in Capendac yesterday.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Friday, March 13, 2015
les fleurines
I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw this vertical garden in Villefranche yesterday!
The building is a new extension to the hotel across the street and I was so excited I ran in to tell them how brilliant it is and bravo for doing it.
Villefranche is such a gorgeous town but so quiet - shops are closing regularly - it's great to see a business doing well and expanding and having the audacity to do something like this. Now if they'd just open a café where you could get something to eat outside the hours of 12 and 2pm...
Which reminds me - we went to the gallery Les Abattoires in Toulouse on Sunday. Arriving at 12.45 we decided to have lunch in their restaurant first. "Sorry, lunch is over".
At 12.45??? Then a quick scan of the menu showed that we couldn't have eaten there anyway as it was 100% meat/offal.
We ended up having a toasted plastic bread sandwich with plastic mozzarella and tasteless tomatoes.
I tell you this country drives me mad sometimes.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Thursday, February 12, 2015
for sale
How does this grab you? An 18th century townhouse in Villefranche with six bedrooms, 2 dining rooms, a library, 4 sitting rooms, 4 living rooms, central heating (I hate to think of the heating bills though!) and that amazing staircase...
All this could be yours for 393,000€ Alternatively you could spend your money on a three bedroom , 69m² terraced house in Dublin...
I would so love to have a look around!
Friday, February 6, 2015
market day # 9
the market in June
the market in February
Tomme d'Estaing - such a treat
Going to market in Winter is a very different experience than in Summer. There are far fewer people (no tourists) and far fewer stalls - not so much in the streets around town but in the central market square as you can see from the photos. It's the prime pitch in Summer but in Winter there is a killer wind that whips through and however cold it is in town you can be sure that it will be a few degrees less in the square.
I remember being there one cold Winter morning with Warb and we just had to give up and go home. I had brain freeze - my lips were blue, I couldn't think and could only talk scribble!
Yesterday was glacial - stall holders covered up tender leaved veg - salads, spinach and endive with blankets to stop them freezing solid and spoiling. In the other square the big veg merchants had erected a tent and heated it with gas heaters - much appreciated - thanks!
At least now the mornings are brighter - we normally hit the market at 8am and before Christmas stall holders were using torches to check the change they were giving.
What a job - 6 days a week, up at 5am and then standing freezing until noon. I just couldn't do it.
My current treat from the cheese stall is Tomme d'Estaing an absolutely heavenly cheese from the North Aveyron. To be bought in small quantities to avoid over consumption (and because it costs 25€ a kilo!)
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
barter
One of the brocanteurs I deal with isn't averse to a bit of bartering. I have been known to go see him with jam and cake! On Sunday another customer had given him a big sack of potatoes, home made jam and honey and a dozen oranges.
As I was looking around and choosing what I was going to buy he said "I've got something to show you, you're really going to like it, you'll be amazed!" I've been going there for a while and he knows what I tend to buy so I assumed it was something for the shop.
As I was paying up he excitedly produced the bag of oranges "grown in the Aveyron" he said. We are way too North for growing citrus so the guy must have the tree in a polytunnel or greenhouse. What an achievement though! A few friends have small lemon trees which do produce small fruit when mollycoddled (wheeled outside during the day and back inside at night) but to have enough full size oranges to be able to give them away is impressive.
I was given 6 - half the haul - and tasted one as soon as I got home - absolutely delicious!
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