Vive le France!

La Cite - Carcassonne

Square Gambetta - Carcassonne

Crikey!  I haven't blogged for a month!!  This is partly because I am having to use the iPad and it's a pain in the arse so I keep putting it off, partly because we've been busy but mainly because I'm a lazy git :)  Mike is currently revising his French for his lesson on Thursday, and I have exhausted any alternative activities such as making a cup of tea, so here we are......

After my last entry I spent a couple of days in bed and about a week housebound with a chest infection. I eventually decided to have it checked out and had practiced and practiced my ailment in French only to find there was an English doctor at the nearest practice - woohoo!!  I asked why she was in France and she replied, 'Because I am allowed to do my job here.  I am allowed to spend as much time with a patient as I need to determine what treatment they need. It's a lot less stressful than the UK."  The thing is, being a doctor is so much nicer in France than the UK that there is a surgery on every corner and you just turn up and see a doctor that day.  You might have to wait an hour but the French are in no rush, they just wait.  In the South, they also say Bonjour to everyone else in the waiting room when they walk in!!  We met a Scottish lady called Liz outside the doc's who it turned out went to Inverkeithing Primary in the 70s. She moved before attending high school there, but small world indeed!  I've since met her and her friend Tanya, who is Canadian, for coffee.

On the Saturday after the New Year weekend, we went into the market in town for a wander.  Standing at a cheese counter, I heard the chap in front say in French that he lived on a boat in the Port here.  I turned to the woman with him and said, "Excuse me, you're not Charles and Pamela from Xenia are you?" (We'd made contact via their blog). They were and thus a new friendship was struck.  Pam invited us to supper that evening and we arrived at 6pm and staggered home some 6 hours later...... They have spent the last 18 months touring France on the boat and basically doing what we hope to do, and they, and their brilliantly written blog, have given us lots of information we were looking to get.  We see them a couple of times a week and have great fun with them.  It will be quite a wrench when we head off at the end of February.

I then signed up for some French classes.  Three hours every morning for a week.  With a teacher that doesn't speak English...... It was good.  Very hard work and I was shattered by Thursday, but I now know the Passé Compose like the back of my hand, even if I am still lacking in vocabulary to use it ;)  In the classes I met Laura, who lives with her partner Steve six months in France, six in England.  We went to their's for lunch last week to pick their brains about their house and living in France.  Their house is absolutely gorgeous, and their Old English Sheep Dog, Maya, and we had a really nice time with them.  In England, they live fairly near Weedon, where we are moored just now, so will keep in touch and meet up when we get back.

After my week at school, we were off on our annual skiing trip to the Alpes!!  

View from our chalet in Chatel

Taking it easy on the blue runs

Some great skiing the day of the Face Plant (which happened when I didn't even have my skis on!)

Well, that was quite an adventure..... My friend Angela was coming with us for the first time.  She has snowboarded before so decided that she would continue with that but had some lessons booked.  We arrived on Saturday at Chatel and a fairly boozy session ensued as we caught up with everyone, then on Sunday we took to the slopes.  It was a slow start as the resort was new to us, so we had to work out where we wanted to go etc.  Angela had a lesson booked for 11am-1pm, so we headed off, did a couple of runs then met her for lunch.  After lunch we did another couple of runs then called it a day.  Unfortunately, despite an easy day, Mike's knee began to play up through the night and he was up for four or five hours trying to alleviate the pain.  The next day he was in no fit state to board, so I headed off for a lesson then skied with some of the group in the afternoon.  Mike was still out of action on the Tuesday and Wednesday, so was there to sort out Angela when she was stretchered off the mountain..... :(  No, not a tumble doing a black run, but trying to stop the board slipping away coming off a chairlift :(

Angela's joggers hiding the splint holding her knee in place :(

She somehow managed to twist the leg not on the board at a wrong angle and something went in her knee.  Ange being Ange says, "No, it's fine, I'll just board back down...."  No, she came off on a stretcher and spent the rest of the week flat out, trying to sort out things with her insurance to get her extra room on the plane home.  She's still waiting on the results of the scan she had when she got home to see what damage she's done.  They know she's torn a ligament, but not sure if it's the all-important cruciate one or not :(  Fingers crossed....
So, now there was Angela, Mike and Cara (who doesn't ski due to an injury sustained years ago - like Angela's.......) to have fun in the chalet while we were out and about.  The next day, Stuart joined them as his chest infection reappeared and knocked him for six.  We were falling like nine-pins.......  Thankfully my injuries were limited to a split lip and bruise when I took off my skis to slide on my bum down a sheer bit of ice on a red, and things got all tangled up, including Jamie, our friend Simon's son, who valiantly tried to stop me half-way down - ouch!!!  Wish someone had filmed it, must have looked hilarious.....
Mike managed to board the final day, which was cloudy and overcast after the most fantastic week.  The temperatures had been so high the snow was beginning to get slushy. Around about lunchtime, my stomach started cramping and I had to make my way back off the piste toilet by toilet.  I don't want to give too much information on that, but it was a pain in the ass!!
On the Saturday, Mike and I took the train back to Carcassonne, which was a long journey, but very pleasant with the fast and roomy French trains.  We took first class for the section from Lyon to Carcassonne, which was only spoiled by the scent of the lady sitting in front of us.  People should only be allowed in first class if they have showered at least once in the last week - her BO was like nothing I have ever smelled before - yuk!!
We had a grand reunion and Sunday lunch with Pam and Charles and then on Monday picked up a hire car for a week.  This enabled us to do a bit of exploring around and about the area, and take Pam and Charles to the Supermarket on the outskirts to stock up on heavy stuff.  We were also very, very brave and drove to Toulouse on Wednesday where we met our friend Stuart for dinner.  We then couldn't find the car in the multi-storey carpark and thought it had been nicked, 'til the guy in the wee office pointed out there was another identical entrance in the opposite corner..... doh!!!!!!!

The village of Saissac in the Montagne Noir - with rather noir weather.......

The Lac du Lampy which is a second water source for the Canal du Midi - hope the first one's got a bit more water in it!!!

The locks at Trebes

Looking along the Canal du Midi at Homps

Our 2 euro bottle of wine was delicious along with our tartiflette - c'est bon!!

We stopped off at the town of Olonzac, where we spotted a lady selling some veg from her garage.  We needed onions and garlic so went in, and spotted her homemade wine for sale too.  2 euros a bottle, no label, we bought some thinking if it was awful we could use it for cooking.  It was delicious and we wish we'd gone back and bought some more!!

Marmot looking for snacks in the basin at Castelnaudray

The car was returned on Friday afternoon and Charles and Pam came over for dinner that evening.  Saturday, therefore, was a quiet day, though we took a stroll up to what Charles calls his 'Spiritual' shop....

Difficult choice to pick just a couple.....

Superb whisky selection

And today we've been looking at boating routes in France.  I tasked myself with trying to find out what options there are for craneing us in as we'd quite like to avoid the big commercial sections in the north.  At the end of next week we see the start of a role of visitors before we leave Carcassonne on 29th February.  A bientot!!!