Time flies

Early on in our stay here we met, and quickly became friends with a very nice couple called Pauline and Paul. They are from Perth and were staying in a cottage close by. Their cottage was the one that initially attracted Fran to Puy l'Eveque when she spotted it on the net. We enjoyed several apperitif evenings swapping travel stories and chatting. Unfortunately, though, they were only staying here for one month before moving on to another cottage further south which they did a few days after Gina and Phil left. We continue to enjoy sauntering around our village which appears to have picked up a bit more liveliness recently with new shops opening almost every day. One day whilst walking up the Grand Rue we heard a brass band playing in Place Mercadial (the old square). We stopped and had a drink and listened to them. They were a group of Dutch students on their first "international tour", having been booked to play at a local camping ground that services Dutch campers. But they wanted to play in a "city" and had chosen Puy l'Eveque. Their audience totalled eight - including us! But they were pretty good and put on an amusing show. We got talking to another couple there, Norah (Hungarian) and Benoit (French) who are currently staying in a nearby village before moving to Paris with work. We chatted in both French and English with some helpful hints on vocabulary and pronunciation both ways. They invited us over for an apperitif later this week, which we are looking forward to as it is our first social invitation from a local person.

We also managed another trip to Montauban to restock our gluten-free supplies, this time stopping to look at the sights of Montauban and yet another amazing cathedral. We had lunch in the main square (pictured above). En route chez nous (home) we stopped off at a swimming hole near Montcuq. The swimming hole is a dam about 300 metres long by about 100 metres wide, with an artificial sandy beach and large grassy areas shaded by big trees. Quite pleasant.

Further to our story about being sought out by the paparazzi, we can report that we have now graced the pages of La Depeche, a daily newspaper covering the Midi-Pyrenees region. However the caption for the photo says “Victor and Corinne standing behind some tourists”. Not quite the headlines we were hoping for as the article reports on the opening of Le Salon Gourmand and refers to us as mere tourists - rather than as inhabitants of the village. Here is a link to the article. Click on the link if you want to see it.

http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2009/06/21/627441-Puy-L-eveque-Un-salon-gourmand-d-ou-l-on-peut-tout-emporter.html

Our next visitors were Heather and Bill and their daughter Caitlin. They arrived after a long trip from Montpellier with some sightseeing along the way at the Millau Bridge (the highest vehicular bridge in the world) and Conques, another stopover for medieval pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The following day was a quiet one, spent showing them around our village and introducing them to the glaces at Victor’s Le Salon Gourmand for which we have developed a strong liking. We are sure that Victor will be very sorry to see Heather, Bill and Caitlin leave as, with them, we were steadily making our way through the various parfums (flavours) on his ice cream menu.

We spent a day canoeing and kayaking on the Lot river. Great fun, but quite hot and, as there is little flow in this river, we were pleased that we had opted for the 12km option rather than 18 km. The shorter trip meant that we had to disembark and carry the canoes past only one weir rather than two! Here is Heather, Caitlin and Bill on the river with a weir in the background. We didn’t swim along the way even though the canoe-man maintained that the river is fine for swimming and cleaner than the sea - hmm! Bill spotted a small snake swimming across the river, at which point Caitlin decided it was a good thing we hadn't stopped for a swim.

With Heather, Bill and Caitlin, we made another trip to see the cave paintings at Pech Merle and to visit St Cirq Lapopie. Along the way we had a picnic at a village called Vers, next to this lovely little stream where the local kids were taking a dip. The weather has turned very hot, with the hottest part of the day around 4 p.m. Mornings, though, are cool. We also enjoyed another meal at the Creperie, again on a beautiful night with the street lights replacing the fading sunlight as we looked across the river at the medieval buildings of Puy l'Eveque.

We have seen several hot air balloons above the river outside our house in both the morning and the evenings as there is virtually no breeze. In France they are called montgolfiers, and are namd after French brothers - Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier. Stories about how they made their discovery vary widely, but one of them is that whilst working in their father’s paper mill they observed how paper rose in the updraft of the chimney. They conducted experiments with silk bags, noting that by filling a large bag with hot air it would rise (source: Le Forty-Six No. 28). This photo was taken from our bedroom window at about 7:30 a.m.

Although we look out over the cale and the Lot river, our street (Rue des Cloutiers) is actually a very narrow one that runs along the side of our house and courtyard. It is only about 2 metres wide at its widest and about 50 metres long. Over the last 2 days two wooden doors have been installed at either end of our street. They look quite incongruous. As our house is the only one with an entrance from that street, we were intrigued and started to formulate all sorts of theories as to why the doors were put there …
1. They were going to use it to store the fireworks for the forthcoming Fete de l’Insolite (Festival of the Unusual) - fantastic!!
2, They were planning to lock the etrangers in, so they wouldn’t have to put up with our bad French and faux pas!
3. They have decided to extend our estate so that we could use the whole street - not sure for what purpose though, perhaps an extended washing line?

This morning as Heather, Bill and Caitlin were leaving, a local arrived and started some sign-writing on the gate that faces the river. It reads - La Rue des Reflets (The Street of Reflections). Apparently this weekend (La Fete de l’Insolite) there is to be a big spectacle on the cale outside our house, with street theatre, fireworks and a slideshow of historical images of the village from 1900. A meal will also be served, but we were told places are limited so we must act tres vite. Further conversation revealed that our street will have mirrors installed along it and those attending the festivities will pass along it to enter the event. We suspect the mirrors might be like those at Luna Park that distort your figure. As the organisers are hoping for 250 attendees - that’s a lot of traffic past our door and a lot of Bon Soirs as they pass our window. So we decided to attend the event as well and scampered to the Office de Tourisme (tres vite) and bought our tickets.