France - the last post! (Cue bugle).

And so it came - day seven, our last day :-(

All good things come to an end, but there was still time for a super walk before we set off back to England. We decided to visit Fort Liberia, as Sue had seen the outside of it, but not seen inside it. First, however, Mannes told us that today was special, as it was the 'carnival of the animals' at Olette. This meant that we could buy what is reputed to be the BEST veal in the world. It's free range, feeds on milk and herbs, and is supposed to be superb to eat. You can't get it all the time, but Mannes said he knew it would be on sale today at the fayre, so off we went.
This was the fayre - not a huge event, very low key, and with some real characters selling all sorts of stuff.

Veg' and home made pastries featured quite a lot.

Also, pickles of all descriptions.

This happy chappy was selling only one thing - can you guess by his mode of transport?

COW BELLS (of all shapes and sizes).

WHO would want to buy this stuff though?
Everything on this woman's stall was made from old bottle tops!

Baskets........

....boxes.......

...even chairs (just HOW could that be comfortable????)

There were some impressive horns on show too.

But THIS was what we were looking for - the Rosee de Pyrenees.
Veal from the Catalan region of the Pyrenees - grazed on the mountain grass and herbs,
to produce the sweetest meat imaginable.

Amongst all the bells, bottle top furniture, and other paraphernalia was
 this little stall, selling the prize meat we sought.
We chose the three, thick pieces of veal we wanted, paid our twenty six Euros, and then she asked if we'd like to try some. Of course, we said yes. There was a small griddle plate to the right of the stall, and she threw three small pieces onto it, for literally SECONDS each side, before passing them to each of us in turn.
Sorry if you're a veggie here, but that was the most exquisite taste I've ever had.
We just couldn't WAIT to get home tonight to eat what we'd bought.

After the fayre, Mannes dropped us off at Villefranche, the village below Fort Liberia.
The sun was now hot and strong, and we started to peel layers of clothing off as soon
as we left the car and started walking up to the fort.

There it was - perched high above us, the sentinel of the mountains,
watching over Villefranche.

As the path rose, we got some great views up the valley to the town Mannes lives, Vernet le Bains.

The magnificent Canigou. This mountain is the reason Mannes will NOT move house.
He can see it from his garden, and loves the view with a passion.
Can't say we blame him!

Soon we reached the fort.
Here's Sue, in the courtyard before our breezy tour of the ramparts.
We did try a coffee in the shop - big mistake - it was AWFUL.

Again, super views from the walk around the walls.

A soldiers-eye view.

Inside, there were many steps and stairways. This looks like a long one doesn't it?
Sue thought so too, but I knew what was to come.

You can see the old bakehouse chimney.

This is a model of how they think it would have looked.
I love the wooden board to protect the baker from the heat of the oven (IF that's what it was for???)

The inner walls - a sort of beauty in this light, we thought.

Looking down to Villefranche.
The Grottes de Grand Canellettes is just up that valley, and we'd be visiting them later.

Now this is what you CALL a staircase - over eight HUNDRED steps in all.
It's mostly under the bedrock, and what a task it must have been to build it, and hollow the rock out.
It was done so the soldiers could move into and out of the fort in safety.

This has been done for the tourists (hello Sue).
A viewing station halfway down the steps.

At the bottom, two huge doors let us out and into the village.
A look back sees the fort perched above us.

We decided we were hungry, and when I saw this sign 'creperie', I knew I had found a suitable place, as Sue is VERY partial to crepes. We walked in, and were IMMEDIATELY taken by the atmosphere. It was friendly, VERY French, and extremely inviting. Everyone there seemed to be having a good time.
P'arlais vous Anglais? - NON!
Oh well, time to check just how good (or bad) my French is.

Once we got inside, we were told there'd be a wait for food - of COURSE there would, it was a popular place. No problem - we'd have a glass of the 'vin rouge de maison'.

We asked for 'un picher', thinking it would be smaller than a bottle......WRONG!

Looks like my French is good enough to get a great feed!
This was Sue's 'plat de jour'
 

And this was my duck, with a fabulous courgette bake
(and, of course, lots of French bread).
 

Happy man.

Then, after the meal, I asked a guy on the next table if he knew how big (or small) the crepes were.
He wasn't sure, so we decided to order one between us (bear in mind we had the veal to eat later).

When it came, it was ENORMOUS, with peaches, calvados and a great dollop of ice cream!
We just halved it - and went straight to food heaven :-)


After eating, and feeling VERY satisfied, we made for the caves......pictures in the next posting, but as a taster.......

France, day six - the seaside!

Our sixth day was to be a trip to the seaside - Banyuls, to be precise, (on the East coast - the Med), famous for its wine (which I don't like). http://www.thewinedoctor.com/regionalguides/roussillon2.shtml
However, I DO like the sea and the mountains, and there was plenty of both on this trip.
The day started out looking fantastic. Canigou peeped over the ridge as we left Nyer, and a necklace of cloud made it look all the better.

We crossed a small gorge by this bridge - it was quite deep,
and the autumnal colours were lovely.

All I can say here is WOW!

After a trip of less than an hour, we arrived in Banyuls, start (or end) of the GR10 long distance walk. At over 800 kilometres, it's not one for beginners. This was the walk that Brenda & Mannes were doing when we first met them back in 2002. They had stood beneath this very plaque, after their epic sojourn.

The earlier bright sky was now looking decidedly angry! Brenda & Mannes dropped us off on the sea front, and went off into the hills to walk to dogs, leaving us to find a little cafe for some lunch.

There's a quite nice prom', which we walked along, but all the time, the wind was getting up, and spots of rain started to fall, driven by a strengthening wind.

We took these few pics, then went into what I can only describe as a tent! The cafes and restaurants all have these tent things on the beach side of the road. The proper brick-built structures are on the landward side of the road, and they shuttle food across the road on trays. Not a bad idea on a balmy evening, but TODAY!!!

Anyway, we sat in the cafe just as the rain became really hard, and the wind started gusting up to what felt like hurricane force. I kid you not, these tent things were rattling like they were going to get blown away at ANY minute. The waitress asked us if we'd 'like to move across to the cafe' - we agreed - and scuttled over the road. We felt like two of the little pigs that had been in the straw house with the wolf huffing and puffing, and ALMOST blowing the house down. Anyway, things were a lot more sedate, and we sat and enjoyed a very nice lunch, also a surprisingly good cup of coffee.

Before we left, I decided to go to the toilet - only to be reminded that we were in rural France!

Brenda & Mannes returned with stories of the vicious winds they had encountered on the tops. They didn't get to walk the dogs as the wind was too fierce. They had even had to stop the car on the journey back for fear of being blown off the road.

As soon as it had arrived, the rain and wind stopped - just like that! So, with things a bit calmer, we set off up into the hills again. This was vine country, and we saw evidence of cork cutting from the many cork oaks that were around the vineyards. These oaks are grown particularly for their bark, which vintners use to cork the bottles.

This field was the Grenache variety;

The sky was clearing now, slowly though.
This was the view North from the hills above Banyuls.
We could see the mountain called 'Bugarach'. We had climbed this one on a previous visit to France.

You can see the pics here;
http://walkderbyshire.blogspot.com/2007/05/france-2007-next-20-pictures.html

Just LOOK at that sky - it's like something out of Armageddon.

Looking back to Banyuls, and the aesthetically pleasing bridge across the valley.

The only fungi I'd seen so far in France.
I'm told by a friend it's a parasol mushroom, edible and delicious!
A very nice specimen.

The sun was there behind the clouds, but so far defeated from showing itself.

Soon, we were nearing home and the sky at last cleared a little.
I saw this barn standing stark against the sky and fields, and just thought it made a really nice subject.

A light sprinkling of snow had fallen on the mighty Canigou while we were away.
This was just the start of the winter blanket to come.

In this part of France, all the villages, no matter HOW small, have these wonderful signs, each one depicting a feature of the village, or the village itself (like Eus on the hill). They are a credit to whoever does them.
When I think of the sad signs that Bakewell has, it makes me despair.
This sort of thing is worth its weight in gold, and will last and last.

Here is Eus in the evening. I didn't get a picture of the sign, but it's almost this scene.
Beautiful, isn't it?

Just one more day to go. The week has flown by, but we've managed to pack a lot in, as usual.

France, part five

WHAT a fantastic morning we had for the walk today.
We drove up to this plateau, called Planis, parked the car,
and set off up what Brenda said was; 'one long climb, all the way'.

We were going to walk up to Roc de Trepassats, 1,600 metres.
The path was quite good and clear, as it was used frequently by shepherds.
They take the sheep to graze on high ground in the Summer, then
bring them back down in the Winter. The shepherd can spend days at
a time up here with his sheep, and will think nothing of walking all the way
down to meet up with his wife, who will bring him food and supplies.
It's a hard and lonely life.

We could see the pipe store across the valley.
We were already at the same height as the plateau, and could see the lorry
winding its way up and down, and the helicopter flying back
and forth with the pipes.

The pipes.

Sunglasses - how cool am I??? (don't answer that).

Brenda was spot on with the description.

It was a long, stiff climb but we were relishing every moment.
Often we could see scratchings in the earth by the path, signs of
'songlierre', or wild boars. They are hunted in this region to cull the numbers.
They can be very dangerous if surprised, but that doesn't happen often,
as theyare shy creatures that avoid human contact, if possible.

We were high enough now to see over the ridges on the other side
of the gorge, and could plainly see the sea.

The winding road the lorry had to ply day in, day out.

Mannes has one of those watches that also tells the height, and checked it regularly.
Brenda has one too, and this often ensues in 'play argument's, as each one told a different height!
It was only a few feet, but Mannes is very pedantic (in a nice way), and HAS to be precise.

Ahhh, nice place, and we were very happy.

Not very plain, I know, but that IS the helicopter DOWN there!
We were at sufficient height now to be looking down on him.
Click on the picture for a larger version.

This is a 'cabane' - a very simple stone shelter that the
shepherd uses to spend the night in.

Rather HIM than ME!

Tremendous views, on a perfectly clear day.
THIS is what the Pyrenees are all about.

The final part of the climb to the top, where we would have lunch.

Here, we saw the second, even SMALLER than the first, cabane.

Top of the Roc de Trepassants - 1,600 metres.
Time for lunch.

Lovely!
(The view's not bad either)

The fabulous sky and clouds were constantly changing.
These are my favourite skies, and I LOVE pictures of them.

You can keep your fancy restaurants - today,
we were having lunch in the best place on earth!

Did someone say lunch............

After lunch, we made our was back to the car, noticing that the car park had got REALLY busy
while we were away - there was ANOTHER CAR!!

Brenda & Mannes knew who's the car was though, it belonged to the young shepherd,
and we soon saw him and his flock as we made our way down.

He looks a very serious (and hard) character, doesn't he?

So ended a really great walk. It had been a very special day, and Brenda was to match it
with a very special meal tonight -an 'oceane de mare' - a seafood soup (of sorts). Another of Brenda's super gadgets, This one, you put a selection of seafood into the boiling vegetable soup,
and it cooks to perfection!
 The rice steams steadily in the top to complete a delicious meal.
The best thing is, at the end you are left with this wonderful fishy soup, which we saved
and served up the following night as a scrumptious starter.

(Better get the last drop out of this - can't waste any - it's far too nice!).

CHEERS!

Day five - done!

Tomorrow, we were off to the SEASIDE.

(And I'd forgotten my bucket and spade).

France, part four

Another lovely morning, as we looked out over Nyer.

The chill air was quickly being warmed by the rising sun.

Today, we were going to go over the top of the En ridge to the Tet valley.

Me, Mannes & the dogs, ready to go.

The spotted one (Dalmatian) is Mannes' dog, called robi.

Evol valley & Mount Madres, as you can see, a lovely day.

Sue & I just LOVE the way the shadows of the scudding clouds 'run' across the hillsides.

Some serious 'up & down' followed through lovely woodland paths.
The fallen leaves carpeted the ground, and we had to take care of hidden loose rocks underneath.

View over to Canavelles village. Lots of little, quite remote, villages like this abound in France.

This one has had the same mayor for over fifty years! He must be a popular guy.

En & La Serre. You can just make out the bell tower on En chapel.

Here we go - more serious stuff!

When we emerged onto plateaus, the views were stunning.

Here, Brenda & I take it all in

I'm sure some climbers would have a good day out on these limestone buttresses.

Looking down the Tet valley to the road. Brenda won't take the dogs along the path that runs down the left of this road. It's above a railway line (the little yellow train), and once, Brenda slipped off the path on the loose surface, slip down the bank and she fell ON TO the road. She landed in a heap, stunned and winded, right in the middle! Goodness knows how she didn't sustain a break, as the drop is about ten feet or more, and how lucky was she that nothing was coming? The road is used by up to forty fuel tankers a day, coming and going to Andorra for the cheap fuel, plus other traffic. She could easily have been killed.

No wonder she won't walk it these days.

Looking north up the Tet valley.

Someone had drawn this sign on a rock. It's the mark of the 'St Jacques de Compostille' walk (a pilgrimage), but I was surprised to see it here, as the walk doesn't come through here? I once asked Brenda to buy us some scallops to cook for dinner. It's the FIRST time I've known her to be stumped in French! She didn't know what they were called. We've since learned that it's 'coquille ST Jaques' (of COURSE!).

Here's something we didn't notice at first, but once we'd seen one bunch, we saw HUNDREDS!

It must be a good place for mistletoe, as there was no end of it, hanging in great big bunches.

We DID 'christen' this bunch, but couldn't get a steady perch for the camera to record the moment - and Brenda & Mannes were some way ahead of us.

Soon, we were back at the car, and could again see En chapel, with Olette village below.

This weekend would see Olette 'carnival of the animals', and there was something very special we wanted to buy there, but more of that later in a later posting.

On the drive back down to Nyer, we disturbed a flock of Partridges on the track.

Tomorrow we have a big climb day promised by Mannes & Brenda to the top of

Roc de Trepassats 1600 metres. We should be looking DOWN on the helicopter!

Watch this space.

France, part three.

Today, day three, would have been Chris' birthday. Chris was Brenda's husband who died in a tragic accident a year after they moved to France. Each year now, Brenda & a few friends walk up to the little church at En village and ring the bell for Chris. This year, Sue & I were privileged to be here at the right time, and would join the walk with everyone else. The numbers were slightly down this year, due to some illness and family commitments, so we were glad to be able to bolster things a bit.

As usual, the day started with these two, Starry & Sky, tussling and play fighting. These two Samoyeds are mother (Starry) and daughter, and get on really well.

RIGHT! That's enough of that - we're ready to go now.
Come ON - get your boots on, and bring the lead.

Unfortunately, today was going to be the only day we had rain.
Well, not much really, just a bit of drizzle but Mannes was ready for it.

Our 'motley crew' assembled in Nyer as the weather cleared a bit.

Oh dear, it started again, but there were lots of umbrellas in the offing.

Soon we had done the climb up to the church, and here it is.

This is the new bell, which Brenda paid to have fitted, in Chris' memory.

Each of us had a go at ringing it.
No mean feat, as there's a special 'knack' to doing it

(which Brenda imparted to Sue & I).

Our picnic with, of course, a glass of good red wine.

The inside of the church was once very ornate, but years previously, some incomers had taken over it, and defaced the walls and murals, painting over them. Nyer got a special grant to have them restored as much as was possible, and an expert came from Paris, and returned many of them to fairly good condition.

After a picnic and a glass of wine (cheers Chris), we all set off back down to Nyer.
The jangle of the cow bells could be heard as we walked.

As you can see, the day improved a lot, and the walk back was very pleasant.

A last look back to the church, now locked and secure again.

We arrived back at 'Les Samoyedes' & started to get dinner ready.
However, Brenda noticed that the water was running VERY slowly. The house, like most in the mountains, was not on mains water. Now and then, a small problem such as this arises. They rely on water 'sources', which are springs that seldom dry up, especially not at this time of the year, so a possible blockage was suspected..
Time for action!

Right Mannes, lets find out what's wrong!

"What do you think?"
"Hmm, not sure mate - shall we take a look?"

"Right, if I push this down here, and you pull, maybe we can........."

"See, it's EASY when you know how - oh yes, I've done a bit of plumbing in my time........"

And the day ended as usual, a lovely, sociable evening with laughing, joking and stories.

We talked about Chris and lots of Memories of him from Brenda and Mannes.
Today was a bit of a rest day - tomorrow we had a more ambitious walk planned, and the forecast was good!

France, part two.

As you can see, day two dawned a VERY nice day, with the thermometer showing around 18C on the patio in the morning - just the sort of morning to have breakfast 'al fresco'.
This is our friends house 'Les Samoyedes' in the Pyrenean village of Nyer.
Our room is the one on the left with the exposed balcony.

I wouldn't have thought that security was such a big thing, but most rural French houses have these 'decorative' but vicious-looking metal bars at the windows. I mean, this window is upstairs, and only tiny - who be able to GET in here, even if they could reach it? (Also, the window has shutters.)
They DO look nice though.
Most mornings, this was our first view. The Nyer gorge nature reserve.
The sun comes over the top of the ridge (as you can see in this photo)
and immediately warms you through to the bone.

Sun now WELL up, and time for a walk.
This path is five minutes behind Brenda's house.
That big lump behind us is Coronet mountain (yes, we've been up there).

Suddenly Sue cried; "LOOK UP!"
There was this beautiful Eagle flying right over our heads.

Looking down the Tet valley to the Cerdagne area.
This is a high area that gets snowed in very early in the season.

Look carefully, you can see En village, and the chapel
perched on the promontory bottom left.

A simple, primitive water cart, now abandoned.
Just a 45 gallon drum on a frame, but effective.

Sue walks down the hard-to-find path.
Brenda & Mannes knew where it was, and this
photo makes it look far more obvious than it actually was.
You can't beat local knowledge!

We came across the Sharon, or persimmon fruits, growing wild. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_fruit
We'd seen lots of fruits and nuts growing wild on previous visits at previous times, but this was a first.

Losing height, we were now looking up at En Chapel an the skyline.

We also picked up a LOT of chestnuts. I even managed to bring some back to England, and roast them in the pizza oven (lovely too, they were). They are DEVILS to handle though, and the spines are like little needles. Great care must be taken, but I find stamping on them very effective!

Back at 'Les samoyedes' early afternoon, time for a drink on the patio, then we planned a walk up the Nyer gorge as far as we could get. Brenda won't take the dogs up there, as it's too dangerous, so it was a solo trip for us.
Not until we'd had a beer though :-)
This patio looks lovely in this setting, bathed in sun as it so often is.
HOWEVER! Brenda found that when it snows, it's a different story.
More of this later, but just to show you how bad things CAN get out here - scroll down.

FIFTY EIGHT centimetres of snow - overnight!
Don't think I'd fancy sitting at the table in THIS sort of weather!

Anyway, back to our afternoon/evening walk. We set off above the village, towards the gorge.
This is Nyer chateau from the road above it (zoomed)

Next thing, Sue stopped me in my tracks. She'd spotted this on the road in front of us.
At first, we thought it was a big grasshopper, but it was soon obvious we were
looking at the first ever praying mantis we'd seen in France.

We let it crawl away to the safety of the grass, getting this shot in the meantime.

We entered the gorge on a perfect evening, looking back to Nyer village & the mountains beyond.

There is a MASSIVE ongoing project to improve irrigation to Nyer from Mantet, at the other end of the gorge. For many, many years, there has been a canal. similar to the levadas in Madeira, that brought water to Nyer farms. This happens all over the Pyrenees, but this particular one suffered a lot with collapse, rockfall damage, etc etc so it has been decided to replace the WHOLE canal with a pipe. This pipe will be placed in the line of the canal, but bolted to the rock. It's a huge operation, and God knows what it will cost, but they have a lorry running all day, collecting pipes from Olette, then taking them to the top of the plateau above Nyer. There, a helicopter takes them around the mountain to the men welding and bolting the line together. It takes the lorry 30-40 minutes per trip, and it brings four pipes. It takes the helicopter just five minutes to lift and drop off each one.
This went on while ever it was light.

The chopper passed above us as we walked.
On a later walk this week, we would be looking DOWN on him!

The path up the gorge - and the reason Brenda won't bring the dogs.
Mostly, the path is wide, but on this section, it isn't, and part of it has collapsed.

.....and believe ME, it's a long way down if you fell.

A fearless Sue negotiates the path where it's barely a foot wide.
That really is a sheer drop off to her right.

As it's the only way up the gorge, I had to face it too.

Beyond the 'squeeze' is the first tunnel. The opening on the right is just for light.

What AM I doing here......................

Trying to get a picture of this little fellow.
'chauves-souris' en Francais, or the bat, to you and me!

We walked through the tunnels, and this is Sue at the end of the road - the bridge that was once here was swept away in a storm. So far, it's remained impassable, but there are now plans to re-instate it and recover the path to Mantet. For us, this was where we turned back.

The evening shadows were starting to cloak the mountains around us.
That lovely blue hue was settling down before the cool of sunset.
Just LOOK at that PERFECT, azure blue sky!

We just had time to drop down to the village and take a quick tour of the chateau grounds - there was something I wanted to take pictures of in here.

This was it - a grotto in the grounds!
I'm not sure how this got here, if it was natural, moved here, preserved or what.

All I know is, it's the first time I've seen a preserved snake like this.
It's petrified in stone, but you can still see the colours on it.

Also, a petrified frog!

After being amazed by that grotto, we decided it was time to make for home.

This is the tower of the chateau.

The tiny Nyer village.

One of the elders.
(whoo iz zees strange Eeenglishman in SHORTS!!!)

Tomorrow, we have a walk up to the old village of En planned, but the weather doesn't look as
good as it has been today - we'll see.

Part three in a few days.

France, part one

After a gap of over two years, it was time to visit Brenda & Mannes, our friends in France. I had first met them when my brother & I were exploring the Basque region of South West France. It's a long story, but the four of us spent a VERY enjoyable evening in a ski lodge (out of season) at Chalet Iraty. They were doing the ENTIRE GR10, at over 800KM, no mean feat in your youth, but this wiry couple were doing it at around 60 years old - with two DOGS in tow!!! Anyway, they invited us to stay with them if we returned to France. We did, and a firm friendship was forged.
With us unable to get a flight to Perpignan airport (which is only 1/2 an hour from where Brenda lives), we had to fly to Carcassonne. That meant a 2 hour drive each way for Brenda and Mannes, our friends in France, but they were more than happy to do this. Instead of whizzing back home, they dropped Sue & I in Carcassonne and left us there for a couple of hours to explore - something I've wanted to do ever since the first time I saw the walled city a few years ago,
So - we were dropped outside the impressive gates, and off we set to explore.

A few pictures of the outer walls, before we paid our dues, and set off up onto the ramparts. It's very like York, in a way, but a lot more impressive. All these high walls didn't stop Carcassonne being besieged and surrendered many times. It got its name, because after it was relieved once, the bells rang out and the people all shouted 'carca-sonne' (the bells are ringing).
The close proximity of the houses and narrow streets would be a nightmare if there was a fire.

VERY 'touristy'.

This is what we came to do and see, the battlements and towers.

In the central courtyard, some very fancy herringbone brickwork.

The central courtyard.

The outer walls, from the battlements.

The view across the city - that sky doesn't look too promising, does it?

There were some really nice houses inside the walls.

....with some lovely gardens.

Sue, enjoying a stroll around the walls.

Inside, there were several displays and demonstrations.
Some of the stone artefacts were superb.

There were also many shops - this one selling every flavour of biscuit you could think of.
I wondered, how do they rotate their stock????

We found it a bit expensive to eat out - not that we did in Carcassonne.

An ingenious table around a tree trunk.

After that, we were picked up and taken to Brenda's house in Nyer.
Here's a map of just how remote it is.
The road to the village goes ONLY to the village - then it's the Pyrenees.

(Click on picture for a larger version, or type 'Nyer, France' into Google earth).

Anyway, we parked at Brenda's house, and set off up the other side of the valley to a deserted village called En - more of which later. Here's Mannes and Brenda walking through the remains of the village.

And there is the old chapel. What a position, eh?

Me, Brenda & Mannes.

The new bell, again, more about this in a later email.

I was given the key to unlock the substantial chapel door.

Before long, we made our way back, with the sunset now done, moonrise came next.
The camera can't capture just how beautiful this was. The light from the moon was quite bright.
We got home just in time for dinner.

Brenda is a vegetarian, but she always makes sure we get our meat. Her house is FULL of those gadgets that usually only get used once, then put under the cupboard to gather dust. Not at 'Les Samoyedes' (the name of the house). Eating is fun and a pleasure, and she uses her full 'artillery' of cooking gadgets to feed her guests.
Tonight, it was bangers and chops on a tabletop hotplate, with a stir fry accompaniment in a tabletop wok, and meat on a grill.

Dinner often goes on for hours. It's not unusual to sit down to eat at 6:30, and not leave the table until 11:00PM. Lots of chat, food and drink, plus humour makes the hours fly by.
Mannes shows just how to pour the perfect beer.

BIG HEAD!!

Cheers Mannes. (We were on the 'wine course' by now).

There are always several courses at a French meal.
This one ended with some lovely local cheeses, plus some English 'after eight' mints.

And that was day one, done. We'd really enjoyed it, and tomorrow we'd got two walks planned. One above the house and around the plateau, the other just Sue and I up the Nyer gorge, hoping to see bats - not in the belfry, but in some tunnels further up the gorge.