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Tuesday 12 October 2010

French Leave

As promised some photos from our week in France - as you will see we had mixed weather with some brilliantly sunny days and some dull and damp:


After we had been to the chateau in St Auvent where the contemporary art was on show we went on to a place nearby known as the Petit Lourdes in Limousin in see here for more information and photos - it was a peaceful meander through the woods along the banks of the Gorre - just what we needed after our 4.00 am start! We did laugh though as my friend tried to explain about the pelerins (pilgrims as I now know) and I thought she meant peregrins and was talking about falconry or something whereas it is a place of pilgrimage!





Friday saw us taking a stroll round St Junien - when we lived in France our village was on the outskirts of St Junien so we went there often to the shops. The bottom photo is of a dig which was taking place in what is to be a new car park and where they have discovered a medieval cemetry!

Neolithic dolmen

On Monday we had been invited to another French couple's home for lunch - they came and picked us up at mid-day and invited the friends with whom we were staying to stay for aperitifs when they came to collect us at 6.00 pm! Thus it was 8.00 pm by the time we left and since they speak no English and my husband speaks very little French it fell to me to keep the conversational ball rolling! It was lovely to see them again and she is the friend who made me the little house which I showed you earlier but I was glad to see our hosts and to have help with keeping the conversational ball in the air over the aperitifs!! They took us for a drive after lunch and we saw this neolithic dolmen as well as the little village school where they had lived and worked for 30 years!




Tuesday was a day spent in Limoges - our friends dropped us off and left us to our own devices at our request. We used to go to Limoges nearly every Saturday for our weekend shopping and wanted to revisit our old haunts. This is the Museum of Porcelain next to the car park which we were to return to later on.

Here is Les Halles - the covered market where we used to buy our fruit and veg along with bakery items and occasionally fish. We popped in to see if our usual fruit stall was manned by the regular lady and it was and she came round to give us bises (kisses to each side of the face as is expected in France!) and to ask how we were and so on - they are amazing at remembering their customers. She used to give me a "cadeau" some weeks - an unusual fruit to try or maybe a peach or mango or something.


This is just outside the market hall and is trompe l'oeil and not actually windows and timbered walls at all - amazing isn't it?



This is the real McCoy though and is another building on the edge of the market place.

Thought some of you might like this display of felt accessories in the shoe shop window.

That evening we took our friends out to dinner. This was the amuse bouche which I thought quite appropriate for me as Marigold Jam! It was a tiny glass of beetroot mousse and a sliver of cheese tart decorated with an edible flower - a soucis!!

We also had 2 whole day outings and I will show you the photos from those next time - the arboretum we went to was stunning so watch out for those coming soon!

13 comments:

  1. Looks as though you had a wonderful time and now have lovely memories too.

    Su

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  2. I love seeing photos from the different regions of France I haven't been to. The trompe l'oeil is quite amazing.

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  3. What a lovely trip - it must have brought back great memories, visiting old haunts and meeting up with old friends again.

    I look forward to the next installment.

    Jill x

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  4. Hi, this is my first visit to your blog and I have found it very interesting! I love your descriptions of the two books about quilts and freestyle - you have made me want to buy them! please drop by my blog if you've got time - I would love to see you, Rachel x

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  5. Looks like you had a wonderful trip. Great that you could meet up with old friends again.
    Vivienne x

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  6. Wonderful photos you have shared with us

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  7. Oh Jane, now I want to go back !!! There is so much more of France that I would like to see. It is all so different to Australia - so old and quaint - and I love the markets too.

    As I said to you recently I'm very impressed with your understanding of French. Did you just pick it up because you lived there or have you studied it? We found we were picking a lot up and could get by with written French fairly well but when I had carefully worked out how to ask a question I was in real trouble trying to understand the answer with the flood of French in the reply.
    Keep the photos coming I might have to make do with them until I can save up enough money for another holiday.
    Cheers
    Helen

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  8. Thank you for sharing your visit. All lovely & makes me sad to think I will not get back over there until next spring. Lizzie

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  9. Great photos Jane. Glad you had a lovely time catching up with friends. Lesley x

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  10. Looks lovely Jane and the beetroot mousse looks tasty! x

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  11. So glad you had a lovely trip...great photo's!

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  12. I love the trompe - very cleverly done. Glad you had a good trip down memory lane and I think it's very sweet of you to take a photo with your blogger friends in mind!!

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  13. Please, please don't post anyhthing new for the next twenty hours or so. I need to get back here when it's not past midnight and my brain is fuctioning properly.
    Take Care!

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