-
Summary of our house sit in Tostat
Last spring, when we were looking for pet- and house sits, we said that 3 weeks in one place was the maximum. After all, you don’t know where you will end up. In theory, it is possible to arrive somewhere and say to yourself OMG, this is awful! In which case you’ll be happy it’s…
-
Visiting Lourdes
The day dawns rather grey and the forecast is non too warm nor sunny. But dry and not too cold either, so we proceed as planned. We load ourselves, my dad (who’s here since Saturday late afternoon) and Molly into the car and head south, to Lourdes. No dogs allowed in the Sanctuary of Our…
-
Pont d’Espagne & Cirque de Gavarnie
Meteorologists predict temperatures of up to 28℃ today for this region. And after today, rain and cold. So we will enjoy what is most likely to be the last hot day of the year. On our TTS-list (things to see) are (amongst many other things) the Pont d’Espagne and the Cirque de Gavarnie. We’ve decided…
-
Cheese Fair in Laruns
Today and tomorrow is the “Foire aux fromages” in Laruns. We want to visit it, and based on the weather forecast, we go today. It’s only 80 km but according to Google, it will take us 1,5 hours. Because Laruns is located at the foot of the Pyrenees with only small roads leading up there.…
-
St. Jean de Luz, San Sebastian & Espelette
We wake up early after a short night and hit the road in search of a place that serves a decent breakfast. We end up at a place that has a decent breakfast, but at a price that is far above reasonable. But because of the way they advertise their options, we don’t find out…
-
Bayonne & Biarritz
After breakfast, we fill up a bowl with cat biscuits and another with water before inviting Molly into the car and heading out west. It’s sunny and the temperature is supposed to go up to approximately 23℃ this afternoon. For now, it’s 16… But the car has a heating system, which we turn up a…
-
About an incredibly athletic cat and 5 pots of fig chutney
For the second time this week, we are woken in the dead of night by one of the cats. At 4 o’clock in the morning, Dusty jumps in through the window and demands to be let out of the bedroom. We do as she asks and let her out on the landing. She stops yelling…
-
Small outings in the vicinity of Tostat & Pau
Last Friday, after a morning spent making fig chutney, we made a small tour to explore the surroundings and ended up in Pau. Which happens to be a lovely city. We had a precursory look at the castle, which looks gorgeous. We had Molly with us, and dogs aren’t allowed there, so we went and…
-
The market of Tarbes and an abundance of figs and walnuts
We had heard from multiple sources that the market of Tarbes is worth a visit. Allegedly, they have fair prices. This we wanted to see for ourselves and today is the day. We have visited many markets over the past few months, and all of them were extremely pricy. Not at all what we were…
-
An excursion into Gascony, resulting in 12 kg of apples
We are very serious about building our business. But with the lovely weather, we cannot possibly stay indoors all day. So after a long morning bent over our laptops, we load Molly into the car and hit the road. This time, we drive north, into Gascony. On the map given to us by the nice…
-
The road along the Adour (from Tostat to Lesponne and Col d’Aspin)
Today is Sunday and we celebrate with a breakfast of fresh croissants and petit pains au chocolat. Even though the autumn officially started two days ago, it is sunny and warm, as it has been for the past 3 months. The lady at the tourist office of Tarbes gave us a map of the district…
-
A visit to the city of Tarbes
We start the day doing yoga on the lawn in front of the house, followed by a guided meditation, with Erica. She has little experience with either, but applies herself admirably. And she’s quite supple for someone who hasn’t done yoga before. After breakfast, we take Molly for an exploratory walk through the village of…
-
Visiting Albi and driving to Tostat
Our parking place for the night turns out to be quiet and dark after all. Even though we are right next to a road, there was no traffic at all during the night. And no lights near either, so from those perspectives we had a good night. The fact that it was very warm and…
-
Driving along the river Tarn from Millau to Albi
The night was cold and so we wait for the sun to rise above the mountain before we get out of bed and the car. Christophe moves the car a bit so it’s in the sun and he prepares breakfast. I had found blackberries nearby yesterday and return there to pick some for our muesli.…
-
Bambouseraie and Gorges du Tarn
After a reasonably good nights sleep on the parking lot of the Bambouseraie, we do our meditation in bed and get up at 8:15h. It’s fully light and since we are in a public place, I have to wait until 9:30h when the Bambouseraie opens its doors to use the toilet. I make it, but…