Welcome to Chateau Brametourte
It was time to leave our beloved Barcelona for our permaculture job in France.
We said goodbye to our wonderful couchsurfing hosts, one of whom, was kind enough to help us with our bags down to the Placa Catalunya where we’d catch our train. This was much appreciated because at this point we’d accumulated so much food and “India things” that we had two food bags. The crowded morning rush hour commute was exciting and cramped until we got to the Renfe station and waited for our train, which had plenty of room as we rode north towards the Pyrennean border town of Puigcerda, in the Cerdagne valley. The views heading into the mountains were spectacular as we lunched on wholemeal bread with marmite (a gift from Madhu!) and tahini. Here’s a blurry view heading into the Cerdagne.
The ride was really smooth and we had just enough time to buy our tickets for the French side of travel. We rode the nicest coach bus ever – unbelieveably smooth and quiet compared to the wrecks plowing the Indian roads. The French trains, while nice and comfey, had a few problems. We ended up having to switch from two broken trains which made us later than we hoped but we still arrived at dusk. We found our phone card from last year and called ahead – our host Paul, was waiting for us at the tiny station – phew!
After a round of introductions, we were greeted with a hearty meal and a glass of wine before we earned our travel-weary bones a rest – in a Queen-sized bed! While our new room is chilly, our gigantic bed has an electric heater and four comforters to toast us up when we jump into it. The weather here is decidedly colder than Spain and it’s fun to be bundled up in all our layers again. Since we didn’t really have a winter this year, it’s nice to have just a little taste of living the chilly air. But alas, the printemps have arrived with their bees and blossoms.
Below is a lovely view of Chateau Brametourte from the dirt road up the hill. The mountains in the background are the Black Mountains. They stretch from our neck of the woods due east to the Mediterranean. The valley below is drained by the Agout river which flows through several other rivers and through Toulouse before reaching Bordeaux and the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, before the railroad came to France, they built the Canal du Midi which connects the Mediterranean with the Atlantic – it is still navigable today.
The Chateau de Brametourte is three stories of medieval castle. Our first floor walls are thick but they taper out towards the ceiling. Our room faces East and we have our own entrance to the driveway.
While we were eager to get down to our work, we also were thankful to have a day to look around and get a tour from Paul. This is the view towards the West. The planted area in the middle is the Forest Garden which has edible trees, shrubs, and veggies. In the distance on the left is our tiny neighborhood cemetary while the church is on the right.
Joining us, Paul and Allison, for a while were four other wwoofers plus two Romanian laborers (on loan from Spain), in addition to Liz who is the house manager. At our first weekend there, the others all tromped off to the pub in Lautrec and left Christine and Jonathan to a wonderful meal in a large yet quiet kitchen. Christine’s food which incorporated the garden fresh purple broccoli was terrific!
Cheers!
Tags: 2009-March, chateau, france, What's New, Tag Index
seeingspain
April 11th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
It is so nice to read all the deets on your new place! Looks like a lovely chateau and surrounding area- I know you guys are enjoying it. and mmm, I want Christine’s cooking!
April 14th, 2009 at 1:19 am
From open-air shanty with hammocks to stone thick walls with a queen-size bed – the amazing Jon & Christine adventure continues!
Thanks for the new pictures, they’re wonderful. What a change from the last six months!
BIG Hugs – MT:)
April 20th, 2009 at 9:18 am
That looks so beautiful and the food looks yummy. I can just imagine how green that countryside will be in a few weeks. Have superfun!
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