Saint-Lizier

Nicole & Daniel had been to a family funeral just before our arrival and Nicole suspected one of the other mourners might have Covid-19. The only wise thing to do was to be tested, which gave us the opportunity to visit Saint-Lizier, a short drive away.

The co-cathedral. Yes the town used to be so important that it had two cathedrals!

As always, beautifully peaceful on the inside...

Two frescoes surviving from the 11th century

Outside, the cloister...

...with intricate carvings...

...and strange men carrying umbrellas!

Two more views of the cathedral with the Pyrenees as a back-drop

The other cathedral, Notre-Dame-de-la-Sède, before rain stopped play and we sheltered from a huge storm to await Nicole.

La Vallée d'Estours

If you fancy a stroll from the house there are two options, up the valley or down the valley.

Someone's been busy with a home-made sign

Not far from the house is the GR10, one of France's famous hiking trails (Sentiers de Grande Randonée)

If you look carefully you can see snow on the mountain peaks...

...and evidence of plenty of rain!

It's no fun meeting someone in another vehicle on the single track...

...but the stream flows on obliviously.

Rooftops of neighbouring buildings

Christmas greetings

2021 has not been the easiest of years (to put it mildly) but here we are with the Christmas edition. We had to forget our plans to be in the UK for the festivities but we'll be having plenty of video calls, I'm sure.

Once again we have a perfect Christmas tree...

...complete with my Dad's robin.

Some have had to close but many shops & restaurants have made the effort to decorate

There's a huge Christmas wreath on Sacha's school gate

Dusk, and the lights come on...

L'Église St Nicolas...

...viewed from La Place de la Liberté.

Even Le Mairie (the town hall) is sparkling

La Rue des Halles is impressive enough for two photos

L'Avenue de la Plage

Back home from my crespuscular wanderings

Merry Christmas from all the Cleggs, Hills & Coutrets. Thinks: must get one of these with Alfie, Sacha & Betty on too!

Making apple juice

Here's a first for the blog. Nicole & Daniel had harvested lots of apples: what better to do than create their own apple juice. Mind you it helps when nearby friends have just the equipment that's needed.

Apples into Magic Machine One to make a pulp

Then packed into Magic Machine Two, a hydraulic fruit press...

...that squeezes the fruit...

...forcing the juice out and into the bucket. 

You've got to pay attention to empty the bucket into the heated steriliser before it overflows

Next, fill the awaiting bottles...

...and rinse all the stickiness away!

Then there's just the cleaning up to be done, the dried pulp used as a fertiliser.

An Englishman in Estours

As I wrote last time we were off on our travels again, this time to Nicole & Daniel's second home in the Pyrenees. But we couldn't resist stopping for a couple of nights at Loulou & Sylvie's in Figeac to break up the journey.

And it was a lovely surprise to find Sylvie's sister Christine there too

We had a stroll in the woods above where Tine's parents used to live...

...trying to find the spot where this photo was taken of them many moons ago.

Rémi's bar Le Sphinx was closed but I couldn't resist another photo...

...and I was highly amused by this poster in a neighbouring bookshop, social distancing Figeac-style!

Nicole & Tine shared accommodation in Toulouse where they did their studies, and have been close friends ever since. You might remember last year's visit to Portbou, Daniel's old family home in Catalonia (https://anenglishmaninlatranche.blogspot.com/2019/09/a-few-days-in-portbou-1.html)

The house in Estours is rustic but homely after many years of hard graft

The open fire kept us snug and warm

Tine in full action cooking aligot (a cheesy mashed potato dish that sticks to your ribs), a speciality from the Figeac area

There's always washing up to be done though

View from the dining table (note the bottle of Ricard on the window sill)!

Looking up the valley from the house...

...and across the valley too.