Postcards from the Lot

Friday, March 23, 2012

Is there something in the water or is it in the wine?

Thursday, 15th March 2012

It’s only just over two weeks that we’ve been living in the Southwest of France, during the last of the winter and early spring. Everyday this week the Monsieur of the house, that would be Graeme, has said “I need a haircut!”

That is not a problem in

France

. There is no shortage of Coiffures in any city, town or village of France and Gourdon is no exception.

Last count on our walks throughout the town, we found 8+ coiffures. s

Today, he couldn’t stand it anymore, so down to the Boulevard we walked to select which salon would meet the Monsieur’s requirements.

Finally, he selected the shop “Viva La Vie” that suited him and I requested the required services in my best French and left him there to fend for himself.

He speaks very little French, but he does his best to communicate and get what he needs or wants. But when it comes to having a haircut, I would be very careful.

I went back to find him still in the chair with a huge smile on his face, he was pleased with the young girls’ aptitude in cutting his hair , and I had a Happy Monsieur to spend the rest of the day with.

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Now today, Friday, 23^rd March 2012 a week later, the Madame of the household could no longer tolerate her hair…so she asked in a local shop this morning for a recommendation for a good hairdresser…and much to her surprise she was able to get an appointment for this afternoon at “Jocelyne Coiffure” and now also has a new hairstyle.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Not Just Another Monday!

This morning Graeme requested French Crepes for breakfast; that’s not normally a problem, but even after doing a shop Sunday morning in the larger supermarket in Prayssac before our friends brought us home…we were short on milk today.

It’s Monday and everything is closed; that’s what we’ve been told.

We headed out to the shop that’s comparable to a convenience store back home…the Petit Casino, and sure enough it was shuttered closed.

Then we tried a Tabac/Newspaper store, they have a cooler with juices, water, etc. but no milk.

I asked the shop keeper if there were any stores where we could buy milk today.

Oh, of course the larger supermarkets are open, Carrefour, Inter-Marche and Leader Price…these are all on the highway out of town, the long walk, but Leader Price is only half way as to what we normally walk.

Success, milk and a few other things, and the Boulangerie across the street was open, so we were also able to get some fresh bread for dinner.

After our trek home and a few minutes in the kitchen; Graeme was able to have his feast of crepes with Canadian Maple Syrup that he had imported in his suitcase.

It was a cool and damp day, so we spent the afternoon watching DVDs of "Twin Peaks" ...what a crazy, campy, enjoyable show...how did we miss this years ago? And many more epidsodes to view!!

Market Day in Cahors!

Market Day in Cahors

We left our little cottage at 7 am, to catch the 7:47 am train from Gourdon to Cahors and the walk to the station was downhill all the way and it actually was only a 15-20 minute walk; but we couldn’t miss this train…because the next one on Saturdays was not until 2:43PM and the Market and lunch would be finished by that time.

An early arrival in Cahors at 8:12am, we walked to the Centre-Ville, the market vendors were busy setting up in anticipation of a busy day.

It was a cooler, cloudy day with the sun peaking thru once in awhile, and the clouds threatened rain all morning; but held off until late afternoon when we were snug in front of the fire at our friends in Prayssac.

Rain was welcomed as the gardens and lands are very dry.