Sarah’s Visit

Our granddaughter Sarah arrived in Toulouse airport last Thursday just before noon. We gave Sarah a walking tour of the village, to the Cathédrale and down Rue Nationale to the Brocante Village and its old chapel (formerly an hospital), and came home to cut grapes on the terrace. She had a late afternoon rest and we went to O Badiu for dinner that evening. On Friday morning at 9:30, Sarah and I went up the 240 steps of the Cathédrale tower to enjoy the view. Afterward, we went to Lectoure’s weekly market, then went to Bar XIII for lunch, inviting our friend Anling to join us. In the afternoon, Sarah and I went to the thermes to soak. We had supper at home with ham and cheeses, bread and fruits we bought that morning at the market.

We took advantage of the annual weekend of Journées Européennes du Patrimoine. On Saturday morning our first stop was Chateau de Serillac, where the chateau owner approached us and offered to give us a personal tour of the chateau. He purchased it twenty years ago, and has continued working on it since. It is an interesting property with beautiful vistas. We drove to Condom for lunch and visited the Cathedrale with statues of the Three Musketeers and d’Artagnan. Sarah posed along with them. We visited Larresingle, a chateau ruin, and we stopped at Chateau Cassaigne, a beautiful chateau with a deer park. And we visited Chateau Lavardens, whose floors are magnificent, 18 unique 17th century geometric mosaic pavements made with local pink terracotta bricks and limestone. 

Papa and I went to an art vernissage on Saturday evening at Les Orages, the historic Tannerie in Lectoure, seeing several friends, while Sarah rested a bit. We had an apéro dînatoire at our neighbors Alice and Gerard’s house later in the evening, with their family visiting from Australia. Sarah enjoyed talking with the Australian niece’s son and fiance, also in their 20’s.

We visited more Patrimoine weekend chateaux on Sunday morning, with Anling joining us. Our first stop at Chateau Cadreils, the home of the parents of French actress Julie Gayet and her husband, former President of France, Francois Hollande. Julie’s dad gave a tour of the exterior of the 17th century secluded chateau. We enjoyed a very long lunch afterward, at Auberge de Prieure, a Michelin star restaurant. We had 10 courses over 3 hours. It was an unforgettable dining experience for all of us! We took a walk about the Cluny Eglise in Moirax after lunch. Built in the 11th century, it is beautiful!

Neighbors Alice and Gerard and their visiting Australian family came for apéros on our balcony on Sunday evening. We ate and watched the sun set on our favorite spot in our Lectoure house!

On Monday, our friend and chef Amanda texted that she was coming to our house at 10 to prepare lunch for us. I had texted her a few days before to ask if she was cooking at the cafe La Romieu on Monday. She had a change of plans, treated us to a delicious lunch, and even served us! I invited our friend Abby to join us. Days with surprises are the best! Sarah helped us cut grapes on the terrace in the morning, we did another walk about Lectoure in the afternoon, and we sat on the balcony as the sun went down. We were up early on Tuesday morning to take Sarah back to the Toulouse airport. We had a wonderful visit with Sarah!

Grateful for Friends!

Over the past week, we’ve seen lots of friends. We at dinner with Coralie and Andre at Ferme Cazau on Wednesday evening. It was an “all French dinner” as neither of them speak English. On Thursday evening, we had Thierry and Beatriz, from La Romieu, for dinner. I went to the Friday market in Lectoure on Friday morning. We went to Jean-Francois and Marianne’s in the afternoon to dig cyclamen for replanting in our garden. That evening we went to O Badiu restaurant for dinner with Susan Chip. 

Papa went back to Jean-Francois’ on Saturday morning, to try out a drone. We had lunch with neighbors Heather and Gerard and Alice at Le Bastard restaurant. In the evening we hosted apéros at our house for Abby, Deirdre, Elizabeth and Jean-Claude, on our balcony. We went for lunch at Kate and Olivier’s house in the country on Sunday. I took a two hour walk with Solenge on Monday morning. We hosted Anma and Fred for dinner on Monday evening. We had coffee with Astrid on Tuesday afternoon, and dinner with Caroline and Glyn at Cafe des Sports. We are grateful for every one!

Visitors from Tucson

Last week started with a walk with Solenge on Monday morning, this time in the forest near Pauilhac and seeing her favorite tree. I had coffee with Annie after the walk, at Cafe Des Sports, before she returned to Paris. I picked figs from Agnes garden. And I prepared the house for guests. 

On Thursday, we had lunch with friends Pirrko and Nelson at O Badiu. We arrived at home just as visitors from Tucson pulled up in front of our house. Tucson neighbors Beth and Fred arrived Thursday and stayed through the weekend with us. We went on a long walk in the hills around Lectoure and then to the Lectoure Friday market. After a market lunch at home, we visited the Collegiale church and cloisters in La Romieu. We had dinner that evening at L’Atelier Gourmand on Rue Nationale. On Saturday morning, we took another walk, then picked figs and hazelnuts at friend Susan’s house. We went to the Terraube Antiquities Fete in Chateau de Terraube, then had lunch in Saint Puy at Chez Vous. After lunch, we visited Flaran Abbay, Chateau Cassaigne with deer lounging in the field, the fortified village ruins of Larresingle with archers in ancient costumes competing in an archery competition, and to the Condom Cathedral to see the Three Musketeers sculpture. On Sunday, we went to Intermarché and Papa took the groceries home while we hiked through the fields. We had lunch in Saint Mere and drove around the old chateau, stopped at Chateau Flamarens and it’s Eglise ruin, and explored beautifully preserved Chateau Gramont. We had dinner at home in the evening, and watched the moon and stars from the balcony. Beth and Fred left on Monday morning after another long walk around the hills of Lectoure.