I'll tumble for ya

When was the last time your doctor made a house call for 60 euro? After a week on my back, recovering from falling down some stairs. I finally contacted a local doctor in Toulouges and within 20 minutes he was at our townhouse. Hello doctor. I had a huge bruise on my derrier(butt), and felt like someone beat the crap out of me, this is after one week of resting me aching bum. My bloodpressure was up from the pain so..... of course out comes the stethoscope to listen to my heart and my husband says cop a little feel and a burning big old shot in the butt. Nothing says France like a little t&a(tits&ass). Well whatever, I am now feeling better, enough to blog about it.

The Little Yellow Train

Yesterday we went for a trip on the Little Yellow Train. The train leaves from Villefranche de Conflent at 400 meters altitude and goes up the valley to many little villages at 1500+ Meters. There are hot baths at some stops and popular ski resorts at others. The train was one of the first to use engines in several cars instead of just one big engine pulling, and consequently can climb a steeper grade than many trains before. It is a great ride as it crosses the valley several times on high trestle bridges and even one early suspension bridge. The views are spectacular!

We stopped at a village, Mont Louis, that has a solar oven that reaches 2500 C. It is a giant reflector 9 stories high that concentrates the sun's energy on one point. It was completed in 1969! Who knew? The town has buildings dating from 1780 that are in sight of this huge reflector and is also a ski resort in the winter.

Fete d'Olive Redux

Chris enjoyed the fete for the dancing giants, but I went for the olives (and olive oil). French olives and oil are distinctly different from the more common Italian version and one could taste many different varieties here. It was also a beautiful day at the beach. The beach here is long and deep and, outside of August, not terribly crowded. I think all of the sand on this end of the Mediterranean ended up here, because the beaches further north in the Riviera are almost all rocks.

Today we visited Madam Velarde the Master Ceramicist in Amilie de Bains and started our immersion French lessons in Perpignan. Chanterelles for dinner too.

Fete d'olive

Today is Sunday, October 11th, 2009. Bill and I went to the Fête de Olive (olive festival) in Canet en Rosselin Plage. It is our first time here, and what a gorgeous sunny day it is. We walked along the promenade next to the mediteranean sea, restaurants and cafes with a cool comforting breeze blowing in our hair. There in an open courtyard by the sea were tables filled with tapenades, olive oils, and black and green olives in marinades, oils etc. along with fresh baked breads, pastries and fresh vegetables for sale. All of a sudden, a parade starts up with giant king and queen figures of around 18-20 feet high. I have only seen this before on t.v. or read about it and it's quite a sight to see dancing figures that tall. All in all, it is a lovely day.

Back in Toulouges again

It's great to be in Toulouges again. We had a good trip. San Francisco to Frankfurt on United, connecting to Toulouse on Lufthansa and picking up our Europecar for the drive to Toulouges. Murielle & Jean Philippe had the house opened, the water heater on and ice made in the refrigerator. We are lucky they are around. It was marvelous to snuggle up in the big bed and sleep off the jet lag. We've been eating well - pork chops yesterday, and a whole chicken with a medal (trimmed and tied by the butcher) on the rotisserie built into the oven, haricot vert with toasted almonds, and the deserts you see here from the sweet bakery up the street. The little cookies you see are macaroons and melt in your mouth. These 3 are strawberry, chocolate and caramel. They are works of art.

Chris' back went out yesterday and she has been suffering, but it seems to be getting slowly better, so we hope she'll be better by tomorrow. We went to Ceret today for the market, and plan to go to Canet-Rosellin for the Olive Festival tomorrow.

We'll keep you posted.