A Village life

We have now settled into our maison in the village of Puy l’Eveque, having now been here for 8 days. In the first few days we conducted a series of sorties around the village trying to get our bearings. This wasn’t as easy as you might expect since most of the town is built on the side of a fairly steep hill and we live right at the bottom, next to the river Lot. So whenever we want to go anywhere in the village it involves a hill climb. At first we were surprised that there seemed to be nobody around\but quickly realised that that is the norm for the middle of the day when most of the shops shut and the people go off for a siesta. Simply by walking around the streets you come across many interesting and unusual sights. There is a maze of rues, or little streets, leading from the waterfront (or cale) up to the Mairie (mayor’s office) at the top of the hill. So each time we go up to the top of the village we use a different route and keep encountering new vistas and quaint little narrow streets lined with old stone houses. Our house, viewed from behind, is in the centre of the picture below. It’s so wonderfully different to suburban Canberra.

On our first day of exploring there was a market in Puy l’Eveque, so we were up early. We purchased some sausage (after checking with the sausage lady that her sausages were gluten free), together with some fresh tomatoes, lettuce, eggs and a baguette. We were a bit surprised, however that, apart from the eggs, the prices were not particularly cheap. Initially, we were preoccupied with food - there isn’t an obvious grocer, butcher or supermarket in the main part of the town so we were wondering where we would get our supplies. Fran’s diet added to the challenge. Since then we have discovered that there is a supermarket here and an even better one in Prayssac, which is about 5km away, so now we know we won’t starve. And there is a boulangerie within 200 metres!

Freed from the worry of starvation, we have also been exploring the local region. One of our first trips was to Cahors which is quite a large town/city about 30 minutes away. We visited there on market day (there was some lingering doubt about starvation) and discovered a really vibrant market in the square in front of their cathedral. Here, there was a mass of fresh produce and other market goods and the prices were much better than at the Puy l’Eveque market. We did some shopping including fresh fruit and vegetables, sausage, ham and, of course, some fromage. We were also able to discover an internet café and publish our most recent blog entries. Fran had the name of a health food shop that reputedly had a good range of gluten free food so we asked Karen to take us there, which she did with perfunctory ease.

One of our biggest worries since we arrived in Puy l’Eveque was our inability to get access to the internet. This was such a pain because we knew we needed to be able to do some internet banking while we were away (read: Adrian had bought a new Netbook computer and could not justify the expense unless we could use it!) After about 4 days of trying and, with no help forthcoming from the owners of our maison, Fran rang Orange (our internet provider) and, in French, was able to explain our problem and negotiate a solution. Adrian was in total awe at her ability to do this in French - Elle est magnifique! So now that we have WiFi access to the internet we can post to our blog and send and receive emails (if only someone would send us some!), all from the comfort of our own sunroom, or sitting room, or courtyard (read: Adrian now feels relieved and justified about buying his Netbook computer).

On one of our walks we came across a garden snail clinging on to the side of the bridge, high above the Lot river - a most unexpected place for a snail. As Fran said - If you’re a snail in France, you need to find a good hiding spot if you don’t want to be eaten! It seems the Pompiers were searching for him though!

We have also visited some of the other small villages in the area. Inevitably, they have lots of honey-coloured stone houses and other buildings with an unaccountably large stone church with stained glass windows occupying the highest point in the town. And they all seem to date from around the 12th - 13th Century. This is Albas, one of these towns. We wandered past a petanque (or boules) championship here and, although it looked pretty low-key to us, they take it very seriously here. After the petanque, Sam and the Acoustiquaires were billed to entertain the teams and their supporters, but we didn’t stay around to hear them.

Fran still hadn‘t found any decent GF bread and was sick of not having a decent breakfast so, yesterday, we made a trip south to Montauban where she (again) knew, via the web, of a special shop that sold a good range of gluten-free food. It was a round trip of about 200 km but we came home with a boot full of GF goodies. Luckily, the town of Salvagnac was in the same general direction. This was where we had already booked to stay in a cottage and had paid the deposit, but the owners had to sell their own house and needed to move into “our” cottage, so the deal was cancelled. So we called in to see what we had missed out on. The owner, Jenny Gardiner, welcomed us in and showed us both of her cottages in the town. While the one we had selected was quite nice, it was much smaller than our current maison and so we are quite happy to have ended up here. While we were there her Jack Russell terrier, Rocky, took a dislike to the post lady, nipping at her heels, but not before she had delivered the mail. Jennifer rushed out saying Je suis desole Madame, C’est mieux si vous disez “Bonjour Rocky” (Sorry Madame, it’s better if you say Hello Rocky) - We reckon she’ll be lucky to get any more mail - What a hoot!

Fran is a bit disappointed that we still haven’t broken the ice with the locals, despite trying hard. So far we’ve attended Mass at the local church which dates from the13th century (but they didn’t show the sign of peace, so no excuse to be friendly) and in an effort to mix with the community, we attended a Cabaret Soiree for which we had seen posters around town. Expecting some sophisticated entertainment, we were somewhat surprised to discover it was actually a concert for kids who attended after school care centres in Puy l’Eveque and surrounding villages. It was pretty entertaining nevertheless with the programme including songs (some in English!), flamenco dancing and circus tricks (such as a juggler who juggled with just 2 balls). All acts were heartily applauded and the kids enjoyed themselves. At one stage the teachers led the audience in the French equivalent of the Macarina or Nutbush City Limits. We joined in.

But we have made a friend at Le Salon Gourmand which opened only a few days ago - we think we are their first repeat customers!

Au revoir.