11/9/2015

On the road further west today to Auch, in the Gers Region.  After leaving Albi we came across the old chateau of Castlenau de Levis.

It was full on flowers today, as we traversed all the tiny back roads to avoid Toulouse, one field full of wildflowers (unable to photograph due to the proximity of the car behind us), and this delightful sight of still blooming sunflowers!

A timely stop at a convenient Boulongerie for refreshments. a religeuse for Caroline and at the other end a slab of custard slice avec chocolat coating and two chocolat chaud to drink.

And a follow up drink at L'Ilse Jourdain.  Guy was trying not to be too relaxed about anything.

A nice relaxing square for a blonde beer enroute.

Finally arrived at Auch (below), and our new abode for the next few days.

No visit to the Touluose area can be considered without a BBQ and saucisse du Toulouse

And of course in the sale du manger, Chef du Jour Guy is putting the finishing touches to a magnificent Fritata du Pays au Roquefort.

7th September 2015

Exploring a bit of the south today, heading to Peyrusse le Roc, we found some other little villages on the way.  Like Feycelles below.

 

After an hour of driving along one lane roads that follow every cliff side, creek side and back side we arrived at Peyrusse le Roc an interesting medieval village.

The lunch time bell sounded so it was a good time to duck in to the bar on the right of the picture.

Caroline is pictured here with her huge bowl of sautéed and roasted potatoes and cheese

The assiettes of duck with similar roasted potatoes sans cheese beckoned Guy to try.

If you think we had a meal, the two men behind us had
1- a 4 litre pot of chicken noodle soup
2- a meat salad
3- beef bourgonion
4- a cheese plate for 10 people
5- peaches and a big slab of cake
6- coffee

Not bad?

Into the discovery mode, we found a sculptor whose work could be seen around the village.

 

He was carving this as we approached.

 

 

Our first view of the keep which is 153 metres above the river below.

 

Evidence that we did manage to descend to the base of the keep and then climb all the way to the top

This is what vertical panaromic photos settings can do to history.

Only the curtain walls remain of the original 13th century Church dedicated to Notre Dame of Laval

It is too far gone for any reconstruction except to save the arches on all sides from collapsing.  The walls should last another 1,000 years.

 

We headed off to Figeac to find the Rosetta Stone

 

This is a perfect reproduction of the original.The Rosetta Stone is a stone with writing on it in two languages (Egyptian and Greek), using three scripts (hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek).

 

The rest of Figeac is a mix of medieval and more recent constructions that have incorporated older buildings in need of saving.

 

As if we didn't do enough climbing, but it worth the walk along smooth ancient twisting alley ways to get to the top of the town for this view of the roof tops.

 

 

After grabbing a baguette some croissants and a small glace we headed home in the light of dusk.

 

 

 

 

6 & 7 of/10/2015

All begun fairly early yesterday morning, after having finished cleaning the house and having breakfast and showers. Suitcases and backpacks ready. Madame with her car, off we set off to La Passe( a little place about half way east on the island), which is where the bus was indeed waiting. Monsieur Chauffeur, sweeping, mopping, spray and wiping mirrors etc, Madame had a few words(in the nicest possible French way) to say to the unfortunate man about her experiences with the phone service the bus company gave the previous day. She was very sweet and gave us hugs and waved us off!

No donkeys this time and a few more interesting weather vanes near La Flotte.

Our train was waiting, though we had to wait some time before boarding it and heading to Poitiers. The change over was on the same platform so all good there, until we were about to settle in our seats I realised I didn't have my vital little bag! Straight off to find the conductor for him to contact the other train. Which all happened fairly quickly. And he was to get back to us if it was found. Which a few minutes later he did and it was ,with all the vital bits inside. such as credit card, passport, camera, house keys and rosary. The latter I believe being the important link I was praying to for its safe recovery.

Guy in the meanwhile of my running around had contacted Jo and let her know, she was very sweet with her reply and was also praying for me. xox

The conductor advised us to get off at the next stop and wait for 15 minutes for the next train to Montparnasse, which is where our original train was going. We followed his advice and boarded the train and the conductors there were nice and checked us in with our other tickets. Just a very fast train and we arrived safely and found the Information and the man who knew about the bag, brought it out and it was all there except the money. Which in the overall scheme of things was not a big loss.

To recover from all the emotion we crossed from the station to have some hot chocolates and desserts at Le Petit Journal. Though we did see a few musicians enter, we left too early to hear their music. They are holding the quarter's jazz festival until end of October. 

 For a first we took a direct bus service to the Airport (I know at peak hour by this time) and an extra half an hour to our journey as a result. The bus was very squashy and hot. Anyway the hold up was on the free way north and we did enjoy the earlier streeets and saw the Bastille monument and various other buildings of note. We even went past the street where we first stayed in Paris together in 2012. The rain kicked in a bit here and there, we finally arrived safely at the airport and we freshened up and checked our bags in.

We were entertained by a woman pianist (there was a piano there), which was nice.

Sunrise over Doha as we approached

Flight was uneventful and now we are in the family quiet room for Guy to sleep, I managed ok on the flight. After lunch we will head to the lounge for a shower and relax there, as we are flying out late tonight. Which is rather tiring, but we'll make most of it here, the Airport is modern now, and has many facilities. Lots of walks to keep our circulation going.

Now we have checked out the Braun hair dryer so time to go to the Oryx First class lounge which is a pay service if you are not a Business or First Class passenger. very good value for 6 hours and the manager gave us a it extra because of the long stop over we are having here. The food is great and the service unbelievable. Showers are very relieving on long stopovers too.

Feeling refreshed and needing to do some more retail therapy we loaded up

We have great seats - just 2 in the row - at the back of first section over the wings. Bon voyage.

　

5th October 2015.

Last day for us here in France and on Ile de Re.  Such a spectacular spot.  Took the cycles out one more time around the Lighthouse and the village.  Ate one last crepe at Chez Marie.  Walked around the point and breathed in the warm ocean air and listened to the various birds arguing on the seaweed.

One example of the many weather vanes that people have on their homes.  this one was on the nearby mill.

Circulation alternee, which means men at work and wait for your turn!

One of the many shop walls in the Lighthouse village.

Of course there had the be the last crepe for the trip, so this was farewell to Chez Marie. Monsieur waiting for his!

very low tide showing the man made efforts to reverse the massive Atlantic forces that batter the coast.  Also visible is the hand made walls to enclose the sea for fishing purposes.  These are official fishing concessions which still exist but they are very fragile and can withstand any sea but not human destruction.

 

The shore line is such a haven for all sorts of baby birds including this one as old as its parents.

 

 

Very calm sea compared to this morning

 

A scarecrow in a vegie patch

Looking toward the main part of the village of St Clement des Baleines from the east coast with the rain about to hit us.

 

Our last look at the fields that give the island such a spacious environment.  They grow almost all their own food here. 

 

And our last selfie from a little laneway pole in between the villages of St Clement des Baleines and our hamlet of Le Gillieux ( all part of the same commune).

 

 

 

This has been a great 10 days here enjoying the open air, open sea, open fields, cycling, walking, enjoying life saving figs by the hand full, nice people, the history and the visits to special places that make L'Il de Re a must return holiday one day.  Our host Mrs Durrbach was such a lovely helpful lady.  The next 3 days travelling and laying over on a long stop at Doha on Wednesday.

 

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4th October 2015 - With the meteo forecast proving correct with grey skies and afternoon rain we jettisoned the shorts and donned jeans and heavy jackets for the bus trip to the other end of the island. 
Objectif 1- visit la Flotte, the oldest port on the island
Objectif 2 - try to find those shaggy donkeys
Objectif 3 - make it home around 6:45


Well first photo upon alighting from the bus in la Flotte was this one - Euro35 fine for vulgar language.  Monsieur Le Marie must be strict at home too lol

A small but attractive ancient harbour and lovely tree lined streets

And a delightful surprise to find an undercover market with amazing array of super fresh fruit and vegetables, meats, cheeses, wines, seafood to die for.

All locally grown vegies but fruit from everywhere of course

Some of the most attractive village streets you could find

Not entrirely visible but lots of retail shops for a village of 2,500 people.

We left La Flotte at midday and followed the coastal bike path - 4 km of peaceful tranquillity passing hundreds of multi million euro properties on the coast with the every darkening sky to the north east and thankfully we had a map of the town to navigate our way to facilities and the port.

The village of St Martin is another one of those impenetrable fortresses that held out against the Duke of Buckingham in the 17thCentury and he left defeated.  The island reverted to the French King again.

The massive defence maze meant sure defeat for anyone in that time.

Mis en garde Monsieur!!!!

 

We walked in the freezing northerly gale to photograph these cute shaggy donkeys.

Lunch was ridiculous and took 90 minutes to eat.  Every morsel was deliciouis and toward half time we were noticed by a little 6 year old girl who wandered away from her family.  She was gorgeous and delighted us with her laughter and taunts.  Happy memories of Ariane when she was six.  This went on for 30 minutes until it was time for her to go and her parents laughingly dragged her away with many goodbyes on either side.

A different scene after lunch from our first visit with the driving misty rain so we took refuge in the church where we fell asleep after lighting a candle.  We stayed there until it was time to get the 5:40 bus home.  There are only 3 bus runs on a Sunday, meaning the next and last service was in another 3 hours.
Tide was out when we left St Martin.

A really nice day on the bus, on the coast and eating of course.  Life can be enjoyed.