All quiet on the Cazilhac front

I cannot believe how quiet the house feels now the kids have gone, no noise, no rounds of making tea, coffee and squash for the girls, no queues for the shower, no family discussions on what shall we do today. It’s just me and Den pottering around on our own, roll on another visit.

Bye Bye Mark and Kay

Well it is now time to say goodbye to Mark and Kay and the girls, I cannot believe how quick the week has gone and am feeling quite unhappy at the prospect of not seeing them all for a while. After YES another even more tearful goodbye we hugged the girls for the last time and watched them proceed through the gate and away out of sight. The girls look mystified at me snivelling into my hanky and I am sure they wonder what they have done to reduce me to this.

Trev and Paul, time to say goodbye

Well after a very enjoyable week with Trevor and Paul it is now time to say goodbye, it has come about all too soon and cannot believe it is time for them to go. After YES another tearful goodbye they were on there way home to England.

As we drove out of the airport Den suggested as it was a nice day we could go to Marseille for the day, as we still had our eldest Son and family for another day.

We drove for a just over a couple of hours to reach Marseille, it was much bigger than expected and we drove around quite lost. I normally would have studied the guide books or the net for info before visiting a big city to get the most of your visit, but as this was a spur of the moment trip we went blind.

The weather when we left the airport at Nimes was quite sunny but as we approached Marseille it was overcast grey and misty. It proved not to be our best day out and after stopping for a bite to eat at an out of town shopping centre we headed home again.

“On the bridge at Avignon”

Today our youngest Son Trevor has an appointment in Avignon with a garden magazine publisher, he is the co-owner of Gap Photos who are specialist photo agency. We all decided to join him for the trip and catch up with him after his meeting. We dropped him off and went in search of a good restaurant, it was not long before we entered the main square of Avignon and found a suitable venue. The children soon dived into the biggest bowl of spaghetti bolognaise I have ever seen and we all followed with equally large meals. After what was a very leisurely lunch we got a cal from Trevor to find out where we were, we directed him and a few minutes later he arrived starving hungry..(why are boys always hungry!) He ordered a super looking pizza and we all rested back and loosened our belts.

After lunch we took a stroll to the river, where Dennis commenced his version of “On the bridge at Avignon” I must add this is the only French song he knows and most of the words sound like they are made up. (he likes it anyway)

Le Petit Paradis and the sweet smell of Goats cheese

Today Trevor thought they would have a lazy day today and passed up the opportunity to visit Le Petit Paradis. The girls were a bit wary of the animals as there were quite a few goats coming up to them and were eager to get at the food the girls were clutching in their hands. We nicknamed Mark Goat Boy as he seemed to have a steady stream of Goats following him around. He was not too sure of the place as he said it had the overwhelming smell of Goats cheese about the place.

It was a shame about the weather as it was raining a bit and not too warm. Although the girls did manage to eat an ice cream, how do kids do that. It will be a nice place to visit in the summer as they also have boats to take out on a small lake and that looks like fun.

This is a good place to visit with small children as it is not too big and spread out so does not involve too much walking for the little ones, also there is plenty of chance to pet the rabbits and guinea pigs if they like that.

A trip to The Millau Bridge

Today we thought we had all had enough walking for a while and decided to go to the Millau viaduct, it was quite a drive but well worth it. The bridge was awesome and quite spectacular there was still quite a bit of snow on the high ground so the views were fantastic as well.

There is a visitors centre where you can see a cross section of the bridge and read all the technical information in the design and build of it, they will also provide directions on where to go to drive across it, this is well worth doing as it is only then do you appreciate the sheer scale of the project.

Just a little walk

Graham, his French girlfriend Eve and her daughter invited us all to go on a little walk around the area of The Vis Gorges and the Cirque de Navacelles. We all set off enthusiastically the start of the walk was not too strenuous and we stopped by the river for a picnic, Eves daughter got on famously with the girls and although they did not speak each others language seemed to be able to babble on between themselves and know what each other meant. After our picnic we continued the walk and the going got extremely tough and at one point my eldest son was trying to manoeuvre me down a particularly steep path when he turned to Graham and said “my Mum looks like a pantomime horse” (thanks for that)

I am a townie girl at heart and not used to such terrain the roughest I have come across was an uneven path in our local town back home. So this was a bit of a shock to the system.

At one point through the walk it was decided some of the group would turn back as it was too tough, my eldest son his girlfriend and one of her daughters and me would go back to the car. The others carried on successfully and took some very nice pictures for the not so successful group.

Five more minutes please

Tried to get Trevor up bright and early as we had decided to have a day in Montpelier and with eight of us to get ready it was going to be a bit of a lottery as to who got the bathroom first.

I must add when Trevor was a small boy he was a nightmare to get up for school and would always ask for five more minutes please, this inspired me to write this poem for him.

Oh what shall we do with Trevor, he won’t get out of bed
He is laying there quite still with a pillow on his head

We have shaken and prodded and called out loud his name
But he still just lies there all our cries are in vain

We look out of the window and see a passing Plod
We call him to the bedroom but all he does is nod

We try once more with a Fireman and a very great big hose
All he could say was I could douse him I suppose

We tried once more with a Vicar but all he did was pray
He made us all hang our heads and say “God please get him out of bed one day”

With the Plod the Fireman and the Vicar we stood around the bed
Paul cried I wonder if the alarm clock killed him when I threw it at his head

Paul cried and wept and wailed and dropped down to his knees
Only to see the covers stir and Trevor cry “5 more minutes please”

Since moving to France I have written the odd poem much to the amazement of the family my youngest son declared he thought I needed to get a job as he felt I had far too much spare time on my hands and I could probably use it a lot more wisely. I am enjoying myself and will carry on whenever the inspiration comes.

We spent an enjoyable day at Montpellier and watched the girls as they joyfully went around and around on the merry go round at the place de comedie.

Another chicken run

I got the boys up early for the compulsory visit to Ganges market, that is something that is not too be missed and all our guests that are here on a Friday get treated to The sounds the smells and the bright colours still fill me with delight every time we go there.

Lunch time is soon upon us and it is time for another chicken run. Same format as before, I spot them coming and start to blub, don’t think I will ever get used to seeing the family and not feeling so emotional. The girls who are now six and seven look at me complete dismay and wonder what on earth is up with me.

We are soon all safely installed in our people carrier and head back home.

The chickens are coming

Well the day has finally arrived. I have been dreaming about it for nights now it is here.

Our first visitors from England, our youngest Son and his partner Paul will be arriving this afternoon. We have a French lesson to get through this morning then it is off to the airport, not sure our concentration level will be that high today.

We are taking the trusty Proton Diva to the airport where we shall leave it for the week as we have hired a people carrier as our other Son and girlfriend and her two daughters will be arriving tomorrow.

We are eagerly milling around the airport in excited anticipation, the people finally start to come through the arrivals hall. I spot my Son and instantly I am reduced to a blubbering wreck, much to the amusement of my husband which still to this day cannot understand how a woman can one second can be standing quite composed and the next be oozing a great abundance of tears. Any Mum’s who have not seen their children for a number of weeks will probably be reaching for their hankies as they read this in sympathetic unison.

What seems like an agonising wait which was probably only a few minutes before they come through with their bags before I could throw my arms around his neck and have a real proper sob, there is one thing to stand snivelling on your own, it does make people stare, but when you have your arms planted firmly around some ones neck it somehow makes it alright. Funny that, it seems to give it some sort of credibility.

Tearful greeting over, we head back to our apartment for a much needed catch up on the news from home. Only to here my Husband utter “another chicken run tomorrow then”. I should explain as a Mother hen the children in our house are known affectionately as our chickens, albeit they stand 6ft something and tower above me.