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!

4 Etoiles de Pau 2010

For the fourth year in succession I made my annual pilgrimage to the international 3 day event. This year I was only able to go to the dressage day on the Friday. I arrived in good time and parked my car in the usual place over the road from the event. It was so strange as there were so few people about, hard to believe that such a prestigious event was taking place nearby. The main road into Pau, which I had to cross, was extremely busy at that time of day but crossing it posed no problem as 2 gendarmes sprang into action as soon as they saw me and strode into the road to stop the traffic and let me cross. I did feel like giving a royal wave to everyone but managed to stop myself in time! Walking down the long drive to the main area I once again felt quite alone, hardly anyone else around. Once I got to the shopping area most of the stands were still closed but there were a few people around the dressage arena waiting for the first test to start. I watched the first few tests and then when there was a break I went and had a welcome cup of coffee and did some people watching, always a fascinating pastime at this event! I spent the rest of the day between the dressage arena and the practise area. I think that, of the two, I find the practise area more interesting as there are always several of the riders riding in there before their test. Lunch was a sandwich and a glass of wine and more people watching then I went back to the practise rings. At one point Willim Fox-Pitt walked past me and leant against the rails, only a few yards from me to watch on the big screen, Emily Baldwin doing her test. It was difficult to appear nonchalant at the proximity of such a great horseman but I did restrain myself and contented myself with sneaking glances at him from the corner of my eye! an hour r so later I found myself standing quite close to him again, this time he was geared up for his test and looking oh so smart. At the end of the day the Belgian rider Karin Donkers had the best score.
The event was won by the German rider, Andreas Dibowski with William Fox-Pitt taking second place and also holding on to the lead of the HSBC FEI Classics. The full results can be found on the following link.
http://www.event-pau.fr/
and many photos herehttp://picasaweb.google.com/drnmarsh951/Pau4EtoilesDressage2010#

Repas du troisieme age or old folks lunch!

We were invited to join in the 3rd age lunch this year, given by the commune and served in the village hall. The invitation said aperitifs at 12 noon and sit down at 12.30. From previous experience we know that nothing starts on time here but did think that by getting there at 12.30 we might not have to stand around for too long. When we arrived there were a lot of people there so we reckoned that we had timed it just right. Jean-Marc our neighbour was helping out with the bar so after saying hello to him we let him pour us an aperitif. Looking around the hall I did feel quite young! The venerable age of many of the people there seems to confirm the statement that people in SW France have a long life span. Several people came up and said hello to us, we still haven't got the hang or the confidence to do what we should do which is to go round the whole room and shake hands with everyone. Roland and Jeanne, our neighbours who used to produce Armagnac, arrived after we did and seemed to take forever going around and greeting everyone

By 1pm people were beginning to get seated and I asked Jeanne if we could sit with their little group as we didn't really know anyone else. She introduced us to a couple who live in the village and are from the Lille area.  Jeanne was the last to sit on our table and asked if we could move up one place as she didn''t want to be sitting next to Roland, her husband!! So I was next to Jeanne, then Nigel, then Roland and then the Lille couple. Nigel and Roland managed to have some conversation despite Nigel's basic knowledge of French and Roland's deafness. There were 3 very elderly ladies, well into their 80's, sitting opposite us and we learned that they had all been at school together until the age of 12. What a different life they have led, only at school until the age of 12 and never moving from the village. I suspect they have had very hard lives compared to mine.

Jeanne is my age and she told me that she was married at the age of 19 and that Roland is 11 years older than she is. I reckon that she too has had a hard life. Until their son Thierry took over the farm they grew vines and produced Armagnac as well as rearing capons. Jeanne still sells Armagnac at the weekly market in Grenade. When Thierry took over the farm he pulled out the vines and started producing beef cattle. Thierry is now about 40 and has never married so Jeanne and Roland aren't really retired as they need to help him out . I felt quite sad, talking to her, as I felt that she was not happy with her lot. Unlike many of the women in the village of her age she is vivacious and always dresses well. When I say that she dresses well I mean that she always looks up to date whereas many of the older ladies wear shapeless frocks and cardigans!

There was a trio of musicians, all three in their sixties, two accordionists and a guitarist and they were playing and singing until we were all seated and served with our first course. They had their meal and continued playing when coffee was served and until everyone left. Towards the end of the afternoon the mayor, Roland and another man from the village joined in with them as well.

The meal, as ever at village occasions, was substantial and there was a choice of red, rose and unusually white wine as well. We had soup followed by calves sweetbreads, duck (of course!!) salad and cheese, followed by a pear and chocolate dessert. We had never eaten calves sweetbreads before and Nigel was reluctant to try them but was persuaded to have a small portion. We were told that they were expensive and very good. I ate most of mine but can't say that I was over impressed with them and would certainly not select them from a menu if there was a choice.

After the pudding and before coffee was served I moved my chair down to the bottom of the table and had a chat with the couple from Lille (whose names I can't remember!)who were very pleasant and friendly. I got the feeling that they felt as much "foreigners" as we did being from the far North!! The mayor came round giving us all a drop of Armagnac to finish off the meal and we then said our goodbyes until the next time.

Vide Grenier in Castandet.

Most villages hold a vide grenier each year, they are a cross between a car boot sale and a jumble sale, and are held as a fund raising activity for the village. We usually go to one each week as it gives us an opportunity to see surrounding villages as well as the chance to look for bargains! They start at 8am - we are never there that early!- and continue until 5pm and quite often a cheap lunch is served which makes the whole day a social occasion as well as a commercial one.

This year we decided that we would have a table at the Castandet vide grenier and try and sell some of our valuable rubbish as well as supporting the village. In truth we had nothing of great note to sell and most of the stuff was in a box in the attic. We packed the car on Saturday evening and set off at 7.30am to get to the village hall and unpack before 8am. There were places available both in the village hall and outside in the car park but we had opted to be inside as a table was provided and of course in the case of rain we could protect our valuable wares! It didn't take us long to unpack the car and take our things in to the hall where Nigel starte to unpack the and I went to park the car.
When I got back to the hall Nigel had unpacked most of the items and the early birds who were hoping to find a valuable worm had started looking around. We made our first sale very quickly - a euros worth of books- and then we settled down for a long wait before our next sale. We were fascinated by the couple who had the next table to ours, he was a large man who was selling a plant based hangover remedy and some BBQ tongs. I remarked that we had seen him at a similar event the previous week so I suspect he sets up his stall each week. I hope that it isn't his full time job as his things weren't exactly flying off his stall! He demonstrated how good his BBQ tongs were by grabbing a sausage shaped piece of wood and  flipping it over. Quite how it would work if one wasn't so practised and was trying to manipulate a greasy sausage I am not sure. Many people must have had the same thoughts as we did as he didn't make many sales in fact, to our knowledge, he only made a couple of sales of the tongs and none of the hangover cure.

Our friend Helene had a couple of tables adjacent to ours and she was one of the last to arrive accommpanied of course by the dreaded Florian! Helene does several vide greniers over the season and has some quite nice stuff to sell so her stall looked much more impressive than ours did. Florian was quite well behaved for a start but, I suppose understandably, deteriorated as the day went on. He kept disappearing and Helene kept worrying about where he was and what he was doing. Later in the day the inevitable happened and he rushed in holding up his trouser leg to show us the cut on his leg. I felt like asking why he hadn't done it earlier, it would have saved us the suspense of waiting most of the day for it to happen! After Helene had rushed him off to bathe the leg he then went into miserable mode and curled up under the table sobbing and whining for quite some time.

The morning dragged by but we were quite happy watching the potential customers pass by with only a cursory glance at our rubbish before passing on to hear the unending spiel of the BBq tong man. He and his equally large partener had settled into conversation with another large couple at the opposite table thereby effectively blocking our way out. Each time one of the other of us wanted to move away we had to go through the routine of asking them to move and let us escape. We took turns at leaving our post and wandering around the other vendors to see if we could spot any bargains. At lunchtime Nigel went and joined the long queue for a sausage sandwich, the demand for which was high, as the sausage grillers were having a problem keeping up with the customers.

At 2pm more eager bargain hunters started arriving for the afternoon session. I was detemined to try and get rid of some of our stuff so I wrote a poster saying that everything on the stall was priced at 2euros, 1 euro or 50 cents. Despite this generous offer not a lot more was sold although we did get rid of a large table lamp, for 2 euros, which took up a lot of space in the attic. Nigel of course thought that I had sold it for far less than it's value but he had to admit that it had certainly seen better days. Nigel's attitude to selling is far different to when he is buying when he makes ridiculously low offers but he was soon to meet his nemesis! He had 3 old leather belts with attractive buckles which he had had for many years and didn't use any more. He had sold one in the morning and the other 2 were on sale for the princely sum of 2 euros each. In mid afternoon a young woman, early 30's, dark hair and flashing eyes, saw these belts and tried one on around her waist. It was obviously too big but she slid it down to fit around her hips and posed whilst gazing coquettishly at Nigel! Suddenly the hard sell attitude vanished and he was putty in her hands. They went through the "are you eenglish" routine and in a mixture of basic French and English went on to the bargaining phase. He soon reduced the price to 3 euros for the 2 belts and she then started the "looking for change" routine which went on for some time. She eventually managed to scrape together 2 euros 80 and, with a winning smile, said would that be enough and of course he said yes. Oh dear, a pretty girl, a bit of flirting and he was virtually giving them away!! Helene and I were in stitches watching the whole routine but she went away happy and Nigel was happy with the attention that she had bestowed upon him!

I believe that that was our last sale and as 5pm approached we packed up most of what we had unpacked in the morning and said our goodbyes to Helene and our neighbouring stall holders. It had been an entertaining day if not a profitable one. I think that in the end we made a profit of about 2 euros after we had paid 6euros for the privilige of being there plus the cost of the sausage sandwiches, coffee and wine.

Next week we shall be back to being prospective purchasers and Nigel will be  back in hard bargaining mode.

When Sue and Peter came to stay.

My friend Sue, who I have known since we started grammar school in 1954, and her husband Peter visited us for a week at the beginning of September. They live in a beautiful part of the UK in the Cheshire Peak District and I stayed with them for a couple of days last year. Although we don't see a lot of each other we have always kept in touch by phone, letter and now e mail. Whenever we meet up it is as if it has only been a few days since we last saw each other and there is always lots of chat and laughter.
They had visited us several years ago when we were at Carol and I was now keen to show them around this part of France.
 Theu flew out from Manchester to Bordeaux and caught the train down to Mont de Marsan where I met them on the Thursday evening. On Friday, after a lazy morning and lunch I took them up to the pretty little town of La Bastide d'Armagnac. It is a very old, picturesque little place and one of the highlights is a drink at one of the oldest bistros in France which is hidden away in one of the narrow little alleyways.
http://www.saint-justin.eu/saint-justin_b07.php
The bistro Tortore is run by Colette Tortore who is now 78 years old and has been there all her life. It was started by her grandfmother in 1885 and has been in the family ever since. Sadly there is no-one else in the family to continue the tradition as Colette has never married. Colette was very pleased to chat to us and to show us her albums of photos and newspaper cuttings.

Sue and I on the train to Marqueze.

On Saturday we all went (Nigel as well) to the museum of Landaise life.http://www.landes-tourisme.info/marqueze-ecomusee-de-la-grande-lande-1157-a.html  This park in the middle of the forest displays the life and traditions of the area. Access is by an old train from the village of Sabres a rather rickety ride of 10 minutes. There are a number of different old landaise houses which have been carefully dismantled and reassembled in the park and are furnished as they would have been over a century ago. It was easy to spend a lot of time wandering around and taking in all the history before we caught the train back to the station at Sabres where we then went into the pavilion where there is an extremely interesting permanent exhibition of life in les landes over the past couple of centuries.
On Sunday morning we all went to the vide grenier at the nearby village of le Vignau. There were a lot of stallholders both inside and outside and we all had a good time hunting for bargains. Back home for lunch and the Sue, Peter and I went to visit the chateau de Ravignan which is about 10 kms away
http://www.armagnac-ravignan.com/eng/presentation.html  There was only the 3 of us and one couple with a small child and our guide was very friendly and chatty. After the tour the others left and we were treated to a visit to the cellars, where hundreds of thousands of euros worth of Armagnac is stored, and then to a taste of the wonderful stuff!

After lunch in Eugenie.

On Monday we went into Grenade, I picked up my paper and we sat and had a coffee and watched the world go by before going on to Eugenie les Bains for lunch.
http://www.ville-eugenie-les-bains.fr/

In the gardens at Eugenie.

After lunch we walked around the gardens and gazed at the expensive and well known hotel, Les Pres d'Eugenie which is run by the celebrated chef Michel Guerard. We would have to win the lottery to stay or dine there! On the way back home we called in to have a look at the Rugby chapel in Larriviere, always a stop on my guided tours of the area!
The weather had been a bit too warm over the last few days but on Monday night we had some welcome rain which continued until lunchtime on Tuesday.  After a relaxing morning at home we went to have a look around Mont de Marsan and once again sit outside at the table of a cafe and have a drink and watch the world go by.
Wednesday dawned damp and cloudy but it wasn't a problem as we had planned to go over to Marciac, meet up with Kate and Peter and have lunch on La Peniche, the boat that is moored on the lake there. However, before we were able to leave we had a bit of a drama. We had noticed over a period of several days that we had one or two hornets, each day, crawling on the sitting room floor. Luckily they were quite dazed and easy to kill. We couldn't understand where they were getting in as the windows are double glazed and the ceiling is insulated. Peter happened to notice, on the Wednesday morning, that there were a lot of hornets flying around and going into the chimney. The chimney has a liner and it seemed that they were nesting between the liner and the chimney. The fire was set so Nigel lit it in an attempt to smoke them out. It wasn't wholly successful as several fell down on to the hearth and Nigel and Peter were kept busy swatting them. As the fire died down we left to go to Marciac in the hopes that the house wasn't full of hornets when we returned!
We arrived in Marciac in time for a quick look around the market before joining Kate and Peter at La Peniche where we had a good lunch with lots of chatting.When we arrived back home the hornets were still buzzing around the chimney and Nigel wanted to light the fire again but I thought that more serious measures were called for. I popped across the road to ask Alain what we should do. Apparently now the fire brigade doesn't generally deal with this sort of thing but he said that I should call them and stress that the hornets were in the house and that I am allergic to their stings. I came back home and called them and convinced them that it was a dire emergency so the controller said that she would send someone round. Two volunteer firemen, a male and a female, arrived in half an hour and took stock of the situation. The male half of the duo donned his protective suit and his partner zipped him into it. He then climbed up his ladder and spent quite some time squirting some noxious substance into the chimney as well as spraying any hornets that were trying to get back to their nest. Before he left he said that there was a possibility that they may return as he hadn't been able to get in the chimney to destroy the nest and that if they did return to call them again and they would come back. Thankfully we have seen no sign of them since.
Not quite the entertainment one wants to provide for one's guests!
Next day we were up and about early as Sue and Peter had to catch the 8am train to Bordeaux at the start of their journey back home.