Halfway through the mammoth washing up session the cleaning lady - Izabel - arrives and seems quite surprised to see me up to my armpits in suds.
We have a dishwasher, which I had already stacked and got going but things like pots n pans are easier by hand. I didn't think I could leave the dishes for her to do but apparently I could have !!! Just not used to having staff....
Gradually the family arrive downstairs one by one, and she has to work around us - sweeping floor, cleaning out the fireplace, bathrooms, bedrooms etc. She even washes the downstairs floors while we tuck into our breakfast.
All looks very shipshape and tidy when she leaves.
Lovely, brilliant job and I was glad when it was done.
She even offers to take a photo of us all together at the table.... one fact that she mentions though is that last year the temperature at this time of year was up in the 30s, sadly for us it is not quite that warm yet !!
Her gardner friend says it is all due to the lunar calendar - there are 13 new moons this year and not the usual 12 ?
could he be right ?
A chap we met in the campsite outside Canterbury on our way down to France was, actually, on his way back to the north of England. He had bought a house in the Loire last year and spent the winter there - sadly for him it was the wettest and coldest on record he said
Felt just like being back in good old GB and not France at all he said !!
At least in Britain it's sort of expected but he felt rather cheated really as nothing had lived up to his expectations. Grim.
The weather today is cool in the morning, but most days it has perked up as the day gallops along and the sun comes out.
The family want to get some cycle training in for their next big conquest (Mont Ventoux) and so head off towards St Saturnin and up what they affectionately called the 'wiggly'.... when I ask where this is I am simply told north of St Saturnin and up the many hairpins into the foothills of the Ventoux range.
Good practice.
It sounded very exciting and they all seemed to have had a great time exerting themselves. The whizzing downhills are the best bit I'm told, well at least they are the fun bit and a reward for the uphill struggles.
Philip could never understand why I didn't use the gears more when cycling and my reply was 'I'm here for the excercise and not so much for the pleasure' and I wanted it to be hard work !! which it was....and I only changed gears when I absolutely had to.
He used to chortle away in amazement at my puffing.
Leila and I decide to stay chez nous; Leila drawing and starting to plan for their trip to Paris the week after when her mother and sister come to join them. I head off up the track for a ramble and a photo session.
I just love discovering what is around me and don't really feel the need to head off miles all the time.
We travel so much that it is fun just to 'do' locally now and then. I remember it all better the more I see it and walk it.
The views around are glorious and I can't stop snapping the vineyards and the mountains in the distance as I walk through them all.I love Provence, it all seems so manageable somehow and terribly civilized.
Portugal was a lot wilder and a lot emptier, well, at least Alentejo where we were.
The family arrive back en masse late afternoon absolutely sodden as the heavens had opened up and again they ended up in the pool cooling off the aching legs !!
Showers, changes and chillling again for a little while.
We enjoy a late lunch altogether.
Marian, Ben, dad and I head off into Roussillon and drop off a couple of the bikes. We only make it just in time and the girl in the hire centre is pretty short with us !!
Odd the things you remember ??!
We carry on into the town and do a quick food shop. The choice is disappointingly limited in the local small supermarket.
Eventually we settle down for the evening ahead.
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