Bonjour..... it took ages to stop saying it when we left france for Spain and Portugal and to change to Hola & Ola .........but now its time to pick it up again, ..... that, together with the other dozen French words , I know fluently ! We are on the road again (motorway) after two lovely nights in Saint Gery. As we are on the motorway again, and now back in france, I thought I would update you on the WC situation ........France has exceeded all expectations with aire de repos -rest stops that are very well signed , and with clean and automatically sanitized WC s , rubbish and recycle bins, shady trees and picnic tables and our last one even had a flower garden and some relaxing chairs to sit in and watch ....the ......World go by. AMAZING.......so no more whinging about the loos whilst taking the motorways. In St Gery we have been staying with our good friends Valerie & Olivier and their family.Their home is just a few houses down the main street ( Rue Principal ) through St Gery from where we were living last month. Their original dwelling was 200 years old and they have their pharmacy shop on street level and live above in a beautifully comtemparily renovated and extended stone building . The blend of old and new , including furniture and fixtures like windows, door entrances , staircase and fireplace mantels is truly beautiful .And the new, modern , functional ,slick kitchen has got it all , plus some. Valerie ( and sometimes Olivier) is an accomplished cook of all things and uses well, what is grown in her own , plus her friends , home gardens . So the fruit and vegetables are in abundance at times and non existence at others. Hence, she cooks to the season and then preserves the excess as jams , chutneys and preserves or as ,just cooked fruit and vegetables in preserving jars. This means in the long, very cold winter ( relative to Aus ) there are homemade produce to cook up warming winter fare. All these words make Valerie sound grandmotherly and old.......not so , she is a young (5 less than me !) Vibrant , thoroughly modern very active working mother of three kids The youngest (Adrian) is just 12 and attends secondary school in the next big town ( he started back today after their big vacation , like our Xmas break ), Valentin 19 who just finished secondary school , and for the previous 3 weeks , is busy studying the equivalent to our GAMSAT to earn the right to study medicine or pharmacy . For this his parents have set him in a flat in Limoges (2 hours away) so he can attend lessons until his exams in January and May 2015. Of the 1200 who commence this application process ,only 120 will get a place ! Adele 21, has just commenced her 4th year of law study at Cahors University (30 mins away ). It has been great to return to St Gery,this lovely French village and its wonderful people. Over dinner Saturday night and a long, late lunch yesterday with all the family it has been interesting to discuss the differences and similarities in our two counrties. With such topics as education , the study of languages , politics, ( their President is sorely embarrassed atm , a bit like the Yank blue dress affair ), the wars ( WWI, WWII , Vietnam, Korean, Algeria ), weather ( always safe but changing like in Aus ) , food of course and lastly VINO. Olivier knows his wine and has introduced us to some good local drops.To be honest we have not had a bad bottle thus far, and to choose at the intermarche ( supermarket) we just go on price €5 ish, for me a nice label and then eeny, meeny, miny mo ! We enjoyed a lovely French BBQ on Sunday arvo, that Valerie prepared but was expertly cooked by Olivier , just like at home .Snags ( chorizo, and Pork Toulouse ) and a great mix of home grown Mediterranean vegs, and a salad of the sweetest homegrown tomatoes with olive oil and salt and pepper. Nothing else was needed with the toms except the rustic St Gery bread and to follow a selection of local cheeses I bought at the St Gery market with Valerie earlier in the morning.Dont get me wrong with earlier that means at 11h as NOTHING and I do mean nothing happens at the crack of dawn over here. 9h is get out of bed time and 10h breakie and then lunch is 14 h + till 16h , dinner sneaks in around 21h most days and then bed at 24 h .......and then we start all over again. And I will just repeat some pearls of wisdom from our good friend Philip ( and Karen Andrews ) Remember good wine and food costs more back home, so save money......and consume more while you are away. We are in fact heading back to Philip and Karen beautifully renovated barn in Normandy and according to navi will arrive 17 35 h, so hence the long blog as many( 7) driving hours today, from St Gery to there plus ,some pit stops to while the time away. Finally, for those who knew Rose, and her long connection and love of her adopted village Saint Gery , a number of her friends will be holding a luncheon gathering in the garden of her St Gery home on Thursday. Missing you all , hope all are well in El de la Saint Yeronga , and look forward to any of your news via FB . It is so nice ALWAYS to hear news from home .....dont get me wrong , we are having fun but home is still home , and very spec to us both so all news is good ! Amour Lyn and Glenn xx
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 11:30:32 +0000
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