May Day / Labour Day ...

Wednesday, May 1st, 2019 

Today is a “Bank Holiday” in France, almost everything is closed ... with exception of cafés / restaurants in tourist areas. 

We are staying in a tiny village and most definitely everything is closed.

Happy May 1st Day ... here’s my bouquet of lily of valley for all of you! 

 “In France, May 1st is a national holiday – it’s their ‘Labor Day’. One of the ways the French celebrate this holiday is by offering a small bouquet of lily of the valley (“muguet-du-bois”, in French) to loved ones and to friends, to symbolise ‘good luck’ and ‘love’. That is why May 1st, i.e., ‘May Day’ is also known as, “La Fête du Muguet”.

We weren’t too ambitious today and just went for a short drive to Trebes located on the Canal du Midi.

The Quai was busy with families, visitors enjoying the holiday.

We enjoyed our wander and a stop on the waterfront for an apero in the sunshine and some people watching.Trebes is on our list for a repeat visit, we were here many years ago (first time in 2005) and took a boat tour along the Canal thru the locks .

Here’s Monsieur Honey sporting his “Ernest Hemingway” look on our cruise (2005) along the Canal du Midi. 

 

View of the Canal du Midi from the boat ...

The sun was shining brightly and the temperatures warmed up as the day went on ... which provided a perfect excuse for some relaxing on our terrace in the afternoon.

      

I was able to do some catch up on my photo editing and blogging. 

Monsieur was top chef and created a delicious menu with the “Toulouse Sausage” we purchased from the local butcher for our supper ... and bonus it was warm enough to enjoy our dinner al fresco on the terrace. 

Out and About in Lagrasse

Tuesday, April 30th, 2019 

We awoke to birds singing and church bells ringing under bright, blue skies. We had a good night’s sleep. 

We were aware that tomorrow was a « bank «  holiday here in France (banks/post office/ stores/ restaurants/cafés closed) ... restaurants only open in tourist towns, as such we needed to plan/ shop for provisions for Wednesday. 

Just down the street from us is “la boucherie” ... we were told that the butcher has good quality meats. 

We visited the shop, met the proprietor, Jean Louis and purchased some Toulouse sausage (Monsieur’s favourite). 

Then we were off for a short road trip to Lagrasse which is classified one of the most beautiful villages in France.

We visited here five years ago when we spent a week in Olonzac in Sainte-Helene’s beautiful apartment.  

https://www.sainte-helene.com/

We wandered the narrow lanes/ streets. 

We picked up a fresh baguette at the local boulangerie and then soaked up some sunshine while enjoying an“al fresco” coffee at a café on the Main Street. 

We will be visiting Lagrasse again during our stay with a more extensive tour. 

The abbey 


It was scenic drive out of the village, of course the “French Lady” GPS never takes us the same way back home.

I should have paid more attention when we were looking at the area on Google Earth. I looked closely at the village of Montlaur but didn’t think to consider the surrounding area. The scenery is all so beautiful but I didn’t realize we would be travelling on twisty, winding roads up and down the gorges with switch backs. If you know me I’m not good with heights and the narrow roads with no guard rails! Yikes it was a heart thumping, sweaty palm ride ...

You want me to go where? Did you read the sign, Monsieur? 

Translation: “narrow and winding road caution”

I will be definitely checking out the maps for a different route in the future.

Later in the day we went for a walk around the village of Montlaur, then checked out the tiny weekly Tuesday market in the square and a shop at the local mini supermarket “Vival”. 

Too many pics for one post ... will be doing a separate one on the village of Montlaur.

My 2019 Birthday Trip

Sunday, April 28th, 2019 

This adventure happened all spontaneously by Monsieur Honey after he viewed a property for rent on Facebook,  he decided to surprise me with a trip for my upcoming significant birthday in May. 

We had viewed the property while we were planning a September “retirement trip” with our Castle Durham friends but ruled the village out due to it’s small size as it was the first time Mark and Susan would be visiting France.

In Canada I will officially be recognizied as a Senior Citizen collecting an Old Age Pension the month following my birth date. 

As I write this I think oh how old! 

Seriously though, I’m ok with this as I’m healthy and not feeling my age! 

What a wonderful surprise to travel to la Belle France to once again experience the French life, the “joie de vivre” and the culture with all my senses.

Thank you Monsieur Honey for the most wonderful gift! 

Today is what we dub as the “Hurry up and wait day”!

From waking up in our own beds, showering, dressing, making sure every last thing is packed ... and the final Monsieur “checklist” ... euros, passports, tickets, directions, etc. 

And away we go ... thank you to our friend Nicky for the lift to the airport bus pickup. 

Airport checkin, baggage drop off, security all was uneventful ... flight departed on time and we arrived in Paris (CDG) early. 

We enjoyed some movie entertainment and a little cat nap. 

We already had a long layover, now just a bit longer; we walked the 30 minutes between terminals, enjoyed a nice petite  déjeuner ...

... then it was hurry up and wait for our flight to Toulouse. 

The skies were foggy this morning causing many delays/ gate changes. 

Our arrival in Toulouse was on time, we collected our luggage which finally did come around on the carousel (thank goodness they were there).

                                        
Next was the car rental pickup process with Europcar, upon checking the Opel we discovered too much damage and requested a different vehicle and we were given a new Peugeot 208, with a built in GPS ... “parlez vous Français?” 

More on this later!  

Finally on the road in direction to Montlaur.  

We did a quick stop at a surpemarket in Trèbes for essentials arriving in Montlaur just before six o’clock. 

We met our landlords who quickly showed us around L’Ancienne Sellerie.

We had a simple dinner of cheese, pâte, bread, wine ...  we pushed our bed time to 9 o’clock ... we’ve been going for about 24 hours!

  

See you all tomorrow after we’ve had a good night’s sleep!