the weary travelers make it to La Acien Presbeterie, Samran

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This day has not started out well. First, we had to get up at 4:15 that was only 4 hours after we went to sleep. Second, we were flying easyJet ; it’s cheap, but definitely not easy. I tried to pay for our bags online but couldn’t get it to work. I asked Josh to call since their local phone is French. He looked online and assured me that it wouldn’t cost any more if we waited and paid for them at the airport. As I thought we ended up paying an extra $45 for our baggage. Third, when we arrived in Toulouse, with a pre-paid auto reservation for a car we were supposed to pick up at Avis, the Avis desk was closed. When we went to Information to ask if there was another Avis desk, the man behind the counter, haughtily told us that he couldn’t help because he didn’t work for Avis. Even after we assured him that we know he didn’t work for Avis, but hope he might be able to help, no such luck. Jack made several phone calls and unfortunately found out that since he had neglected to say we wanted to pick the car up at 9 AM, it was scheduled for a noon pickup. Cancelling the reservation and booking locally would be near $600, so we are hanging out waiting for Avis. Once Jack accepted the fact that we had an hour and a half to kill and calmed down we were OK. The drive was long and I got thirstier and hungrier as the trip went on and there were no signs of any commercial activity to be seen. We finally got close enough that we saw signs for the local (perhaps regional) supermarket Naturally it was closed. We did pass a hotel / restaurant (the only one we’d seen since leaving Toulouse) and stopped. I got in first and the woman running the restaurant informed me she was full. My heart sank. I saw one unoccupied table (it was a small place with 12 or fewer tables) and pleaded with her to let us stay for lunch. She acquiesced after I assured her that the small table was OK since I’m small and my husband’s small. After my sincere thanks, she warmed up to us and was very friendly. I think she found us amusing. Lunch was one of the simpler and most enjoyable meals we’ve had – salad with local lettuce, confit with a side of diced onion and carrot cooked in duck fat, and new creamy potatoes with crème fraiche and chives. Good food when you are super hungry tastes even better.

When we got the house, we found the gate padlocked and neither of the keys worked. Jack called Steve and he told us where to find the hide-a-key under a shard of broken pottery and equally importantly how to turn on the heat. It’s in the low 50’s and raining here so the house felt cold, damp and desperately in need of heat. Jan’s sister who lives 15 minutes away had stocked our refrigerator and left us materials identifying all the local markets, sites and restaurants. Once the house started to warm up a bit, we crawled into bed for a nap.

The house is hundreds years old. It was where the clergy for the adjacent church lived. The bathrooms and kitchen have been completely renovated while the rest of the house has simple furnishings. The floors are all broad wood planks with the exception of the kitchen, the beams are exposed, the stairs go up and down in unpredictable patterns and you feel like you are in a building that is really old. We’ll have to check the church to see if there’s a date on it since this building was probably built at the same time.

At the moment I’m curled up on the coach drinking wine and eating cheese and completely committed to a few days of relaxation. Catching up on my blog, finishing the cap I’m making for Jess’s friend who is undergoing chemo, reading and visiting local markets. I’m hoping to postpone our walking tour in Toulouse to Tuesday or Wednesday so we don’t have to spend another afternoon walking around in the rain and can stay put tomorrow.

We had a nice chat with Jan’s sister. She came here 10 years ago and with her husband purchased a home they have turned into a 5-star rental property for families with kids. They do everything from hiring the chef to making sure the house is well stocked with “nappies”. I see nappies in my not too distant future. Madeline left Paris looking more pregnant than she arrived.

Time for pesto ravioli and bed.

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