Oh Canada!

July 1st-2019 

Happy Canada Day. 

Summer finally arrived with heat and sunshine in our part of the the country in time to celebrate our country’s birthday and for all the wonderful outdoor activities we Canadians enjoy! 

Here’s just a few that the weather makes better ... backyard barbecues, baseball games, beach days, bicycle rides, camping, cottage stays, picnics and pool days, road trips, walks in the park and so much more. 

And some special red and white flowers bloomed in my garden in celebration of Canada’s 152nd Birthday.

These dainty, white little things are extra special to me. 

They were grown from seeds captured from plants in my father’s garden many, many years ago. 

He passed away 16 years ago this coming October, so to still have something from his garden is precious to me. 

And of course my bright red geraniums ... that add a little French flair to my courtyard.

I’m going to sport my red and white outfit for our day out enjoying our beautiful country.

May you all have a great day celebrating!

Going Home!

#hurryupandwait#Montlaur

#ToulouseBlagnac#ParisCDG#Terminal2

#boutiques#homesweethome

#goatsandtheirherder

Saturday, June 1st, 2019 

Up and at it early to make sure we are on the road in time for our return flight home to Canada.

I had set the alarm clock last night just to be sure we didn’t sleep in and of course my internal clock woke me at 6AM well before the alarm started singing. 

One last early morning view from the bedroom window.

It promised to be a glorious day with the sun shining and birds singing.

We did our final packing and Monsieur Honey carried our baggage down the two sets of stairs and loaded them in our 

“Peugeot” airbus for it’s last run to the airport.

We were fortunate to not have an early morning flight and planned to be on the road by 9AM at the latest (just in case there was any unforeseen circumstances on the Autoroute). 

Travel time is normally 1 1/2 to 2 hours ... we needed to return the rental car and then easily make our way to the Air France checkin.  

Before we even left the house, I had received a notification from Air France that our second flight from Paris to Toronto was delayed ... we still needed to be on time for our first flight in Toulouse departing at 1PM. 

We had made arrangements for our landlords Felicity and Peter to be here before 9 am to do the final checkout at L’Ancienne Sellerie. 

And we are off ... Goodbye Montlaur! 

We travelled one more time on the D3 and this morning we came across a goat herder and his large herd. 

This guy was enjoying a breakfast of “broom” flowers.

The highway drive was easy this morning. We found the return vehicle depot with ease and the process was a breeze.

Walked with our bags to the departure terminal, collected our baggage tags and checked in. 

Thru security with no problems ... now some breakfast and wait for our boarding call.

A quick up and down for our short flight from Toulouse to Paris ...

The view on landing in Paris.

The delayed flight gave us time to wander thru the “shopping mall” and duty free.

Finally, the delays/gate changes are over and we are boarded and ready for takeoff ...

Next stop “Home Sweet Home” 

Thank you for travelling with us! 

Hope you enjoyed as much as we did. 

Wrapping Up Our Last Week in La Belle France.

May 27th - May 31st, 2019 

The last week of  “my birthday trip” in France! 

Monday ... I needed some “city life” as in some retail therapy but not really looking for anything or in need of anything. 

We headed to Carcassonne to a large shopping area on the outskirts. 

Here we found the largest as in massive Carrefour (grocery store) I’ve ever seen. 

It was inside an indoor shopping mall with many interesting shops. 

And of course this happened today ... Monsieur Honey got himself coiffed. 

I had hoped to get myself pampered with a cut however it looks like I’ll be waiting until I get home.

Normally, when we are in France each city, town, village has several coiffures.

Late last week I had asked Sylvie at the Vival where she gets her hair cut/ styled. 

She told me Montlaur does have a “coiffeurs à domicile” ... that does both men and women’s hair and she comes to you. 

Anyway time has slipped away ... so I’ll wait until I’m back home in Canada. 

Some pretty bling in the jewelry store window. 

The grocery store was massive with a great selection of goods! 

You’re sure to find a Rosé you like here ... so much selection.

The cuts of meat are so different to what we are use to / familiar with as the children of butchers. 

Both Monsieur Honey’s and my father were butchers in their day. 

These charts hanging in the meat department of the supermarket might be helpful and also make for interesting conversation with my brother who is a meat cutter (recently retired). 

Tuesday was an at home day ... we visited Jean Louis the butcher and we were in luck ... fresh made « Friands » were in the showcase. Delicious!

These are similar to meat pies. I’ve already searched for recipes, there are several varieties with different fillings. 

The ones we enjoyed were made with fine ground beef, mushrooms, parsley, herbs and a light gravy/sauce in puff pastry.  

We purchased a couple to have for our lunch today.

Wednesday ... date night at Bourdasso, if we are ever in the area again we will definitely add this to the must do list! 

See separate post “La Bourdasso Cucina Italiana” posted May 31, 2019

We shared lots of laughs about my birth “day” that turned into the birthday “month”of celebrations. 

It was an amazing night in a beautiful setting with great ambiance, Italian aperitifs, delicious creative food and wine shared with my best friend. 

Thursday ...was a holiday in France (Ascension Thursday). 

We  did a return trip to Narbonne. 

There was much more boat activity on the Canal today, and an outdoor market lined both sides of the Quai on the Canal de la Robine near Les Halles. The city was humming. And the sun shone brightly! 

Here some tourists walked on the 2000 plus years of history on the ancient Roman road ... “Via Domitia ”.

There was a large number of flower vendors today.

I hoped that I’d still be able to get plants for my gardens when I get home. 

Jokingly I was going to ask the truck driver to deliver some plants to my home. 

Friday -  our last day of our trip! Some packing and preparing for our departure tomorrow.

We did make a reservation for lunch at Le Moulin in Trèbes. 

I’ll be writing a separate post about our lunch on the canal.

The weather was absolutely glorious today and we enjoyed a later supper on the terrace. 

I’ll be back with a few more posts over the next few days.