Sousaphone

We went to Avignon yesterday and visited the Palace of the Popes. Incroyable. More later on that.
Afterwards as we walked down the main boulevard we came across this little scene. The little girl was totally entranced and refused to come when her mother called her but just danced to the music.
Until... the dreaded men in blue arrived. She couldn't understand why the sousaphone player had stopped!

Friends in High Villages

We have made new friends here in Uzes in the strangest of ways. My dear friend and Uzes advisor Gail was visiting a friend in New Zealand who had said "you might like this book - it's about a New Zealand woman in France, I can't be bothered reading it". Gail took it away and loved it because the 'woman in France' had bought a property just outside Uzes which she lets out to guests when she isn't running cookery schools and tours. So Gail suggested I read it and I downloaded it onto my phone. The next day I was sitting in a local doctor's waiting room reading all about Amanda's adventures with handsome landscape gardeners and attractive Moroccans, when I struck up a conversation with the woman next to me. I asked where she lived and she said St Maximin. "Oh, what a coincidence," I said. I'm just reading about a New Zealander who lives there". "Oh you must mean Amanda," said the woman (she was English), she's my next door neighbour." What a coincidence! Then I read on and found Amanda was describing a scene where her hypochondriac mother calls the Pompiers and the doctor visits. Which was the very same doctor as the one we were visiting that day. It was all too much and I had to email Amanda to tell her and to ask if I could visit her house somehow. She wrote back immediately and said she was in Greece but her best friend Judy had been instructed to invite me up to St Maximin for a tour of the house and a drink. So the lovely Judy did just that and I got to meet two more New Zealanders  - Derrick and Debra (Debra and Derrick's sister Verna had just bought the house across the road), plus the Deputy Mayor of St Maximin and his lovely wife. Judy has now joined Amanda in Greece but we have caught up with Debra and Derrick since then and they have sweetly invited us to dinner at their Appartements des Jardins on Thursday. Can't wait to see their house.
If anyone is thinking of holidaying in this beautiful part of France or wants a week of cooking and wine tasting in a perfect setting, you can look up Amanda on www.joiedevivre-unlimited.com or Debra and Verna (Derrick's sister who is the co-owner) on stmaxapartments@gmail.com (they don't have their website up and running yet).
Here we all are getting to know each other the new house Amanda has built at the end of her jardin.

And here we are (Danny has joined us now) entertaining Debra and Derrick in our apartment in Uzes

Inside the Palace

Here are some photos of what it looks like inside the Dukes Palace. There was lots of gold and lots of paintings and chandeliers and a lovely little chapel that was very old.
Do you think it looks like Anna and Elsa's palace, Isla and Archie?

Here is the inside of the chapel:

The Duke's Palace

Yesterday I visited the Palace of the Duke and, Isla and Archie, it was just like the palace in Frozen!
We were allowed to go into some of the beautiful big rooms and into the wine cellar and up the very high tower.

The stairs to the tower were very narrow and very steep and soldiers would have climbed them 1000 years ago.

There were slots in the walls for the soldiers to fire their arrows out of. You would have liked to see those Henry and Harry and Ralph.

There was a ledge to walk around at the very top where you could see all around the town, so if anyone tried to get into the Palace the soldiers could have shot them with their arrows straight away.

Luckily there wasn't much fighting in the end - but the Duke was ready in case there was!

Market day again

The Saturday market is much bigger than the Wednesday one, with clothes and ceramics and brocante. And so many people!
Rosie's foot is almost better - she has discarded the stick since this photo was taken!

Poor little chickens in France - they get to tuck their heads under their wing even when they are about to go in the pot! Don't show this photo to Felicity or Luna, Isla! We would never eat them!

And I have never seen mushrooms the size of this before!

Or so much nougat

Horse meat for sale. A bit different from Woolworths in Arncliffe, Henry!

Birds and Bells and Belfries

I think I have worked out the signal for the birds on the Museum roof to take off in a flock for the Duke's Palace bell tower. It is the last ringing of the bell in the tower. Of course!
I managed to make a little movie of the event this evening. The birds veer off behind our building but then do a fly past over the cathedral.

Another breakfast in Uzès

We went back to the same cafe for breakfast this morning and our lovely waiter from yesterday brought out our coffees (well one cafe and one cup of hot water) just as we arrived! We love him.

Then the cafe cat got friendly too.

Evening birds

Every evening when we sit on the balcony

we can see hundreds of birds collecting on the roof of the museum. Then at some mysterious signal they all take off in a flock and disappear.

Gail says they are merles bleus and every night they sleep in the tower of the Duke's Palace.

The palace is a real medieval castle from the 11th Century (that's 1000 years old Archie, Harry, Henry, Ralph and Isla!) And it looks just like a castle from a fairy tale. The real today's Duke d'Uzes is in there at the moment because his flag is flying.

Soon, I will take a tour of the palace and will send you lots of photos - I hope it's not too dark to take photos in the dungeons!

Family history

We are staying across the road from the Musée and I found out that it is possible to access the archives of Uzès on Lundi Mardi and Jeudi between 2 and 4 if you knocked on a secret door. So I did and was invited into a beautiful room (the museum is in the old Bishop's palace next to the cathedral) with a huge fireplace 10 feet high, and a lovely woman looked up de Forlonge in the records. No trace, unfortunately. Uzès was a strong Huguenot centre and if they came from the Languedoc, they would very likely have come from round here. Most of the Huguenots left when the Treaty of Nantes, which had protected them, was revoked in 1685. That is the date that our relatives were supposed to have left France. But as she pointed out, if they were the Comtes de Forlonge that would not have been their surname. She was so helpful and looked up the de Forlonges in Scotland of which there are records back to the birth of John Forlong in 1783. So she suggested I contact the records office in Glasgow and find out the name of his father and then the father before that, so we can see if it leads back to France. What a sensible suggestion! (This is all in French, so very challenging for me!)
So, I will do as she says and then possibly go back to her with more clues.  So, Emily, I might need you to send me a photo of the family tree which I think is inside the family bible.

French people are so helpful - they go out of their way to solve your problems. Two days ago I bought a SIM card from the post office (the card I bought via Claude's friend was the wrong thickness for my phone!) and the post office manager took me into his office and cut the card to size for me then set it all up so that it worked. My friend Gail (who inspired me to come to Uzès and knows a lot about France) says it is because the French choose a profession when they leave school and stay in that profession until they retire and they take their jobs very seriously. But they are also very lovely people.

Breakfast in Uzès

My co-voyager Rosie has arrived and yesterday morning we set off to have breakfast in the Place aux Herbes. I thought I was being very French and asked for a croissant, but the waiter was very dismissive of that and suggested I went to the boulangerie down the road. So we had bread and jam - the most delicious bread and jam. The waiter got quite hysterical when Rosie ordered une tasse de l'eau chaude. He put my espresso down in front of her as a protest. He was pretty amusing. We might go back this morning. We were there quite early, so no tourists, only locals. Everyone smoking, drinking espressos and a lot of kissing. Especially from the waiter!

Uzes

How beautiful is this town! We are staying in an apartment in the 'Hotel' of the Baron de Castille. He was born in Uzes in 1747 and built this house after travels in Egypt and Greece. So it has a more classical look than other buildings in the town.
In the guide it says "Il se passionne pour les voyages et se decouvre un gout immidere pour les colonnes comme en temoigne l'imposant peristyle de l'edifice."
Our apartment is on the first floor to the left of the porch (shutters closed in this photo).

We are across the road from the Cathedral Saint-Theodorit. The original was built in 1090 but was destroyed in the Albigeois wars (will find out more) and this one was built in 1652 with a new facade built in 1873. I must get a guide that is in English!
This is the view of the cathedral from our balcony taken last night as a lone balloon floated by.

Je suis arrivée!

It's a long time since I was last in Europe, I realise when I look at my last post from Holland. But here I am again - this time in La Belle France. And it is so belle!
Travelling to Uzes in one hit was quite full-on but Singapore Air are very attentive and the food is great. Lots of movies on board, including Testament of Youth - terribly sad about WW1 but starring the gorgeous Kit Harington. That and a Bloody Mary - who could ask for more!

Arriving at the CDG airport in Paris I wasn't sure where the TGV station was and asked an airport man for directions. Instead of directions, he carried my bag up two floors and down two elevators to the station making jokes all the way about Vegemite and Men at Work. He seemed to know a lot about Australian culture. He was about 65 and tres charmant. He found me a seat at the Gare and showed me where the train screen was then off he went. What!

The journey through the French countryside on the TGV was quite mind blowing. So many beautiful villages and some of them with castles. Avignon was a bit of a reality check though. I knew in advance, but hoped I was wrong, that there was nowhere to leave your luggage in the whole of the town and I had a 3 hour wait for my bus and a big bag. Instead of being sensible and taking a taxi to a nice restaurant by the river I decided to set off down a side road in search of a cafe where I could stop with my bags and get my bearings. (I had been travelling for about 2 days non-stop by then.) But it was not a sensible plan. Here is what I emailed to Rosie who was going to be in Avignon the next day on the same timetable as me:

"NOW the worst part of the whole journey was getting off at Avignon Centre and sure enough there is AUCUN de left luggage anywhere in Avignon at all. I decided to check at the gare routier but no! You have to keep your luggage with you until the bus departs at 4.30. So I then had the bright idea of going down a road beside the gare routier with my big bags thinking there will be a café here where I can sit but there were only nasty little pizza snack bars with dodgy young men standing round outside and it was very hot, so it soon became the road to hell. In the end I went into a brasserie which had a few old codgers in it and ordered a beer and some food. The beer arrived but no food. The proprietor said the food was coming but it never did! At least it was cool in there and the beer was nice. Only 2 euros. I asked if there was a tabac nearby and one of the old codgers offered to take me there.   So I left my bags with the owner of the bar and wandered off down the road with ‘Claude’ who was very kind and chatty (all in French). Then we returned to the bar where he bought me another beer. In the end he walked me back to the Gare Routiere to help me with my bags and minded them while I went (two beers) to the bathroom (how trusting is that!), then he popped me on the bus and told the driver to look after me. Gave me his phone number, (but I don't think I will call him). It was a very funny introduction to France but I wouldn’t recommend it!”

Insel Hombroich Part two

Couldn't resist adding a few more...

Dragonfly

While visiting Insel Hombroich I made friends with a dragonfly who seemed to be enjoying sitting on my finger (sorry about the grotty fingernail!) and my knee.

Insel Hombroich

Last week, before I went to Paris, Lindsey and Berend took me to Germany for the day to the best art museum I have ever seen. Called Insel Hombroich, it was built on a piece of land between three motorways quite close to Dusseldorf. The land is park, meadows and terraces and is mostly wild with pools and trees, and winding paths. There are NO signs anywhere, it is like wandering in a DOCless wilderness. Every now and then you come across a large brick building with wide open doors and a pure white interior full of paintings and sculpture.
There are no signs on the works either, no guards, no barriers. It is like lying in a warm bath and soaking up the works without any interruption - an amazing experience.
When you feel like moving on you go back into the wilderness and drift along the path until you discover a new building. One of the buildings has lunch laid out (the price is included in the ticket) and you can help yourself and eat it outside under shady trees. The buildings have all been designed by architect and sculptor Erwin Heerich and the landscape created by Bernhard Korte. I was so impressed by the restraint - how tempting to label a Rembrandt or Cezanne - but there are really no signs at all. And the work is mixed - 20th century artists with Khmer sculptures and Ming pottery.

And thanks for my first experience of travelling at 170 kph, Berend! (no speed limit on the autobahn).

Berend Peter's sculpture

Berend is a sculptor and furniture designer and the house he shares with Lindsey is full of his work. One of his works used to hang on the outside wall of the bank in Veen, but was removed when the original golden eggs were stolen. Berend has restored the work and yesterday evening we gathered, along with the doctors who now lease the building and their children, to watch Berend and a local builder rehang the work and to help celebrate with some local cider. The bronze, brass and copper sculpture symbolises the industries of Veen: flower, egg and fruit production. It gives the village a centre I think, which it seemed to be lacking. Berend explained that towards the end of WW2 this part of the Brabant north of the river was still occupied by Germany, although south of the river had been freed, and the allied forces bombed Veen and destroyed the town square. So the sculpture could also a symbol of healing - appropriate on the wall of a medical centre!

The Canals in den Bosch

Lindsey and Berend, Lindsey's niece Natalia (my second cousin once removed) and I went on an outing to den Bosch this week where we saw a stunning restrospective of the jewellery of Marion Herbst, Berend's late wife, at the SM 'S - the Stedelijk in den Bosch.


Then we did a tour of the restored medieval canals of den Bosch. Until 8 years ago these were still used as a giant sewer to the houses along the banks, but now they are a work of art. Unlike the Amsterdam canals, these canals run along the backs of the houses, and houses are often built over the top so it is an exciting boat ride.







We followed this with dinner and a movie: The World's Fastest Indian. Strange to see Tim Shadbolt and Annie Whittle in a Dutch theatre. We all loved the movie.

More stuff on my bike

Saw this little family group yesterday in den Bosch:

Paris

I joined friends Maryvonne and Margaret Hyde for four days in Paris. A kind friend of Maryvonne's lent us her apartment in Montparnasse which was brilliant. Close to the metro, view of the Eiffel Tower and across the road from the Bourdelle museum. Being three girls together worked very well - we got just the right balance of shopping, sightseeing and catching up on news. Maryvonne took the role of tour guide, being a native, and did it so well. In the morning she would give us metro tickets for the day, the itinerary and what to do if you got lost talks, then would take us on magical mystery tours. So we ate at restaurants only Parisians know about, saw the restored l'Orangerie with the rehung Monet waterlily paintings (stunning), did a boat tour on the Seine at dusk (during the World Cup final - so it was very quiet out there on the water that night!)
Our waiter at the Restaurant Chartier where all the waiters look as if they have stepped out of a silent comedy movie and the menu is still basic workers' food and the building is still original art nouveau and stunning. There was a dog under the table next to us, the waiter added up our bill on the paper tablecloth, you get seated next to other people - you can't ask for a separate table. The food was delicious.


We shopped at Lafayette. Like a mammoth Kirkcaldies but rather more stunning.


















The French government got behind the team:


One of the Monets at l'Orangerie