Utterly exhausting, but what views. We're home now and it's 8.30 p.m. Can I go to bed now please?... read more

It was all so carefully planned. Malcolm’s birthday was going to begin with chocolatines fresh from the baker’s and coffee, followed by a healthy tramp across some Pyrenean foothill, working up an appetite for lunch at a restaurant of my choice. Erm…. I hadn’t got much further than that, but just as well really, because almost nothing went according to schedule. Apart from breakfast. The first disappointment was the weather. Soot-grey clouds sulked over Mont d’Olmes, limbering up for the rain that started gently enough by 11, but soon became torrential squalls lasting most of the rest of the day. DIY as usual, then. By quarter to 12, I was chivvying Malcolm into the car to take him to his unknown destination. He was intrigued. Would we stop at La Bastide de Bousignac to try the ... read more

Our nearest town, Lavelanet, is a big one for the area - 7000 + inhabitants. It’s fallen on hard times as the textile industry that kept it busy and prosperous is in ever more terminal decline. Shops have closed, hotels are boarded up. But the council works hard to keep things positive. There are festivals - the yearly Jazz’velanet which livens up November and various other points of the year, la Fête de la Noisette, Festiv’Art, Printemps des Poètes …… and events of all kinds every month. Cultural events are often centred on the municipality-run cinema, which doubles as a theatre and performance space of all kinds. That’s where we went yesterday, to see Andre Halimi’s ‘Lettres de Délation’. This tells the story, previously almost unknown to me, of those French who during the occupation in ... read more

This has been a funny week for us, perhaps especially me. I’ve been assaulted - hard - by an unfamiliar feeling: homesickness. Knowing that our house in England, with all its familiarity, is still there with its easy access to family and friends to be with and talk to is undoubtedly a big part of it. And although our French is good, sometimes very good, we can’t always just open our mouths and have our thoughts just tumble out, grammar and idiom perfect. It’s very frustrating, and often we find ourselves self-censoring by simply thinking ‘Is it worth the trouble?’ And that means of course that people aren’t getting to know who we really are - just those bits of ourselves we feel linguistically capable of sharing. Being in an alien culture isn’t, I think, such ... read more

Yesterday was our First Big Hike of the year with our walking group. Last week’s was cancelled because of the aftermath of the storms, but yesterday, good weather had been ordered. Driving through Tarascon & Vicdessos to Auxat, there were gullies of snow on the roadside - hardly anything really, so Malcolm and I at least were unprepared for what lay ahead. Our walk started with a stiff upward climb towards a village, Saleix, so pretty and manicured that it was obviously the choice of second homers. After that though, we climbed quickly, initially going through occasional, then constant patches of light snow. The weather was wonderful, brightly hot and clear, and yet clean cold air refreshed our faces. Then the snow got deeper. Inexperienced types like me struggled to emulate King Wenceslas’ pageboy, and follow ... read more

Just to prove that the Pyrenees doesn't have a monopoly on views, here are a few photos of our Christmas Day walk. The thought of spending the day, just the three of us, cooped up indoors with Festive TV and too much to eat simply wasn't appealing. A healthy climb up Simon's Seat was. The thing about walks like that is that they're justifiably popular, and most days, you can feel as crowded and hemmed in as if you'd blundered into the January sales. This is where a walk on Christmas day really scores. Hardly anybody else is out and about. The roads, empty of cars, resemble those we've become accustomed to in rural France, it's easy to park: and, well, yes, of course we met the occasional intrepid soul on the way up, but really, ... read more

Although we haven’t been having the most idyllic of times lately, what with waiting for plumbers and other workmen who fail to arrive, deliveries that aren’t on schedule, and weather that’s been, frankly, shocking for much of the time, there’s one thing that’s been a real pleasure. Here in Laroque, Christmas is only just beginning to make its presence felt. Over the last couple of days, shopkeepers have started to decorate their windows, and - great excitement - the Christmas lights were erected in the streets this afternoon. It’s been wonderful not to have Christmas imposed on us every time we go out shopping. Now that Christmas is only a couple of weeks away, we can enjoy getting ready to enjoy the day without feeling frazzled, fed up and a failure for not having already written-and-sent-the-cards-and-bought-and-wrapped-the-presents-and-ordered-the-turkey-and-dec ... read more