What a difference four extra wheels make! We picked up a car from the Carcassone airport and headed west to visit Val. It is so nice to see so much more of this beautiful countryside! And the freedom of our own vehicle already has us all planning special trips to just 'heard about' places.
We've just arrived home this afternoon. Truly a great visit with Val, Charlotte and Bronson in St. Bauzilles de la Sylvie. What a beautiful chateau! Huge! We loved looking into all the nooks and crannies of this hundreds year old chateau. After entering an unimposing door right off the street, we were in a gorgeous entry way pointing to miles of winding hallways from the new house to the old house and everywhere in between. The Bates' rooms were in a 500 year old house, and we stayed in the main house with Val and family. Shea and Rowan were in the old nursery. Val hosted us so royally, we truly enjoyed seeing her in her 'french' mode. She treated us to pate foie gras served properly on baguette with butter (Jennifer's new favorite), and last night a 7 course french dinner, all in a breathtaking outdoor kitchen.
A special outing after we arrived was a trip to the Toro Piscine, bull in the pool. A band of modern gypsies set up trailers in a circle. They were wearing red calf length pants, white tshirts and red beres. We paid our euros and entered a little 'stadium' with seating before a large caged area. We were entertained as much by the audience as the events in the 'ring'. At some points we weren't sure if there really were bulls, but yes a couple of sleepy bulls came out, snuffed and panted desolutorily (sp). The quickest they ran, I think, was when they were let back into their comfortable trailers :) It was a little hokey, but the kids loved it, and the adults had several belly laughs. As Val's friend Bruno describes, the Toro Piscine has been going on as a local event for hundreds of years. The idea is for several 'machismos' to goad the bull into chasing them and eventually the bull is pushed into a small (foot high) pool. The kiddies in the audience joined in chasing a goat (Val is certain this may not be legal in Canada...)! But a fun evening, a beautiful full moon laughed along with us.
We planned our visit partly around the Tour de France which was spinning its way past Val's little village. We waited for a few hours along a hot roadside - thank goodness for the shade! The Tour was very exciting, the parade before hand was a litany of free 'swag' hucked at us from cars, vans and floats advertising supporters of the tour. We were cut off several times by 'veteran' dames who darted in front of us slow westerners to grab the free bags, key chains and hats. We made up a bunch of Canada flags and signs for our car to support the lone canuck in the race - Ryder H'something on the Garmin team from the US. He was in 74th place overall as of that morning, but we couldn't tell who was who when they whipped by! Bob placed himself strategically at a corner and got some great shots. We bought tshirts and hats, too, and altogether it was a very fun memorable experience!
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