October avec Papa

Dad rang, and much to my pleasant surprise said he was going to visit us again this year, this time without Shona, space wise this meant he could stay with us at the house. They had come in late April  and stayed at Cathe's  a few minutes down the road, and we had a very enjoyable time.

some beau fleurs from Suzanne at Trie marche for dad's arrival

We picked dad up on Monday 24th of October with fairly ominous clouds and thunderstorms towards Toulouse, on the horizon. Indeed a whole week before, we were told by Meteo it was not conducive to a sunny weeks holidays in the South-West France...but we are nearly into November, might have to take your chances.
Good timing from both of us, dad had just arrived with baggage in the hall and with a fast-ish exit to the car park we did not need to pay for the stay. Mark drove us home safely to Castelnau where dad was able to unwind and unpack, although the flights were at civilised hours travelling can take it out of anyone, no matter what age you are. We had organised some cold meats selected from the market on Saturday, with salad and cheese as i did not know what time we might get back from the airport. Propped up by beautiful cakes for desserts, Ali's cake making. That morning we had had coffee and cakes with Ali, Chris and the girls and knowing that dad was arriving she had given us a huge generous doggy bag to go home with!

Tuesday we had a relaxed day to acclimatise, i think dad was whacked, Mark went to do his bloods in Lannemezan and dad and i took Milou for a walk locally. A little chilly and a tad misty.

Wednesday morning was a choice between Montauban and Pau, Montauban is about fifty minutes further, a full day job so we settled on Pau. Good choice as although we have been to Pau on a couple of occasions it has otherwise been on airport runs and now the newly renovated chateau is open to all....Shame it was still misty but a tad warmer, because we would have spectacular views of the mountains from the ramparts. Anyway we arrived at the railway station not really knowing where it was, it turned out to be ideal as the old funicular railway was all of ten metres away and it took you to the top where the castle was. I have only been on one other in Barcelona, a cable railway for steep slopes, apparently there is one in Bournemouth? The architecture and Pau were not disappointing at all despite the still misty haze in the afternoon. The castle was beautiful and well worth a trip at seven euros an entry. Mark wanted to do his own guided tour, alas only guided by a knowledgeable lady in the know, but good for our french and even managed to pick up an interesting nugget or too...despite having most of it on an a4 sheet in front of us in English. The tour took around ninety minutes, it has been well preserved and there is plenty to see. If you are further interested in wall hangings or silk tapestries these are probably the best i have ever seen. For further information, one of many, on this beautiful place see the link some brief facts about the chateau

surrounds of Pau near to the castle

magnificent church

need to explore more....great architecture

inner courtyard of the chateau

Thursday morning, still a bit grimy, Milou and i walked with Taj and Jan  as they could not make our usual walk and talk on a Friday. The afternoon significantly cheered up for our walk around Puydarrieux in search of bird life and of course the Grus, five o'clock seemed to be optimal landing time.

By Friday the weather was really starting to improve, i am saying this for dads sake of course, no one wants to come on holiday and the weather to be miserable for your entire stay. We went to the market in Seissan for a change and bumped into a few familiar subjects. Bought some olives, tresses of garlic and a few other bits and bobs and so did dad. On the way back we walked Milou in Masseube in the park by the river. Tonight we are all invited to join Chris Cook and Tony and Penny Clark for supper at Chris's. Nice meal convivial company, Chris had gone to a lot of effort to cook for the six of us.

Saturday, being a creature of habits i needed some of my own market kicks so i took dad around ours and introduced and re-introduced him to some familiar faces. We had an afternoon stroll with Milou up on the ridge, weather is sunny and warm now. Saturday evening Mark and I were invited to a b'day bash, dad was invited too, but i think tired from being dragged around the market by his ear he declined in favour of looking after les chats et la chienne?! We had a nice time new people, came home fairly late.

Dad said perhaps we should go out for a meal today, where to we thinks, there are quite a few really good restaurants around here....but A) you have to know them and B) with anything rural you just might have to travel a bit further and under your own steam. A fair few were shut having a week of, school holidays or recovering from the summer. However we did manage to book L'Embrun in Lannemezan, for lunch, wow how is it that we have never discovered this one before, absolutely amazing a real gem and right on our doorstep. Dad said it was one of the best meals he had had in sometime, something of a winner i would say. Later on we could only manage a very small cheeseboard! lovely meal

anticipation....

more anticipation...

mise en bouche

superb....how to poach an egg but that's the chefs story!

roulade de pintarde, sublime!

chestnut  souffle

Monday the weather continued to be beau, twenty three degrees, we all decided great for an end of year picnic. So we packed us up and some food and headed for Bagneres for picnic and drawing, but ended up stopping in Mauvezin at our fave spot in front of the castle taking in the sunshine and the magnificent scenery, really is pretty. Left dad to draw the castle while we took Milou for a walk, then we all had our picnic lunch. After that we moved to one our other favourite spots the little chapel in front of the Baronnies just before Bagneres for a final draw! dad packed, not sure how he is going to pack all the coffee in!

first jerusalem artichokes from the garden, love them

On my own i did a nice sunset walk with Milou, up over the mound, beau views from the top, just a thirty minute circuit to watch the sun go down, it was just such a beautiful day.

memorial to the french lost on the war

stunning views and sunset

Tuesday, Sadly, dad's final day of the stay having packed and ready for the off we did a walk along what we call the ridge from Larroque it is till quite high up with views of Castelnau and the lake. After a quick lunch it was off to the airport, dropping dad at three, having waved him off he rang at 7.50, 8.50 our time to a cold wet uk and one very pleased cat!

Marc, dad and Milou for a last photo call of the holiday

dad and Marc walking the ridge

Mrs P's pickled walnuts

Pick a walnut tree. Here's mine on the edge of one of our favourite spring walks

A very quaint and apparently quintessential  English tradition  is to pickle walnuts. As the trees here are abundant and in some case abandoned it seemed rude not to give it a try. Last year i missed it as there is a very precise couple of weeks, even days when you can take the nuts. The reason being is that you are pickling the whole nut, the would be shell as well. You need to take them off the tree before the shell inside the green layer has started to form the outer layer is what splits eventually to leave the hard brown shell on the inside. 

Traditionally i am told that the day of summer Solstice is the right day for picking, but i am sure that will vary depending on where you are...we were a couple of days off the Solstice but perfect timing. You can cut one in half to tell, if there is and kind of shell that has just decided to form below the green hull...you are sadly too late.

Use gloves whilst preparing otherwise you will have stained hands for a week. I think i might like to try a tie dye with these nuts next Spring? pretty earthy browns.

This is a recipe, along with a few other wild from the field recipes, an excellent website for hunters gatherers.
http://www.thefield.co.uk/food/recipes/how-to-pickle-walnuts-22906

freshly picked fruit, three days after solstice, 23rd I think...the longest day of the summer

How to pickle walnuts

Ingredients for 2kg pickled walnuts

• 225g salt
• 1 litre malt vinegar (I have not been able to find malt vinegar in France but cider vinegar is just as good, i am reliably told on the web, so that is what i used)
• 500g brown sugar
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp cloves
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger

1. Prick the walnuts with a fork and cover with water and the salt.
2. Leave for a week, then drain and renew with a fresh brine solution for another week.
3. Drain the walnuts and lay out on trays in a dry, airy place. After a few days they will have turned black.
4. Combine the remaining ingredients in a saucepan. Bring them to the boil, add the walnuts and simmer for 15 minutes. Cool and spoon the nuts into large jars and cover with the liquid. They should last for years.

Note: Harvest the matured nuts when the protective green hull containing the brown nut splits end of September to the end of October/November.

Brine them in salt for two weeks, the split walnut shows that the shell has not yet formed

There is very little shrinkage, so according to the recipe and the amount...make sure you have
 the requisite sterilised jars

please note that there was a lot of cheese harmed during making this blog entry.

a beautiful goats cheese from our saturday market

Tour de Castelnau Magnoac

Last month, the tour de Castelnau Magnoac or rather le Tour de France 2016 what a coo, after ten years (allegedly) is passing through our village! There are maps in the mairie showing the various legs of the tour and when it will be due here! Apparently smaller villages bid against each other for the publicite and the action to arrive in their town, even though some of the beginning and end points are roughly the same each year the route can vary inbetween. We were excited having never seen it before other than on the tele, and despite the slightly negative comments from a few, re stand for a several hours and in three seconds it's all over, were really looking forward to it.

They started with the flags tents and razzmatazz obviously a couple of days earlier....but at nine am the town was buzzing and it felt like a big party despite the fact they were not due until about twelve-thirty.

flags in place, now set up a few stalls

We were strategically placed on the roundabout where they would fly by on route to the next village, Puntous and then Trie. What we did not realise was that the so called caravan that arrives two hours before the tour is a promotional cavalcade, desperate not to miss it and on a majorly hot scorching day, we were perched on our roundabout camera poised in midday sun and hour before the caravan arrived. When the whole caravan thundered by it was more like twenty- five minutes of fun-filled carnival. The street was rocking every vehicle that came by was chucking promotional items for kids and adults alike. From biros, caps, shirts things to eat, key rings and fobs umbrellas and shades. The caravan thundered through to a musical beat. Modelled from the innovative to the slightly grotesque. A car shaped like a giant madeleine springs to mind , giant rolling tyres, endless cars with something to advertise, but all good fun.

 In between the sports minister for France jumps out of the car for a friendly chin-wag with our mairie and one of our local cyclists who does big distances at the weekend jumps in a posh car with a glass of champers and is whisked away ...what is that about?

 

then there is Lenny the lion not sure what he was advertising, but with our church roof in the background  an interesting backdrop 

now we know what they are advertising and the prelude for the run through

these two dudes turned up in the middle of the caravan, grabbed champagne as you do...ex tour?

Nearly two hours after the caravan, we were told they are not far away, the excitement is immense. Having gathered all our widgets, eaten the freebies a cavalcade of motorcyclists, gendarmerie first and then these guys second, you could hear the noise all the way up the hill from Boulogne sur le Gesse!

here they come!!! 

wow raced through...but that was just the top twelve-ish,  Chris Frome is in the pack....

.....much more too come as the second band raced through

much later chilled on our own terrace with salad and rose

A really thrilling spectacle, i would do it again. Note to ones self do not stand in thirty-five degrees with no hat no water, no food, no purse, no sunscreen for five hours...frightened to miss those oh so vital three seconds even though a very tiny walk to the house.

nouveau pour 2016

Darcie green eyes, always looking on

Where has the time gone i ask myself for the umpteenth time...the time has ripped by and no posts for a year. So i will do an extremely brief precis of what has happened since my last post

Well where do i start, a year has gone by since my last may entry in 2015. In April 2015 we had battering storms that did a lot of damage to towns and houses in south west France, quite horrific damage to some including entire roofs being ripped off, lots of heartache and insurance claims. On the upside we had gentler weather throughout the main winter months and no real frost or cold significantly, until mid February the following year and then a mildish bout! Spring was beautiful here as indeed in lots of places, new promise, plants new smells and new colours and for those of us that like it...yes a little more warmth too. Milou has been shorn for the summer and Darcie did not recognise her, hackles, spits and all, very funny. Milou, Mark and I are still keeping up with our walking companions, doggy wise, and still loving the lac

We had a lovely hot but slightly wet summer. Lots of vide greniers , some gardening work for both of us, a couple we met by chance at a casual restaurant. Whom we both helped, in the garden lovely people and an entrancing garden.

My very better half turned ** early September.

Castelnau ripped in September with another beatlovs Beatles tribute band, shame it is not happening this year, danced all night, good memories and great company.

In October we had my brother and family out for the very first time, for a week and had a great time showing them the area we love so much.

Mark and Joel putting the world to rights? Notre- dame de Garaison

Mark and Anna tying laces and ready for the off?

We are already off, off to the Gorges de Save

Milou has decided on a pose between Beccy and Mark? 

My bro Mark and my lovely niece halfway up a mountain...marks changing his lens cap as one does

Valcabrere, a Unesco site on the outskirts of St Bertrand

group shot outside Cathes beautiful place, where they all stayed

St Bertrand and a trail of beau sheep, all to the sound of tinkling bells

the sun going down, leaving just a striking silhouette of a day

lovely mountain climb...not even to scary for me

Loved catching up with them and spending some time with all of them...due to both circumstances we have not really had the freedom to do...so that made it extra special x

Quiet Christmas , just me and M and our lovely furry family

All new experiences this year some brilliant and some not so good...having to find our way through the french tax system again, new sets of papers was testing and extremely taxing to say the least even with a very patient and calm french speaking friend around. However on the bright side we may be able to follow his lead for future stuff.

We are still enjoying our life and our family and all that our lovely area has to offer, it is still awesome and we are still discovering new and old landscapes.

Tonight I am going to see the fireworks in Castelnau, tomorrow is Bastille day bringing us almost to a current date in the Pyrenees!

Excitement buzzes the tour de France is coming through Castelnau for the second time in ten years, major coo.....