Blooming Blossoms

Irises, tulips and now the wisteria are starting to flower.

The planters have been full with pansies since we arrived.

Soon the terracotta and stone planters will be filled with geraniums of every colour ...nothing says "French" like geraniums and lavender.

Some varieties of lavender will also soon have some blooms.

And in nature, there are the wild flowers such as the yellow cowslips and orchids growing in the most unexpected places in fields, on the roadsides and out of crevices in the stone walls.

This week I saw my first red poppy, but I was not able to take a photo; however today I photographed some yellow and orange Californian Poppies.

Many trees are also full of blossoms and it won't be long now before the leaves unfurl and dress the "naked" plane trees.

"All gardening is landscape painting said Alexander Pope"... Rebecca Solnit from Wanderlust, A History of Walking.

Pedometer Postcards

Sunday afternoon, my new friend "Madame M" invited me to join her on her daily walk.
I haven't done any walking of significance since last year's stay in Gourdon (when we did not have a vehicle and we walked practically everywhere.)

"Madame M" was a very knowledgeable tour guide of the village and surrounding areas.

I had purchased a pedometer a few months ago with intentions of starting an exercise regime of walking; but it only got it's first use yesterday.
By the time we got back home, I had made 14,760 steps and travelled 8.99 kilo-meters.

My new friend usually walks alone, it is her time....which I totally understand...so there was time for chatting and time for silence and contemplation.

We left our cottage on rue de la Gare, and followed the road to the train station, and came upon the home of a local Sculpter (Monsieur Honey's interest was peeked when he viewed the photos and we will have to make an appointment to visit the Sculpter.)

We wandered further afield and with my eyes wide open and my camera ready, many photographs were taken.

A Quercy region door.

A long view towards a local Chateau, attracting the attention of the neighbours in the field.

Busy and fulfilling day...tomorrow will there be pain?...many more photos to share.

A Treasure Hunt

This week our Sunday excursion was to Flaujac Poujols, a village southeast of Cahors via a winding road with many switchbacks thru several other villages and with views over the vineyards.

We were in search of the 12th Annual Brocante/Vide-greniers being held here.

What is a Brocante ? (French noun) defined as a flea market which predominately comprises of household effects, second hand items and if you are lucky the the occasional treasures &/or antiques.

What is a Vide-greniers? (French noun) Literally it means ... empty attic, so this would be like a yard/garage sale where you sell the things you no longer want or need, but is usually a community event and can include dealers.

Monsieur Honey purchased a book "L'agenda des Brocantes" for the Midi-Pyrénées area which lists all the sales for 2013.

He has highlighted various dates and locations of particular sales that interest him and he would like to attend.

This Brocante/ Vide-greniers was a large event with 180 exhibitors, a flower market, and an agricultural/ machinery market with another 150 exhibitors, and if you were thirsty or hungry there was also vendors to satisfy these needs.

At this particular stall, the Madame had more interesting items including these clogs, that are seventy plus years old wooden soled shoes.

French wartime magazines....

A French motorcycle from the mid 30's.

Monsieur Honey wandered thru the Agricultural section and I spent some time at the Flower Market.

By the time, we were leaving we both were hungry, however the food on offer looked " boar"ing to our eyes!

Seriously, though the organizing committee did have a brasserie and there was a menu de jour in the Salle de Fête which I'm sure was delicious. However, Madame had a commitment to go walking with her nouveau amie this afternnoon, so we opted to have lunch at home.

So, I'm sure you are all wondering what treasures we did find....

We found a wrought iron plant stand for €5 (which I could have resold many times), a terracotta planter, and two French blue cushion covers which were the bargain of the day at €1 each.