The World's a Better Place

Wanadoo came good and the connection came on line today. We can now continue with the update.

Tue 25 Apr.

As we got up this morning we thought of ANZAC Day and the activities in Australia. We also realized that we are 8 hours behind in time. Our decision not to drive on the main auto-way to Caunes-Minervois but on the secondary, more rural route was a good one. It gave me time to adjust to the "wrong" side of the road and also to get a feel for the villages and country-side in a more gentle way. I might add that the investment in our "Tom Tom" GPS car navigating system was a good one and is paying brilliant returns. A must for driving on overseas trips.
We met our landlady, Ingrid, who introduced us to the house.

Set in the mediaeval heart of the village the environs are quite beautiful. It has taken a great deal of work to bring this 3 storey, 500 year old house up to a livable standard. It feels old and certainly looks old but we wouldn't have it any other way. Our street allows me to touch the house on either side with my arms outstretched! The cobbles, stone walls, shutters, tiles and flowers create a wonderful ambiance.

Our big mistake has been not to bring more Australian power plug adaptors. Going up and down stairs to change the one adaptor we have is the pits!

We have to park the car in the courtyard of the Abbey which means a 200 metre or so trip to the car...no real hardship as you get to say "bonjour" to our neighbours quite a lot. Had a bath tonight in the very deep, pink, claw-foot bath...bliss!

Wed 26 Apr.

A drive 30 kms to Carcassone this morning. I must have crushed my hearing aid in my pocket while lugging our bags, No repairs here so I need to send it back to Australia. Made the arrangements for a Mobile number and Internet connection. Had lunch in the main city square and met a couple of Brit expats who lived in India before moving here.Their names are Alan and Sandra and they seem keen for us to catch up. They live in Arques which is the other side of Carcassone to us however, distances are not great here. They have strongly recommended 'Blanquette de Limoux' which is a sparkling white 'invented' some 500 years before champagne...I'll report on the results.

Thu 27 Apr.

Back to Carcassonne again for the large 'Le Clerc' supermarket. A bit like Target with food and everything from clothes, electrical, wine and food in stock. The produce such as meat, fish and so on is of extremely high quality. Regrettably, very little English is spoken so the phrase book is getting a good workout. You have to pack your own bag at the checkout and, if you want a trolley, you pay one euro to release it and then get the euro back when you return it. Controls the trolleys very well.

We had our first good look at the 'Canal du Midi" as it passes through Carcassone on it's way from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. This beautiful tree-lined canal was built over a 14 year period by 15,000 workers and was begun in 1667. This initial engineering wonder ran 240 kms from Sete on the Mediterranean to Toulouse and was the brainchild of Pierre-Paul Riquet who went broke financing the project. The canal was extended to the Atlantic in the 1800's. Cruising is very popular and it is an entertainment in its own right watching the boats go through the locks.

Fri 28 Apr.

Very windy today which seems to be part and parcel of the weather system here. The 'mistral' blows from the north at speeds up to 180 kmh and can drop the temperature 20 degrees in no time. These blow more into Provence than here thank God. At least we now know why the brand name for fans in Australia is 'Mistral'! So far we have identified three major 'wind power' sites with their massive propellers slowly turning and generating electricity. I just can't see how these things could threaten birds as the opponents to them in Australia make out.

Our first visit to the post office today which again proved a linguistic challenge. One also needs to adjust to the extended lunch-breaks here. Most businesses and services open at 0800 hrs and close up for perhaps 2, 3 or sometimes 4 hours for lunch, before opening until 1900 hrs. Generally, if you make a restaurant reservation for dinner, think 2030 hrs rather than any earlier.

Caunes-Minervois (C-M) has been producing marble since Roman times and we visited the quarries today. The marble is predominately red or pink with white and grey through it. It is widely used for decoration in churches and local buildings and is found in columns in the castle at Versailles and other major Paris buildings. A local sculptor demonstrated his work to us in his studio and I think a small piece may well find a home in Australia.

Donna used one of the old iron pots in the kitchen to do lamb shanks for dinner. No doubt the best I've ever had and washed down with a local Grenache/Syrah blend.

Sat/Sun 29/30 Apr

Relatively quiet couple of days. We have done a deal with the landlady and bought a DVD player which we will leave here. There is no English TV or radio, so to watch DVDs in English and with captions is a God-send.

Another stroll around C-M revealed much interesting Romanesque and Renaissance architecture and also the public 'washing facility' which is fed by a source of pure underground water. Quite drinkable. Donna had a short tour of the Abbey after which we had a local pizza and a 'demi-pichet' of rose wine. The local 'vin de pays' is extremely good quality and inexpensive with a litre costing around 2.5 euros.

Mon 1 May

It's the Mayday holiday so we decide to drive to the village of La Laviniere about 18 kms away. They are having a 'Fete de Fleurs' which is not much more than a smallish flower and plant market in the church grounds. We noticed a poster for an activity in Azille, a village a little further on, and headed off. The 3 day celebration had as its centrepiece a 'Feria' which seems to include all things Spanish including bulls. An arena has been built and here men, dressed in white, attempt to remove decorations from the horns of very angry bulls prompted into action by 'picador' types on white Andalusian horses. Afterwards, everyone adjourned to the village centre where the horses charged up and down the main street in what is called a 'bravida'. All this to loud Spanish music and not the least, wonderfully colourful dancers with flashing eyes and movements. Wine was flowing and the atmosphere was festive.

We visited Homps on the way home which is a village on the canal (everywhere you go you seem to find the canal!). A restaurant had this marvelous courtyard where we washed down our lunch in the Spring sunshine with the fabled Blanquette de Limoux which was every bit as nice as our British friends promised. During lunch Donna complained of cloudiness and difficulty of seeing out of her left eye.

Tue 2 May

Donna's eye is no better but she decides to give it one more day. We drive north into the 'Montagne Noir' whose modest but rugged peaks overlook C-M. The 'Grotte de Limousis' is a cave complex set in arid, bare limestone country where only vines and olive trees could grow. It was 'discovered' in 1811 but there is clear evidence pre-historic people used it. The cave stretches for 660 metres and in the final chamber is an enormous chandelier formation of white aragonite crystals some 10 metres in circumference....magnificent.

On now to Lastours, pictured above, which features 4 castles perched on the summit of a mountain ridge. It is difficult walk up to the ruins so we opt for the view from neighbouring Belevedere ridge. A stunning view and we will be back to see the castles lit up at night.

Wed 3 May

Off to Carcassonne to get an optometrist to look into Donna's eye. Unlike Australia, there are only opticians here who only make and fit glasses so we were referred to the 'polyclinique'. After some confusion the Doctor here suggested we find our way to the 'service urgence' at the Gayaurd hospital. Thank God again for the Tom Tom! No English at the admission centre however, eventually we were taken to an emergency examination room. The attending doctor spoke very broken English and after Donna went to great lengths to describe here eye condition he indicated she should take her clothes off! "Your kidding" she said, but he was serious. I think their thoughts at that stage were along the lines of a stroke. Blood was taken; a drip inserted; and an ECG performed.

I rang Sonja, an optometrist friend in Sydney, who confirmed our thoughts that it might be a detached retina. Some three hours later I got this message across to a middle-aged, pony-tailed doctor who said 'maybe". We were then directed to a specialist in downtown Carcassonne (thanks again Tom Tom) and after a wait he diagnosed a breakdown of the vitreous (jelly) in the eyeball which had ruptured a blood vessel at the back of her eye... better than a detachment. However, he thinks up to 10 days for the blood to be absorbed and the eye to settle. Overall a bad day but the French were all very professional and helpful. The big surprise: hospital - 20 euros; specialist - 35 euros! Healing appears more important here than individuals becoming rich.

Thu 4 May

Rest a home.