It has been several weeks since an update due to a very busy time here in Montlaur.
Since our return from Italy and Spain life has been very busy as we have had the pleasure of many guests.
My old and very dear gliding friend Roger headed from New Zealand to celebrate his 50th Birthday with friends and godchildren in Germany
- and spend some time with me in Montlaur. His flight from Frankfurt landed him over the border in Spain and so headed over to Girona to pick him up...........he was shattered having only arrived from the Southern Hemispere a few days earlier. To add to his fatique I got a little lost heading back to Carcassonne ( talking too much...imagine) and added several hours to the journey). Roger certainly got to see more of France than he bargained for.
His next few days did not improve with a head cold added to jetlag. I reassessed my scheduled itineray for Roger and we had a lovely but quiet few days enjoying the Abbey and beautiful village of Lagrasse and the castle at Caracassonne. Roger soon became a brocante (antique shop) junkie, and we enjoyed spending any chance we could hunting through these. We were lucky to have Kayleanne about to help with the school pick ups for Maya, and she finished her school term at the end of this week with a very impressive school concert at the next village to us, Servies-en-Val. It was great to be a part of the community and join in with the other parents watching the show on a stage in a large playing field. The children did singing and dancing in French and the regional language Occitaine. It was followed up with a late but very satisfying bar-be-que, all in all a wonderful show...sadly John was not here to see it.
The weekend arrived as did a great deal of airport and bed hopping craziness. My brother-in-law Keith and children, Dan and Alex arrived from Dubai the next day...we reconfigured beds,and at 3:00am Roger and I headed back to Spain...for his early flight back to Frankfurt...I then headed back to France, picked up Kayleanne and drove her to Carcassonne airport for her flight to London ( as she was evacuating and spending 3 weeks there)...then waited around the airport for a couple of hours for John's arrival back from London...head spinning yet? ...Am I nuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Finally back in Montlaur and settled into some quality time with the whanau. Had a wonderful morning at Trebes the next day. Took the bikes Debbie and Terry have in the shed and spent the morning having a picnic and cycling the canal. A gorgeous spot and the kids had loads of fun. Later that afternoon Katherine arrived following a Donny Osmond fix in Wales.The Smiths headed to La Cite and that evening we celebrated Keith's birthday - which was marred somewhat by watching the final minutes of Race 7 America's Cup on the computer! Next day I had a quiet day at home with Will, and the rest headed to the spectacular cathar castle ruins Lastours. This is an impressive site with 4 large towers to explore...it is only about 40mins away so close to visit and following this they checked out one of Europes largest caves nearby....returned shattered to a very Kiwi roast lamb dinner ( real NZ lamb...very reasonible here).
Katherine and Keith got a leave pass and escaped child free over the border for a night in Spain.............they pursued Dali's footsteps and visited his museum in Figures and his house in the tiny fishing village Port Lligat. This all looked amazing and I am very keen to repeat this tour when Sharon visits in August. We meanwhile took all the kids and headed for Toulouse to the Space Centre, which was also a very impressive day, and managed to satisfy children from 2 to 14 years...not bad..
For the rest of their stay we chilled out at Carcassonne Plage, and the local villages.Alex also got to celebrate her birthday with a nice dinner and a tea-party which pleased Will!
We ended the stay with a very entertaining show of jousting and dinner at the Castle. All in all a wonderful get together and Maya and Will loved spending time with their cousins and Uncle Keith and Auntie Katherine ..as did we.
John and I had a day at home .....and gave the washing machine a workout...before it was another run to the airport to send John off to London...and our next guests arrived.
My great gliding friends of 20 years Mat and Roger were already on their way from Germany. On their way they visited Provence, and the Pont du gard...thanks for the beautiful lavender....and even managed to get time in for some gliding at Sisteron...a marvelous spot for gliding near Provence. Roger managed to catch the wave and climb to 10,000ft, for a 2 1/2 hour experience covetted by any lover of flying. They arrived very tired but in good spirits after a 1200km drive.
Next day was Roger's Birthday, and feeling pressured, my plans for a gorgeous sunny day fortunately came together. Roger like myself being a Dan Brown...DaVinci code fan opted for the Rennes le Chateau itinerary....about 1 1/2 hours away...(not so long as Mat was driving German precision and not the people mover) This mysterious and beautiful village is certainly an interesting place to visit, especially if searching for the Holy Grail...however, the response from my 4 year old was ..."not another church.."
We had a picnic lunch here overlooking the beautiful Aude valley and then headed down the road to Rennes le Bain for a swim. As previously mentioned we discovered this geothermal spot from a hitchhiker we picked up....it is on the edge of the river in the town and people come and soak here amongst the rocks ...it is very relaxing and beautiful. We were grateful that not many tourists know of this unique place as they had all gone to the large public geothermal pool and so we had the river mostly to ourselves. The day was glorious and the temperature perfect. Heaven.
We then headed home,and headed to Lagrasse for a lovely French meal and walk around the Abbey. We were fortunate to have been given the name of a local girl who was able to babysit. All in all a good way to bring in a new decade and celebrate those previous.
The next day the boys explored the Carcassonne castle and I played Mum....a quiet night and they were off on the long journey back to Germany..It had been great to see them and sad to say goodbye.... we may not get together again until Rogers 70th...who knows,.phew!
John arrived back from London a few hours after the boys left (phew - that was close!) We were fortunate to be here for the Bastille Day celebrations so with picnic onboard we trekked 2km to the foot of the castle (all roads were closed) to join the hundreds of thousands in preparation for the 25min fireworks display at 10:30pm. We were most certainly not disappointed , being rewarded with the most incredible display around and above La Cite.
At the end of the week Kayleanne arrives back from London...can't wait to hear all the news. She will have 10 more days and we hope to get away with her to Provence and the Riveria before she leaves.
