Sue and Darby in France

AU REVOIR

2009-07-17T04:15:00.000-07:00

"I've been obedient!!" Au revoir Zulu and Kenco.

The tally - 101 corks only one screw(top)

No flower can lift spirits quite like sunflowers can. Bright and cheery, bold yet comfortable, the sunflower is often associated with adoration and longevity.

And so we left our chateaux and enjoyed our final weekend with friends. We'd wanted to see Le Tour for years and were able to view it from outside Tarbes last Sunday. The circus before the cyclists appear, note the Pyrenees in the background.

The peloton. Blink
AU REVOIR

Winding up and winding down

2009-07-01T03:17:00.000-07:00

We are winding things up as we prepare to leave in just over a week. We are winding down as the heat intensifies.
Too hot to take photos of old things(DH, Duras Chateaux, Agen theatre)

Too hot to read menus

Too hot for Toulouse sausage,

Even too hot to swim in the ancient piscine!!
The heat will have ripened the tomatoes in these hanging baskets.

At least the weekly night market with the butcher bbqing his meat is held when the sun is less severe.

Guess I'll just have to watch Wimbledon or as Sue Stewart says "get Lleytoned"

A pint of guiness

2009-06-18T07:46:00.000-07:00

A brief sojourn to Ireland for Bloomsday and a pint.

We took Rick Stein's advice and had lunch at Agen Railway Station en route.

On Saturday we took a Joycean walk around the heart of the hibernian metropolis. We had as a guide a young lady from Alaska, most un-Palinesque tho.

On Sunday we took a trip to Johnny Foxes, which must be the archetype of all Irish theme pubs. Note the number plate on the limo!

We finally got to the point of the exercise - assorted Dubliners and others reading the dirty bits (and some of the clean bits) out of that scandalous book Ulysses. But this guy was singing.

Local views

2009-06-11T09:22:00.001-07:00

More eating and drinking with friends

2009-06-11T07:22:00.000-07:00

A galette and manseng wine for lunch with our dear cousins Honor and David.

Darby cooked a delicious cassoulet. It didn't matter that the duck legs turned out to be large, because they were turkey legs!

A working bee outside was followed by a shared lunch.

A visit to Lectoure an attractive town in a more touristy region included a visit to a local industry extracting blue dye from the plant Isatis tinctoria.

In France during the Renaissance, the southwest region became the very famous "Pays de Cocagne" , a region of "milk and honey". The local woad merchants became extremely rich and built magnificient mansions, castles and churches.

But the arrival of foreign Indigos very quickly brought down the fortunes made on woad and entirely replaced it until the arrival of Napoleon Bonaparte, who used woad to dye the fabric for his uniforms.

Our local winery

2009-06-05T22:35:00.000-07:00

Our local winery just about 1.5 km away makes red from Merlot, rose from Tannat and Cabernet and also a moelleux (semisweet wine) from gros and Petit Manseng.

See this item about semi sweet wines in SW France

The estate of the chateau used to have vines but they were not replaced after the phylloxera came. A few small operators including the Domaine de Quissat make artisanal wines using organic methods - Biologique as the French call it.

Some more Pictures

2009-06-02T06:48:00.000-07:00

Summer is coming on at Pecile

The share farmers have been busy baling the lucerne

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The thistlefarm is being prepared for sunflowers.

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The honeysuckle in the front courtyard

Walking the donkey

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There is still time to relax for coffee and beer after shopping in Praysass

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A light lunch in Agen - assiette complete

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Of markets and men...

2009-05-18T05:25:00.000-07:00

Da man Darby loves da markets..
Bordeaux-books

Aiguillon - fish

Marmande-meat

Basil and parsley in the rain

And in the Marmande sunshine wine from Cocumant Co-op

Markets are the inspiration of what to cook, what to eat and what to plant.

Some Photos at Pecile

2009-05-13T08:29:00.001-07:00

We just love the dogs but its hard to get them to always do what they are told. Hence this haphazard attempt at a pose on the front steps.

The kitchen is big and bright so I did a Rick Stein apron modeling while cooking an adaptation of a Jeremy Oliver Recipe.

In this region goose and duck fat is used instead of olive oil. That's why the Department of Gers, just over the river from us has the highest life expectancy in all of France. I am working on adapting my aioli recipe to substitute the healthier duck fat for the olive oil.

A day out at Condom

2009-05-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

Had a great day last Saturday at the fesstival de bandas in Condom. We went with our friends Liz and John from Hannan St/Viella

We arrived early, say 11.000am just in time to see last nights drunks staggering to the bars for a heart starter. There is a firm rule that the bars close at 4 am. but I'm not sure what time they are allowed to reopen. There were open urinoirs everywhere in the street and all shops in the centre were boarded up, except for the bars which had special Heineken extensions outside. See this version of events here,

Pinned up on the wall of the main cathedral was a sign saying "We respect the environment, please dispose of empty bottles and glasses (all plastic) here. Use the Condom" Next to it was a 3 metre tall netting condom to serve as a rubbish bin. I'm not sure the guy in the vatican would approve.

The crowd was mostly young and partisan and the bandas were brassy and more spanish sounding than French. They were enthusiatic but the standard of the Marching was not quite up to Edinburgh Tattoo standard.

All in all a wonderful days entertainment but we didn't stay for the serious drinking to recommence.

Rural Life

2009-05-12T22:30:00.000-07:00

We are back on line after finding out that the farmer over the road nipped our telephone cable when ploughing his field. There are no fences around paddocks and cultivation continues right to the roadside. No long paddock here.
Living on a 100 hectare farm is providing many opportunities for us to be close and comfortable with nature.

Darby has a way with Baptista. He stands quietly while stones are removed from his hooves. Darb was disappointed with the progress of the vegetables so he made up a potient of donkey poo and the results are fantastic!

The cherries are coming into season much to the delight of the cherry eating dogs.
Other rural activities have included shooing away a swarm of bees betwen the shutters and the window. And a deer was killed at our entrance much to the delight of Zulu. So our resident butchers son chopped up what was left for the canines. Mind you a frenchman had already got out his hunting knife and taken the best bits.

So if you were thinking of applying for this job in 2010 make sure you've got the necessary qualifications.

We hve been offline!

2009-05-11T01:33:00.000-07:00

France telecom seem even worse than the OZ version. We have been offline and sans telephone since last wed arvo. Where is Sol Trujillo when we need him; Maybe we will get it fixed this week when there are no public holidays;

Meanwhile we are having a great time, dealing with animals, grass, boozy french festivals, sightseeing, local visitors and of course eating and drinking;

More stories and Pix, I promise, when we get back online at home, we are in an internet cafe in Villeneuve sur lot today;

The building in the photos was the law courts; Each of the four 'retorts' was a separate closed courtroom. wierd those french, as are their keyboards;

What is this?

2009-05-04T00:26:00.001-07:00

Something we saw in Bordeaux.

It was in a public building but we had to go thru an airport style metal scanner to get in.

Another Picture.

You'll never guess what it is but let's have some fun trying! Make a suggestion in the comments.

Well we did come here to drink wine!

2009-05-03T13:58:00.000-07:00

Just had a nice sunny Sunday and an outdoor lunch with visitors. With some wine if you're interested in what we drank.

The picture above is the view from the terrace, but without the grey clouds on Sunday.

2009-04-29T13:28:00.001-07:00

Le Pecile

2009-04-29T11:59:00.000-07:00

Le Pecile is a centuries old chateaux that has been renovated in the last 5 years. It's grand without being in the grand designs category. It's comfortable with wonderful views from every window.

Its been raining a lot ,not a negative for Victorians, but its not cold. However the ground is waterlogged and a stream is flowing through the old barn where we tend our 3 sheep, 12 chooks, 2 cats and Batty the donkey. Anyone need eggs?

Meanwhile the house dogs turn their noses up at 'il pleut' and cuddle up on their couch in the kitchen.
The first half hour of the day is spent in our wellies tending to the animals. A walk down through a few oaks reveals many shades of green, something not familiar to south eastern Australians. There is new growth everywhere, a contrast after a severe winter. The roses are blooming and the vegie plots been planted.

Pyramid in the square

2009-04-28T03:18:00.000-07:00

Cafe Richelieu is on a balcony overlooking the main square in the Louvre. We had a coffee and a beer here.

Getting here - Settling in

2009-04-27T20:41:00.000-07:00

We always plan to "not do too much" when we travel, but the planning always goes astray.

Flights MEL - SIN - Paris were OK, but I wonder how Rod Marsh would go these days. A woman in front of us had great difficulty getting just 5 little bottes of wine (ten standard drinks) out of the hosties.

In Paris the first snag was we got lost. We were knocking on the door of house #7 instead of #7 bis. 7 bis means 'next door to 7' - all explained in the emailed instructions we had in our hands.

Once inside all was fine, welcoming hostess with lapsong souchong (smoky tea), great apartment with basket of goodies including a bottle of Cote de Brouilly. Video of Mon Oncle. A highlight was the visit to the Cemetary of Pere Lazaire where I met my old mate Balzac.

Weather was great. Site seeing included Notre Dame now cleaned of the black soot on its outer walls, Picasso Museum, Pantheon and Voltaires tomb, a small selection of the louvre, the cinema Francais museum including a special exhibition of Jacques Tati, parc Monceau for sandwich lunch with office workers and joggers doing the tan, Jacquemand-Andre Museum, stroll along the Seine at sunset watching the buildings light up etc.

Unfortuntely George Biron's recommended restaurant was having fermature exceptionelle for the week we were there, but we manged to get a reasonable feed or two elsewhere. Weather was just great mid 20's sunny, calm.

To Bordeaux via TGV with heavy luggage. Nice but compact hotel in the pedestrianised centre of the town. City quite beautiful. Three nice new tram lines. Plenty of small restaurants. A month-long fair of hams occupied one square. There were about 10 stalls with local producers of ham, wine and other products and about 60 stall selling assorted bic-a-brac. I managed a conversation in French with a Basque ham producer whose son was in Australie mining Uluru, at least that's what I think he said. Had a few very nice white wines here. I kept away from the reds, apparentlty they use Cabernet.

Saturday Anzac Day. Rain set in. We found ourselves at La Gare with half of Bordeaux's men getting on to a train to go Toulouse for a football game - soccer or rugby I didn't ask - they have Geelong colours. We had nice lunch at the railway cafe - ham steak with noodles and spinach. We had a quiet local stopping all stations train to Port-Sainte-Marie where we were picked up by Miles and Max and bought out to the chateau.