Our first day in Belesta saw the kids and Joy head to the wonderfully named Crapahut for some clambering through the forest on high wires, bungeeing and ziplining. I napped. It is very convenient to be able to walk 15 minutes from the house down a forest path to such a great place for the kids. And along the way you can learn about the trees, with info boards telling you about chataigne(chestnut), chene(oak), sapin(pine) etc etc. When I finally roused myself to go meet them, I saw two huge raptors hovering overhead. Then it was down to the the intermittent source of Fontestorbes to check the phenomenon out, again. It is pretty cool to watch the water suddenly stop pumping from the mountain side and the river height drop and then to wait half an hour or so and see it go back up again.
Sunday saw us off to a vide grenier at La Bastide sur l'Hers, just down the road where I picked up a bargain of a coffee table for 6 euros. A lovely, battered and worm eaten piece of timber. And a set of binoculars. Joy found a very nice jumper and Josh bought some roller skates! There are always some hidden treasures to be taken home. We also spotted yet another of the little book swap libraries, hand made from left over timber and looking very cute. Surprisingly, it had a book by an Australian author inside, in English. So we took it home. Rather than the normal frites and sausage in a baguette lunches you usually find at these things, there were savoury crepes and they were delicious swallowed down with some le grand bison local craft beer they had on tap. And of course the weather was perfect.
The afternoon saw us up above les Monts d'Olmes ski resort walking to la belle fage lake for a swim. This was my third visit. It is a gorgeous spot, despite the very low water level now. The water was still so cold no one spent too long swimming around. On the way down there was a sudden outbreak of a mysterious ailment and I ended up piggybacking Josh 2kms back down to the car. It was made easier being able to see the wonderful views and hear the jangling tunes of the cow bells echoing of the mountains.
Monday was Mirepoix market day and as usual, it didn't disappoint in the huge range of produce and crafts on display. All surrounded by the timbered buildings of the medieval market square. But the highlight of the day was a visit to the largest underground river open to visitors in France. We got take several kms along the river, past lots of stalagmites and stalactites. Our guide was fluent in English and as we twisted and turned along the river, the boats metal hull banging into the rock, I asked him how often people banged their heads. I was expecting him to say very rarely, but apparently there are at least two every trip. It turned out he'd only been on the job six months. He used to be a carpenter until he fell off a roof! He told me he had moved here from near the German border where his parents have a farm, because most of France has been in drought for four years and the Ariege is still green and getting regular rainfall. He likes to grow his own food and it became impossible in the north.
Josh's birthday was coming up on Wednesday, so on Tuesday Joy and Poppy stayed home to make him a cake while Josh and I went off to to do some more caving. we had been to one by the side of a country lane last year and we started there. This year there was much less water on the cave floor, so we were able to go quite far into the hillside, our feet sinking into thick, deep mud. On our way back out, we took an upward offshoot of the main passage and began to see plant roots dangling from the ceiling. I got my hopes up that we might come out on the hillside, but the chamber was a dead end. then it ws off to an isolated hamlet, Morenci, to find another cave, after doing bit of clambering over rocks and looking at the enigmatic stone cross with a face carved into it. We got there just on twelve and on the dot, the two workers up there doing something with the water supply downed tools and went to lunch. I really admire how the French give themselves regular, long lunches, but I am not sure whether they disapproved of us walking instead of lunching, as we strode off towards the cave. On the way back we got some magnificent views of Montsegur castle.
We had a final adventure in the supermarket when Josh saw his euro coin disappear under the shelves. An old lady came along and was a little taken aback to see a twelve year old boy lying prone on the supermarket floor using a carrot to try retrieve his coin. I explained, ' il a perdu son Euro' and she smiled and bent down, rolled up her supermarket brochure and gave it to him to help get the thing back out. Despite their best efforts, the coin remains hidden in SuperU.
and now it is today and this morning we took a gentle 4 km circuit walk from the little hamlet of la peyregade. Mostly it was along the most amazingly well preserved stone farm tracks that looked like they had been there for centuries. moss covered stone walls line the path on either side and nearby a mountain stream cascaded down the hillside. After passing many ruined barns we reached a waterfall and then what was desribed as a 'pierre de sacrifice'. Lots of mushrooms, flowers and slugs along the way.We thought we'd sacrifice the children, but they chickened out at the last minute. Finally, we reached the hamlet again and the lovely lavoir that is built directly out of the rock of the hillside. I had been here in February as well, but then the whole walk had been bordered by snow. Both visits have confirmed the place as one of my favourite spots around here.
Sunday saw us off to a vide grenier at La Bastide sur l'Hers, just down the road where I picked up a bargain of a coffee table for 6 euros. A lovely, battered and worm eaten piece of timber. And a set of binoculars. Joy found a very nice jumper and Josh bought some roller skates! There are always some hidden treasures to be taken home. We also spotted yet another of the little book swap libraries, hand made from left over timber and looking very cute. Surprisingly, it had a book by an Australian author inside, in English. So we took it home. Rather than the normal frites and sausage in a baguette lunches you usually find at these things, there were savoury crepes and they were delicious swallowed down with some le grand bison local craft beer they had on tap. And of course the weather was perfect.
Monday was Mirepoix market day and as usual, it didn't disappoint in the huge range of produce and crafts on display. All surrounded by the timbered buildings of the medieval market square. But the highlight of the day was a visit to the largest underground river open to visitors in France. We got take several kms along the river, past lots of stalagmites and stalactites. Our guide was fluent in English and as we twisted and turned along the river, the boats metal hull banging into the rock, I asked him how often people banged their heads. I was expecting him to say very rarely, but apparently there are at least two every trip. It turned out he'd only been on the job six months. He used to be a carpenter until he fell off a roof! He told me he had moved here from near the German border where his parents have a farm, because most of France has been in drought for four years and the Ariege is still green and getting regular rainfall. He likes to grow his own food and it became impossible in the north.
No comments:
Post a Comment