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Archive for August, 2009

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celebration and recreation

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

by….I think I’ll stop saying who’s writing – if it’s not me, I’ll let ya know
Nyons, France

Happy Birthday to Mboy-now7!

What a good place to request a chocolate cake!! Just a pity the fancy decorations melted on the walk home eh! Small price to pay for mercury hovering all day in the high thirties though, don’t you think?
And expecting this, we set out in the early morning for our stroll around the medieval town, Nyons.

The afternoon was devoted to keeping cool…perhaps predictably, given our current location, playing boules…and reading.

(I devoured Hugo Hamilton’s very clever tragic culturally enlightening family and language story “The Speckled People” – certain adult themes mean I’d recommend parents take a look before handing it on to their children to read).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mboy….
as dinner drew to a close you declared, “It truly was a happy day.”
And you were right.

Posted in 2008/09, postcard: France | 4 Comments »

now we know

Monday, August 10th, 2009

by Rachael
Nyons, France

We haven’t exactly left France yet, but our tiny taste is drawing to a close. We were just contemplating (read: blog post author just grilled everyone for ideas <wink> actually, the contributions flowed thick and fast and these thoughts represent a conversation that cannot have lasted more than quarter of an hour) what things we have discovered, things we didn’t know before.

  • Fifi, the French poodle, is a myth. However, every other Frenchie carries a handbag dog, many of which are not much more than overgrown spiders
  • the sky is unexplainably clear
  • France is BIG
  • and beautiful
  • the south is much hotter and drier than anyone expected – almost barren-looking in places
  • the Mediterranean holiday uniform is WHITE – white linen pants, white shirts and all I can think is obviously none of them are doing handwashing!
  • there are toll toads for Africa
  • from 12-2 everything closes – EVERYTHING. Driving through villages you feel as if you are in a deserted movie set, but if you walk round town at this time you hear the clinking of silverware on crockery, you hear the laughter escaping through shutters closed against the midday sun, you smell delicious aromas wafting out.
  • at night everything comes alive – as we are settling children into bed fellow motorhomers are bringing out their evening baguettes and salads, tablecloths and wineglasses…..if you wander into town about 10 the cafe tables have spilled out onto the cobbled streets and are overflowing with people, children run round the square, rats dogs sit patiently at their owner’s feet in restaurants, live jazz music fills the warm summer air, and the back alleys are romantically deserted…..



  • disturbingly (to the Kiwi psyche!!) men wear speedos. Kiwis don’t cope with speedos at the best of times, and after the modesty of Asia where we saw more people bathe fully clothed than in specialist swimwear, it is disconcerting to have the general populace wandering round in their undies, especially when there is no beach nearby! Mind you, it would seem the men wear more than the women. There are some big Mamas running round topless after their children or parading up and down, although this behaviour *is* restricted to the beachfront.
  • speaking of Asia, we thought we had left squattie potties behind….but they are prevalent in the south. And I am glad. I actually prefer them – much more hygienic.
  • clock towers are topped with swirly-whirly curlicue-y wrought iron structures
  • they make great saucisson (sausages)
  • the loudest cicadas in the world live here (well, the loudest that we have heard – at first we thought there were chattering monkeys in the trees – until we remembered ere we were – then we wondered if there were parrots here – but they turned out to be cigale)
  • frogs are olive-skinned, beautifully tanned (see comment up a bit, I suppose!)
  • frogs are also incredibly friendly and do not object (openly, at least) to you butchering their language
  • “tant pis” (that’s Rob’s linguistic contribution – can’t say I’ve even heard it once!)
  • the lavender harvest would be over….but we saw these: 
  • we didn’t know the cutest three-year-old would be the first to pick up oooh-la-la after a week….but we should have guessed that the novelty of everyone saying it all the time would wear off after another!

And now you know what we didn’t know. I told you we were ignorant!

Time on the road: none
Distance covered: 0km

Posted in 2008/09, language, postcard: France, toilet, weather | 1 Comment »

you want the whole truth, don’t you?

Sunday, August 9th, 2009
by Rach (hope you’re not getting bored with only one author!) Nyons, France It’s an ugly morning complete with arguing, skinned elbows and a route taking in every industrial estate in the south of France; even the sunflowers are sad, their ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in 2008/09, postcard: France | 1 Comment »

slow travel

Saturday, August 8th, 2009
by Rach industrial estate just past Montpellier, France the wind still blows; not a whisper, not a howl, just sufficient to render the beach unattractive we move on the map indicates about 170km, not too far so we stop and shop, a whole week’s ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in 2008/09, children, parenting, postcard: France, weather | No Comments »

Mediterranean Moment

Friday, August 7th, 2009
by Rachael Narbonne-Plage, France

wind: blowing fiercely a-l-l   d-a-y   l-o-n-g demanding trees bow low, forcing sand along the beach, whipping washing to stand at attention completely U-P-R-I-G-H-T on the clothesline, never-a-moment-stopping hot ceaseless blast the mistral blows

It blows and makes a day at ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in 2008/09, children, postcard: France, recreation, weather | No Comments »

things that go bump in the night

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

 

“It’s going to be a great spot to catch the sunrise,” Jgirl14 correctly informed us before going to bed last night, and in preparation she set the alarm and kept the camera at the ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in 2008/09, children, housing, postcard: France, postcard: Germany, weather | No Comments »

in search of shade

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
by Rach hovering just above the coast near Narbonne, looking out at the Mediterranean Sea It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were desperately in search of sun. Today we, with the rest of the population in the south, looked ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in 2008/09, children, craft, dress, food, history, postcard: France, recreation, weather | 2 Comments »

*WH*

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
by uninspired Rachael 30km from Carcassonne “I don’t know what to blog about today,” I moaned. ”What do you mean? It was a beautifully scenic drive today!” Rob countered. ”It might have been, but it’s a bit boring to just write “Today the ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in 2008/09, postcard: France | 1 Comment »

beautiful and bountiful

Monday, August 3rd, 2009
by Rachael Cordes sur Ceil (we were going to go to Carcassonne today, but this place is so sweet, we stayed to take a wander and some photos, and add to our memory store) Maybe it’s because we’re here at harvest-time, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in 2008/09, housing, postcard: France | 1 Comment »

surprise drive

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
by the back van driver Cordes sur Ceil, France We’ve taken you on strolls around villages, boat rides down rivers, treks across hills, trains across continents; we’ve taken you vicariously with us on tuktuks, tandems and even elephants. Today, would you ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in 2008/09, food, postcard: France, price, transport | 1 Comment »

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