Lord and Lady of the Manor

Dear Friends and Family, The days have somehow gotten away from me. Believe me, that can happen. There are days when I can’t seem to remember which day of week it is. Fortunately a kind of paranoia sets in and I reset the calendar of my mind. On Friday afternoon, our hostess, Ann, took off to England for friends’ 40th wedding anniversary. It sounded very swanky with dinners, and concerts, etc. She does not return until Tuesday, September 25th. So, for 4 days, Polley and I got to pretend that we were the owners of our very own French farm. It was all ours, at least until Tueday. Having said that for a brief period of time we were the lord and lady of the manor, I thought it might be nice to revisit the various buildings of the place. We have had two sets of friends, Jeff Gauthier and Noelle Guest and Herman and Susan Asarnow (Baillet) stay here. But there are, no doubt, others of you out there who would love a week or two in this idyllic setting. Ann and her husband, Malcolm, bought the crumbling 12-acre farm about 1992. They completely redid it. Unfortunately Malcolm passed away in about 2003 and Ann has stayed on. Their daughter, who is married to a French man, lives a short distance away. However, one of the great joys, when you stay here, is going through the very detailed photo scrapbooks of the complete process of resurrecting it. Fascinating! First, you see the complete farm (minus some of the fields not pictured) from the long drive as you come off the main road

The gravel drive leads you up to a place to park the car, nearly hidden between the barn and bakery. Ann likes having the cars stashed away, so as to not tarnish the look of the place. And who could blame her. Ann lives in the main house

It has a small kitchen, a dining room and a lovely, warm living room. Up stairs is an office and bedroom that has the feeling of a sort of loft. One of the best features is at the far left end of the house. There is an old sort of wagon or coach barn. Ann has made that into an outdoor living/dining room and for a good part of the year, she takes all her meals in this covered, yet airy addition. Across the way is the old barn. It is now considered a place for family and friends.

As you might expect, it is huge and has at the far right end a complete apartment with bed, kitchen, dining table, siting area and bathroom. One the left end is a whole sort of family room. It is a spacious area that could be used for another family to sleep in or for children to have a separate area. It is also a great place to sit and watch movies on the DVD player in the evening. In Ann’s opinion, we must have moved up in the world as we now stay, when available, in the barn. Just outside the barn is the swimming pool area

It can get very warm in summer here and the pool is an ideal gathering spot and sits just outside our door. The third building is the bakery.

This was, in fact, the old bakery for the group of farms in this area dubbed “Poujoulou.” It was a sort of communal oven for the daily baking of bread. It is now a delightful apartment just perfect for two people or a couple and a child.

Ann has decorated it in absolutely charming fashion, as she has all the accommodations. When you arrive you can always expect lovely Fren-milled soap, a stocked refrigerator and a good bottle of Cahors wine waiting for you. So, that’s it! Oh, I did leave out the cats that come with the place: Pepper and Pumpkin. Pepper is a bit shy and certainly does not like to be in a room that her brother, Pumpkin, is already occupying. Pumpkin, on the other hand, loves to just move on it

Polley obviously has a god friend in Pumpkin

Hopefully, you get some sense of why we come back here again and again. It is a great place and Ann is the perfect host. She knows every restaurant, every market, every site. A perfect delight. You should try it sometime.

Days Drifting By

Dear Friends and Family, I have sort of gotten out of the regular blog routine. I am not sure when I last wrote, but I have a feeling that a day got away from me. Sorry! It certainly has not been that we have been very busy. We have enjoyed the still mainly sunny weather except for that one day of rain. Wednesday night we went down to the winebar: Astrolabe

We had been once before and had a nice conversation with the young couple who recently purchased the place. We had promised to return for a meal and thus we did. We had also, in the meantime, learned that the woman (young, rather “punkish” young woman), Charlotte, had worked at our favorite restaurant in the area, “La Recreation,” where Ann’s daughter, Jane, is currently working as the entrée chef. Charlotte had worked there as the pastry chef. Astrolabe was their new venture and from the looks of the cliental, it should be a success. As I may have mentioned before, it is a lovely setting, right on the river at the foot of the village. It may be the best location in the town.

It sits slightly above and gives you a great view of the river and is a great place to be for sunset

We looked the menu over. They have a fascinating way of displaying it, as they have cut grooves into a stool and then suspend the day’s offerings.

We ordered a half litre of wine and just relaxed and watched the river float by.

We then ordered their Mediterranean Salad. They display It looked to be amazing. It had greens, tomato, cucumber, chorizo, tuna, corn, rice and anchovies. It was huge, though Charlotte was convinced that it would not be enough for two. It was more than enough. However, it was one of those salads that sounds better than it is. It just didn’t seem to harmonize. It was a though there were all these interesting ingredients, but nothing to bring them together. Polley was convinced that the problem was with the dressing. A dressing’s function, my wife tells me, is to harmonize the ingredients. This one did not fulfill its function! However, the problems with the salad could not spoil a beautiful night. We did, in fact, enjoy the suset

And, as dusk turned to darkness, the lights along the river came on and as if on cue the a tiny silver slipper of a moon popped up

This is what traveling and vacation should be! Thursday morning I got up early for my walk. It was actually still dark when I set out. And when I say dark in this very rural setting, I mean dark! Like Crete, there are not lights where we are and the sky is amazing, perhaps even more intense than Crete where you did get a bit of village light. Here there is nothing! I got the early start because Ann was taking us with her to the marché (outdoor market) in the village of Libos. The thing I find fascinating is that despite the number of marches, each one is distinctive. Libos has quite an immigrant population, so there are booths of hardware, rolls of fabrics, industrial underwear. They even have live animals for breeding. There was this adorable little bunny

And some varieties of chickens that I have never seen

And, of course, there were endless food stands and places to buy clothes.

Polley, pictured here with Ann, is seen in her new sort of black knitted poncho

It was quite chilly Thursday morning, so when Polley bought the sweater, she just kept it on. She also got a kind of knitted dress as well and Ann found a great deal on a pair of jeans. We rounded it off with some coffee at a local café, before taking the long way back to Poujoulou, enjoying a variety of wonderful country homes, churches and monument. It was a most enjoyable morning.

A Morning Walk into Town

Dear Friends and Family, For us, it is late in the day. After an overcast Tuesday and the prediction of more rain today, it was a wonderful surprise to wake this morning to blue sky and wispy, sun-streaked skies. While it was cool, it was also invigorating. So as I left for my morning constitutional, I grabbed the camera to record the beginning of the day. Ann’s place, which is called Poujoulou is located about two and half miles from the village of Puy L’Eveque, a village that I find myself falling in love with more and more each day. As I headed off I took two looks back at Ann’s house (on the right), the barn (center), and what is called the “bakery,” as it was the place that the surrounding villager came each morning to use the community oven to bake their bread. This first shot is from the gravel driveway that leads to a small road

And the second farther out, on the small road that leads up to the main road into town.

At Ann’s suggestion, I took a different way into the village this morning, taking me off the road and onto dirt paths cut through the forest. As it was new to me, there was the occasional wrong turn or dead-end, but it was a glorious new journey. And the morning light and mist made for some spectacular moments along the way. Here I rounded a bend and came upon a field with a couple of horses quietly grazing

This is a path that has a number of wonderful houses on it. They are stone and many of them have large lawns leading up to the homes. This one I just caught as the sun was coming over the horizon

Another half mile down the path, I begin to see the tops of building in the town. As you make your way down, you see the steeple of the village church

And for a little while I was not quite sure where I was. However, as I came to the end of the path, a city street emerged and with a quick left hand turn, I was close to the church itself

Finally, I made my way down to the main road that leads to other villages east and west and, finally, to the town of Cahors, about 30 kilometers to the east. I walked along the main road, passed a number of business, boucheries, boulangeries, the pharmacie and a bank. In to town square, the sight of yesterday’s marché, I was able to look down over the village and the river.

Again, the light was amazing. Each day here is unique and there is a great deal to enjoy early in the morning. Of course, the one part of this wonderful downhill romp, is the uphill grind, It is a quite steep 2 ½ mile journey back up to Ann’s but you feel that you have accomplished something, so early in the day, and that what you have seen is yours, as nearly everyone else is just coming to consciousness. A great day in Puy L’Eveque.

Settling In ---- Again!

Dear Friends and Family, Settling in! How many times have you, poor readers, heard that phrase. Unfortunately, it is a part of every move. The same routine. Often, it seems, the same products are purchased as you occupy a place for a period of time: paper towels, mayonnaise, coffee, eggs, wine, a little local hard liquor, wine . . . Yesterday, after my first walk down to the village and, of course, then back up, Polley and I headed for the Carrefour Super Marché in Praysac. It is a very modern market with, as you might suspect, a wonderful selection of cheeses, pates and regional wines. Actually, I must admit that one of my favorite activities while traveling is to negotiate a foreign grocery store. I love trying to translate labels and to discover substitutes for ingredients that might not be exactly what you find at home. We picked up some delicious Forestiere paté, and even bought some foie gras de canard (duck paté) that was on a special. We then made our way to the Hotel La Truffiere. This is a little local hotel that we discovered two years ago because it was the only place with WiFi, and while Ann had WiFi, should couldn’t remember the password. So everyday, it was down to La Truffiere. They were great to us then (even giving Polley a Mother’s Day flower), and Madame remember us this time with a very jaunty “Ca va!” That is the informal “how goes it?” It is a very fun place because draws all the locals, from bankers to ditch diggers. Madame even remembered our order, which is probably not too surprising as we must have had a half litre of wine nearly everyday for a month! Then, it was home to enjoy the fruits of our shopping. A baguette, cheese, the paté and a bit of saucisson (homemade salami). What else might one need! It is truly a wonder that we ever go out. We got a bit of a nap in and then, with the sun shining and the temperature near 80, we enjoyed the pool, just lying about with our books, soaking up the sun, cooling in the pool and spoiling the two cats, Pepper and Pumpkin, who have been with Ann as long as we have been coming here. That evening it was down to the wine bar, which has recently changed hands and is now called Astrolabe, and is billed as a “Cambuse and Pub.” When I looked up “Cambuse,” I saw that it was a “dump” as in a poorly kept room in a house. In talking to the new proprietors, we learned that it was also the name for the dining area for the staff on a barge. The place has one of the best locations in Puy L’Eveque, sitting right on the river.

The young, married couple who purchased the place were delightful, especially the wife. Young, pretty, in a punkish, tattoish way, they have taken a real chance with the place, which has never really thrived. However, they are featuring an incredible list of beers and doing a select number of entrées and some amazing sounding salads. With our large lunch, we passed on dinner, but have made a reservation for Wednesday evening. More on that later. It was a quiet evening, mostly reading and some light dinner before turning in. My first walk, on a very steep, hilly terrain had done me in. This morning, unfortunately was, at least temporarily, the end of the nice weather. In fact, as I write this at about 6 pm our time (9 am for you on the West Coast), the rain is coming down. Fortunately, they really need it as the summer has been very hot, but very dry. This morning I did my second walk into the village. It is marché day, the day of the village outdoor market. I went as the advanced scout. I took the came along to give you some sense of the village. I walk about 2 miles before coming to the outskirts of Puy L’Eveque

Along the way you see some spectacular views of the valley and fields of grapes that make up the “Cahor” wines. It was misty and cloudy this morning so you are not seeing the valley at its best.

From the sign, it is about another half mile into town. As you pass the post office, you get a nice view of the church in the distance.

As I got to the main highway and the town square, the marché was just setting up.

I made a trip past the various stalls and then continued down the “Grande Rue,” the main street of the town heading down to the river, The Lot.

It is a quaint little village and, despite the economic situation, most of the shops are occupied. This morning I got to the river and was feeling quite spry so I crossed over the bridge which allows you to get a good view of the town itself

At that point, I had walked about 3 ¼ miles. It is only now that the real fun begins! Back up to Ann’s. I start by making my way up the Grande Rue

and then once more past the marché and back up the hill. While it is a pretty steep climb, it seems gradual enough that I don’t seem to feel too winded. It is, however, very different then the walks I have been making in Crete and the Peloponnese. After the shower and another coffee, Polley and I went down to the marché. Our eyes are always bigger than our stomachs, but we dove in anyway. We got some beautiful vegetables, a wide variety of olives, some crème fraiche and Roquefort cheese (a great combination with endive), some eggs and a portion of Paella that was cooking away on a big griddle. That will be dinner tonight. One funny incident, which is the kind of thing that leads to meeting people occurred at the vegetable stand. I was saying to Polley, “There don’t seem to be any onions.” A very cute little old English fellow standing next to me, pointed out a while basket of onions and we shared a laugh over my temporary blindness. Later, when we went over the have some wine with Madame at La Truffiere, the English fellow and his wife were there, drinking some beer. I passed him and referred to him as “Monsieur Oignon.” We had a laugh and struck up an extended conversation. They are from the north of England (Lancastershire), but own a home here. Delightful people and given the size of the town, I am sure we will see them again. Then it was home with our bounty and we were ready to commence to enjoy the fruits of our sojourn. More on that tomorrow.

A very Busy Journey

Dear Friends and Family, Relief! The extended driving is over for a while; we have arrived in the quaint village of Puy L’Eveque for a 3 week stay with our friend, Ann. It is almost like coming home. But first, the journey. On Friday, around noon, I picked up our cute little car,

From the train station: A little Fiat. We chose the train station because when we head to Paris, it will be by the TGV. I had, of course, walked the route from the train station to our apartment a couple of times making sure I knew the route exactly. All went smoothly and I even had a parking space (a rarity in any French city) in front of our apartment. We through in our bags and with one right turn, a trip across the river and a left turn, we were out of Lyon and on our way, headed for the town of Mende, about 225 kilometers away! Along the way, we stopped at one of the motorway rest areas, complete with gas station and restaurant. We thought we would share a little pitcher of wine, but when we tried to by it, we were informed that you could only have the wine with the purchase of a full meal. No sneaking wine into the car or drinking only. So, we debated and finally gave into a huge plate of mussels and French fries. They were actually quite good and were pleased that we had been forced to eat. We eventually arrived at the town of Mende and checked into the Deltour Inn hotel, a place I had booked on the internet a couple of days earlier. Once settled in the room, we wandered down town Mende and sat in front of the cathedral in a little square and had some wine. Mende seems to be divided into an old town and a new town. We were obviously in the old town, with a main thoroughfare

quaint little side streets

And some very dramatic architecture that has been nicely maintained

We had a nice dinner at the restaurant just across from the hotel and turned in early. As I have said before, driving in a foreign country is stressful and we were pretty wiped out. The next day we were on our way be about 10 am, heading to Le Grau de Roi, a beautiful little village on the water just south of Montpellier. It was about 200 kilometers away, so we had time to get off the beaten track. We did that for lunch. We saw a sign for Roquefort (yes, like the cheese!) and decided to investigate. It was about 20 kilometers out of the way, but well worth it. We had a delicious lunch at this little restaurant.

We had a salad named for the place and it was delicious, with greens, tomatoes, bacon, walnuts and, of course, mountains of Roquefort cheese. We added a half litre of Rosé and sat in the sunshine enjoying every bite. Before leaving, I did capture this photo of Polley (and my finger) against the dramatic backdrop.

Then it was on to our hotel which I had also reserved. To avoid the hassle of getting into Montpellier proper, I had booked a place just west of the city, in a place called St-Jean de Vendas. For more than 45 minutes we wandered around trying to find it. Time was wasting away as we were scheduled for dinner with Julie, her husband, Franke and their children, Julieann and Thomas. Julie is the sister of Natacha Price, our French friend in Portland who ran the Madrona Hill Bakery for a number of years. This was to be our second visit to Julie’s. As we wandered, panic began to ensue. Finally, I decided to give up on the hotel and head to Julie’s hoping to find something else along the way. Polley and I desperately wanted to change the clothes we had been in for two days. We got near to Julie’s place, a very popular weekend holiday destination and everything was completely full. It was not only Saturday, but it was one of the weekends of something called Bull Stock Days. It seems to be a kind of drunken Pamplona event with bulls released in the street and crazy car races with people holding onto the roofs of cars (I looked for Mitt Romney and his dog, but no luck!). Anyway the place was packed, so we quickly decided to retreat from the ocean and just by luck found a small hotel at a secondary airport in Montpieller. A quick change of clothes and we were headed back to Le Grau de le Roi. Julie and Frank are delightful people. Since we last visited them two years ago, Julie has had a little boy, Thomas. Both of the kids are wonderful

and Julieann is truly the drama queen. It was a great evening and Julie made a Moroccan dish to die for. Lots of wine, of course, and good conversation. That is something the French can do, seemingly forever, talk! We finally excused ourselves for we had a long drive the next day, nearly 250 miles to get to Ann’s in Puy L’Eveque. WE left about 9:30 on Sunday and by 4 pm, we were pulling up to Ann’s lovely farm. We felt truly home. She had us for dinner and we caught up on both our lives for the last two years, before falling flat, truly exhausted from another day’s driving. This morning, however, we realized why we had come as we awoke to a beautiful sunrise

and were ready to begin our 3 weeks in this picturesque petite ville.

On the Road Again - to Mende

Dear Friends and Family, It is moving day. Around noon we will hopefully manage the traffic and find our route out of Lyon, headed sort of southwest for the town of Mende, where we will spend the night, on our way to visit a friend in just outside of Montpellier on Saturday. Friday was a nice day. There was a bit of drizzle in the morning as I took a walk along the river. However, by 10 am it had brightened up considerably, so we headed off to another museum. This time we were going to the Muesés des Tissus et des Arts Décoratifs (The Museum of Fabrics and Decorative Arts). This obviously a venue for Polley, but went along with barely a wimper. I had been, of course, looking forward to the Museum of Rockets, Rifles and Grenade Launchers, but I acquiesced! A quick metro ride and a few minutes orienting ourselves when we come up out of the hole in the ground and we found the place. It was situated in a very attractive neighborhood with a lots of boutiques and bistros. A part of town we might look to stay in the next time we visit Lyon. The city has so much to offer, and we have barely scratched the surface. Upon entering the museum, we were told that the Decroative Arts museum closed between 12 and 1, while the Fabric Museum was open all day. So, we started in the decorative arts museum and it soon became clear why they closed for an hour: there were docents on every floor. In the fabric museum, everything was behind glass and you could explore unobserved. The decorative arts museum was interesting, although I must confess, that if have previously visited as many chateaux, and English country houses as we have over the years, you do feel a bit like you have seen it all. When you entered you were greeted by this wonderful French version of rick-shaw

I was also taken by this 17th/18th century sedan chair

I was also taken with this basic or fountain

In addition to furniture, there was a good deal of pottery, plates, and serving pieces. Also quite a collection of silver, including some very contemporary designs

It was, in fact, just after viewing this silver, that a docent informed me that there was no photography! So that sort of ended my sharing the tour with you. We did proceed on the Fabric Museum, but whether they allowed photography or no made little difference, as the lighting was so low, to protect the delicate fabrics, that it was out of the question. I am sorry that I am unable to share this museum with you. There was clothing, rugs, religious garments and other items made from material from all over the world. And the fact that some went back more than a 1000 years and were still with us was incredible. Well worth the trip. AS we came out of the museums, the sky had continued to brighten, so we stopped at one of the little bistros for a glass of wine. On our way home for lunch, we picked up one of the little Croque Monsieur sandwiches which I so love. We just micro-waved it and while not your typical Croque Monsieur (we had bought it from a kind of Middle Eastern bakery) as it was sweeter than what we have experienced previously. Still, we managed to choke it down! After a good nap (we have climbed many stairs in the last couple of day – including the ones in our fourth floor walk up: 76 to be exact), we read and then went to dinner at this little café about a block and a half away. We have gotten to be friendly Maria. Her French is very clear (which is funny, as she informed us last night that she is actually Italian and was born in Sicily) and she continues to help me with mine. We had a delicious dinner of chicken in a tarragon sauce with some of the most sinful noodles I have ever eaten. I have heard of butter noodles, but these were BUTTER noodles. Fantastique! We went the whole hog, with dessert as well. She offered us what was called “Assiette Gourmande.” It was three little disserts: a cup of a kind of butterscotch mousse, a berry and cream cup, and a piece of a dark chocolate and marshmellow cake. Maria gave us a little gift of lemoncello, and we finished off with coffee. As we left, she hugged us both, we exchanged e-mails as she is planning a trip to the West Coast of the US next year. She and her waiter, David, were delightful.

. Again, traveling is about the people and even in just four days, we were able to connect. That is what it is all about. Lastly, I have been promising you views of the “Mouse Hole.” 15 x 20: The bath

The bed

The kitchen

The Whole place

And Mr. Humpty

A giant bean bag chair in clown pants in a place this size! We did make it work. Hopefully more tomorrow from Mende.