Visit to a cider house in Spanish Basque country.

On Saturday the 5th November we went on a trip from Castandet to the Spanish Basque country. The trip was organised by the village fair committee and some of the cost of the day was underwritten by them. The weather was far from promising, pouring rain, but undaunted we arrived at the mairie at 8pm prompt. There didn't seem to be too many people there and on asking I found out they only 15 people were expected. A great shame that there wasn't more support from local people. We only knew one other person, Bernard a neighbour of ours, but by the end of the day we were all great friends! The coach didn't arrive until 8.15 so it was about 8.30 by the time we left. We stopped at Soubrosse to pick up supplies from a boulangerie and then about 10.30 we stopped, at a motorway service area, for breakfast. Due to the rain we had to take cover in the toilet area but that didn't spoil the enjoyment of the somewhat sumptuous snack that was provided. A good array of fresh baquettes, pate, pain au raisins, pains au chocolat and apple turnovers. As well as hot coffee from flasks there was also a choice of red or rose wine. A bit early in the day but what the hell, when in France!! I made a couple of trips to the coach with coffee and patisserie for the lady who was sitting near us as she was rather incapacitated due to a knee operation.

An hour or so later we set off again and were soon driving past Bayonne and to the Spanish border. Once over the border we stopped at one of the many supermarkets to give people the chance to shop. At one time a lot of things were cheaper in Spanish supermarkets but now it seems that apart from tobacco and some alcohol there is not much price difference. We bought a couple of bottles of sherry as that doesn't seem to be sold here and a bottle of port. We were soon back at the coach as we had been told that we wouldn't be stopping for long. However it was about another hour before the rest of the party made their way back to the coach after, it seemed, spending time in the bar!
Finally we were on the last leg to the cider house of Aginaga where we arrived shortly before 2pm. These Basque cider houses seem to be popular tourist attractions in both Spanish and French Basque regions. We entered a huge hall, at one side of the entry was a bar and at the other a huge open fire and piles of beef ribs. Opposite, on the far wall, were barrels of cider and wine set into the wall. In  between were rows of trestle tables some already occupied . We were offered one then another aperitif so became resigned to the fact that we may be the last ones to start eating. The wine and cider in the barrels was available freely so I did try a drop of the cider but was not very impressed with it. Being aware of the fact that the wine would be flowing during the meal I thought it best not to mix my drinks!
By now we were all in a very jolly mood and we finally sat down to the mammoth meal. Jugs of wine, red and rose, were filled (and refilled) and set on the table. The first course was a local dish of omelette of salt cod. It doesn't sound very appetising but was in fact very acceptable although that could have been due to the fact that I was starving! Next we had fresh cod with grilled peppers. Then the piece de resistance a huge beef rib cooked over the open fire. It's a long time since I have tasted such good beef, cooked just right as well. Second helpings were brought and I couldn't resist them! Then a dish of dressed green salad with onions and to finish cheese and quince paste.
As we had been pretty late eating it was now going on for 6pm and our coach driver was keen to leave. We had no sooner pulled out of the car park than the singing started! Thankfuly most of them were at the back of the coach as although it was very jolly it was far from being tuneful Occasionally one of the younger ones came down to the front to serenade us and at one point one of them got down on his knees and begged me to sing something in English. Those of you who know me will know that I am completely tone deaf but my protestations fell on stony ground and eventually I gave in. A spirited rendidtion of Rock around the Clock followed by God Save the Queen soon stopped any further requests and we were left in relative peace for the rest of the journey home!
It certainly was a day to remember and a meal to remember and we made lots of new bosom pals!

Rambo. 1999-2011

I think that Rambo came to stay with us in 2001. He had been born at Bidau a neighbouring property belonging to Gilbert and Francoise. They always seemed to have a "pack" of dogs of varying breeds and sizes. In the summer of 2000 Gilbert and Francoise left to spend most of the year in Corsica where Francoise had a job and they introduced us to Sylvain and Annie who were going to stay at Bidau to look after the property and the animals. Gilbert and Francoise returned for the school holidays and the two couples soon fell out and the arrangement fell through. As Sylvain and Annie had nowhere to live we offered them space on our land to put a caravan until they were able to find somewhere more permanent. Rambo came with them much, I think, to Gilbert's distress as he always claimed that he was his favourite dog. As Gilbert's idea of caring for animals left much to be desired I believe that Rambo had a lucky escape!
Sylvain and Annie were with us for 6 months until they found jobs and accomodation in the Dordogne but they were unable to take Rambo with them. At that time we had Titi and Luna and were not intending to take on any other dogs but knowing that Rambo was such a nice, well behaved chap we offered to have him.
He was quite a big dog of mixed breeding, his mother looked like a black labrador and his father was unknown but we suspect that he had some Beauceron blood in him as he displayed many facets of that breed. As he had always lived out of doors we made a bed for him in the old house next to our house and he soon made that his home.. He got on well with Luna and put up with Titi! Although he could have wandered off he never showed any desire to leave the immediate area of the house. He enjoyed  walks, with us,through our fields and  up into our woods but never had the desire to go off on his own. He became a firm favourite with all our visitors and would leap over the gate onto the track if he heard a car coming down from the road.
Eventually Titi died and Luna and Rambo became firm friends. In 2007 both Rambo and Luna made the move to Castandet with us leaving behind the freedom of our 20 hectares of Ariege. Thankfully they both settled well in their new home and Rambo finally became a "house" dog. Strangely, as he had never been in a house before, he soon made his favourite resting place at the top of the stairs leading up to our attic. The garden here is not fenced but is bounded by hedges and Luna, our resident escapologist, soon discovered places where she could squeeze through and Rambo, of course, followed. Luckily this didn't happen too often but they did both get in the habit of going up our paddock, at the back of the house, nipping over the bank to our neighbours and paying them a visit. Thankfully Jeanne and Christel were only too happy to see them and give them a titbit beofre sending them back home.Sadly Luna became diagnosed with diabetes in 2008 and in 2009 it was time to say goodbye to her and bury her in the garden.
Rambo now became top dog and soon became an international traveller too as we took him to Devon for Christmas 2009. He travelled well and seemed unconcerned at being left in the car for the ferry crossing. At Steve and Sasa's he soon became firm friends with their dog Scout, a female Springer spaniel, and enjoyed many walks around the fields. Scout was much too fast for him and he soon gave up trying to keep up with her though.
Then he was back again to Devon for Christmas 2010 and also for another couple of months whilst we went to New Zealand. My friend Titch had kindly offered to look after him for the duration. Once again he travelled well and was thrilled, when we arrived at Titch's to find the ground covered in thick snow in which he revelled in rolling. He apparently had a good stay there having a long walk with Titch each morning and on days when she was out he was walked by her neighbour, Amanda, who fell in love with him. Amanda took him to a dog show where he scooped 3 prizes, Best Veteran, Most Handsome and Judge's Favourite. We were happy to find him looking so fit and well when we returned at the end of March. We had a few days with Steve and Sasa and Rambo resumed his friendship with Scout.
Back home Rambo soon resumed his morning visits to Jeanne and Christel who were thrilled to see him safely back home. We went to Ariege at the beginning of August for a few days, to stay with Martin and Meike. Rambo had an uneasy relationshiip with their dog, Chai. At their first meeting a couple of years previously they had had a fight disputing who was going to lie in front of the house door. It seemed that Rambo won as he claimed that position and ever afterwards they kept their distance and Chai seemed to know that when Rambo arrived he had to give up his place. All was well for a couple of days but on the Saturday night, on the day before we were due to leave, Rambo didn't eat his evening meal. By Sunday morning he was very quiet and we were concerned about him wondering if it was perhaps tick fever (piroplasmosis). We called at friends, Kate and Peter's, for lunch on the way back and Rambo did eat a little left over steak but was definitely not himself.
I rang the vet on Monday morning and took Rambo in first thing. A quick check allayed my fears re the tick fever and the vet could not find anything specifically wrong but took a sample of blood. We called at the vet in the evening, on the way to see friends, and he gave us the bad news that Rambo's kidneys were failing and were only working at 20% efficiency. By Tuesday morning it was obvious that he was a very sick dog and after phoning the vet there was only one solution. I had to take him in for his final visit on the Tuesday afternoon and the hours in between seemed intereminable as Rambo laid beside me. His eyes looked so sad and he didn't want to move. Finally the time came and he got in the car for his last trip. I stayed with him until the end, heartbreaaking but the right thing to do to allay any further suffering and I said goodbye to him for the last time. Once again one of our dogs has had to leave us, it is always a heartrending situation

Trip to Provence June 2010.

We went over to Aix en Provence last year to visit Nadou and her mother Yvette and promised to go back again this year. It's a fair drive from here so this year I decided to go on my own and let the train take the strain. Nigel took me to the station at Mont de Marsan , on the 24th June and I caught the 8.05 train to Bordeaux. I then caught the 10.08 train to Marseille. I really enjoyed the journey, my seat was reserved and I settled down, earphones plugged in, to listen to my music and watch the landscape pass by as we travelled ,non stop, to Toulouse. We sped by the vineyards of Bordeaux and soon we were travelling through Lot et Garonne towards Agen. The vines gave way to swathes of sunflowers, about to come into flower, maize and orchards. At times the train ran alongside the canal du midi and the river Garonne and two hours after leaving Bordeaux we were stopping in Toulouse. After a short stop there the train continued towards Carcassonne running through le lauragais a fertile area with fields of corn and sunflowers. To the west we could see the foothills of the Eastern Pyrennees and to the East the Montagnes noir (Black Mountains). There was no stop at Carcassonne but as the train slowed down a little to pass through the town we could see the famous Cite of Carcassonne high above the town. I had eaten my picnic lunch between Toulouse and Carcassonne and was pleased when the buffet trolley came through and I was able to buy an excellent cup of coffee.Looking at the passing countryside as we continue our journey through the region of Corbieres, a hilly, limestone area famous for it's wines, we are aware that we are now entering the area of the mediterranean climate. The vegetation is sparse and less verdant and the tall cypress trees are dotting the countryside, olive trees are growing on the hillsides and the swathes of corn, maize and sunflowers are left behind us. As we reach Narbonne the train turns eastwards and we are running parallel to the sea, on through Beziers towards Sete where the train runs by the sea on one side and the Etang de Thau on the other until we reach our next stop at Montpellier. There are no more scheduled stops now before we reach Marseille so once the train is rolling again it feels as if we are on the last lap although it will be at least another couple of hours before we reach our destination. We pass through Nimes and there are occasional glimpses in the fields of the famous white horses of the Camargue as well as the equally famous black bulls of the region. There is a fair wind blowing down the valley of the Rhone and the wind turbines are turning, the hedges of bamboo surrounding and protecting the small plots of vines are blowing. We go on towards Arles and yes we do see some fields of van Gogh's famous sunflowers before we pass over the river Rhone. The train slows down to pass through Arles but, surprisingly, then comes to a halt. We are informed that there is a blockage on the line ,that the firemen are clearing the line and we must expect a delay of an hour. We decant onto the platform to stretch our legs and soon realise, now that we are out of our air-conditioned train, how hot it is. There is much consternation amongst my fellow passengers and most have their mobile phones out to alert friends and relatives of the delay. I don't think it worthwhile to call Nadou as I shoud have had  an hour and a half in Marseille before my connection so decide to wait a while and see how things go. The hour passes quickly as I sit in the shade reading my book and an hour later the train sets off again. I calculate that I will have half an hour to spare when we get to Marseille so decide that there is no point in calling Nadou. As it turned out this was an error as although the blockage on the line had been cleared the train was running much more slowly. I try to call Nadou to warn her that I may not be able to make the connection but there is no signal for my mobile. The train seems to go slower and slower and by the time we reach Marseille, 5.30pm, we are an hour and three-quarters  late. My connection has gone and I find that the next one leaves in 50 minutes. My phone keeps beeping as it receives messages from Nadou and I am finally able to get through to her and tell her the time of arrival of my train. The station is busy with people rushing around but I manage to find out which platform my train will leave from and settle down to wait once again. This train is the TGV which goes from Nice to Lyon and I only have a 10 minute journey before finally arriving at Aix -en-Provence TGV station. The station is relatively new, huge and of a very modern design. I soon find Nadou and we hop into her car for the 20 minute drive to her place.

It's good to see Nadou and Yvette again as well as the 2 dogs, Huska and Tommy. Yvette suffered a stroke a couple of years ago and is partially paralysed. The nurses come in the mornings to wash, dress and  put Yvette into her wheelchair but she is usually wanting to go back to bed after a couple of hours. She then normally stays in bed after that but whilst I was there we got her out again each evening so that we could all eat together. Speaking of eating, Nadou rarely eats anything until the evening meal which is usually about 9pm, I do tell her off but she insists that she is not hungry until then!

On Saturday afternoon we went down to Plan de Campagne which is the largest commercial centre in France and only 5 minutes drive from Nadou's. Nadou wanted to buy an mp3 player which she can use when she walks the dogs and hopes that I will be able to show her how to use. Once that was purchased she also decided to buy an espresso coffee maker which, after a long chat with the saleslady and a free cup of espresso, she bought. We then sat and had a chat and a beer before doing some food shopping and  returning  home. We took the dogs for a walk in the garrigue, typical provencal scrubland,where they could have a good run. It was hot and there was a wonderful smell of rosemary and thyme.Although Nadou is so close to the big shopping area she is also only a 5 minute walk from a large expanse of garrigue.We put the mps player on charge and I showed her how to transfer music files onto it before preparing the meal.

I didn't go out on Sunday or Monday. It was too hot for me to go with Nadou whilst she walked the dogs and I was only too happy to stay at home and be there when the evening nurse arrived. The mp3 player didn't charge so we decided that it would have to go back to Darty, the shop where we bought it. Nadou said that there was no point going on Sunday as it would be too busy and that on Monday Darty would be closed. We spent quite a lot of time on her laptop as she needs quite a lot of help in learning how to use it. In between helping her with that and Yvette I relaxed in the garden and read my book. We get on very well together and I feel quite at home whilst I am there.

Tuesday was a big day! Jerome, Nadou's nephew was coming, to look after his grandmother, and Nadou and I were driving over to Boulbon, south west of Avignon, to visit her cousin Gerard. We left about 11am and drove up the motorway to Chateaurenard and then a short distance across country to Barbontane. We stopped in Barbontane to have a look around before sitting on the terrace of the Cafe Henry. I had a beer and a sandwich, Nadou had just a beer insisting that she wasn't hungry! As well as visiting her cousin we were also to meet up at some point with Guy, an old friend of hers, who was on the first stage of cycling the route de Compostella and was to spend the night at the Abbe de Frigoulet. First stop though was the mas des Buisses where Gerard rears and trains Portuguese and Spanish horses. Nadou asked me to drive and also told me that it had been 10 years since she last visited the farm and wasn't sure how to get there! We drove into Boulbon, the nearest village and asked directions and set off once again. We did find the right road but drove past the turning before retracing our steps and finding the mas.

This was to be such a special afternoon for me as Gerard breeds and trains Lusitano (Portuguese) and Andalucian (Spanish) horses.  Gerard who is now 61 used to be a "rejoneador", that means that he used to fight bulls from horseback. His daughter Patricia ,who is now in her early 30's and has a baby daughter, used to do the same until a few years ago..http://mokelumneriverranch.com/PATRICIA.html Patricia now does displays of horsemanship at local fetes and works with a professional dancer. Patricia rides her horse, Harmonio, withoout saddle and bridle and Harmonio "dances" in partnership with the dancer on the ground. When we arrived Patricia was just returning to work with the horses after lunch. We were lucky enough to be able to see her rehearsing this years display, "Tangalo" where she and Harmonio "dance" the tango. It was amazing to watch her and Harmonio performing complex movements, such an understanding between horse and rider.Slowly the yard filled up with people and Gerard arrived too. We were able to watch Gerard working a young Portuguese stallion and also watch him instruct a young rider. They have an indoor school, an outoor school and an arena so there is plenty of space for them all.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPTcB13rqMA One of the large fields was full of brood mares and youngstock and another large field full of older horses including a 30 year old horse, now retired, who was one of Gerards mounts in the bullfighting.
After a couple of hours we left for a short time to meet up with Nadou's friend Guy and to have a look around the Abbe de Frigoulet. Then back to the mas to watch more amazing horsemanship and to "talk" to the many horses in the stable yard. We sat in the shade by the house for a while with a cold drink and admiring Patricia's daughter Lis, 11 months old, who was being cared for by Mireille her grandma. Mireille then put Lis in her pushchair and we walked around the stableyard with them. It looks as if Lis will also be a horsewoman as even at such a young age she seems to love the horses and loves being held on their backs. All too soon it was time to leave and  to make our way back "home".
I drove back and it was almost 9pm when we got back. Jerome stayed for a meal so by the time I went to bed it was turned midnight. A truly wonderful day that I shall remember for a very long time.

Next day, we took the mp3 player back to Darty and got it exchanged.Nadou had also decided that it was time to buy a digital camera so I helped her choose one. She has a very nice Olympus SLR camera but by the time she has bought a film and then had it developed it has become an expensive item. Hopefully she will get used to using the digital camera and will have a lot of fun with it. Back home we set the mp3 player to charge (it did!!) and I gave her a "lesson" on how to use her new camera.Yvette called me into her room and told me that she didn't want me to leave. I felt so sad but told her that I would be back next year.Nadou took out the dogs and I watered the garden and then I prepared the evening meal - mushroom risotto-. I'm pleased to say that they both enjoyed the risotto and Nadou even had two helpings!

We had to be up early on Thursday morning as my train to Marseille left Aix TVG at 8.05am. I said goodbye to Yvette and gave her a big hug, goodbye to the dogs and then Nadou took me to the station where I arrived in good time and found, thankfully, that my train was on time. Time enough in the station at Marseille to have a cup of coffee before boarding the train back to Bordeaux. It was another enjoyable trip, this time watching the mediterranean scenery give way to the more verdant scenery of the midi-Pyrenees and then Aquitaine. I had a wait of just over 2 hours at Bordeaux but I settled at a table at one of the many cafes by the station sipping my beer and reading my book and the time soon passed by. N was waiting for me when I finally reached the end of my journey, at Mont de Marsan, at 7pm. He asked what I wanted to do and I said that I wanted to go to the cafeteria at Leclerc and have some chips! After a week of no potatoes and a lot of lettuce I really wanted a bit of carbohydrate!