Blond!

I was thrilled to discover they've named a town after me! Bless. Charles (as in Charles and Audrey, my new best friends in Bellac) took me on a walking tour of Limoges. Luckily he was in charge of navigation otherwise I would have ended up in my namesake.

It's so goddamn old! It's hard for us Kiwi's to comprehend just how old these towns and villages are.  It was established around the 14th century and what is so cool is that not only are people still living and working in the all the original buildings, the French government actually encourages people to renovate by giving them money to do so. I'm sure hell would freeze over before the NZ government entertained such a communist idea.

This is the original rue boucherie where all the butchers lived, worked and sold their wares. You can imagine the blood literally running in the street - glad I wasn't there then...

It's now shops and homes and I particularly liked this - an original carving indicating that the original occupant specialised in wild boar, next to someone's front door bell.

And secondhand bookshops everywhere. Apparently there's a whole town near Dad and Una's called Mortmatre that's only secondhand bookshops. That will have to be next time...

Hollywood eat your heart out - I'm sure the owner could convince busloads of Americans that Harry Potter and his pals buy their school books here.

Farewell Court and Una

I've now farewelled Court and Una as they head back to Australie for the next eight months.  We had a lovely farewell lunch at Charles and Audrey's, very good English friends of Dad and Una's who have lived in Bellac for the past six or so years, and Nicole, a lovely French lady who was born in Bellac. In keeping with the 'Lunch in Provence' theme, many bottles of wine and five hours later we stumbled home.

Charles and Audrey are both artists, and Audrey made Court a gorgeous t-shirt for his birthday 'Bonjour Matelet' (Hello Sailor) and even managed to find a matching full arm tattoo - perhaps best not to wear either in Sydney, Court...!

We also had farewell drinks with the neighbours - Pascal and Pascalle - pretty easy to remember. What's not easy is that they don't speak a word of English so I am becoming very good at sign language as well as trying to improve my French...

And this is Pascal and Pascalle's cat Derrick who seems to think this house is just an extension of his own and sleeps on my bed - odd name for a French cat, but he's rather lovely.

Baux des Provence

Visiting Oustau Baumaniere again reminded me of a blog I did last time we were there and didn't post.

Oustau Baumaniere sits in a beautiful valley below Les Baux des Provence, yet another 12th Century walled village carved out of a hilltop. They seem to be rather prevalent in this part of the world.

It has all the usual accoutrements of tourists trailing around cobblestoned streets and having been to a number of these fortified towns, they are all starting to look the same...

The view from the top however is quite stunning - you can see the rooftops of Oustau Baumauniere below nestled at the end of the valley.

Rachael was hard at work as usual photographing every stray dog that came into view - here she is with the oldest Chihuahua I've ever seen! and Andy and the adorable Charlize.

And here's the end result which Rachael sent me yesterday. Soooo cute!

A long lunch in Provence

I had to make another trek down to Provence to put he finishing touches to Rachael Hale's latest work in progress, Lunch in Provence - here's Rachael and Andy turning up for another day at the office.  

This time I was treated to Lunch at Cabro D'Or - it only has one Michelin star compared to its sister restaurant L'Oustau which has two - but I coped!

The chef, Michel, insisted on cooking me a vegetarian feast with vegetables from the restaurants organic garden, and of course the prerequisite Rose.

Rachael, Andy and I were also treated to a twilight dinner at another fabulous restaurant, Chateau des Alpilles just outside St Remy des Provence, where Rachael took some evening shots, including Andy and me (table on the far left).

And then I didn't eat for two days!

Une bonne française de pays

Which translates as 'a French country maid', which is what I feel like living here in La Ribiere. This is Chemins du Puits - Dad and Una's 'rue', which means Street of the Wells.

La Ribiere is very quaint, with old cottages dating from the around the 14th century - and some of them very much look their age. Renovator's dream anyone?

It may not have a shop, but it does have a post box.  Tres important! And I love that it's a 'no exit village'.

It apparently also has an old-fashioned baker's van which comes around twice a week. Bless!

This is the fresh market in town (ie. Bellac - and town is a relative word - population 4,500) which is every Saturday - I just love all the little old ladies who come out and stock up on everything fresh.

There's also a general market on Friday's, although the lingerie isn't quite the same as what you find in the Paris markets. if anyone's after a full torso girdle, I know just the place! This is obviously where aforementioned little old ladies get their 'smalls'...

Hanging with les parents

So it's au revoir Paris and bonjour La Ribiere where Dad and Una live six months of the year.  I arrived courtesy of the wonderful SNCF / TGV trains that operate throughout France. I love catching the train, but it always helpful to get on the right one - not something I managed to do en route here which meant poor Una had to drive an extra hour to pick me up...

Anyway, now I'm safely ensconced with Dad and Una in their gorgeous little cottage in La Ribiere, which means 'The River'.

It's a tiny little village, population approximately 25 houses with no shops and nothing past Dad and Una's house but a lane running down to the river and a paddock full of sheep - this is their little cottage, my room is the upstairs shutters above the front door.

They have an amazing garden and pretty much live off their own produce for the whole summer.  All in all pretty quiet but a nice welcome break from the big city lights of Paris for a while.  And lots of fresh veggies - yum!

Au revoir Paris... pour maintenant

Paris, you are an utter delight and I will miss your seductive charms.

Such as Le Marais - how can you not have a good time in the old Jewish quarter (ie. amazing food) and the gay centre (= best nightspots) of Paris?

And the Latin Quarter - more cafes and bistros per square kilometre than anywhere else in the city, hip shopping and the best people watching in Paris.

St Germain-des-Pres and Rive Gauche - less funky but never fails to deliver with its leafy boulevards, historic cafes and of course, home of all the best fashion labels from around le monde.

The delightful and quirky juxtaposition of old and new which somehow just works.

The patissiers and chocolate shops. This one is literally 10 steps from my house - so far I've resisted actually going in but I window shop every day...

There is however one thing however, my darling Paris, my love - but only one - that I won't miss...