More Covid Adventures

On a 10-degree day (50 Fahrenheit) soaking our feet in thermal waters

 It seems silly, the things that we miss during lockdown. I have friends who have lost their mothers and fathers. Who am I to whine about missing restaurants, bars and cafes? Getting together with friends, stopping for coffee at the end of a walk or meeting for a glass of wine at the bar overlooking the river. 

But that is one thing we've missed. Restaurants and bars have been closed in France since October 30th.

Rain was predicted in Quillan for Monday. We had talked about revisiting the beach from the previous week, since our friend Kris had been working rather than joining us. But high winds were predicted along the Mediterranean all week. We started looking at maps and when we heard about a restaurant that served food at outside picnic tables, we agreed to go, thinking it might feel like eating at a restaurant again.

The restaurant though was at the top of a Col, though, a mountain pass. The weather forecast said sun, but the high temperature predicted was 1 Celsius, 33 Fahrenheit. 

We drove through curving roads, moving higher and higher, expecting to see snow, but much of the snow has melted. Along the way, Kris named a litany of foods he planned to order once we got to the restaurant. "Steak haché and frites, moules, a demi of rouge, and that's just for starters."

When we rounded a corner, we saw a fabulous view of the Pyrénées and the snow we had anticipated. 

In spite of warm weather, the high peaks retain their snow.

The place looked deserted. We were the only car in the lot. We walked around enjoying the view but shivered in the cold. The time had arrived for us to see whether the restaurant was open. 

We walked in, masks in place, and acted like people who hadn't been at a restaurant for five months. The proprietor asked if she could help us and I stumbled over words like "repas" and "dejeuner." Finally, she understood we were there for food and she cautioned that we needed to eat at the tables outside. We agreed and eagerly ordered. Tartiflette for me, potatoes with cheese and ham, a delicious mountain meal. Earl, Kris and Derrick all ordered hamburgers with special sauce and fries. Derrick drank mulled wine while the rest of us had red wine. 

The view from the picnic tables is lovely, but chilly. 

Me and Earl

After our lunch, finished with a coffee and a toilet break (always a worry for me because many toilets are closed due to Covid), we drove across the col to the town of Ax-les-Thermes. We've heard that cities with Ax and Aix were hubs for Romans, like Aix en Provence, but I can't confirm that from my curosry search online. The Romans were there in Ax-les-Thermes, enjoying the thermal waters back in the day. And Ax is related to the Latin word for water.

Nevertheless, the town is now know for its waters and for its skiing. France has banned skiing for the year because of the virus. French people who try to go to nearby countries (Spain, Andorra, Italy) are not allowed to ski either. 

There are hot water fountains in two places in town. 

The temperature warmed up quite a bit from the restaurant to Ax-les-Thermes, registering at about 10 Celsius or 50 Fahrenheit. We quickly pulled off our boots and socks to soak our feet in the warm water. 

Good thing I had a pedicure for my birthday

Kris and Earl enjoy the hottest water

  The water is generally hotter closer to the source it comes out, but it wasn't too hot on the day we were there. 
After some time in the water, which left our feet feeling very soft, we drove up to the ski station. The snow machines are not making snow. Only patches are left. Kids and parents pull up sleds and come down the hills. 

A lonely ski slope

I had packed some hot chocolate with amaretto in a thermos, so we enjoyed it while Kris and Derrick's dogs played in the snow. I even brought along a can of whipped cream, which the Brits call "squirty cream." 

A cup of hot chocolate in the snow and sunshine. 

It was a pretty great adventure. 

Market Morning and Bike Ride Afternoon

I’ve written a number of times about the Sunday morning market in Esperaza. The last few times we have gone the weather has been windy or cold, so when the predicted rain didn’t show up this morning m, we decided to go to the market. 

The trees are in bloom along the river

We bought some fresh eggs, the farmer picking out each egg and placing it in a carton. 

Asparagus just coming ripe cost 4 euros a bunch. Expensive but less than last weekend. Two barquettes of strawberries. 

Some Gouda cheese from René and a wheel of chèvre (goat cheese). 

When I told Earl we were having strawberries and asparagus for dinner, he suddenly had a craving for sausage so we stopped by the cheese and sausage stall for a dried sausage with cèpes, a kind of mushroom. 

We bought three violets to plant along our back wall. 

They were only 1,50 euros each. 

There are 9 holes along the wall, so we'll need to buy a few more. 

Earl planted them while I was teaching this afternoon. 

Pain aux raisins, literally bread with raisins, but this is definitely pastry with flaky swirls

When we go to Esperaza, I get a pain aux raisins, because theirs is the best. We can also get coffee à emporter (to go) from one of the cafés. We sit on a ledge in the sun and enjoy our pastries and coffee,  before masking up again to move through the market. 

We were watching HouseHunters International and we saw an episode set not far from here in Montreal, France. The show followed the American home buyer to the market in Mirepoix where I saw a vendor who comes to Quillan and Esperaza. I took this picture of him and showed him this morning. He was delighted and asked me to send it to him. 

He thinks the show was filmed perhaps two years ago.

After I finished teaching, we were out the door, driving half an hour away to Voie Verte en Pyrénées Cathares. It's a former railroad line that has been turned into a "greenway" bicycle path. We followed our friends Matthew and Jo to Chalabre, our bikes hung on the back of the car. 

The way is fairly flat, no hills to speak of, but when we turned around after 8 1/2 miles, a vicious head wind impeded our travels. Around that same time, my butt, not used to bike roads, began to complain too. We ended up riding nearly 18 miles, around 27 kilometers. 

A tunnel lit up as we traveled through it. 

At the turnaround point, we stopped for some clementines and water. Jo and Matthew had brought a thermos of green tea and real glass cups. Yeah, things are different when you travel with Brits. 

Tea time on the trail

An action-packed day with minutes to spare as we returned home before out 6 p.m. curfew. 

El Camino

Yesterday we drove about four hours from our region in France to St Jean Pied de Port, one of the most frequent places for hikers or pilgrims to begin El Camino de Santiago. This is a pilgrimage to the church in Santiago along the Atlantic. But there are many paths across France and other places in Europe that lead here. 

Last year we hiked part of the Way in France. 

If you’re unfamiliar with it, there’s a great movie starring Martin Sheen called The Way. As a matter of fact, it starts right in this town. 

The entire hike from here is about 500 miles or 800 km. We’re only hiking for a week, about 100 miles. 

It was great to meet up with Linda and Maurice so we can hike and enjoy each other’s friendship. 

Maurice does all the planning of hotels and hiking paths. It’s like being on a tour. We just show up. So nice. 

Last night we walked around town a bit. This is a medieval village, but only because the nearby town of the same name was razed by Richard the Lionhearted in 1177 and they had to rebuild in the Middle Ages. So strange to think I’m in a place with that history.

Earl and Maurice ready for their hike

Clock tower and city wall

This T-shirt made me laugh. Obviously a take off of the Beatles Abbey Road, but as pilgrims on the trail 

Wish us luck. Or as they say here Bonne Camino. 

Dreaming of France -- The Other South of France

Thank you for joining this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
There's something exhilarating about the purchase of the airline tickets to France and the confirmation of hotel reservations.
It puts a zip in my step as I imagine that day in May when I'll be learning abut the southwestern region of France, the area where I hope to move during 2017.
The area we are thinking about stretches along the Mediterranean, from Marseille over to the Pyrenees Mountains of Spain. It has been called Languedoc- Roussillon, but the new name of the region is l'Occitanie.

Sete is a town along the Mediterranean that really is just a spit of land between the Mediterranean and another large body of water. Love these colorful boats.

 Here's a photo of the fortifications at Beziers, another city near the Mediterranean. It looks so similar to Avignon with the pale stone fortress.

The Canal du Midi also runs through region, passing near Carcassone. I couldn't find a good photo of Carcasson, so I'll just have to take one myself when we're over there.

And who knows, we might end up buying a house that has a view of the Pyrenees. It may be hard to choose between the sea and the mountains.
Hopefully, we'll love this region as much as we enjoy Provence, because the prices for houses in this area are much less expensive than in Provence.
The photos included here come from Pixabay, which shares pictures free.