Oh boy!! Snow!!

Well! We had a bit of trouble motivating ourselves to get out of the house today, although it was cool, clear and sunny. Just Sunday laziness I guess but once we got to Le Caylar, our first stop, we were very pleased we had made the effort. The village of Le Caylar is about 40 km north of here, up in the mountains, and as we gained altitude we noticed icicles hanging off the rocks by the road. Then E spotted ice on the ground between the trees ... hang on - that's not ice, it's snow! Immediately the excitement level cranked up several notches (it had been hovering around zero in the back seat anyway). We squeaked to a halt in the first parking lot we came to and tumbled out of the car like puppies needing to pee. There was just enough snow left to make a very small snowman and to chuck a few balls at each other, so after 15 minutes or so we set off, only to screech onto the side of the road again (and I do mean screech, you could have measured the excitement in decibels by this time) to look at a frozen pond. You probably could have slid right across to the other side, but we didn't dare try it ...

There was even more snow at La Couvertoirade, which is a fortified medieval village, built by the knights templar. It's supposed to be one of the most beautiful villages in France, and it is very pretty and also very well-preserved. The walls are several stories high. Inside the walls are many houses - one website said there was a population of 153 - and a church, with an ancient cemetery, unused since 1439. That means that all those strange circular gravestones are very, very old ...

In some fields to the south of the village there were deep snowdrifts and E and Al got completely out of control, throwing themselves into the drifts, making snow angels and then just people-shaped holes. I lost count of the times E's shoe came off, her socks were soaked when we got home. The randonnee track back to Le Caylar lay tantalisingly before me and I tried to persuade the others to take a walk with me ('only 6 km!!' ) but they weren't keen. However there is another shorter walk in the area that they have promised to do with me soon ...

Some pictures

The Le Caylar snowman



The rooftops of La Couvertoirade taken from outside the church (the two towers on the right are part of the fortifications)



The very ancient cemetery, with strange circular grave markers.



The path to Le Caylar. Don't you just want to walk a while, see what's around the next corner?

Is it winter or what?

I haven't blogged for a while. The weather here has been very unusual - we have had spring sunshine and warmth for about two weeks. Bud are swelling on trees, spring flowers are out (spring orchid pictured above), insects are coming out and about and my friend's tortoise came out of hibernation on saturday morning. Last weekend we were reading on the deck wearing our summer clothes. BUT ...it's not spring, and suddenly the weather turned cold yesterday. Rain, wind and a drop of at least 10 degrees C. People were looking at the sky and talking about snow (snow!!). The snow didn't come, but this afternoon we watched another storm rolling over the hills.

I had my medical for my Carte de Sejour today. Someone mucked up and I was sent for orientation classes with all the other immigrants, which made my appointment last a lot longer than it needed to. A video, a long talk from 3 different social workers (and then the translation into Arabic) and then a meeting with a social worker (it didn't last very long when she found out I was only staying for another 3 months), as well as a meeting with a nurse, a doctor and a chest x-ray (for TB - I'm clear - woohoo!) Whew, what an afternoon. All in French. For those staying on, the service is very good - you get 200 hours of free French language lessons (written as well as spoken), and two intensive days of orientation into French life - how to find housing, how to find a job, etc. The emphasis is on being French. If you are French, you are French, and you are expected to speak French, and behave like a French person.

After 5 months here, I suddenly realise I have become very fond of Aniane. Incomprehensible sounds have solidified into meaningful words, and I can have conversations with the other parents at school, the teachers, the other women at gym and pottery, the lady at the boulangerie .... I like living in a small town, we hardly go to the shops except for necessities, but we seem to be always busy. I like walking out the door and seeing people I know, at least well enough to call out 'bonjour' or have a short conversation about the weather. I like getting the 'local's discount' at the Aniane Co-operative Caveau (winery). I like the social event that is a visit to the butcher's shop - you wait in line, and chat with people you know while M.Caizergues serves meat and jocularity to the crowd. I like the way you are greeted whenever you enter a shop or restaurant, any establishment really, and bid farewell when you leave. The sight of Gignac and Aniane nestled in the plain as you come over the hill on the freeway from Montpellier. The hourly bongs from the bell atop the Chapelle des penitents across the road. Kids all over the place, playing in the streets, grandparents picking up grandchildren for lunch from school. Even the dogs, and the little cleaning truck that washes the crottes (dog poops) off the street. The grey and green hills not so far away. The dry soil and fragrant vegetation, wild leeks, wild asparagus, thyme, rosemary, juniper, santolina, and scrubby 'garrigue' (low growing wild shrubs and small pines and oaks that cover the hills around here).

Hmmm...


Chapelle des penitents - if you look closely at the tower you can see the bell on top (picture taken from our house)


Vineyard and garrigue just outside Aniane


Aniane, with hills in background

Has it really been that long?

After all the excitement of the holidays, life is slowly returning to normal. E went back to school on Monday and Al's in the UK at a meeting until sunday. The man from the Mairie has just taken down the Christmas decoration from the front of our house, so it really is all over.

We've been having brilliant weather here in Aniane - last sunday we went to the Pont de diable and lay in the sun. People have been wearing t-shirts. However it's very unusual I'm told and the past couple of days have cooled down quite a bit.

We had two trips away after Christmas. On Boxing Day we headed to Carcassonne, where we spent a couple of days in the freezing cold exploring the citadel and the town. Here's a pic of the Chateau Comtal, the residence of the Counts of Trencavel.


The citadel survived the centuries surprisingly well, and were restored by the French Government in the Victorian era. This appeared to involved mainly putting turrets back on, and topping off walls. Here you can see the old walls below the neat and tidy restoration work.


The citadel was built on top of a hill, of course, allowing a clear view of all the surrounding countryside. Pretty, isn't it. We could actually see snow-covered mountains in the way far distance. See the little people walking in the picture? That's to give you an idea of the scale of these magnificent towers and walls. It was very impressive.


We also visited Mirepoix, which is unusual here in the Languedoc because of the construction of many of the houses. They are wood-framed, like the half-timbered houses in places like Chester, and extend out over the footpaths to provide shelter for people walking below. Here's a picture


This is what it looks like from underneath


Incidentally we heard more English being spoken (by English people) in Mirepoix than in any other village we have been to (more even than Montpellier).

Near Mirepoix we checked out the Eglise rupestre at Vail. It's a church built into the rock - you enter it through a cave, and go up through a subterranean pre-Roman crypt. The main part of the church is built above ground though, and it supposedly sports some excellent Roman mosaics .... but these were undergoing travaux (works) and we couldn't see them.
First pic is the church itself


And here's the way in



On the way home we stopped at the Oppidum de Enserune, which is an archaeological excavation and museum of a Roman fortified town. However it was closed, unfortunately (note to self ... next time don't come in the off-season). Luckily there is another interesting thing at Enserune and it's this ... a swamp drained in the 13th century, with fields arranged like the spokes of a wheel. Why did they do it like this? Who knows. The Languedoc is full of interesting things.


I realise I have been remiss in not posting a picture of the Canal du Midi, whilst in this area. So here it is, the Canal du Midi, in Colombiers, where we enjoyed a good lunch at a canal-side restaurant. Those of you in the catering industry might be interested to know that the proprietress wore a very low-cut corset-style top, and the place was full to bursting with blokes while other restaurants were almost empty. Even my loyal and faithful husband left a larger than usual tip...