Getting back to normal!

After a week of drizzle the weather has finally picked up again and become more autumnal - cooler temperatures but sunshine nevertheless. I'm hoping to get a lot done in the garden next week and since it looks like there won't be any rain for a while, I guess it'll only be my own fault if I don't get the garden put to bed!

Wednesday was my day to look after Charlie and since it was also my birthday he was busy colouring some pictures for me when I arrived. Unfortunately he hadn't gotten them finished so I ended up colouring my own birthday pictures, but hey ho, beggars can't be choosers and they're now taking pride of place on my living room wall! Elynn is now also walking, so that's a nice birthday present too, although to be honest it's more of a six step dash and then flinging herself at whoever or whatever is in front of her! She'll get the hang of it soon though I expect!

Now that the searing heat is over I'm trying to become more disciplined in getting stuff done around the house (i.e. not wasting so much time on the computer) and getting back to exercising more regularly (although I know that always goes by the board in summer, so I've come to expect it). On Thursday I went back to the La Roche market to see if "Marcel's" produce (the North African stallholder) was just as good value as the previous week and to be honest I think it was even better. I tend not to get my act into gear much before 11 am so getting there at noon must be when they start thinking about packing up for the day and want to get rid of everything! I knew I didn't want great trays of stuff, however good their prices were, but as I was handing my selection to his sidekick he kept adding more stuff to it, just to get rid of it. When I did my initial shop he told me it came to €16 - and then added two more mangoes, two more avocados, another melon, another bag of chicory and so on - and yet still it came to just €16! I don't know about where you live, but this haul was amazing for that price - and Jen was pretty happy with what I gave them too! She asked me if I'd been flirting with the guy, but while that might have worked 40 years ago I doubt it would make any difference now so maybe his prices are really just that good!

€16 for:
two packets of chicory (I only wanted one)
two punnets of mushrooms (again I only wanted one)
four fennel bulbs (I only wanted two)
two aubergines (I only wanted one)
three melons (two already dispatched)
three mangoes (I only wanted one)
two peppers
and the bunch of red onions thrown in for free!
In my book that's pretty good going!

Since I'd made up my mind I was going to get back to the gym afterwards I'd dressed in sports clothes and ended up having the weight room almost to myself (there was just one other person) since it was lunchtime. Good timing on my part! I spent about 45 minutes on a very namby-pamby bike ride while listening to a book but I'm hoping if I keep at it, the intensity will pick up (to be honest, it would be hard to get any "less intense")! I've also done two one-hour walks this week-end, but now really is the time to be heading more out to the mountains to get some easy-ish hikes in before the snow comes!

My neighbour and her buyer sign off tomorrow and I've already met the husband, who seems pretty nice. He told me that having lived in an apartment until this point they were used to not making too much noise but I just laughed and told him how we'd been "those neighbours" when my husband still lived here and not to worry! Their children are seven and four years old so they'll be helping to rejuvenate the neighbourhood - which is great by me as I love little kids!

Today I happened across a Youtube post by a lady who used to have a channel with her late husband and has decided to keep it going in his memory. He only died very recently (within the last month I think) and very unexpectedly but she was saying how happy she was to have videos of all their travels together to rewatch as and when. One thing she mentioned in this video was that her husband had been in the habit of using AI to plan their various trips and how wonderful they both found it. Now I have my reservations about AI and its potential for nefarious use, but I have to admit I'd never given much - or any - thought to using it as it was probably intended to be used. For instance she typed "find me a reasonable hotel near the Acropolis and interesting day trips in that area" and within seconds she'd got several hotels to chose from and an entire holiday mapped out. Then she typed in "I don't drink wine so please remove the vineyard visit" and it came up with other more suitable outings. Next she asked it to provide a packing list for a cruise to Alaska and a couple of seconds later up it popped. Same with creating a weekly menu using ...... and so on! I have to admit I'm dead impressed! I most likely won't be using it to set up any of my trips as I have my go-to travel companies anyway, but I don't think I'd realized just how powerful a tool it can be!

And finally, I think I mentioned in one of my comments on my previous post that when I take up my post as Treasurer of the old fogies' club I will ask to have emergency contacts listed for everyone in the group so that if (God forbid) there is another emergency like the one with Philippe, we will have a contact for family members. I know you can actually get into someone's iPhone without knowing their password in order to access their emergency contacts and any relevant health-related information, but that's always assuming the person has it set up already (and I'm assuming with a group of much older people that could well be unlikely), but at least if we have it on paper it would be a start. Next task, trying to get some of them to use email! I feel it may be an uphill struggle though!

When my sister called me for my birthday I was telling her about what had happened on our trip and the emergency contact shenanigans and she was telling me that in the UK you can have it set up as an "ICE" number, whereby a stranger can just type "ICE" into your contacts list and up pop your emergency contacts! Given what is going on in the US right now, I'm not sure I'd be yelling at anyone to call "ICE" anytime soon, though!

The last day!

On our last full day in the Périgord we got to visit the Saturday market at Sarlat - and I'm sure you all know how much I love markets!!! I love the hustle and bustle and all the food smells which are just sublime. Our guide went into her spiel about the cathedral but as I've said before, more and more I tend to wander off and do my own thing because if a place really interests me I'll listen for a while and then I can always look up more information later. So I was standing nearby and started chatting to a young woman selling just about every version of olive and/or tapenade you could imagine. They'll always offer you a taste of whatever they're selling so I tried the red tapenade and promptly bought some. When I commented that I loved the smell, "The One" (Mark II - the miserable market stall holder in our group) said that she hated the smell, and no she didn't want to try anything because she loathed olives with a vengeance. I tell ya, it was embarassing! She really must have been standing behind the door when charm was handed out! Eventually I wandered round the old town, bought myself a new basket for my market-hopping experiences and a pretty jacket for Elynn before sitting down for a drink with a few people from our group.

The Saturday market in Sarlat!

After lunch it was off to the pretty town of Beynac where we were to take a boat called a gabarre for a tour up the river. A gabarre is a flat-bottomed boat which was used for transporting goods up and down the river, flat-bottomed because the river was pretty shallow in places and not suitable for more substantial vessels!

A gabarre!

Beynac

Since it was our last full day our driver offered to take a group photo of us all. She took one and then suggested another one in order to be sure she got everyone in - and this was when old Misery Guts (the market stall holder) stormed off, loudly complaining that she wasn't going to hang around all day like an idiot (again, a charm school reject)!

I think what impressed me most about the region was the sheer number of beautiful castles, many of which our guide pointed out to us as we passed, but which only represent a very, very small number, of course, given that there are apparently 45,000 castles in France!

Below are google images of just a few of the castles that she pointed out to us (I obviously couldn't get any half-way decent photos from our bus):

Beynac

Castelnaud

Belcastel (I beleive it's also a hotel)

Treignes (also a working farm)

Montfort

The next day we had to hit the road quite early to make our way home. After about two hours we have to stop due to regulations relating to how many hours the driver is allowed to work without a break, so we ended up in some dismal little town in a dismal little restaurant - which was a shame as everything had been so good up to that point. And remember I mentioned I had sat and had a drink with Philippe in Rocamadour and he was saying that if I joined the Club's committee he would be willing to stay on as he felt that all it needed were a few new faces. I'd chatted to him a bit at the distillerie and he was telling me that he was divorced with three adult children, none of whom lived locally. Well in order to get up to the restaurant we had to walk uphill but nothing particularly strenuous compared to some of the walking this group does. But Philippe didn't feel well, and then he felt really unwell, and then he collapsed and an ambulance was called while the restaurant owner did cardiac massage on him after he stopped breathing, He managed to resuscitate him and hang on until the emergency crew got there (they took about 10 minutes). Oddly enough I think what shocked me the most was when they cut his clothes off him. I don't know why that would shock me - maybe because it suddenly became more real when they were hooking him up to the machines, but it was a chilling half hour altogether. They took him off to the nearest hospital and our group leader was trying to figure out how we could contact his family and make logistical arrangements when about 30 minutes later we got word that he had died - of cardiac arrest! Talk about a shock as other than having had cancer some years ago, they weren't aware that he had had other health issues! He was only 62 and while I can't pretend he was a friend, I was still very upset seeing him go so suddenly! The funeral was on Monday and well attended as I guess he was pretty popular. RIP Philippe!

And the next, next day!

This was the day I had been most looking forward to as we were to visit Rocamadour. I'd seen photos of it and was hoping it was as lovely as it looked - and indeed it was. It is a famous medieval site where people did (and still do) undertake pilgrimages to the Black Virgin, the protector of mariners! We parked at the top of the site and then caught an elevator which was carved out of the cliff down to the first level, although had I realized what an easy walk down it actually was I would have preferred to walk. Either way, this was where the main square was leading to seven churches and the 250 carved steps where some pilgrims climb up the steps on their knees to atone for their sins and ask for forgiveness. It's a bit like pilgrims at the tomb of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal but this is up concrete steps! In fact we did see one youngish woman doing just this and she seemed to be in an awful lot of pain! I guess when you're not of that faith you probably don't understand it (I certainly don't) but all respect to her!

Pilgrims at the tomb of
Our Lady of Fatima - a google image

The whole site was
built into the rock!

This is where we saw the
young woman climbing the
steps on her knees!

Cleaning work being
carried out!

The chapel of the Black Virgin was very small but the church adjoining it was much bigger and absolutely stunning. While I'm not a church-goer, I love to visit churches and this one was just amazing!

The Virgin used to be naked but
they added a red cape sometime later!

Our guide told us there were 250 steps to the "town" so we could either take the next elevator down or walk. This time I decided to walk - and it was just fine!

Before lunch we had about an hour to wander round and I bumped into Philippe so we went and had a drink together. He was telling me pretty much the same stories about the old fogies' committee as the others but said that if they could get rid of the current president he would consider staying on. After that it was off to a very good lunch and then on to visit the 14th century (and still functioning) flour mill of Cougnaguet. While the workings of the mill were pretty interesting, quite honestly I felt our group was too big for the visit and since the lady giving the tour was really tiny, anyone standing at the back (i.e. me) didn't really get to see or hear much, so I would honestly rate this place as the least-interesting place on our trip. Still, you can't have everything in life can you!

Rocamadour - picture taken from
our travel guide (since I don't have
a drone and I can't fly)!

Google picture of the ancient mill!

After that it was back to our hotel for dinner and a game of lotto! I remember thinking "oh gowd I could do without this", but in the end it was quite fun - a bit like bingo but not 100% the same. The hotel owner (who could sell sand to Saudi but was great fun with it) had 29 items picked out from their home-produced goods and we worked our way through our "bingo tickets" until all 29 items were gone so that left just one person with nothing - and guess who that was! Me!!! I mean, how can you come last out of 30 people? But not to worry, he had an extra prize and I came away with a nice bottle of local wine (for being a good loser?), so I'm not complaining!

In other news, earlier this week I attended my first meeting of the Old Fogies Club committee members, where it looks like I'm going to become the new Treasurer after the AGM in November - along with the new President and Secretary. When I asked how many members there were she told me 185!!!! What on earth have I left myself in for???

And finally, in an effort to keep moving forward with decluttering I packed up my kiddies' playpen (barely used) and will be giving it to Jen on Wednesday to see if she can sell it at the upcoming yard sale type sale of children's goods in their town (she's welcome to keep the money). So then I decided I was going to get rid of the old stereo set that my ex had installed in the small bedroom which serves as the computer room (it's so old it still takes cassette tapes). Well I managed to lug both the speakers downstairs but when I went to unplug the main component I first had to figure out which of the many plugs belonged to it at the back of my computer desk. Eventually I found it, gave it a good tug to be sure I'd got the right one, and when I realized the plug was too big to pass behind the computer desk I decided to just cut it off with scissors - except I'd somehow managed to get the wrong cable and cut through a still plugged in electrical cable. The spark was interesting, to say the least, but fortunately I wasn't hurt, even if my hair is a bit curlier now. Not my finest moment though!

Going further back in time!

When I was chatting to a couple of the ladies on our trip we were talking about how the cost of groceries has shot up over the past year or so when one of the ladies said she always buys her fruit and veg from "Marcel" at the La Roche market. I rarely went to this market because it clashed with my pilates class, but since I haven't re-enrolled this year I went down there today, immediately found a parking space (I should remember to play the lottery) and sussed out where "Marcel's" stall was. His name wasn't Marcel, in fact I think he was North Africa judging by his accent, but she was right about his prices. My goodness his stuff was really cheap by local standards. I got three cantalope melons for €3 and he was offering all the other plastic bowls for €3 apiece, or €10 for five bowls!!! I realized I didn't want five bowls of fruit and veg but bought eight nectarines, six lemons, four oranges, three melons, two cucumbers and five huge tomatoes, all for €9!! That's a real deal, I can tell you. Of course I don't need all that but since that was the way he was selling it I'll give some to Jen next time I see her. There was also another man selling stuff from his garden so I think I'll make it a habit to go to the market when I can rather than shop at my usual store!

Anyway, since I want to get this written up before I forget everything, I'm back in the Périgord for another couple of outings, but this time going further back in time. Our first visit was to the Grotte de Lascaux, which is a treasure trove of prehistoric artwork. The grotto was discovered in 1940 by four young boys out walking their dog. All of a sudden the dog gave a yelp and they found he had fallen down a hole which eventually led them into a huge cavern. Apparently they swore to keep it a secret but about three days later the whole village knew about it and the Grotte de Lascaux found its way onto the map! Originally it was opened up to the public (you were even allowed to smoke in there - which seems incredible nowadays), but after 15 years they found the site had been so degraded that they decided to close it back up in 1963 in order to preserve a site which, they believe, is 21,000 years old - so we ended up visiting what is a replica of about 80% of the grotto. The paintings depict a nomadic people who seemingly followed herds of reindeer for the most part, much as many indigenous peoples in harsher tundra-like locations still do to this day. Apparently they burned animal fat (tallow?) for light and worked out a sophisticated system to get up to the roofs of the grotto to draw their art. Since we weren't allowed to take pictures even inside the replica grotto, I had to use google pictures for this post!

Surprisingly (to me at least) these people didn't actually live in caves because (a) very little light, (b) their fires would smoke them out and (c) who would want to wake up a hibernating bear or tiger! No, they actually made their homes in holes underneath overhanging cliff ledges which were known as cro, and discovered on land owned by magnon, hence Europeans (apparently - I didn't know this) referred to prehistoric man as cro magnon! So that's another piece of probably useless information I can file away for next time we play Trivial Pursuit!

After lunch we headed back out to the Gouffre de Proumeyssac which is a 42m high cavern filled with stalactites and stalagmites and absolutely stunning. Again we weren't allowed to take pictures but the light show was so impressive that even google pictures don't do it justice. Known as the Cristal Cathedral, locals heard many legends of the ghost of the gouffre, but it wasn't until 1907 that the entire cavern was "discovered" and explored!

Gouffre de Proumeyssac!

You could either walk down into the "cathedral" or take a kind of cable car but I think we got the better view by walking and taking our time down there!

When we got back to our hotel we found another group of visitors all dressed up in 1920s fashions, so one of our ladies went over to ask them what it was all about and they told her that at least once a year they visit a tourist attraction in France and dress up accordingly - with this year's attraction being Josephine Baker's castle! How cool is that!

This isn't them - they were older like us - but
this gives you an idea of what they looked like!
I think there's a name for these kinds of groups
but I can't remember what they called themselves!

While we were having a drink before dinner a couple of our group decided to go off "mushroom hunting". The hotel owner said he always found loads of mushrooms (cepes) which they used at the hotel but if he told them where to look he'd have to kill them afterwards!!! They found just one mushroom but a couple of days later they saw the owner coming out of the woods with two baskets full!

And finally, a belated happy birthday to Anne in Alabam! I missed it on FB the other day but I hope you had a lovely day and hubs spoilt you!

And the next day ....!

About 10 days ago I received a letter from the old fogies club in St. Pierre (I really should use its proper name I suppose - it's called Carpe Diem, but old fogies club seems to just trip off the tongue more easily) announcing that the entire committee would be standing down in November and they were looking, in particular, for a new president, secretary and treasurer. Well I thought about it for a few minutes and decided against it, but on the bus heading out to the Périgord I asked Marie-Jo (also on the committee) if they had had any volunteers and she said not - and this is where I should probably ask people to fill my mouth with quick-setting cement next time I open it because I vaguely floated the idea of offering to fill in as treasurer! I knew I didn't want president, potentially wouldn't mind secretary, but figured treasurer would probably suit me better. Well her eyes lit up and before I knew it she'd called Christine (the secretary) over and was telling her that maybe I would be joining the committee!!! Why oh why do I do it!

It turns out the reason they all want out is because the current president - who is in her 80s - is becoming somewhat "over zealous" and seems to think that she gets to decide everything, as opposed to putting things to a vote! So then I got talking to Christine at dinner and she was regaling me with stories about "the one" (you know, I say there's always "the one" when I go on my trips) and I was starting to question my sanity. She did mention that if I joined the committee she might be willing to stay on as secretary, so that would just leave the president to be replaced along with the wider group of committee members! I was quite shocked when she said there were about 160 members (!!!) and quite a lot of money in the bank account, so it would be a shame if it all fell apart because people couldn't see eye to eye!

There were two Portuguese brothers on this trip, although having been in France over 50 years, you wouldn't know it from their accents. They both seemed pretty nice with José being married to Christine and the other living with "the one". After a few days I saw what they meant because she was forever taking digs at him with there being something wrong with everything he said (makes you wonder why some people stay together doesn't it). As a "for instance" when we were leaving a restaurant one day I turned round and told her to watch out for the dog poop on the pavement and she barked at me that she was not blind, thank you very much, and could see it perfectly well (I wish she'd slipped in it to be honest)! Then there was "the market lady" who used to sell clothes on her market stall and was such a rude, aggressive woman I wonder if she ever got any customers! As an example of people's feelings for her, at one point she asked "if this place was free" at the dinner table and was told words to the effect that they would rather not have it occupied by her - so she ended up sitting at our table! Apart from these two women though, pretty much everyone was really nice. There was 85 year old Carmen from Barcelona, Collette from Laos, Roger with the bald head and booming voice and 82 year old Christiane who looks about 70 and routinely hikes up the mountains at the back of my house (and who made me feel totally inadequate)!

Anyway, after giving you a flavour of the group, it was on to day two and our next outings. The first was to a local distillerie where they would pretty much distill anything into liqueurs or eau de vie with no part of the fruit going to waste. I bought a bottle of mirabelle plum liqueur and a walnut eau de vie - nice, but not something you'd want to be chugging down too often!

After lunch we set off for the Bastide de Domme, one of many fortresses in such a heavily contested region. You see when Henry Plantagenet (Henry II of England) married Eléanor of Aquitaine (France) in 1152 this region fell into the hands of the English. Local noblemen fairly routinely switched sides though, and since many of the local militia were only paid when they were actually fighting there followed the 100 year war (more than 100 years actually) between England and France (and so ends the history lesson for today)! It was a pretty little town (fort?) though and well worth the visit!

A google picture of the Bastide
de Domme

I would give my eye teeth to
own this book shop!

On the way back to our hotel the owner/guide pointed out a field of small trees and told us that they used to have a handyman who worked for them for many years. When he retired he planted "truffle oaks" (that's my translation of the French for oak trees which encourage the growth of truffles) in that field but since it usually takes about 10 years for truffles to start growing, the poor man got to enjoy them for just three months before he subsequently died!

On the property there was the daftest, sweetest dog who would roam around carrying a ball looking for anyone to throw it for him. He had all the markings of a border collie but was way bigger than any border collie I've ever seen - but man was he sweet and just wanted to play! I suppose when you have all those grounds to roam around with your ball and a never-ending supply of willing visitors to throw it for you, life can't get much better than that!

In the evening the owner gave us a lesson on how to cook foie gras! Now I know it's long been held as cruel to force feed geese and ducks to produce the foie gras, which I suppose it is, but our guide was explaining to us that they are only force fed twice a day for about two weeks and are otherwise free to roam. Compare that to battery hens and I suppose she has a point. Anyway, our foie gras was indeed cooked to perfection, but to be honest, I'm still not keen on it. I don't much like the texture so I doubt I'll be partaking again any time soon!

And finally, my neighbour's moving truck came today and loaded up most (but not all) of what was left in the house. She has worked so incredibly hard these past couple of months to get rid of so much stuff and I think even she was shocked that some stuff had to be left behind. I'm guessing her kids will take what's left to their homes and ferry it over to her as and when they can. She asked me if I'll come and visit (as she was feeling a bit wobbly) and I told her of course I will once she gets herself settled! That being said, seeing what she has just gone through makes me more determined to get rid of as much stuff as possible (something I'm struggling with at the moment) because I never want to have to go through a big move ever again!

Home again!

I got home late Sunday night and am still trying to corral my thoughts so I can make them coherent in a few blog posts. Most importantly, I absolutely loved my trip to the Périgord, but more on that in a bit!

On a very sad note, remember I wrote about the local lady who went missing in early June - Lucienne - well they found her body last week on the forestry road between St. Pierre and St. Laurent wrapped up in a plastic bag! What the hell! My first thought was that she had been found by hunters now that hunting season has started but in fact the police had their eye on a young man who eventually confessed to killing her and told them where to find her body. He was doing work at her home as she was having it adapted to accommodate her disabled brother so I'm guessing he was always going to be a prime suspect. Without knowing the full story it sounds like she caught him stealing, he must have panicked - and that's where everything went sour. He's a 24 year old man from St. Laurent and while I understand panicking, and putting aside that he took the life of a good woman, what in the hell can justify (in his mind) destroying his own life and surely ruining that of his family!!! While I'm glad her children will now be able to give her a decent burial I'm so sad for them that they lost their mother in such a dreadful way!

I finished listening to Entitled and in many ways it just seems to be a listing of how people were finding ways to "donate" money to Prince Andrew who, it would appear, has always been an obnoxious w@nker. What is it with these people always having their snouts in the trough - isn't the trough big enough for them all to get their fill??? At the moment I'm listening to Frank McCourt reading his book Angela's Ashes and absolutely loving it, hearing him telling stories about his poverty-stricken childhood, but with his lilting Irish accent. I can highly recommend it!

Anyway, back to the Périgord! Well apparently there are four Périgords - the black, white, green and reddish-purple, the simple explanation being it refers to the different colours that predominate in those areas. We were in the black Périgord which, apparently, is the area where the most interesting historic attractions are and most of the over 1,000 castles!!! Can you believe that, over 1,000 castles???

The Périgord!

Our accommodation was ok but my studio could have done with a little TLC. That being said, my bed was clean and the shower was hot and since we were out every day it didn't really matter in the end. Our first outing was to the Cabanes du Breuil where the young owner showed us round the different "buildings" all made using the dry stone wall method. The land had apparently been given to his grandmother on her wedding and she and her husband wanted to retain the buildings as intact as possible to preserve them. These cabanes were sometimes used for storage and even lived in by itinerant farm workers, but one of their biggest successes had to have been as a backdrop for (I think) 17 films!

It was too cold to swim unfortunately!

The grandparents stayed true to
their desire to maintain the
authenticity of the cabanes!

The grandparents in later years!

Geese everywhere!

Les cabanes du Breuil!

After that it was back to our hotel/residence for lunch (the food was sublime, but more on that later) and then off to the Château des Milandes which was owned by American vaudeville star Josephine Baker! I get kinda fed up listening to audios or guides on these trips so I wandered off on my own, but I really want to learn more about Josephine as she seems to have been a very impressive woman indeed. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri and married at age 13! I don't know how she ended up in France but I see that there is an autobiography on Audible so I'll be listening to that after I've finished the McCourt book. She had, I believe, 12 children (10 of whom were adopted), had worked in the civil rights movement and was a very risquée star in France, earning what I would guess would have been considerable sums of money. Unfortunately she never kept her eye on her finances, repeatedly double paying bills from unscrupulous traders without checking and eventually was forced out of her castle by her unsustainable debt. As I say, she seems to have been a fascinating woman, so I'll hopefully talk more about her once I've listened to her autobiography. Until then, enjoy Josephine's castle!

Josephine Baker, 1906 - 1975

The Château des Milandes!

A falconry display in the castle
grounds!