My trusty steed er.....well it doesn't have a name

I’m going to take the smallest panniers possible because I’m convinced that if I take any larger ones, I’ll fill them up. Also they’ll weigh more, obviously!

The Great Escape

Course Landaise is played in an arena or a bull-ring with ‘vachettes’ or young cows against a team (in this case) of rugby players trying to thow or place a large ring over one of the animal’s horns. The points of the horns are taped up into a ‘bulb’ shape, but even so, they can give you a nasty ‘nudge’!

Trying to stare down the animal doesn't seem to work...

It originates in the’Landes’ part of SW France as more humane version of bullfighting. There’s no harm to the animal at all and the real Landaise acrobats jump and dodge the cow in an acrobatic display. Some games, like today’s played at the local rugby stadium involved a game of ‘football’ with a huge ball and some rudimentary goalposts with a vachette pushed into the arena whilst twenty young men try to play a game of football and at the same time try to avoid getting gored. Even little girls get to have a go with a small ‘veau’…

Trying to grab the ribbon from between the horns of a 'veau'.....unsuccessfully

This is how the experts do it…

Olé!

Alberto Contador, the race leader for the moment

Beautiful weather and enormous crowds made it very exciting and great to witness. The Tour comes down to the Pyrénées every year, so if it’s not actually passing our front door like it did in 2008, it’ll be somewhere very near with the opportunity to see it first-hand at least once or twice.

Rooftop decorations in Salies de Béarn

Salies is a very picturesque Béarnaise village which makes for a very ‘intimate’ crowd in it’s narrow streets! A great place for a ‘depart’ in the Tour.

Too many cooks...

Whilst a Frenchman and an Englishman tried to make a South American cocktail, the real chef was cooking a Thai inspired spicy salmon to impress the judges.

Something smells fishy...

Not that we’ve got any photos of it, but it was delicious believe me. Did it win anything? Only the second best plate decoration. The French have still got to get used to food being a little bit spicy.

A delicious repas was served at lunchtime and great fun was had by everybody, as usual. Roll on next year.

A Bevy of Belgian Beauties Begin Biking!

Unfortunately they had chosen the hottest day of the year so far (40 degrees) and a couple of them fainted and one bike had to be rescued. Even though there were around 80 of them over four days, only one of them actually had a mis-hap and managed to hurt themselves. Nothing serious luckily.

It all started early today, got up at 6.30 am , in the dark, with a sore throat & beginnings of a cold, my brain churning with too many things to do. I started with a bit of price-label hole-punching for the gallery and packing up old last season paintings  then as soon as it got light , whizzed over to Meritein in the ‘Lady car’, to gather several sackloads of dry composted leaves and more greenery from the chateau grounds .Luckily I had carefully saved most of the forest’s leaves that blow into our garden in a heap for mulching etc. Thanks to an endless supply of yellow re-cycling bags from the mayor, I was able to protect the pale blue carpet interior ( as we share this car with some friends from London) I then proceeded to ( sounding like a copper ) cut down another armful of shrubs in the forest, dug up some clumps of bulbs , a few extra saplings  and whatever humps of growing green stuff  I could cram in the car and returned home to find Dave just waking up..

The 'Twigloo' in the square

…decided to start dressing the ‘lady-dome’ at about 9.00   and thankfully help arrived all-be-it in the shape of Mrs Pons the wife of one eyed Jam -making man- not much of a gardener, but she took instruction well, became a good assistant and between us we made our own chelsea flower show garden make-over .  With muddy sore hands and soggy knees ( it had been raining for several days)I was back in the gallery at 10.30 to get on with pricing stuff and sweeping up straw….( part of my ‘mis en scene’ in the gallery required that I find some bales of straw for deco purposes ) 24 hours earlier,I had eventually found a straw supplier after driving round for hours , knocking on farmers doors. Without too much persuasion and at the knock down bargain price of 5€ each, I bought 4 big bales of straw for my rustic country painters corner – which had proven to be very rustic indeed covering the whole gallery  and house , with a fine layer of yellow dust – or was it Olive our Jack Russell Terrier, digging in them and deep sniffing for mice…!!?

All in all, lady dome is being well received and is improving with a bit of drizzle. The saplings are continuing to grow and It has given the usually grey cobbled central square Place des Armes in Navarrenx a touch of the  Andrew Goldsworthy….and is greener than it has ever been…!

More news tomorrow about the gallery & the dome after the easter weekend …..

Only 5?

Today at the river a few new signs stating that you may only take five trout per day of which two can be brown trout. No young salmon allowed to be taken. Oh well, I’ll put the other seven back then (I wish…).

On the bank, evidence of  a ‘vison’, or american mink. Or it could have been my Jack Russell, Olive…

Dog or mink?

It's upside down...

It’s made of wood and lots of plaster, but is a replica of something else in an old French house. When I sand it and paint it tomorrow all will be revealed. Possibly.

While we’re at it – what’s this as well then?…

No, they're not eggs in there...

As it progresses, it’ll become obvious. It’s nothing to do with old French houses this one, in fact I’ll bet no-one round here has ever seen one quite like it.

Water cascading over the rocks near Navarrenx

Earlier in the day we were at the gîte where I managed to get a photo of the chateau next door’s weather vane (it’s on a fish theme too)…

A Salmon themed weather vane