http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , France , Midi-Pyrénées en-us Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:18:15 +0000 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:18:15 +0000 I've threatened it before but this time it's true. I've got fond of this TravelBlog site but it no longer really reflects what I do.... journeys all the way to the veg. patch or Lavelanet market don't really count as Travel with a big T I don't think. So I've started a blog in Wordpress called Life in Laroque. Try www.margaret21.wordpress.com if you'd like to have a look. It would be good http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/Ariege/blog-456360.html The day is starting out with a thick fog which is probably made worse by the large lake below where our cabin is located.And there is absolutely no wind to blow the fog away so we will hope that once we get on the road and away from the water the fog may lift.The road away from Larche wanders through a mix of empty farmland and forest for a good distance until we crossed over the top of A20 which http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/blog-454674.html Day 55 151109Images that won't be forgottenThat words construed in stories could not depictThat mould ones core into shapes unseenRaising a glass over conversations of the universeSmoke rising towards the night skyThis was no sad dayThis was a respectful goodbyeAn end that buried souls would envyWhere the patter of feet was always unseenThe land welcomes this strangerA deservedly slow http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/blog-454381.html Day 47 71109Wednesday this week was my day off and as Vivian Caroline's helpx was leaving in two days it was decided that we would both go to Biarritz. After a 6.30 get up and 40minutes at the bus stop we somehow managed to miss the bus I prefer think that it didn't turn up...however I'm kind of glad we didPlan B...road trip We were kindly granted use of the car for the day and so we set http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/blog-452959.html Les Bordes October 30th 2009When I first arrived I woke to the soft sounds of the curlews chattering in the trees opposite. The next sounds are the voices of our near neighbours. Madame has stentorian tones that echo around the neighbourhood. She waters her pot plants at midnight and cossets two large caged birds that hold great fascination for the many local cats who admire them with longi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/Ariege/blog-449450.html We recently visited Sarlat which at only 2.5 hours drive from Toulouse and discovered a typical regional French medieval village. Sarlat has one of the most beautiful open air markets of France and is reknown for this. Hard to choose amongst all the types of fresh sausages from duck meat sausage to porc sausage with truffle or from porc sausage with roquefort to porc sausage with wild mushr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/Toulouse/blog-448370.html Over the course of just 4 days our glorious Indian Summer has been replaced by the onset of winter. The afternoon temperature in our courtyard has dropped by an astonishing 30 degrees Celsius. Last weekrsquos strappy tops and shorts have been banished in favour of fleeces trousers and especially socks. The haricot beans peppers and tomatoes of late summer are losing place on the market sta http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/Ariege/blog-445460.html Les Bordes 11 September 2009In the land of Bardot Deneuve and Tatou and indeed the delicious Madame Sarkozy it comes as quite a relief to find that here in the countryside the women are not perfect examples of French chic in fact quite the contrary. Our neighbours are friendly offering lsquobonjoursrsquo and lsquobonsoirsrsquo in passing but we have yet to engage in conversation http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/Ariege/blog-444000.html Our original intention was to have a very short driving day to Pamplona stopping at a couple of Rioja towns in the process. But after a chance remark about Lourdes we looked and saw that we could detour through France see Lourdes and proceed through the Pyrenees seeing Andorra on the way we realized it was unlikely that we would get another chance to visit that country. It meant visiting Pa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/Lourdes/blog-443345.html Yesterday the Inspecteur de lrsquoAcadmie based at Foix agreed to meet a delegation from Laroque today. Francis one of the two councillors whorsquos been most involved 2 parent reps the dynamic Fatima and Fabinne and finally the Mayor were the ones to go.Could the school have an extra teacher not to disrupt the class formations again but to offer supplementary teaching and what ab http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/Foix/blog-443059.html hellip..otherwise known as BagnresdeLuchon Harrogatersquos twin town. We went there this weekend for a change of air to see Big Mountain scenery and to make an escape into Spain for hooch for Christmas cooking.Itrsquos a fair twinning. Both towns match each other in living up to the clich plenty of genteel elderly ladies in straitened or not so straitened circumstances. Both towns http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/Bagn-res-de-Luchon/blog-440839.html We went to see our friends the donkeys today to collect some of their wellrotted manure. But it's hard to concentrate in the job in hand when........ http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/Ariege/blog-439436.html For those who dont know Lourdes is a popular pilgrimage place for Catholics from all around the world. In 1858 an apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared to a 14 year old girl in this small town.I had a great day not really relaxing because I still did a lot of walking but it was wonderful to have a day to slow down a bit to pray go to mass etc. There is one main church but it also has ano http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/Lourdes/blog-437692.html Yesterday we started our journey to the start of the Camino. After some trouble with the Paris Metro apparently 2 day passes are for 2 calendar days not 48 hours as one would expect we ran to the Montparnasse train station where we had 20 minutes to find our train. We asked a shop keeper where to go and he told us to run up 2 levels of stairs there we found a screen showing our train number a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/blog-437666.html The Cathars are were a Christian sect flourishing particularly from the 11th 13th centuries particularly in this part of the world. They were dualistic believing there was a God of Good and a God of Evil and they lived simply abjuring the temporal power that was such a feature of the Catholic church of the time. The Catholics hated this heretical sect and called for a crusade against http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/Ariege/blog-436543.html The picturesque town of Albi boasts many attractions spectacular scenery a warm convivial and relaxed atmosphere friendly people and the Musee de Henri Toulouse Lautrec. Importantly there is fine food and good coffee. Last nightrsquos offerings included an entre of goatrsquos cheese baked in an envelope of filo pastry and served with salad greens and tomato wedges dressed in balsamic vin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/blog-435873.html Thursday and we are a week away from Australie children school lunches CPD Milward et al ... and it sure seems it ... it so warm ... in a lovely comfortable gentle way. There is absolutely no need for cardigans and jackets at this stage of the journey ... and sitting in cafes having a beer or a mineral water guess who that is at day's end has become very attractive ... Toulouse on this day http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/Toulouse/blog-435622.html Laroque and its Primary School Elise Maury have hit the headlines. And not just here. Just look at todayrsquos Guardian. Not a week into the new term and a newly appointed teacher has been ordered to quit her post here. Not sacked but transferred to a school nearly 2 hours drive away. Why 50 children were expected to return to school at the beginning of term. In the event 47 turned up http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/Ariege/blog-435512.html Being in Toulouse is not to lose but to win by a LotA picture paints 1000 words and we have many of this terracotta city. Byzantine ceilings French painters and streetscapes galore ... blended with warm days and nights ... lends itself to cafe sitting and postcard writing or people gazing ... Toulouse is an architectural feast with lots of narrow streets and loads of character at every turn. W http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/Toulouse/blog-435271.html Blackberrying. One of my favourite late summer activities in England. I relish the cut and thrust of getting to those favourite spots before all the other old biddies young biddies donrsquot do it apparently the smell of damp earth and decaying vegetation and the gently warming heat that always seems to greet the start of the Autumn term.Up until now I havenrsquot done it in France in http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/Ariege/blog-434672.html