Pix from Mirepoix

Mirepoix is a charming town and the closest to where we are.  It has a grocery store, the Super U, and    Plenty of restaurants.  The pictures I have selected are one of the interesting architecture, a great old sign, a funny sign: Mall of Evil?, which is a dress shop, the carousel in the middle of the square, a French couple napping after lunch at one of the cafes, and a close up of a gargoyle on the cathedral.

Pix from Chateau de Lagarde

The ruins here were impressive, but it was neat to see the drawings of what the chateau looked like when it was in its prime.  There is also a view of the Pyrenees

from the chateau, llamas under the old moat bridge and a photo of Queen Laura and Princess Ella (Ella made the crown of flowers).

Pix from Camon

The pictures are of the church bell, an arrow slit in the wall, a narrow street, a close-up of a shutter latch, a blue door with roses and a view of the river in Camon.

Pix from La Prade

I am putting up some pix from the farmhouse where we are staying.  The house is quite large.  We are staying in the darker section off to the right (separate photo).  There is a double living room, kitchen, dining area, laundry/utility room and full bath downstairs.  There are four bedrooms upstairs with 3 full baths.  Ella shares with us.  The gardens, pool area and surrounds are lovely.  I took a photo of the huge lavender by the pool.  The rainbow effect is taken in a corn field across the road from the house.  They water constantly and the sun was catching it just right.

Monday 7/18/16

We went into Mirepoix this morning to visit the Market.  It was wonderful.  There were butchers, fish mongers, bakers, and lots of people selling fresh produce.  There also were the typical stalls of clothes, shoes, leather goods, etc.  The kids loved the people selling rabbits, chickens, ducks, etc., but their favorite was a tiny black baby pig, who was not for sale, but was being used as a promotion for the Animal Rescue League.  Ella loved him because he made little noises like a squeaky and he wagged his tail when you petted him.  If you bought a box of candy, the profits would go to rescue animals.  My favorite was the escargot seller.  He had two huge wok type pans of escargot and he advertised his wares with a couple of stuffed snails on the counter.  It was a colorful, busy and fun market.  We had breakfast at a cafe (The Mad Hatter) run by some Englishwomen and then spent some time just walking around and shopping for fresh food.  We came back to the house and have all been reading or working now that the Internet is up.  We will have lunch and then go to a nearby lake for a swim.

We did not go to the lake as we were still having spotty Internet service and Laura had a wee bit of work to do before a conference call with her boss and an interview with a prospective employee later this afternoon.  She finished that up when the wifi was up and we went into the pool.  It is a warm and windy day today.  There is very low humidity here.  We are washing clothes and hanging them on an outside line and they are dry in 10 minutes!  Nick bought something at the market today that he will grill for dinner.  Later on tonight, we will go for a walk and make a plan for tomorrow.  Last night on our walk, Dan and Ella tried to roll a hay roll in a field.  They didn't get too far, but had a great time trying.  The moon was almost full so I expect that it will be full tonight.  It stays light very late here - until about midnight and the sun is up around 4:30.  Quite nice now, but I wonder if it flip-flops in the winter?

Sunday 7/17/16

The Internet was down yesterday so will try to catch up on the posts today.  Will get pix on when I can.  The owners of the farmhouse (La Prade) were very nice.  Andrew works in the business district of London and Sally is a flight attendant for British Air, although she has a reduced schedule now - she works 6 days and then has 12 off.  She also only flies in Europe so she doesn't have any overnights.  They have two children, a boy, 16 and a girl, 15.  Their daughter was here with them as well as their dog Max who had an insatiable appetite for having you throw the ball and then running to fetch it and drop it at your feet.  He apparently can do this for hours.  The humans wear out well before he does.

Yesterday was another beautiful day.  We had breakfast and then drove a short distance to Camon, which is known as the most picturesque village in France.  It was quite lovely with a beautiful Abbey on the top of the hill (now an Inn and restaurant), narrow streets and great views of the surrounding countryside and the river.  The Abbey was built in the 10th century and supposedly started by Charlemagne.  Most of the town was built in the 12th through 14th centuries.   Camon is known as the city of a hundred roses and there are roses everywhere - in gardens, on trellises on the sides of the house - quite beautiful.  We had a nice time just walking around and poking into little alleyways.  We headed back and stopped at a ruin that we had seen from the road - Chateau de Lagarde.  This was started as one watchtower in the 12th century and grew into a major fortress by the 14th and 15th centuries.  In the late 16th century it was converted into a mansion and was inhabited by a series of dukes until the French Revolution.  The owners fled to Italy so the commune then deemed the castle a quarry and it was dismantled for its stone, ending in the ruinous state today.  If the owners had stayed, they would have been beheaded and the mansion saved.  Quite the choice!  We came back to La Prade and had lunch out by the pool.  Some of us chose to stay in and by the pool while others chose to nap.  We then went into Mirepoix for dinner at a restaurant on the square.  Nick and Dan are quite adventurous in sampling local fare so Dan had beef tongue and Nick had tripe.  After dinner we found an ice cream stand further along the square and those who wished had either a cone or a bowl.  I am not much of an ice cream eater, but Laura gave me a taste of her strawberry and it was like eating the fruit right out of the field - I may have to indulge next time.

7/16/16 Mirepoix, France

We have arrived safely, but the Internet is very slow so am not sure about putting pictures on.  I will try tomorrow.  We landed in Paris and had to run from terminal A to terminal F to get our next flight. With the help of a lovely airport worker who expedited our baggage handling, we made it to our gate just as they were boarding.  Our flight to Toulouse was only an hour long and we were met by Laura and family.  We had lunch in the beautiful square in Mirepoix and then drove to our wonderful secluded farmhouse.  Andrew and Sally, the owners, will leave for London (their home) tomorrow morning.  The house is lovely and we took advantage of the pool right away.  Lots more to say, but the keyboard just ran out of battery juice so I will continue tomorrow.