Loose Ends!

“At Loose Ends in the Medieval Town of Gourdon”.

It's Saturday and our visitors are enjoying their last few days in Paris and hopefully having the time of their life. ( Pictures and stories to follow ).

Saturday in Gourdon is you guessed it…market day and we did our usual shopping this morning for vegetables, fruits, farm fresh eggs and we also purchased some goat cheese discs to try in a salad this week.

Today, instead of going to the boulangerie (bakery) we bought some bread from a stll holder at the Market and it was delicious!

Honey said “Remember we are back to hiking to the supermarkets so the more we can get here the better, especially since the weather has changed”.

We’ve been experiencing temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s, sunshine and humidity…no complaints but it makes the walking more challenging, especially with heavy bags of groceries.

Today is also practice day for the Spanish Grand Prix; and this is on Honey’s agenda for the afternoon. 

So, I’m at loose ends.

There are household chores to do, laundry, cleaning, etc. and I need to do some work on my French lessons, but it’s the weekend and I’ll do those things on Monday.

After the Grand Prix trials were finished, we walked to the closest grocery store.

Here we ran into our friend, Melody’s french boyfriend Julian, (who also is a friend) who is so helpful and he even offered to provide personal home delivery via his motor cycle to bring our heavier things home anytime…plus he asked us if we wanted a grocery cart for the balance of our time in Gourdon; we gracefully declined.

But on the walk home, we chuckled that I could have pushed Graeme up the hills in the cart or vice versa. Can you picture it?

After our supper this evening, we visited our local café to catch up with what was going on in the rest of the world, mainly looking for news from the kids and family.

Sunday, 13^th May 2012

The day started with the sun shining brightly through the dormer windows in our bedroom…did some laundry, preparation for our supper this evening and then a route march.

We walked at a steady pace for an hour and half in the outskirts and countryside of Gourdon; some areas we hadn’t discovered before.

It’s the time of the year for the wild poppies, they just pop up anywhere and they are absolutely beautiful.

We also discovered some of the allotments, large plots of land divided into smaller parcels of gardens for the people who have no garden with their home.

And of course a couple of grand old gates…. watch for another post just on gates.

Then home for the Formula 1 - Spanish Grand Prix race….and a surprise knock on the cottage door…it was one of the local Florists, she had been trying to deliver flowers to me, twice on Saturday and finally she caught me home on Sunday.

What a wonderful and beautiful surprise for Mother’s Day & Birthday …thank you again!!!

 

After Honey’s man (Lewis Hamilton) did well in the race (started last, finished 7^th), we went for another walk this time in a different direction, first the main boulevard in town and then two levels lower behind the Cordeliers, and the route to the Notre Dame Chapel, where we saw the Clos des Capucins (we believe is a Monk’s retreat/retirement home).

Another hour and half of walking finished our weekend!

The Tourists'Adventure Continues....

One last tour of Gourdon for the tourists on Thursday, the 10^th May 2012.

We enjoyed another alfresco lunch at a favorite spot with our tourist friends at "La Promenade Café".

Today the starter was “Tartine Fraicheur” – toasted crusty bread drizzled in olive oil with grilled red & yellow peppers, sun-dried tomatoes topped with delicious goat cream cheese and buffalo mozzarella all sprinkled with herbs, dill and others (secret recipe of Chef Franck)  …sorry no picture, use your imagination and to my family and friends I will recreate my version of this for you sometime!

Main course was Veal Provencal with baked potatoes and salad, and of course we finished our meals with dessert...two of us had the walnut tart, Miss Donna had her favorite, Crème Brule and “Honey” went for Chocolate Mint Ice Cream.

After our two hour lunch, we went to the “Papiers a PÁrt Exposition”…an Art Paper Exhibition at the Cordeliers Church, a decertified church which provides a phenomenal venue for exhibits, concerts, etc.

The interior of this building is probably one of the most beautiful that I have ever seen.

Honey and I have attended three different events at this Church during our stay in Gourdon.

There was the Ancient Book Show and Sale, the Antique Fabric/Linen Sale and now this Paper Art Show.

Next week, the Toulouse Orchestra is playing here and near the end of the month a Latin-American evening is scheduled.

At the Paper Art Exhibition, there were at least two dozen artist’s works on display and for sale…and all the works are made of paper.

Amazing what you can create from paper.

Fly with me

The exhibition runs May 6^th- May 13^th, 2012...another visit may be in order!

We then needed a refreshment stop at the Café Divan (a café we have never visited before) which gave us a different view. 

We then visited the “Chapelle du Majou”; a 16^th century neo-gothic chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

During the Wars of Religion and the French Revolution this small chapel was damaged, and then restored in the 19^th century.

This evening we had a light snack for supper and went to the Promenade for an after dinner drink and a surprise for our visitors - Café Gourmand.

I had mentioned to Miss Donna earlier during their stay that she had experience this at least once before leaving France.

It is not a menu item at our Café, but I had made a special request of the owner and also the chef and they said no problem. 

As you can see from Miss Donna’s expression she enjoyed this very much.

“Café Gourmand” – an assortment of petite desserts…the Chef treated us to... profiteroles with chocolate sauce, apple tart, chantilly and chocolate biscuit, walnut tart, crème brûlé, and an espresso coffee … delicious.

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Friday, 11^th May 2012

Taxi, taxi! Is there a taxi to the Train Station?

…the tourists are off to Paris today.

We walked to the station with a stop at the Bellevue Café for coffees.

The walk is all downhill going there, the walk from the station home is more taxing as it is all up hill. The walk is easily done in fifteen minutes under normal circumstances.

When I took this photo of John (below), we were about half way there…and he says to me, “I just had an idea for the title of your next post; you could call it …”Dead Man Walking”

Our dear friend, John had some surgery done on his big toe 5 weeks ago and this has caused him severe difficulty and pain when walking and was of constant concern …”Don’t step on my toe!”. I know his friends, children and grand-children back home will know what I’m talking about and don’t worry we didn’t step on his foot.

We shared "Hugs and Kisses in the French style" on the platform, got them on the train and away they go onto their next adventure to create some special memories in the City of Lights. 

By 5:40PM they will be in Paris, and soon be seeing the sights.

 

Bon voyage!