Village Life

Here's a quick overview of our village; Montréal. Let's be honest, it's not the prettiest village we've ever seen, but what it offers in terms of location and amenities, is bang on the nail. Situated on a high ridge, the village is laid out in a circular form (common, it seems, to many other villages in this region) around the central church and apart from having to always go up a hill to get anywhere (or back again), everything we need is really handy; Cassi's Ecole Maternelle is a brisk 10 minute walk away, as are the Bank, Boulangerie, Boucherie and Vival store. Also close by is the kid's play area, outdoor swimming pool (only open in the summer) and fishing lake. We've met quite a few local people in our three weeks so far, and you can' t help but notice how friendly everyone is. Anyhow, more info on the village here.

As for our location... We are located within the world's largest wine growing region, and the Med is an hour to the east, and the snowy peaks of the Pyrenees an hour to our south. Being located on a hill top, Montréal offers some stunning views of the mountains when the sky is clear. Only 15 mins away is Carcassonne and it's Airport. Not just a medieval Cite (the castle), the Centre Ville is the walled old town on the other side of the River Aude, and is just charming.

On top of the world

We decided to go and see some of them there mountains that we can see from the top floor windows. A beautiful, clear and warm day, so we headed up to Monts d'Olmes - our nearest ski resort.


Monts Dolmes - next time we see this view it will be white

Although there had been a little snow on some of the highest peaks earlier in the week, it is still out of season, so the resort was pretty much closed, bar the odd walker or two. But the serenity and quiet was breathtaking. And trying to catch the lizards basking in the sun was a pointless, but entertaining way to spend a few minutes.


Chateau Montsegur - Woah!! wouldn't have fancied being on that building job

Just down the road from the resort is the cathar castle of Montségur. Quick snapshot here just to illustrate the story, but it does not do justice to just how astonishing it is to see the castle (like many of the others in the region) perched on the most inhospitable, and unlikely, precipices.





Not that you can see it, but behind us stretches the Aude valley all the way across to the Montagne Noire

First day at school

Like a lamb to the slaughter...

This was easily the hardest moment of the 3 weeks so far- leaving Cassi at her new school. We had of course managed to build it up for her as the most exciting thing ever, and so kitted out with her new chicken bag and a few useful French phrases (like "je peux aller aux toilettes"!) she arrived full of enthusiasm.

Her day started with a bit of colouring, and then all the class (about 20 with 5 absentees) were called around the benches and the day's routines began. The first thing they had to do was count the absentees and some of the other kids couldn't manage to get to 5 without a mistake. I was relieved for Cassi that she can count to 10 in French perfectly (although she sometimes misses quatre out becasue she doesn't like it!) The children had also had to identify their name on entering the classroom and some of them even struggled with that so I felt reassured that Cassi would not be the class idiot even if she was the foreigner!

So once she was engaged in an activity, I headed home. It was a long 3 hours before going to pick her up for lunch, but we were incredibly relieved to see a smiling face rushing out to greet us at 12. The hard thing was having to take her back again after lunch, but at the end of the day the teacher, Mme Garnier assured us that she had been "parfait", and had even introduced herself to the class in French. Bless!

As the week progressed she made a couple of friends ( including another Kassy!) and seemed to grow in confidence, although she was shattered by the end of the week. I think it was a good call to send her for this week, as at least she is now on half term and when she goes back next Thursday it will not seem so unfamiliar.

La Ronde du Malepére

Another taste of the local culture (and of course the produce!), La Ronde du Malepere, was an odd event which combined wine tasting with the most enormous vide grenier / car boot you have ever seen. Based in a village about 10 minutes away called Alairac, we had to climb to the top of the village weaving past everyone's old crap to get the bit we had gone for - the wine tasting! Armed with a glass you can go around the various "domaines" sampling and buying any which take your fancy.


We managed to carry a few bottles as well as the girls back down through the village, and went home feeling like we had seen another glimpse of real French life!

Update - We now know a bit more about this event. The AOC Malepére is the wine producing region we live in, and this annual event takes place over two days, but is held at a different village in the region each year with local Caves from the region sampling and selling their wares. We also found out afterwards, that rather than the plastic glasses we used to sample with, we could have bought a commerative engraved glass one instead. Oh well... maybe next year...

Fête de la Pomme

Having been to Mirepoix earlier in the week we had noticed that there seemed to be a lot of apple type activity. We then discovered that the coming weekend was bringing with it a festival in celebration of the humble apples, with a vintage tractor parade billed as one of the main attractions. This looked like too good an event to miss!



And it was! We arrived at about 1ish to a subdued atmosphere and wondered whether we had got the wrong day, but we are still adjusting to everything stopping at lunchtime in France.



Needless to say, after lunch the place started to bustle, the merry-go-round was cranked up (much to Cassi's excitement!), the toffee apple and candy floss sellers appeared and the day's star attraction - the country and western "spectacle" took to the stage in the market place! Cassi was in her element and danced away for about and hour and a half and jeeeez, did she cry when they finished and it was time to head home!

Pyrenees or bust!

Portsmouth; The ferry terminal of pear shaped events.

Things first took on a slight bulge around the rear end when we arrived at the port to discover the company we had booked our tickets through had gone into administration. Bummer. Therefore, Brittany Ferries hadn't been paid for the reservation, therefore, if we wanted to travel, we had to pay again. Big Bummer. But, as we had no choice...

So, having paid twice we get back into our vehicles go to join the queue to board and I'm driving in the dark! - the Landrover has no lights. Not on the outside, not even on the inside. Check the fuses. Check the switch. All I have is hazard warning lights. Fortunately, Portsmouth is well illuminated as you make your way around the cones and onto the ship. Mind you, there was the minor diversion through the open shed when customs decided to pull us in (maybe driving with no lights does draw attention to yourself).


Where others see a ferry cabin... Cassi sees a playground

I think the fella changed his mind when he saw just how much stuff there was in the back of the van, and how tightly it had been packed. Whatever the reason, after a couple of questions, we were on our way again. First leg - complete.

Besides having to wait an hour for enough light to drive in, our arrival on the other side of 'La Manche' was trouble-free. We had to take a detour to our original plan to undertake some running repairs, and found in Fleury-Sur-Orne, Normandy, Charon 4x4 who were fantastic and did what they could - without having the right part in stock - to get us back on the road. Merci booclue!

Next stop, our overnight stay in Limoges and the following morning we head off for the final leg to our destination... Montréal.



Heading out of Limoges

Getting Here...

For any of you on the lookout for a cheap holiday in the South West of France [note: we don't cater for complete strangers! But then again... ; ) ].

Here are some options to get you here...

Flights
Nearest Airport is Carcassonne (15 mins), RyanAir flys there from Stanstead and East Midlands.

Toulouse is about an hour away, and EasyJet fly there from Bristol and Gatwick.

Or an hour in the other direction (on the Mediteranean coast) is Perpignan. Fly there with RyanAir from Birmingham or Stanstead.

If you are aware of any other flight routes, let us know.

Trains
Eurostar will get you from St. Pancras, London to Toulouse (about 8 1/2hrs), Montpellier (about 7hrs) or Perpignan (about 8 1/2hrs).