to be thanked for being there (!) and Jeannine was very anxious to know that we had been happy with the placing at table.

 We’re starting to unwind and relax now, and consider ourselves ‘on holiday’. We’ve had a swim in the lake the last three days – just as well it’s there, because temperatures have soared. Even at 7 pm yesterday evening (Thursday) when we went shopping it was still 33° in the town (Lavelanet).

 Unfortunately, the lawyer whom everyone (except the original agent) has recommended to us is on holiday till August 6th, but we’re told there’s still a reasonable hope that we may take possession of the house at Sonnac by mid September. Here’s another little picture: (anyone know how to make them bigger?) 

17db

 

 

A WET DAY / A DRY DAY (OR TWO)

‘Il ne pleut jamais ici’. (It never rains here) That’s what they told me when I first arrived in the South of France in 1963. Next morning, I stuck my little head out of my little tent and found – drizzle! ‘Quand même’, they said, ‘on n’a jamais froid’. (Well, you’re never cold). Two days later – Mistral!

 

And so it’s carried on, whenever I turn up down here, the weather becomes ‘exceptional’; so those ‘hot dry summers’ we learned about in Geography lessons will have to be seen as a thing of the past. True to form – the form of my disruptive influence, that is – Friday (20th July) started grey, got greyer and ended up wet. And people were complaining of being cold! Lovely!

 

We hear the UK is at last heading for a heatwave even as Winning Wiggins heads for the Champs Elysées – enjoy!

 

After a day ‘at home’ on Friday, we went out yesterday (Sat.) to explore the area round the newly-discovered house. As well as the covered pool (very small!) and the soalar panels, the big attraction is the nearby Lac Montbel. –

 

Dscf9985

Laissez-moi, laissez-moi! Je n’ai rien dit la dernière fois ! You didn’t let me say anything last time ! Yes, I took THEM out through the little town of Chalabre – c’est un peu moche, quand même – a bit sad looking – then past the house and on to the lake. It was a bit hard to find at first, apparently it’s not reckoned to be a ‘tourist’ lake, but then I found a picnic spot where there was an école de voile and SHE got excited about learning to sail.

Dscf9984

It was a bit like Ullswater, really, and HE had a little fit of homesickness, but he got over it. A little further on there was an area with a made beach with supervised swimming,

Rimg0015

and I think having all that close to the house may have settled which one THEY go for, but they’re still dithering for all I know ….

 

You’re not wrong!

 

We went on round the lake and found another spot with a little bar-restau and HE had a drink while SHE had an ice-cream.

Rimg0027

Back at Chalabre we parked up and THEY went into the tourist office where a nice young man gave them lots of leaflets and then THEY found a little shop where another nice young man served them some fruit and veg, not to mention fresh milk, so they came away with a better impression of the town than just driving through.

 

When we got back to Harry some noisy people were playing boules (pétanque) in the roadway just beside our pitch, but I just mowed them down –

 

No, you didn’t, you little fibber! You just stalled while parking up.

 

I prefer my version.

 

Hmmm … The evening was spent at one of this site’s regular ‘specials’ : a moules-frites do. Apperitifs followed by all the mussels and chips you could eat, with a seemingly endless supply of red or rosé wine, then dessert and coffee. We were lucky enough to link up with immediate neighbours (French) and a Dutch couple, so conversation flowed all evening and it was well enjoyable – Carol had to choose an alternative main course because of her allergy to mussels, but that was OK. Unfortunately, the noisy people, camped opposite us, across the through road, carried on being noisy well into the small hours, but it didn’t bother us too much. Carol was more bothered by noises within our van than those from outside. ….

 

This morning the pétanque started again almost before breakfast, but somebody said something, we think, and they moved to a more suitable spot. Now they’ve packed up and gone, having stayed only one night. I tidied the ‘garage’ while Carol prepared a lovely Sunday lunch, then we walked round the lake – the little one just here, not Montbel.

Rimg0033

Soon we’ll have a boyle degg. Some traditions aren’t going to change!

 

A WET DAY / A DRY DAY (OR TWO)

‘Il ne pleut jamais ici’. (It never rains here) That’s what they told me when I first arrived in the South of France in 1963. Next morning, I stuck my little head out of my little tent and found – drizzle! ‘Quand même’, they said, ‘on n’a jamais froid’. (Well, you’re never cold). Two days later – Mistral!

 

And so it’s carried on, whenever I turn up down here, the weather becomes ‘exceptional’; so those ‘hot dry summers’ we learned about in Geography lessons will have to be seen as a thing of the past. True to form – the form of my disruptive influence, that is – Friday (20th July) started grey, got greyer and ended up wet. And people were complaining of being cold! Lovely!

 

We hear the UK is at last heading for a heatwave even as Winning Wiggins heads for the Champs Elysées – enjoy!

 

After a day ‘at home’ on Friday, we went out yesterday (Sat.) to explore the area round the newly-discovered house. As well as the covered pool (very small!) and the soalar panels, the big attraction is the nearby Lac Montbel. –

 

Dscf9985

Laissez-moi, laissez-moi! Je n’ai rien dit la dernière fois ! You didn’t let me say anything last time ! Yes, I took THEM out through the little town of Chalabre – c’est un peu moche, quand même – a bit sad looking – then past the house and on to the lake. It was a bit hard to find at first, apparently it’s not reckoned to be a ‘tourist’ lake, but then I found a picnic spot where there was an école de voile and SHE got excited about learning to sail.

Dscf9984

It was a bit like Ullswater, really, and HE had a little fit of homesickness, but he got over it. A little further on there was an area with a made beach with supervised swimming,

Rimg0015

and I think having all that close to the house may have settled which one THEY go for, but they’re still dithering for all I know ….

 

You’re not wrong!

 

We went on round the lake and found another spot with a little bar-restau and HE had a drink while SHE had an ice-cream.

Rimg0027

Back at Chalabre we parked up and THEY went into the tourist office where a nice young man gave them lots of leaflets and then THEY found a little shop where another nice young man served them some fruit and veg, not to mention fresh milk, so they came away with a better impression of the town than just driving through.

 

When we got back to Harry some noisy people were playing boules (pétanque) in the roadway just beside our pitch, but I just mowed them down –

 

No, you didn’t, you little fibber! You just stalled while parking up.

 

I prefer my version.

 

Hmmm … The evening was spent at one of this site’s regular ‘specials’ : a moules-frites do. Apperitifs followed by all the mussels and chips you could eat, with a seemingly endless supply of red or rosé wine, then dessert and coffee. We were lucky enough to link up with immediate neighbours (French) and a Dutch couple, so conversation flowed all evening and it was well enjoyable – Carol had to choose an alternative main course because of her allergy to mussels, but that was OK. Unfortunately, the noisy people, camped opposite us, across the through road, carried on being noisy well into the small hours, but it didn’t bother us too much. Carol was more bothered by noises within our van than those from outside. ….

 

This morning the pétanque started again almost before breakfast, but somebody said something, we think, and they moved to a more suitable spot. Now they’ve packed up and gone, having stayed only one night. I tidied the ‘garage’ while Carol prepared a lovely Sunday lunch, then we walked round the lake – the little one just here, not Montbel.

Rimg0033

Soon we’ll have a boyle degg. Some traditions aren’t going to change!

 

THE EIGHT-DAY BATTLE COMES TO AN END, MAYBE THE HOUSE HUNT WILL SOON, TOO

“And tomorrow it’s back to the house hunt, and can’t wait to find out if that money transfer has gone through, or is going to” ….

Don’t be silly! Of course it hadn’t. That was Sunday evening, 15th July. The battle went on for another two and a half days – eight days in total! On Monday morning I began to log the calls I made and the names of the people I spoke to …

(The next three paragraphs have been removed because, Carol says, they were just too boring!)

 

 Finally, while having lunch in that lovely lay-by with the English-run snack truck just before the narrow bit with the overhangs and the rock arch, we heard that the transfer had been made! Carol almost burst into tears! Not only had the transfer been made, but they were waiving the £25 fee AND compensating us to the tune of £100 …. It wasn’t worth it, and I don’t know yet how much of the £125 was actually spent on phone calls, but it doesn’t make up for the asthma attack, the two missed beakfasts and the 8 days of stress.

So how about the house-hunt? It’s nearly over! We have a short list of three. We’re not going to live in Quillan because it has higher rates and taxes and we don’t want the ‘extras’ (night-life, festivals, concerts ..) that they are supposed to cover. The first house we saw with a pool already in place, whose photo I’ve posted twice, is still a runner, along with this one: 

Joynsons

This is in Sournia, the same little town where we found the house we wanted two years ago! And by pure coincidence the owner (English) was sitting next to us in the plane as we flew to Carcassonne back in May for ‘A Place In The Sun’! We visited yesterday. We still like the location and the house is lovely,  though a bit small.  But access for Harry will be very difficult. Then today we saw this: 

Sonnac

It’s a bit further away from the Med, but close to a lake. It has solar panels which produce income and the pool is covered (removable) which makes it safer (for children) and, in effect, heated, so useable for longer in the year. No work needs doing immediately, though a second bathroom and a ‘Harry-shelter’ will need adding soon, but the price allows for that. Very attractive, though lacking the character of some that we’ve seen. We intend to stop looking now and to make an offer for one of the three early next week. 
Rimg0009

But we shall be here for the rest of summer, no doubt. Harry’s new home has space for at least one tent within the pitch, so that wouldn’t cost anything: 

Rimg0012

There would be a cost per person, of course, but if anyone wants to visit while we’re here, we can easily meet at Carcassonne (Ryanair) or Perpignan (a bit more choice). There’s the little lake with pedalos and supervised swimming just beside us, a castle just over the road and croaking frogs (amphibeans, not Gauls) to keep you awake, or send you to sleep …. And what’s more, the sun shines most days!

Rimg0008

 

 

 

BATTLES WITH THE BANK AND THE TOUR DE FRANCE

A week with no posting! We’ve been quite busy, but with nothing really to report. We’ve continued to look at houses, and we’ve re-visited three on the short list. And of course, we’ve moved ‘home’. But the dominant memory of the last three days will be the ongoing battle with Santander to get OUR money out of THEIR bank! An asthma attack and  2 days without without breakfast are just a bit of it …..

Anyway, I referred somewhere (in an e-mail, I think, not in the journal) to Harry’s ‘not very photogenic corner’ of the pitch at Alet. Well, on packing-up day, I had a go: 

Ptdc0335
Ptdc0337

On Thursday we moved to Puivert  – you can Google that and get lots of pictures of the Castle and some of the lake – the campsite is beside the lake and we have much more space, but we are surrounded by families and noisy children; at Alet we felt quite young! So, you pays your money and takes your choice – less money here, anyway.

 

Before coming up the hill on Thursday we took Harry to the house with the pool, down by the riverside, having developed a concern that the significant uphill into the drive could cause grounding with his overhang and the towbar. We were reassured to find that with care, he can get in (and out!) without any remodelling of the driveway. Not that we’ve decided on that house, yet. Two others in Quillan have scored more highly on our ‘refined’ scorechart.

But before all that, we heard from various sources that Wednesday might be a good time to trade Sterling for Euros. Not my usual scene, but I managed to play a couple of currency brokers against each other and got a much better rate than we had anticipated a month ago. (1.615). In one or two weeks’ time we’ll either be saying “didn’t we do well!” or kicking ourselves for trading too soon. But then began the nightmare of trying to get the money OUT of Satan-DER  and IN to the account at the broker’s. I don’t want to go on too long with a blow-by-blow, and I don’t know what it’s cost in phone calls yet, but the sticking point seems to be that although I checked before completing the sale of GV that all I had to do when the time came was make a call to arrange a CHAPS payment, it couldn’t be done because my MOBILE phone wasn’t registered with the bank! So I registered it – No! It has to be in the system for 60 days! So what do we do? Send a fax with lots of proof of ID. Easy on a campsite in the Pyrenees, eh? Still, a nice (but incompetent, as it turned out) lady at the Mairie in Alet agreed to do it for us, however, for whatever reason, it failed, but we didn’t know that because the lady said it had been successful. Maybe we’d been given the wrong number – one of Satan-DER’s ‘advisers said it was wrong and gave us a different one. Eventually the fax was sent by our least favourite estate agent in Quillan. However, we still don’t know whether the transfer has been made, or will be made on Monday morning. We do know we missed the deadline to fulfil our contract with the currency broker, and they are entitled to charge for that, but they’ve said they won’t. So a recommendation for Halo Financial, and, not for the first time, a big BOO-HISS for Satan-DER.

 Meanwhile, a feel-good story. Regular followers might recall (or re-visit ‘Postcards from Harry,’ entry 11) a visit to Spain last October to buy a replacement camera. The faulty one was taken to the photo-shop in Penrith, who sent it to Germany to be looked at, but on the understanding that I wouldn’t be paying for a repair as I had done so once already. Germany kept it from November to May! As leaving day drew nearer and nearer I began to make regular visits to the shop saying ‘any chance of getting my camera back?’ We left without it. They had contact details, but it was still a bit of a surprise to get a call from Richard, of the Photo Shop in Penrith, soon after we’d left UK saying ‘I’ve got your camera, where are you?’ South of France, no problem – he was about do come down here to track sections of the Tour de France. He’d be in Carcassonne around July 12th and would contact us then. And he did. And although he was running very late, having had a car impounded and taken time to get it back, he drove from Carcassonne to Limoux to to hand it over with no charge. (We gave him a bottle of local bubbles.) HE understands PR, just like Halo Financial. Satan-DER should take lessons.

 So we come to July 14th and the Tour de France on the 15th. The big  Fête Nationale passed us by unnoticed – we could have gone to fireworks in Quillan or Carcassonne – many did – but Puivert is having its own ‘do’ later and we were happier setting up home and having a nice meal at the little café on site. But to ignore the Tour de France – especially with a Brit winning – would have been a bit remiss ( it passed within walking distance). So we did our best with some Union Jack napkins:

Ptdc0345
Dscf9979

 

And for the first time ever, someone actually did shout ‘Rosbif’ at me across the street (that’s the supposed  equivalent  of ‘Frog’, but I’ve never heard it before), and we went out along beside the lake 

Ptdc0347

And through the village

Ptdc0349

 to the main road. We found some young English folk wrapped in St. George flags, so we felt quite safe, someone took our photo (press or not, we don’t know), a group of locals (probably) were doing Mexican waves everytime a vehicle went by: 

Ptdc0353

 Then the big event! Blink and you’ll miss it! I shouted ‘Go, Wiggo!’, but I’ve no idea at whom, and my attempt to video the main group of riders failed miserably as I must have pressed a wrong button! Or not pressed the right one. Carol did rather better and caught this shot:

Dscf9980

Now it’s raining (but that’s impossible – it doesn’t rain here from May to October. Ha!) And tomorrow it’s back to the house hunt, and can’t wait to find out if that money transfer has gone through, or is going to ….

 

 

 

 

 

ANOTHER SPECTACULAR DRIVE – AND A HOUSE RE-VISITED.

“But in going down an alley

To a castle in the valley

They completely lost their way,

And wandered all the day.”

Well, it wasn’t quite like that – the castle wasn’t in the valley, it was high on the ridge, as Cathar Castles are.(Google Cathar Castles , go to images 2nd row, 3rd & 5th photos – we drove up there BY ACCIDENT!)

And we didn’t wander ALL day – just for an hour.

And it was HOT.

Tell me about it.

No need – you did it.

But we jump ahead. If this journal were in sequence, you’d see that we were looking forward (?) to a drive of 100 miles each way to see a house further south from here. Nearer Spain, I said. Nearer Spain? – we could have walked it! Honest – 10 minutes through the woods. The approach was amazing. 15 minutes of narrow zig-zags up a wooded valley to absolutely nowhere, yet there was a hamlet of 10 or so houses with more dotted around the hillsides – and a bus stop!

The house was interesting, with a pool at the side, but bedrooms were very small and the situation a bit more remote than we really want, so called it a nice day out and stopped at McDs near the motorway for supper – and to send the last blog entry which had failed from here because of thunderstorms all around. Then we had a dash for ‘home’ to arrive before they closed the gate of the campsite at 10pm. We were 5 minutes late – so were they! So Sally got to park up behind Harry as usual, not in the village, and we didn’t have to walk the last bit.

It was dark when you got back – I thought you weren’t coming.

Hello – are you awake? People have been asking how you are.

Kind of them – s’pose I’m alright.

Course he is – I’m looking after him.

What? Like before? Wunderschőn!

Thank you! So, Friday 7th July, we arranged with one of the agents to re-visit one of the houses on the short list so as to remember and re-assess according to our new scoring system. We love the little pool (it is little!),  

Dscf9950a_5

 but we do find this living space very disappointing, compared with some we’ve seen.

Dscf9970

However, we investigated the loft space above the garage – and there’s lots of it! – and here’s the first photo of Carol since last Sunday’s fall; it’s out of focus, so I’m allowed to publish it! 

Ptdc0276

After doing some measuring we went and had a picnic by the river (as we do!).

Which brings us to Saturday, and the house-hunt that took a bit longer than expected! The problem is which photos to put up and which to leave out. Here are a few of the drive out, including the Pic de Bugarach: 

Ptdc0284

Ptdc0286
Ptdc0280

We pinicked, as it got hotter, in a delightful spot:

Ptdc0296
Ptdc0297

That was nice – très agréable!

Ptdc0299

Then tried to drive on to the house we were to visit just 20 minutes away. TomTom got us to within a few hundred metres, but a misunderstanding with the elderly lady on the phone sent us out of the village, round the cliff with the castle and up the other side to the castle gate! Then we tried a rough track on the way down, till we realised it was going nowhere but a barn (unconverted). An hour after we arrived in the village in the first place, losing phone charge as well as signal, not to mention the will to persevere, and very hot – I mean dripping! – a lovely old man, handicapped but driving, came out and met us at the crossroads and led us to the house where before the viewing they gave us cold drinks and a sit round the table. 

The house was as lovely as the people, but only one bathroom and loo and a garden covering 3,000sq.m., most of it going up the hill towards that castle! Build a terrace and put a pool in! Yes, but not on our budget! Oh, and there were three peacocks as well.

Then the drive back by a different route. If we thought the ‘narrow bit with the rock arch’ (The Défilé de la Pierre de Lys) was spectacular, we hadn’t seen nutn! We did take some photos, but the best would be to google Gorges de Galamus and go to images. This is a must-do drive or walk for those who visit. Traffic is controlled one way at a time, but from the car – and stopping is not allowed – you just don’t see the water! Here are some of our pictures:

Ptdc0311
Ptdc0312
Ptdc0318
Ptdc0317

Did I just come down there?

Yes, little car, you did.

Bet Harry can’t do that!

No, he can’t; he’s not allowed – so don’t go showing off about it.

Moi?

Hmmm …

Ptdc0319

On the way ‘home’ we stopped for a meal at a ‘real’ reataurant – not outstanding, but OK, and got back without rushing before the 10pm closure.

Today we visited the market in Espéraza – a big one – and had pork chops – one each! – for lunch, prepared with mash and two vegs in Harry –

One has one’s uses.

Of course you do. Then we did some ‘housekeeping’ (tidying kitchen cupboards) since we couldn’t get a TV signal to watch the tennis.

Goodnight, all!

Bonsoir!

Nice to have tidy cupboards ….

SALLY GETS TO GO OUT.

Enfin! J’ai fait deux excursions superbes! Lundi– In English, Sally – not all our readers speak French!   – Oops, pardon, sorry! On Monday I took THEM to St. Paul de Fenouillet.

 

Ptdc0227

The scenery was wonderful, and THEY had a pique-nique, well, a snack from a burger truck (English!), in this lay-by by the river overlooked by this big mountain:

 

Ptdc0228

 

Ptdc0230

Ptdc0251


 

Then we went through the narrow bit where there are overhangs and a rock archway …. 

 

Ptdc0236
Ptdc0239
Ptdc0242

 

OK, at St. Paul they left me to cook on the square (That’s not fair we left you in the shade under a tree!) Yes, but the sun moved while you were seeing one of those agent people; anyway it was a waste of time because the house was rubbish. (It wasn’t actually, it was just empty and neglected and there was no way we could get Harry up there even if we’d wanted to take it on!)

 

Ptdc0250

 

That’s the view!

Anyway, today –  

Just a minute! We’ll have a word about yesterday first (Tuesday) – 

OK OK

 

We did two viewings yesterday morning, both wooden ‘chalet’ type houses, and very high on the short list. So we knocked 3 off and put two on. Details can wait, but while we were out with one agent, Sally was spotted by another (the one we’d rather not see) so he was on the phone saying “I see you’re in Quillan, can you pop in for a chat?” No!

 We’d kept the afternoon free because we thought we might have to pack up and move off our present site, but in the end we found we were able to stay till the 13th at the latest; trouble is, it’s high season and getting expensive, but another good thing about yesterday’s viewings was that one of them was in a village up above Quillan where there’s a campsite by a lake which turns out to be less costly than here, so we’ll probably move up there soon. So today, Wednesday, we didn’t have any appointments, so we went for a scenic drive instead – 

Let me! Let me! We began by going up the hill out of Quillan, and THEY had a real pique-nique at the top here: 

Ptdc0252

And that’s Madame, who still won’t look at the camera because her face is not so pretty since Sunday, you know ….. And there’s a bit of MOI there, too.

Ptdc0253
  Then we went up some very steep, twisty, winding roads, right up into the big mountains, and came to Ax-Les-Thermes, where I had a rest and THEY had an ice-cream.
Ptdc0259
 On the way down, by a diferent road, we stopped at Puivert, the place with the little lake and THEY went and looked at the campsite and made enquiries. 

Back at valley (Aude) level we found, eventually, the first house we viewed with a pool – the one whose photo we put up – and measured the distance to the nearest shop. Less than a mile! Ideal! It moved up a notch or two. Back with Harry as daylight faded we enjoyed the dish we’d bought at a supermarket: ‘Boules de Picoulat’ with some pasta shells, and tomorrow we travel some distance to see another house (with pool) that we’ve found on the net. Nearer Spain and nearer the Med. We’ll see. Sleep well, Sally – you’ve got a couple of hundred miles to do tomorrow!

Oo là , là!  On exagère, quoi! 

  

 

 

 

 

NEW MONTH – DISAPPOINTING START.

Ptdc00079

That’s a bouffadou. I bought that one over in the Pays Basque last year, and it’s for reviving a dying fire or barbecue – by blowing through it. As regular readers already knew.

Yes, July hasn’t started well here! After blazing heat a week ago, there were two dull days at the end of June, then this morning a huge drop in temperature (about 18°) and rain to go with it. Then Carol had to leave the van (I was still dozing) and she tripped over one of the guy ropes of the awning. Flat on her nose and quite bloody … a neighbour who came round for Lapin Au Vin last night was there before I was and helped pick her up. Happily he’s a first-aider, but we wondered whether treatment was needed. When we contacted the (English) owner of the site she said we could go to the hospital in Carcassonne, but the wound didn’t look like it needed stitching and there was no evidence of concussion, so we decided to administer pain killers and take it easy – no appointments today, anyway. I’m sorry, but she wont let me take her picture! …. Spoilsport!

Then we found half of Sunday dinner has gone missing! After yesterday’s shopping we couldn’t get everything into the fridge, so some stuff stayed in the insulated bag in the awning. Including 2 chops. Today only one chop can be found! Did we bring 2 home? Did we leave the bag unfastened, so the cats could get at the content? This is reminiscent of a similar incident a few years ago at St. Valery, where a burgling cat was definitely the culprit. But there’s no evidence, like packaging, lying around and the person who looks after the cats says if they take anything they always bring it ‘home’, and she hasn’t seen it!  C’est un mystère! And it looks like ‘one chop between two’ this evening. (Can anyone place the quote?)

Thanks for a comment on the house-hunting. Anyone may chip in and we’ll take no notice if we don’t want to. If you really want to see stuff, this is the short list:

http://www.abessan.fr/fr/liste.htm?ope=1&ville1=&habmin=&termin=&prixmin=&prixmax=&ref=1100318553

We call this one “The Oaks” – there are many oak trees all round – reduce some and remove others and we have a supply of wood for years!

http://www.hdcimmo.com/300000euro/2852/2852FR.htm

There’s lovely! Owned by a Welsh couple. The living room is less pink now, but it’s still a disappointing space.

http://www2.housescape.org.uk/cgi-bin/full.pl?&aud1&&1867&&

Harryport! We’d found this one on the web before we came with APITS, and wanted to see it. The APITS team said we wouldn’t want it, but we’re not sure.

http://www2.housescape.org.uk/cgi-bin/full.pl?&aud1&&1907&&

Massive! Built for a former Mayor of Quillan and way above budget, but the agent says he wouldn’t have shown it to us if he didn’t think the owner would come down to our price. It’s currently a holiday home!

http://www.mmimmobilier.com/detail-bien.php?ref=131;

Exterior and living space superb! Kitchen corner very cramped and bedrooms small. Unlikely that vendors would reduce by enough, but might be worth an ask!

More viewings on Tuesday. On Wednesday we plan to change campsite. This has been fine, but pitch is small (no room to walk wide of the tent – hence tripping hazzard, it wasn’t the first time, just the most serious). Also, we’d quite like a pool on site and maybe a bar/restaurant as well. We hope to find ‘the’ house within a week now. We’ll see …