On May the first, Labour Day, it’s tradition to give those you love a bunch of muguet (lily of the valley - tiny white flowers like snowdrops that smell beautiful) because they bring good fortune to the receiver. There are little bunches of white flowers everywhere. The berries are very pretty, but fatally poisonous. A paradox.
May 3
Today we went to the end of the Ustou Valley, 30 minutes from Seix, and walked up to the Cirque de Cagateille. A cirque is a big semicircular formation at the end of a valley that is invariably rather majestic. This one rose up to 2,500 m and had 10 or 12 waterfalls dropping from the snow-covered plateau on the top to the valley floor where we walked. We were honoured to have Mahalia with us. We don’t see much of her these days. She’s 14 now, so it’s to be expected, but we miss her! She’s so much an adult now, and bigger than me, which takes some getting used to.Agnes at the Cirque de Cagateille
After Emile’s recent barbering experience he went for remedial work at the hairdresser and now has short hair with spikes on top. It takes a lot of his time to keep his hair the way he wants it to be. He, too, is growing up and with that comes an increased consciousness of his appearance. He’s also acutely attuned to everyone’s moods, a measure of his natural sensitivity, and is unfortunately having increasingly frequent, very unpleasant migraines.
The blossoms are blowsy and today they were blowing everywhere in the wind.
Tomorrow Emile, Agnes and Felix leave on a 3 day school excursion for Port Leucate on the Mediterranean coast. Even the pre-school children are going! Felix is particularly stressed about the trip, understandably for a 6 year-old.
May 4
Today we said goodbye to Emile and Agnes. Unfortunately, Felix was in tears and rather distraught, and couldn’t tear himself away from home. I guess he’s had more than his share of change this year. On the bright side, I spent the whole day doing things with him alone – an opportunity that never presents itself normally. We rode around the valley, about 7km, stopping at all the parks and churches on the way, then played a few games of Scrabble. There’s a park in Soueix that I love to go to because it has swings that are about 5 m high – like we had when we were kids before all the parks were kindified. It’s great to swing so high.
The blossoms are blowsy and today they were blowing everywhere in the wind.
Tomorrow Emile, Agnes and Felix leave on a 3 day school excursion for Port Leucate on the Mediterranean coast. Even the pre-school children are going! Felix is particularly stressed about the trip, understandably for a 6 year-old.
May 4
Today we said goodbye to Emile and Agnes. Unfortunately, Felix was in tears and rather distraught, and couldn’t tear himself away from home. I guess he’s had more than his share of change this year. On the bright side, I spent the whole day doing things with him alone – an opportunity that never presents itself normally. We rode around the valley, about 7km, stopping at all the parks and churches on the way, then played a few games of Scrabble. There’s a park in Soueix that I love to go to because it has swings that are about 5 m high – like we had when we were kids before all the parks were kindified. It’s great to swing so high.
The village is strangely subdued without all the children. It’s as though the Pied Piper has swept through and enticed them all into the mountains. At the best of times there aren’t many children here relative to the number of adults – each month there are more deaths than births – the valley villages are slowly dying. The more remote ones are already ghost towns, with maybe a weekender or two to bring a bit of life at holiday time. Seix is lucky it has the high school. It keeps it alive. The maternelle here (pre-school) struggles each year to keep two classes going. Next year will probably be the first year they have to drop back to one class.The School at Carcassonne
As spring advances the number of tourists and weekend visitors increases and the café on the square fills up each afternoon as people catch the last tables still in sunshine to drink their Pernod.
We were cornered by Madame Azam of the biscuiterie tonight. She has written a history of the village that Ludo bought, and wants to update Ludo on new snippets she’s found whenever she sees him. This time she had some interesting information about the Viros branch of Ludo’s family. Apparently it came from a village over the mountains in Spain – the village of Viros. That must be where Mahalia’s dark eyes and olive skin come from…. They certainly aren’t from my anglo roots.
May 12, 2008
We’ve just returned from 5 days in Montagu en Quercy with Virginie (Ludo’s sister), her daughter Marion and unborn baby, her partner Eric and his 3 children. We all rented an old stone house in the Tarn and Garonne province, near the River Lot. It was beautiful rolling farmland – lots of wheat and sunflowers and corn. It was wonderful to see the wind rolling through the wheat fields and it reminded me of all those years in Narrabri and Moree, though with smaller horizons.
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Fun at the Nearby Lake
The kids had a great time together. Everyone had someone of the same age to hang out with, and they all played together a lot, running around the property playing cache-cache (hide and seek), boules, ping pong, Scrabble, cards and chess. They said it was the best trip so far because they didn’t have to visit any monuments!
Ludo is finding the relationships with his family are becoming stronger as the year here goes on. After so many years away it takes a while to re-establish the rapport. That’s one of the main reasons we came here, the other being for the children to become more fluent in the language and culture of their Papa. So on both fronts we seem to be scoring well.
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Virginie; Emile
May 13We’re back to stripping again. Now that the warmer weather is here it’s much more comfortable getting the layers off(!).
Our target this time is on the second floor: in Agnes’ bedroom, deep pink wallpaper that swallows the light, of a geometric pattern circa 1970, with a plaster patch the size of a plate in the top corner and flies breeding behind the mirror, and: kitchen/salon area with lovely, peeling brown and orange wallpaper that boasts both geometric and flower motifs. Comme d’habitude, each time we peel away the paper, the plaster comes along with it, which makes the task more interesting.
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The restored cuckoo is driving us cuckoo
I’ve been riding my super fantastic new second hand bike a fair bit lately and hope to do a lot more now that I don’t have to risk losing a few fingers to frostbite. We have a few favourite routes: some along the valleys following the rivers, some climbing up into the mountains. As my legs get used to the climbs I enjoy them a lot more (the climbs that is) and love that sense of conquest when I reach the top.
Last week I set out at 5pm to ride up past Sentenac on the road to the Col de la Core, and turned off to go to La Soumere (we’re at 500m in Seix and La Soumere is at 800m). When I set out the sky was clear and blue, but by the time I reached the turn-off there were clouds as grey as lead, and as heavy – so heavy they emptied themselves on me and my poor bike. I rode for the next half hour, the only crazy on the road, along the ridge and then down the other side of the valley, deafened by thunder and not a little bit scared of the lightning, and of the grip my brakes had on the slender wheels beneath me. I was sure Ludo and the kids would be worried about me, and maybe would come looking for me. When I returned, dripping and very cold, my hands clenched around the brake levers, they were all sitting reading and barely looked up to say hi!My aim this year (with respect to cycling) is to reach the Col de la Core – at 1,500m that will be a monumental challenge for me. That will be my Tour de France!
May 14, 2008
It’s been interesting reading the French newspapers and seeing what they have to say about the French President, Sarkozy. The call him Sarko which gives you an indication of the respect he commands. The main newspaper here, Le Monde, is aghast at how un-presidential his comportment is. He’s only been in power just over a year (he’s elected for 5 years) and in that time has increased the President’s salary by 200% while calling for everyone else to show constraint, backtracked on just about every (desperately-needed) reform he promised in the face of public opposition, has divorced the wife he wooed a few years ago from another politician, and 3 months later married wife number 3, Carla Bruni, the Italian model, singer and heiress to a great fortune. He’s more famous for his mirrored Ray Bans and wealthy friends than his political savvy. I wonder how Kevin Rudd is faring?
To be fair, he is trying to reform the French economy which is a monumental task. Some groups of people can retire here as early as 41 years old on a full pension so he’s trying to extend the age of retirement, which is meeting implacable resistance. The social security system here is generous to the point where it discourages many people from working. The treasury is in a parlous state. Strong measures are needed from strong politicians.
May 15
Today there is another day off school – teachers’ strike (another reaction to Sarko’s reforms). Since the two weeks of holidays at the end of April we’ve had Thursday 1st May off for Labour Day, Monday 5-Wednesday 7 school excursion, Thursday 8th off for Victory Day (end of WWII), Monday 12th off for the Pentecost, and now May 16th is a strike day!! That’s one month with just 6 days of school!
May 17
When you’re in a strange land, every little thing can surprise. A trip to the supermarket, driving a car, using the telephone, the plumbing, ads on the TV – its all different. The smells are different. In New York I found the plumbing pretty interesting and sometimes confusing, and using their public phones with their jiggly little square steel buttons oddly frustrating. The French bidet is baffling. I can’t imagine in the dead of winter exposing my most sensitive parts to a jet of water. We have three bidets in this house and the only suitable use I can find for them is to hold extra toilet rolls.
Here the differences are subtle enough; I imagine if we were in Kazakhstan the differences would be enormous. The first time I went to a supermarket here was a revelation. So many dairy products! I never knew there could be so many products you could make with milk. Apart from the obvious butter and yoghurt, there are all these products with different levels of sloppiness: crème fraiche, fromage blanc (nothing like cheese), faisselle, greil………. , not to mention 200 types of cheese. We are addicted to les petits pots de crème en caramel by La Laitiere. We dream about them. …… I often think about a line in the movie “French Kiss” where Meg Ryan says something like “the French have a strange relationship with dairy products”.
May 20
No more renovating. That’s it. The second floor is now bright egg yolk yellow (there were complaints that our efforts on the ground floor lacked colour) and it looks great. Now all the kids have great rooms while we have granny flowery wallpaper and a cracked ceiling. To celebrate the end of this recent effort Ludo and I rode up to Trein d’Ustou in the rain. It’s a good ride, made all the more rewarding by the tiny mountain restaurant in Trein where we stop for lunch. Fresh trout from the river with crispy skin, smothered in flaked almonds, with roast garlic, potatoes, barley and salad. Mmmm. It’s a wonderful thing eating after this ride as you feel you merit the calories, plus it’s downhill all the way home! What could be better?
The sides of the road are covered with flowers; red poppies, white Queen Anne’s Lace, massive sprays of yellow broome, unidentified pink things, and the beautiful, violet fritillarias which I’ve only ever seen in books before. The meadows are blanketed with buttercups. The road itself is covered in massive, jet black slugs that are beautiful in their own way. I try not to squish them as I ride past.
May 21
Can you believe there’s yet another teachers’ strike on tomorrow! The fishermen are also on strike, blocking the ports. Sarkozy’s not making many friends.
May 23
Big news! I made it to kilometre 5 on the ascent to the Col de la Core. Now 5 km doesn’t sound like a big deal, I know, but when the gradient is 7% that’s quite an achievement. I think I’ll get there sooner than I thought. If I just stay in first gear….
This effort was at the end of a day of sightseeing for Ludo and I. I’ve worked out that in the six months remaining to us, Ludo and I only have 16 days when we have no visitors and the kids are at school. So we have to make the most of every one. Today we went to St. Bertrand de Comminges, classified as one of the most beautiful villages in France (not sure who does the classifying). For such a little village it had an amazing cathedral and 12th century cloister. It was perched on a rocky outcrop, surrounding by stunning green forests and farmland. There was a church within the cathedral completely carved out of wood.
Tonight Francois arrives. We’ve had to cancel our refuge stay tomorrow night because there is very bad weather expected. We’ll go next week instead.
May 25
It’s been a rainy, grey weekend. Nevertheless we put our walking shoes and rain jackets on and headed to the Col d’Agnes today. A col is the saddle of a mountain, the place where it drops between two peaks. The Col d’Agnes is 1500m high and has spectacular views in all directions. It just so happened that a cycle race was passing through today – the ‘Young Hopes Race of the Isard’ – bad translation but it gives you the idea. Young cyclists (18-24 yo) from all over the world come to compete in this race over several mountains in the area. It’s really tough. There was a team from Australia.
We stood at a point where we could see the cyclists struggling up one side, and then without stopping they grabbed bottles of rehydrating fluid, put on jackets for the cold trip down the other side, and launched themselves headlong on the 10km, constantly winding and very steep descent. On some stretches the gradient was 11%. They were yet to do two more cols before finishing this day’s racing in St. Girons. They would be going through Seix after tackling the Col de Latrape and before doing the Col de la Core, so when the last cyclist had passed through we raced back to Seix to cheer them on again. As we arrived the leaders were already coming through. How fast are they??? In a car we were only about 20 minutes faster than they were, and they had climbed another mountain in between!
Tomorrow I go to Paris with Francois to have my driving licence application approved. It was stolen in Rome with my wallet.
May 29
Like Cole Porter, I love Paris in the springtime! To be in Paris when all the trees are in full leaf, the flowers are in full bloom, and to have no family commitments is a wonderful thing. I’d forgotten what a wonderful, beautiful city it is. I stayed at Francois’s tiny apartment in the 7th arrondissement which is a fabulous area of Paris – right near the Eiffel Tower and a 15 minute walk from the Latin Quarter. It’s also a few blocks from the Australian Embassy.
I went straight from the airport to the Marche aux Puces in the north of Paris to fossick around for some old lace and other antiquities. I’d always wanted to go there and had a great time wandering through the tiny alleys, filled with amazing oddities. From there I made my way in the rain to Francoise’s (Ludo's Mum) apartment, which is between the Gare du Nord and Montmartre. We had an aperitif together and then met Francois in the Latin Quarter for dinner. From the restaurant we were able to walk back to Francois' place through some of the most beautiful parts of Paris in that twilight that in May bathes everything in a gentle glow. In every great city there are gems to discover, tucked away in unexpected places. This time the gem I discovered was La Pagode, a cinema in a beautiful pagoda, an architectural marvel surrounded by a Japanese garden.
The next day I went to the concrete bunker that is Australia’s foothold in Paris and, for $50, had a consular official stamp the back of my licence photo. The business side of the trip done, I then spent two days visiting the Louvre (always magnificent) and the Musee d’Art Moderne (not impressive), and walking, walking, walking all over the city through the Marais, the Latin Quarter, the Isle St. Louis and along the mighty Seine.
One of the best moments of the trip was accompanying Francois to a piano concert in a venue where he will be playing next week. The venue was formerly Picasso’s studio and apartment – the place where he painted the tormented Guernica. It was also the apartment of a film director (whose name escapes me), and the home of Balzac, where he wrote Le Chef-d’œuvre Inconnu. Culture fairly oozed from the walls. It was a loft apartment now owned by an arts foundation; an intimate space that holds little more than a hundred, by invitation only. We were there to see the 24 year-old Jean Dube play. He first performed in public at the age of 4, and accompanied the Radio France Orchestra at teh age of 9. He played Chopin, Liszt and Sibelius, but also a piece by a contemporary Finnish composer who was in the audience. Needless to say, he was amazing, and to see such a pianist at close range was a real privilege.
We’ve had some great trips to Paris with the children, but they are always accompanied by the stress of making sure no one gets lost, and dealing with the invariable complaints of too much walking and too much sightseeing. It was liberating to walk around alone, free to go wherever I pleased! Ludo will have his turn in September when he heads to the capital for a family baptism.
Our next adventure is to walk to a mountain refuge. But that will be in June’s blog….
May 14, 2008
It’s been interesting reading the French newspapers and seeing what they have to say about the French President, Sarkozy. The call him Sarko which gives you an indication of the respect he commands. The main newspaper here, Le Monde, is aghast at how un-presidential his comportment is. He’s only been in power just over a year (he’s elected for 5 years) and in that time has increased the President’s salary by 200% while calling for everyone else to show constraint, backtracked on just about every (desperately-needed) reform he promised in the face of public opposition, has divorced the wife he wooed a few years ago from another politician, and 3 months later married wife number 3, Carla Bruni, the Italian model, singer and heiress to a great fortune. He’s more famous for his mirrored Ray Bans and wealthy friends than his political savvy. I wonder how Kevin Rudd is faring?To be fair, he is trying to reform the French economy which is a monumental task. Some groups of people can retire here as early as 41 years old on a full pension so he’s trying to extend the age of retirement, which is meeting implacable resistance. The social security system here is generous to the point where it discourages many people from working. The treasury is in a parlous state. Strong measures are needed from strong politicians.
May 15
Today there is another day off school – teachers’ strike (another reaction to Sarko’s reforms). Since the two weeks of holidays at the end of April we’ve had Thursday 1st May off for Labour Day, Monday 5-Wednesday 7 school excursion, Thursday 8th off for Victory Day (end of WWII), Monday 12th off for the Pentecost, and now May 16th is a strike day!! That’s one month with just 6 days of school!
May 17
When you’re in a strange land, every little thing can surprise. A trip to the supermarket, driving a car, using the telephone, the plumbing, ads on the TV – its all different. The smells are different. In New York I found the plumbing pretty interesting and sometimes confusing, and using their public phones with their jiggly little square steel buttons oddly frustrating. The French bidet is baffling. I can’t imagine in the dead of winter exposing my most sensitive parts to a jet of water. We have three bidets in this house and the only suitable use I can find for them is to hold extra toilet rolls.
Here the differences are subtle enough; I imagine if we were in Kazakhstan the differences would be enormous. The first time I went to a supermarket here was a revelation. So many dairy products! I never knew there could be so many products you could make with milk. Apart from the obvious butter and yoghurt, there are all these products with different levels of sloppiness: crème fraiche, fromage blanc (nothing like cheese), faisselle, greil………. , not to mention 200 types of cheese. We are addicted to les petits pots de crème en caramel by La Laitiere. We dream about them. …… I often think about a line in the movie “French Kiss” where Meg Ryan says something like “the French have a strange relationship with dairy products”.
May 20
No more renovating. That’s it. The second floor is now bright egg yolk yellow (there were complaints that our efforts on the ground floor lacked colour) and it looks great. Now all the kids have great rooms while we have granny flowery wallpaper and a cracked ceiling. To celebrate the end of this recent effort Ludo and I rode up to Trein d’Ustou in the rain. It’s a good ride, made all the more rewarding by the tiny mountain restaurant in Trein where we stop for lunch. Fresh trout from the river with crispy skin, smothered in flaked almonds, with roast garlic, potatoes, barley and salad. Mmmm. It’s a wonderful thing eating after this ride as you feel you merit the calories, plus it’s downhill all the way home! What could be better?
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Fritillaras, and the very elegant French Slugs (I don't think they eat these)
The sides of the road are covered with flowers; red poppies, white Queen Anne’s Lace, massive sprays of yellow broome, unidentified pink things, and the beautiful, violet fritillarias which I’ve only ever seen in books before. The meadows are blanketed with buttercups. The road itself is covered in massive, jet black slugs that are beautiful in their own way. I try not to squish them as I ride past.
May 21
Can you believe there’s yet another teachers’ strike on tomorrow! The fishermen are also on strike, blocking the ports. Sarkozy’s not making many friends.
May 23
Big news! I made it to kilometre 5 on the ascent to the Col de la Core. Now 5 km doesn’t sound like a big deal, I know, but when the gradient is 7% that’s quite an achievement. I think I’ll get there sooner than I thought. If I just stay in first gear….
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The Cloister and house of St. Bertrand de Comminges
This effort was at the end of a day of sightseeing for Ludo and I. I’ve worked out that in the six months remaining to us, Ludo and I only have 16 days when we have no visitors and the kids are at school. So we have to make the most of every one. Today we went to St. Bertrand de Comminges, classified as one of the most beautiful villages in France (not sure who does the classifying). For such a little village it had an amazing cathedral and 12th century cloister. It was perched on a rocky outcrop, surrounding by stunning green forests and farmland. There was a church within the cathedral completely carved out of wood.
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Tonight Francois arrives. We’ve had to cancel our refuge stay tomorrow night because there is very bad weather expected. We’ll go next week instead.
May 25
It’s been a rainy, grey weekend. Nevertheless we put our walking shoes and rain jackets on and headed to the Col d’Agnes today. A col is the saddle of a mountain, the place where it drops between two peaks. The Col d’Agnes is 1500m high and has spectacular views in all directions. It just so happened that a cycle race was passing through today – the ‘Young Hopes Race of the Isard’ – bad translation but it gives you the idea. Young cyclists (18-24 yo) from all over the world come to compete in this race over several mountains in the area. It’s really tough. There was a team from Australia.
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Ludo and Francois; Almost there ...
We stood at a point where we could see the cyclists struggling up one side, and then without stopping they grabbed bottles of rehydrating fluid, put on jackets for the cold trip down the other side, and launched themselves headlong on the 10km, constantly winding and very steep descent. On some stretches the gradient was 11%. They were yet to do two more cols before finishing this day’s racing in St. Girons. They would be going through Seix after tackling the Col de Latrape and before doing the Col de la Core, so when the last cyclist had passed through we raced back to Seix to cheer them on again. As we arrived the leaders were already coming through. How fast are they??? In a car we were only about 20 minutes faster than they were, and they had climbed another mountain in between!
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And down the other side (Col D'Agnes); Then on through Seix
Tomorrow I go to Paris with Francois to have my driving licence application approved. It was stolen in Rome with my wallet.
May 29
Like Cole Porter, I love Paris in the springtime! To be in Paris when all the trees are in full leaf, the flowers are in full bloom, and to have no family commitments is a wonderful thing. I’d forgotten what a wonderful, beautiful city it is. I stayed at Francois’s tiny apartment in the 7th arrondissement which is a fabulous area of Paris – right near the Eiffel Tower and a 15 minute walk from the Latin Quarter. It’s also a few blocks from the Australian Embassy.
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Dinner with Roger, Francoise and Francois; Along the Seine
I went straight from the airport to the Marche aux Puces in the north of Paris to fossick around for some old lace and other antiquities. I’d always wanted to go there and had a great time wandering through the tiny alleys, filled with amazing oddities. From there I made my way in the rain to Francoise’s (Ludo's Mum) apartment, which is between the Gare du Nord and Montmartre. We had an aperitif together and then met Francois in the Latin Quarter for dinner. From the restaurant we were able to walk back to Francois' place through some of the most beautiful parts of Paris in that twilight that in May bathes everything in a gentle glow. In every great city there are gems to discover, tucked away in unexpected places. This time the gem I discovered was La Pagode, a cinema in a beautiful pagoda, an architectural marvel surrounded by a Japanese garden.
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Sartorial Statues; Chagall
The next day I went to the concrete bunker that is Australia’s foothold in Paris and, for $50, had a consular official stamp the back of my licence photo. The business side of the trip done, I then spent two days visiting the Louvre (always magnificent) and the Musee d’Art Moderne (not impressive), and walking, walking, walking all over the city through the Marais, the Latin Quarter, the Isle St. Louis and along the mighty Seine.
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Picasso's Apartment (he has the light on); the wall on which he painted Guernica
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Picasso's View of Paris; Juhani Komulainen and Jean Dube
We’ve had some great trips to Paris with the children, but they are always accompanied by the stress of making sure no one gets lost, and dealing with the invariable complaints of too much walking and too much sightseeing. It was liberating to walk around alone, free to go wherever I pleased! Ludo will have his turn in September when he heads to the capital for a family baptism.
Our next adventure is to walk to a mountain refuge. But that will be in June’s blog….
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