Tuesday 29 November 2016

Castles in the air

You've probably noticed that a number of our blog posts have been about Cathar castles and it seems to have become one of our 'things' to visit them. Sadly, there aren't any castles (Cathar or otherwise) in Australia so alongside photos, I now rely on the power of my imagination and memory to evoke the sights, sounds and smells that feed into the joy of hiking in stunning countryside up to a Cathar castle. The countryside I mostly conjure up in my mind is around the village of Roquefixade and its castle ruin, although the castle itself is technically 'closed' at the moment for restoration. Here are some of the photos we took. Now just add in the deeply resonant sound of silence, broken only by the distant, gentle tinkling of cow bells, the buzzing of insects, and a soft, soothing summer breeze rustling the tree tops ...

Chateau de Roquefixade

View of Roquefixade village
It was easy to think we we were in the middle of nowhere until we came across this emotive memorial to 16 local members of the resistance killed during the World War II in a battle with the milice and some German soldiers:


Memorial at the site of the Battle of Roquefixade

Panneau explaining the circumstances of the Battle of Roquefixade

Sunday 20 November 2016

Leaving on a jet plane!

Well that seemed to go very quickly. No sooner had we gotten used to walks in fantastic countryside, wonderful historic sites, and even more fantastic food and wine, when we were booked on an Emirates flight back to Perth.

Yup, we are now back into the realms of three types of cheese instead of the hundreds in France.  I kid you not, in Australia we only have four basic cheeses, 'Colby, Tasty, Extra Tasty, and if you really want to push the boat out...Strong & Bitey.'  All of these are some variant of cheddar and all are bland and boring. OK, sorry et pardonnez moi...while I collect my toys and put them back in the pram! But I suppose that is the cultural difference (well, one of many actually).  In Super U or Intermarché they dedicate at least an entire aisle to cheese, plus a deli section! Not so much in Australia. Anyway, I digress.

So we are now back in Perth, and back at work. It was a bit of a rush to find somewhere to live in a week and arrange to get our belongings out of storage and collect the cat. This time we have rented somewhere a bit cheaper so we can save quicker for our next trip back. We ignore the lack of lampshades, the dodgy stains on the ceiling and the really badly designed tiny kitchen.  Instead our focus is France and to keep our 'eyes on the prize!'

On the plus size of the ledger the cat has forgiven us for abandoning her, and as we are approaching summer here so we can take full advantage of the beach again.  But my heart is in the Ariège. In the meantime it's back to shift work, a reduced selection of cheese (grrr!) and a probably fruitless search to find Minervois or Saint Saturnin wine that retails at $7 a bottle...sacre bleu!!!! Having said that, a drop of Australia's finest McGuigan Black Label always goes down very nicely...


Mosman beach


Sunday 9 October 2016

Another day another castle...

There was not a great deal we could do in the house with the builders in so as it was another sunny day we took a trip a bit further afield to see another castle!  Yes, life is hard. This time we went to Puilaurens castle, which is actually in the next department (Aude) but still only about 40 mins away.  I now take for granted empty roads, dappled sunshine through the trees and a stunning backdrop of hills and mountains.  It's such a change from my usual daily grind as I drive to work, through metropolitan Perth, stop starting at lights, and looking at the back of a 'ute' or bus. The views from the castle are not as spectacular as nearby Queribus or Peyrepertuse (which we visited a few years ago) but the amount of castle still remaining more than makes up for it.  For instance the cistern is still intact, as are some vaulted ceilings.




Afterwards we drove back but stopped again at Puivert (also in the Aude) at the Brasserie du Quercorb as I had previously enjoyed one of their tasty beers at Le Rendevous restaurant in Leran. I understand the brewery is run by an English couple who took over an old garage and converted it into a brewery.   They have a good range of beers I think starting at 3.8% and you can get it on tap there for €2.50 for a middy (half pint), which is comparable in price to the mass produced pression available in most bars.

 I think we missed rush hour!

Wednesday 5 October 2016

The builders have been in!

Work has been getting done on the house....at last!  We had to move into the nearby Village Vacances for a few weeks to allow the builders to take over and work inside the house. We had no real concept of what levelling the downstairs floor and putting in a new ceiling upstairs actually meant.  It turns out quite a lot. On the first day we popped in to see how things were progressing. Well, our builders had taken over our place with an industrial cement mixer, a big truck,  and lots of bags of cement with what looked like polystyrene balls mixed in.

The downstairs floor being levelled and raised
I understand that in the normal process of laying parquet floor, when there is a slope they put in a layer of something called chape liquide to make the floor level before laying down the sous-couche (underlay). However, in our case, due to the more severe slope they had to put in a substantial amount of concrete instead!  It's probably a good job I didn't show them the top floor bathroom. Up there when you are sat on the toilet you are in the same position as a downhill skier!  Anyway the slope was a bit more than we thought and the floor is now 8 cm higher than before! Ah well c'est la vie.

Meanwhile the ceiling in our main bedroom was also being levelled. Before, it was simply floorboards, hence bits of sunlight and lots of dust coming through. Shame though to lose the beams.


The next step was to level it (we probably lost another 8cm in height there too!):


and finally put insulation in before creating the new ceiling:



We are also now very close to getting the floor finished. Unfortunately, although we over-ordered on the parquet we are missing a measly 3 cm wide strip - so close yet so far! - hence the job is not quite done.  However, we have a shed load of the accompanying skirting board left over so I suppose that evens it out!


We had hoped to get the wood burner installed as well but that's not now going to be fitted until we have gone back to Oz. Yup the dance floor is ready but no band arrived to play!  Plus those of you with a keen eye may have noticed that the kitchen sink is now more suited to hobbits as levelling (and raising) the floor has probably made it about 7cm lower than before!  Ah well, another job for another day!

So far during our adventure, downstairs has gone from this ...

... to this


Friday 9 September 2016

Dubious Architecture

We were surprised to learn that there is an old abandoned thermal spa in La Bastide sur l'Hers. We were reliably informed that the water used to arrive here in three springs all of different temperatures.
Abandoned thermal spa
We were even more surprised by it's rather phallic architecture. Apparently this is a fountain.
Really....what was it modelled on, Casanova!?  Wonder what it looks like with water spurting out?! 



Wednesday 7 September 2016

Furry Friends

One thing that has changed since we were in La Bastide sur l'Hers last year is the number of cats around. Last year, we didn't notice any in the village. This year, however, we've seen several including two (brother and sister we think)  that have taken over our square as their territory. When we moved in, they didn't waste any time coming over to say bonjour (I'm sure they weren't just after food!). Not knowing if they were owned by someone or feral, and not wanting them to starve, we (or rather, Richard started it!) began feeding them a little bit, not just any old cat food, but delicacies like smoked salmon because that was the only cat-friendly food we had! Since then, needless to say, things have escalated. The kitties now pass by on a regular basis - at least twice daily - for a feed and they often hang out on our window sill. They rub up against our legs when we're out in the street, and they often try and get into the house if we leave a window or door open. We have found out that for the time being, they live opposite us with a young lady who has been looking after them since they were abandoned and until she can find them a new home. Happily this means that they are probably not starving even though they often eat like they are. In fact we've noticed that they gobble down the fancy titbits much faster than the dry cat food that we now also feed them. Funny that!

Ahhh.. irresistible. This one we have christened 'fat guts' as the food doesn't touch his sides!
This is 'dumb-ass'. Although our assessment of her intelligence may have been a little hasty.
Feeding time..fat guts hogging the bowl.

Back to Montségur

We already blogged about visiting Montségur village and castle (le château de Montségur) in winter but this time we were here in summer. We thought we would escape the heat - it was only supposed to be 26 degrees up the mountain - but it turned out to be scorching. We were fortunate to get a reasonably early start for the steep climb up to the castle and were not at all envious of those starting their ascent in the midday sun as we were coming down. At least it was easier to get around this time with no snow or ice up at the castle or in the village. The scenery as before, was spectacular.

The château de Montségur perched on its 'pog'

Memorial to the Cathar heretics burnt alive at the stake here in 1244

It's a steep climb up to the castle

The castle ruins
Great views from the castle

A panorama of the surrounding countryside

After all that climbing, an organic light lunch was on the menu at Le Bitropot café in Montségur village

Tuesday 6 September 2016

Foraging

One of our small daily joys is stuffing our faces with delicious fruit for breakfast - that's alongside the also delicious, but less healthy, croissants and coffee! My particular favourites are the melons and nectarines, and while I'm not usually a great fan of plums, I do enjoy a reine claude (a green gage) and the tiny mirabelles plums available over here. A lovely discovery during our local walks around La Bastide sur l'Hers, has been to not only come across plum trees with branches weighed down by ripe fruit, but to be able to harvest them as well. As a local lady explained the first time we stopped to harvest fruit, they are 'communal' plum trees. Since learning this, we have not hesitated to help ourselves if we see others doing the same. There is something really satisfying and especially tasty about eating a fruit straight off the tree!

Where to start?

A juicy harvest

Endless Summer

Nearly four weeks in France, and we've rarely had a day below 30 degrees. With the public swimming pool closed in La Bastide sur l'Hers since the end of August (the long summer school holiday is over in France), it's become harder to cope with the endless heat. We have continued to do a little decorating on most days but today, we gave in to the unusually hot September temperatures, and headed to Lodève to take refuge in Michelle's parents' swimming pool! Generally, we have dealt with the heat by doing stuff in the mornings before it gets too hot, then waiting until late afternoon or early evening to do anything active again. La Bastide sur l'Hers is quite close to a lake called Montbel, but on a recent excursion, we found another lake near a small village called Puivert. Overlooked by a mostly 14th century castle (the Château de Puivert), this is a very scenic spot for a cool dip. The castle is well worth a visit too.
Lac du Puivert with Château de Puivert in the background

Panorama of Lac du Puivert
Inside the Château de Puivert

View from the Château de Puivert

Wednesday 31 August 2016

Decorating!

After much discussion, and DIY store visits and tester pots we finally decided on the theme of a combination of biscuit and chocolate colours for the downstairs.  It must be all the lovely food here that has subconsciously influenced us!
We have tried for a feature wall, but its a bit tricky as none of our walls are exactly straight; so its a bit curvy, but the desired effect is still the same.
Next step for the downstairs is to get the parquet flooring and a wood burner installed, although sadly I think by the time it's installed we will be back in Perth. So we'll have a brand spanking new wood burner but will not be able to enjoy it! Ah well, something to look forward to for next time.
Before

During
After

Sexy sheer painter's outfit!

Tuesday 23 August 2016

Mirepoix Monday market

Monday is market day.  Let’s face it, it’s always market day somewhere in the Ariège, but Mirepoix is probably the biggest in the region.  Its medieval town square along with most of the tributary streets that lead into it are transformed into canopies of colour.  Everything and anything is sold, with food of course, taking up pride of place.  I think I passed at least four cheese sellers, displaying their wares; huge rounds of cheese on display. Haunches of pork being expertly sliced, fruit by the bucket load, olives, bread, and sausages of every size and shape. I even saw a wooden crate of ducks.






We arrived at the market at about 9:30am, and should you want to visit I suggest you come early, as towards lunchtime the market and the traffic gets very busy.  The nearest SuperU (supermarket) car park soon fills up, and most of the side streets too.  We normally find a spot on the street which runs in front the main hotel called ‘Les minotiers’.  On most other days it’s pretty easy to park in one of the side streets that run off the main square.

We were interested in getting some cheese, bread and fruit. Quick tip, no point in asking for cent grammes of a cheese as by the time the seller cuts a wedge out of the round, even a small one its going to be at least 300 grams, (not that I am complaining - the more cheese on my plate the better!

If you are a bloke, Mirepoix provides a wonderful place for an alfresco wee!  They have a urinal – a pissoir - set up right in the middle of the market.  It has a sort of metal mesh from chest to knee to give the patron a sense of privacy, but I could have easily continued a conversation with whomever whilst relieving myself. For the ladies on the other side there is a modern toilet that takes 20cents and is self flushing. In fact if you put 50c instead by mistake it gives you your money back and opens for free! I can’t really comment on the cleanliness but Michelle says it was 'aromatic.'

Most the of bars and restaurants which make up the main square have Wi-Fi, and if your dongle doesn’t stretch very far (fnaaar, fnaaar) its always worth while sitting down with a beer or coffee and using the time to relax watch the world go by and check your mail, pay bills, etc. You may well find the atmosphere so inviting you end up having your lunch there!  I’m beginning to see a internet thread here appearing, but when you are used to the almost unlimited bandwidth we enjoyed back in Australia it’s hard to ration yourself. 

Our First Week

After nearly a week in La Bastide sur l'Hers, we are feeling tired but happy. We were so excited to have a good internet connection in our house this time with our Orange airbox (dongle) that we used up all of our allotted download in two days (it was meant to last a month!). We are now rationing our time on the internet otherwise it'll get very expensive. Fortunately, we have two nearby wifi hotspots where we can also suck up gigabytes - the local swimming pool and a café in Belesta called Le Palais Cathare.  

Our main problems with the house at the moment are plumbing ones. The kitchen sink is out of action as the pump needed to drain it (don't ask me why) refuses to work so we are having to wash up  in the bathroom. Our two showers have also sprung minor leaks - one we've fixed and the other we hope (especially as it's been fixed once by a plumber already) is an isolated incident caused by excessive splashing when I was cleaning it. Visitors be warned - no unnecessary splashing in the shower please! On the plus side, we now have a washing machine - ah, clean clothes again! We have also chosen the floating parquet floor for the ground floor kitchen/diner/living room (this will be laid by a builder in September as the floor is rather uneven and needs to be levelled). And we've started treating some damp patches on a wall in the stairwell and will be preparing this area and downstairs in the coming days for painting.

Here are some photos from some more leisurely moments.

View across to the village

Colourful riverbank
Soirée culturelle on the market place

Spit-roast farm chickens are a Sunday morning special at the local butchers

Are these the cheapest baguettes in France courtesy of Lidl?