It was another early start to the day, beginning with a walk to the bus depot to catch the Flibco bus direct to Charleroi Airport outside Brussels. It was a little late arriving, and we were starting to getting a little concerned because we only had a bit over an hour to spare at the airport before our Ryanair flight left. We needn't have fretted. The driver made up the time, and we in fact arrived 5 minutes early, and we whizzed through security so fast that we were out the other side and at the gate waiting area just 10 minutes after arriving at the airport.
As before, we hadn't booked adjacent seats and again ended up sitting 20 rows apart. We expect it is a deliberate ploy to make people more inclined to pay the extra euros and book adjacent seats. It didn't worry us. Again I slept for a chunk of it, though woke for the bumpy landing in Perpignan due to quite fierce crosswinds.
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| A view over the etang (estuary) north of Perpignan where large volumes of shellfish are farmed. |
It was only a 10 minute wait until the bus rolled up to take us to Perpignan train station, and 5 minutes after arriving there we were on the last leg of our journey, i.e. the bus to Ceret. It had been another tiring day - one flight, three buses and two connecting walks, but we still arrived back in our apartment at 3pm in the afternoon. There was time to pick up a crunchy baguette, some tomatoes, peppers, cheese and lettuce to make an easy meal for dinner.
It was nice to be back in Ceret again and back in our own rooms and bed. We have thoroughly enjoyed our jaunts we have taken further afield from France this year. We've put time and effort into organising and booking them but it's definitely paid off. We've learned a great deal about neighbouring cultures, history and languages and met many friendly welcoming people. All these interactions make us think more deeply about our lives here in France and back home in NZ.
The following day, Saturday, kicked off slowly (no surprise there). We made our way to the market in the late morning and picked up fresh produce for the week and found a free table for a coffee at Cafe de France. It was a beautiful day, very mild and everyone was out enjoy a pleasant social morning.
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| View from Cafe de France |
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| Main market area outside Le Comptoir |
Our Australian friends came around for apero on Saturday night. They had just returned from a week's trip up into Germany and Switzerland so we had plenty of stories to share.
On Sunday we set off on one of our usual walk circuits, keeping fairly close to Ceret because it was the weekend and hence pig hunting day. The weather has been very balmy and it was lovely walking in the warm sun, and was definitely a change from the cool wet weather in Belgium. One day had been 28 while we were in Belgium.
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| The locals enjoying some traditional Sardane dancing in the street outside Le Comptoir. |
In the afternoon I started packing. I know, it's still 12 days until we begin our departure for this year, but we are both looking forward to heading homeward and it was nice to be able to potter and start to sort through some of our stuff. We are continually trying to trim down what we leave here each year, so that when the time comes to sell up it won't be a big job to organise our stuff. We would in any instance sell the property fully furnished.
It's time to get back into our weights regime and daily yoga. We have 15 days of yoga remaining on our 30 day yoga programme and just 12 until we leave, so a bit of doubling up of sessions is on the radar.
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| Beautiful soft light in the square below our apartment |
This morning (Monday) saw us meet up with others for coffee at Le Comptoir before heading out for lunch. The breaking news of the day was about an apartment fire in one of the streets not very far away from us. The fire, at midnight last night, necessitated the arrival of 70 fire, police and ambulance staff and the evacuation of a number of apartments. Two people died in the incineration. Neither John nor I heard any sirens or any other peep during the night. Notably, everyone around the coffee table this morning was talking about checking their smoke alarms were in good working order!
A few weeks ago we'd organised meeting up for some English friends who live in a very small remote hamlet further up the valley. We always catch up with them each year, but often just the once because they, as well as us, are often away travelling. This time, we'd booked a favourite of theirs, a popular Spanish restaurant in the foothills of the Pyrenees. It was a winding hour's drive to get there. Linda had booked for a 2pm kickoff (i.e. Spanish time) and we were pretty hungry by the time we arrived.
It was great to catch up and hear all their news. They are yet another couple who are looking to sell up, both their place here in France and also in London. The plan is to perhaps buy something smaller and more accessible here, and just a small apartment back in England closer to their son. Deteriorating health is a major consideration.
The restaurant was renown for its very generous helpings, particularly large platesful of meat. We'd been there once before, many years ago, and it had fitted the bill perfectly. However, we were a little disappointed this time. My sanglier (wild boar) was very tasty but the vast chunks of meat would have benefited from some thick gravy. John's meat dish (lamb chop, sausage, pork and rabbit) was nice but a rather dry and overcooked. It was a nice experience nonetheless.
We left at 4pm, returning home making a loop through La Jonquera. Large supermarkets dominate this border town so we popped into our favourite and bought a few large blocks of cheese to take back to NZ. We also popped into our hairdresser to see if we could get our hair cut (we do have appointments for next week anyway) but they were closing early at 5.30pm.
Dinner tonight has been a cup of tea. We don't need anything else!
