Well, it has been a very pleasant few days as we made our way back to Le Sud du France. Pleasant as in sun, sea, Syrah and serenity. We wish you were here to share this beautiful situation with us.
The Road Home
The trip back
went well even though our Satnav got us lost 4 times trying to clear the maze
that is CDG aeroport. I blame it on the never-ending construction but Madame
insists it was entirely my fault. We turned
it off and followed road signs until we found our way. It was very dank and
dark and about -2C until we reached our region where the sun popped out and the
temperature rose sharply peaking at 13C before the sun started sinking. However, we were met with extreme wind (the Mistral) as we crossed the Provence region.
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| Even this Dragon was cold |
Chablis
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| Car's thermometer |
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| Casks at the domaine |
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| A jet-lagged beagle |
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| The church near Domaine Jean Brocard |
It is quite a treat as the vigneron explained the different Chablis all grown from the same grape but on different areas of the immediate region. Chablis is made from the chardonnay cepage and can be very different in taste and has a distinctive mineral edge to it.
We bought a case each for our friends, one for the folks that take care of the house when we are gone and one for a friend who keeps an extensive wine cellar.
After stopping
for the night in Beaune, we headed for Buxy. Buxy is in the heart of Bourgogne (or
Burgundy region for Anglos).
This region is 95% Pinot Noir with a few whites
scattered in, again from Chardonnay and a little Aligote and Pinot Blanc. The main store was under renovation so the
selections were somewhat limited. We picked up a couple of cases for variety
and headed on south.
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| Our hotel in Beaune |
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| The staff at Buxy |
Home at Last
We arrived home Friday night very jet lagged and to a very cold old house. The temperature wasn't that cold, 45-48F, but once these old places get cold, it takes about a week to get the chill off. I think the electric meter almost threw a bearing out it was spinning so fast. Over the next few days the “Tramontane” blew in. Equally as strong as the Mistral, it blows off the Atlantic across the Pyrenees and down into our area from the northwest. (The Mistral blows off the Alps from the northeast) it lasted about 4 days and now we are back to normal patterns of 38 -45F at night and 52-62F in the daytime. Here is what the local paper said about the recent wind:
Severe winds even worse than forecast
A north-west wind blew in gusts today of up to 185 km/h on the Cap Béar at the end of the
Pyrénées-Orientales. The RD 914 between Cerbère and the Spanish border has
been closed.
A motorhome was blown over and is stranded in the road.
According to reports, strong winds are preventing the breakdown vehicles
getting access to the scene.
The A9 was also cut off a part of the morning between Narbonne and
Perpignan after a lorry accident. Again, because of the strong wind, the
trailer of a truck was left lying on its side near to Salses.
Burns Supper
We went to a fun Burns Supper on Monday night after we returned. A smaller crowd this year as the flu was rampant and Pat came down with the flu and was down for about 8 days. I only had cold symptoms and just felt bad for a few days.
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| Rosie doing a Reel |
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| Piping in the Haggis |
La Niege
I went car shopping in Beziers early on 3 February. We went for a test drive and it began to snow. First just a few flakes, but after a bit, a serious snowfall got started.
During the ensuing debate over the car deal, an absolute blizzard occurred. We couldn't see the car at 100 feet in the parking lot. It dropped about 4 inches in less than two hours. Fortunately, the ground was warm enough that a lot melted quickly. But it was still treacherous going home. there was only about two inches in Alignan but still an event to us on the Med.
Our new (er) Car
When we got
back, the old Renault Scenic became cranky, no, not cranky. When we
would try to start it, it would grind, moan and put up an awful fuss. Obviously,
it was time for an upgrade. Shopping for a car in a foreign language is quite
daunting. While I find the car salesmen more honest here, I still am very apprehensive
about them. After about three weeks of searching thru disappointment after
disappointment, I finally found the car for us and went to make the deal.
Three
hours and two calls to the boss later, we closed the deal only to find it would
be another week before I could take delivery. We got the car, a 2012 Renault Grand Scenic, last Wednesday and
are pleased with all the gadgets we have to learn about. GPS/Satnav, Bluetooth,
automatic everything and even a cuckoo! Every now and then, a cuckoo sounds for no apparent
reason. We can’t tell if it is related to the radio, Bluetooth or Satnav. Sometimes
it cuckoos when you are speeding but only sometimes as I have tried to speed
intentionally and the cuckoo was silent!
Fetes du Mimosas
On the 8th, we went to Roquebrun for the annual
Fete du Mimosas. Great fun as always and we had lunch in the Mayor’s hall with 8
friends.
Rosie and Steve were there for
the first time and we lost sight of them as the bakers came through throwing
flour on the crowd and Steve and Rosie hightailed out of there.
The parade was great and it went thru the village one way to the wine cave cooperative and had refreshments and returned for a well lubricated encore performance.
The parade was great and it went thru the village one way to the wine cave cooperative and had refreshments and returned for a well lubricated encore performance.
Mayor's Lunch
The following week we had a knock on the door from the village workers. We thought we must have done something wrong, but instead they were hand delivering our invitation to the Mayor’s lunch. It is invitation only and how we made the list, we will never know. It is on the 21st and is always an all afternoon affair with 4-6 courses, wine, cognac or Armagnac and coffee interspersed with fits of old people dancing. More on the results of this years later. |
| Wrinkled invitation from my pocket |
Thai Night
Last Saturday we went to Ken and Alison’s for Thai night.
Ken was still in black while mourning the Seattle Seahawks loss in the
Superbowl. Merson and I really gave him the raspberries about the last minute
of play. Claude and Mary went with us and we had a great time with them, John
and Wendy and Peter and Sheila. Claude and Mary have bought a home in Tours in
the Loire Valley and will be going there permanently in mid-March.
French Health System
We have started putting together our dossier to get into
the French health system. It is quite an ordeal but the benefits are worth it. This
blurb from a French source touts the tangible benefits of the French lifestyle
and health system:
French healthcare
rated highly in EU study
French healthcare remains in good shape, with the lowest heart
attack or stroke death rates in Europe and with the country being one of the
few to increase health spending in 2014.
A biennial EU report into care provision across Europe, which also
included non-EU states like Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Turkey, highlights
several successes.
Average life expectancy in France remains impressive at 82.1 years,
the third highest behind Spain (82.5 years) and Italy (82.4 years), and it also
has Europe’s lowest mortality rates for heart attacks (86 per 100,000 people
compared with 184 in the UK) and strokes (60 per 100,000 people compared with
74 in the UK).
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