A Rendezvous in France

#frenchtravels#southoffrance#friends

#castledurham

This adventure has been in the planning stages for many, many years.

Early September 2006 on the Labour Day Weekend we held a 3-Day “Garage/Yard Sale” with the added twist of an Open House to see if we could find an interested buyer for our cherished homestead lovingly named “Castle Durham”. 

A car load of four (two couples) stopped by looking to see what treasures we had on offer. 

Monsieur Honey was the saleman.

After some small talk, we learned that the wife and the other couple were/ had been teachers. 

You see “Castle Durham” is a renovated one room stone school house originally built in 1874 (by Canadian standards that’s old). 

I offered a tour of the gardens and later inside the old schoolhouse.

To make the long story short we found the perfect couple to buy our old homestead and we became great friends. 

Over the years we have shared stories of our travels and our friends M & S always told us when they retired they wanted to travel to Europe with us. 

Well it is now finally happening. 

We’re down to counting the sleeps until we depart! 

Stay tuned to follow us as we share our love of France and Spain with our friends. 

                                           

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.