Blogs from Ariege, Midi-Pyrénées, France, Europe - page 3

The other night I went out for a shared meal. Our choir was celebrating a successful year and saying ‘Goodbye’ till September. And as usual on these occasions, every single person brought enough food to serve about a dozen people, so there was every incentive to be greedy. Apart from plates of cold meats and hams, roasted pepper salads and radishes from someone’s garden, I ate a wonderful tortilla, rich as fondant, full of the flavours of the tasty fats and herbs it had been cooked in. Our Spanish member contributed that. There was a pissaladière, a tarte à l’oignon, an almost spicy tomato and mustard tart, some fishy salads….and all kinds of things I was getting too full to sample. Of course at one point, the talk turned to cooking. C’est la France….. I suppose ... read more

We've been off-line for 7 long weeks, hence the long silence. You really don't want to know the long drawn out saga of bungling and non co-operation involving the three main players: France Telecom, NordNet and us. So I won't tell you. But for the last fortnight, we've enjoyed having visitors from England, and have had the greatest fun being tourists in our own adopted region. Here then, are a few picture postcards from the South of France... read more

We’re big fans of Pipototal. If they were alive today, so would those creators of entirely credible, yet utterly incredible machines and contraptions, W. Heath Robinson and Rowland Emett. We first came across them last July in Lavelanet the night the entire town turned itself over to festival and merry making because it was one of the towns chosen as a Tour de France departure point. That evening, as darkness descended, we followed an increasingly zany procession of fantastical vehicles, only very loosely based on planes, bicycles, limousines, bubble cars, driven by the acrobats, street artists and clowns of Pipototal. Well, their centre of gravity is l’Aiguillon, a village very near here, and on Saturday, they were celebrating their 20th birthday. So we had to join the party. The bad news was that the Saturday was ... read more

Well, we have had a stimulating day. This must be why we came to the south of France........ ... read more

Back in England at this time of year, it’s daffodil time. Maybe not in most people’s gardens yet, but certainly in every florist, supermarket and garden centre there’ll be boxes and boxes of bunches on sale. Classy offerings with leaves as well, or bargain basement 3-bunches-for- £1. From February to April, I make sure the house is rarely without a few jugs full of blooms in nearly every room in the house. I love them so much that I get quite upset when they first appear, because that means they’ll soon be over. How weird is that? And here? Well, people seem to like daffodils too. They’re poking through the soil in many gardens round and about, and there are wild ones too, in the woods. Buying them though, is a different matter. The best chance ... read more