Postcards from the Lot

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Que Sera Sera! Sunday in Cerét.

A "laisser faire" kind of day!

Nothing much is planned for us today!

We've had a busy few days and we are thinking of doing not much!

It's Sunday and our supplies are low ... need some fresh bread, some wine and something sweet for our Sunday night dessert.

A mid morning walk to the shops, the wine store for some delicious "Rose", the Boulangerie for a half baguette and oh yes "une tarte aux fruits" ... and fresh cherries from the neighbours' stand.

Cherries are everywhere in the supermarkets, at the Saturday market stalls but mostly you will see them on the street corners and stalls set up at residences' front stoops, in their garages etc. ...

like our neighbour.

She sets up every morning and every afternoon. They are colourful and deliciously sweet.

Ceret is known as the Cherry Capital of the Pyrennes Orientales. The first cherries come from Ceret.

Traditionally each year the first box of cherries is delivered to the President of France.

Annually there is a Cherry Festival (la Fête des Cerises) held at the end of May. The town is already gearing up for this event ... decorating the streets with banners, store owners window displays all dressed with a "Cherry" theme and in the local butcher shops you can even buy homemade pâtés with added cherries. Monsieur Honey especially likes this pâté.

What more could you ask for?

An early evening sit at the Café in the sunshine, people watching and planning the rest of our days in the Ceret area.

An evening at home watching the magic light and the beautiful views.

An easy day to finish the week ... tomorrow we're off to Spain!

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

A Holiday Thursday in Arles- sur-Tech

I'm #ArlessurTech#mulberry tree#VillaLasIndIs#JosephPierreMonin#TechRiver

A road trip to Arles-sur-Tech on Thursday which was a holiday (Ascension Thursday).

We followed the road along the Tech River about 15 kilometres west of Ceret.

We weren't sure what we would find in this village; it was one of the places circled on the map in the Apartment.

Once parked we immediately discovered an astonishing park surrounding the "Mairie/ Hotel de Ville".

In this park were many magnificent trees ... Mammoth magnolias and pine trees of magnitude sizes.

The "Villa Las Indis" was built by Civil Engineer Joseph Pierre Monin (1837-1910) in 1901/1902 as his home.

In 1936 the property changed hands, now housing the Hotel de Ville/ Mairie.

Since 1992 it has been classified as a Historic Monument.

Interesting ironwork on the railings ...

Gothic cloisters ...

Lunch under the mulberry tree ... today was another day with lessons learned about not judging a book by it's cover or in this case a restaurant.

The exterior of this restaurant did not appeal to us or say "come on in"!

Once inside the courtyard, we were more than impressed both with sitting outside in the sunshine peeking through the Mulberry tree and the interior rooms were also very inviting ... rustic and warm.

Our lunch was delicious ... I have to warn you there will be more "foodie" photos.

I have a dear friend back home Susie Q who just loves to see the "food" pics!

I tried to do them in a collage today but I'm having technical difficulties with the app.

My apologies!

Rehydration ...

Our starters ... Tomatoes and mozzarella salad pour moi!

Monsieur Honey today choose the seafood menu ... first course "a shrimp cocktail" consisted of seven large "gambas" sweet and succulent.

Look at me ... I've got my eyes on you!

I continued with an "Italian" theme ... Yummy pizza!

Msr.'s second course ... salmon with a tarragon cream sauce, saffron rice and oven roasted tomato.

Of course we finished with a sweet treat ...

My pick ...Crème Catalan

"Honey" chose France's version of "banana foster".

We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon in the dappled sunshine under the "mulberry bush"

"Les Caves Moragues" Placette d'Avail, Arles-sur-Tech. Tel. 04 68 54 97 72

Hope you enjoyed your day trip to Arles-sur-Tech!

Walking in the 20th Century Artists' Footsteps (Ceret)

#MuseumofModernArt

Wednesday we said goodbye to Madame M. and Msr. Guy as they headed back home to their piece of paradise in the Lot Valley.

We decided to check out some of the cultural sites in town, we headed to the Museum of Modern Art which was established in 1950.

The beginning of the visit included an interesting short film presentation by Dani Karavan, an Israeli sculptor who lives/ works in Paris, Florence and Tel Aviv.

There is an exhibition of some of his works from March 14 to May 31,2015.

He is best known for site specific memorials and monuments which fit into the environments.

Mr. Karavan stated in the film that he completes his projects with respect for existing works, structures that have been or are part of the chosen sites.

He believes "art must be felt by all senses ... including touch"!

I read that Dani Karavan is commissioned to commerate the history and tragedy of the twentieth Century.

Some of his works include :

- the "Port Bou, Passages" a tribute to Walter Benjamin, a German/Jewish writer & philospher who took his own life in the border town on September 26, 1940.

- the "Square of Tolerance" dedicated to Yitzhak Rabin at the Unesco Headquaters in Paris.

- the three kilometers column lined "Way of Peace" in Nitzana near the border of Egypt and Israel.

Photography inside the museum is not allowed.

We saw some beautiful artwork throughout the museum, paintings by various artists, the painted ceramic bowls by Picasso, sketches by Matisse and sculptures.

Here are few postcards of some of the paintings that I liked ... will make a great souvenir in a photo collage frame.