More France

I know it's a little out of order but thought I would share a few more pics of France. This is the wonderful gite that we have stayed in the last couple of times we were there. We stayed here in June and made fast friends with John and Jane a great english couple that have lived in France for the last eight years. They have an amazing home on a good size acreage including a lake. This is rental property for them most of the year and then in the winter they move in until it warms up again.

While we were in Texas I quickly sewed this wall hanging for Jane and John as a small thank you for all their help and friendship in so short a time that we have known them. I liked how the free motion quilting came out on this project and I know you can't tell from the picture but I even put tiny seed pearl beads on the butterfly wings to make it look like dew in the morning garden. But I would still like to rip off the binding and correct the mistakes I can see.

As it works out John, Jane and the dogs were our first official guests after we closed on the house. It seemed all together appropriate really as they went through all the 'buying' pains with us along the way with learning the french legal system.

We also ventured into the closest village, Valliere, which is only three kilometers down the road (have to start thinking in metric you know) to try and get a feel for the locals and how they would perceive us. We had lunch several times at the local pub/restaurant Voyageurs where the plat du jour was worth a try. We could tell the first time that we entered that everyone obviously had assigned seating on a daily basis as most of the customers were local artisans (tradesmen) with some villagers scattered in for good measure. We were shown to our table in the corner by the fireplace and treated to a nice plate of paella after a couple of attempts at trying find out if it included seafood or not. Luckily, this one was made with chicken and sausage of the season as there was no menu simply the 'plate of the day'. Although the locals didn't really pay too much attention to us the first visit by the second time in we knew which table was for us and they began to say 'bonjour' to us as well. By the time, we ate there on our last day they were coming over and shaking hands with us and we could tell that they were a good group. Of course, it also helped us with finding some local artisans for working on the house.

As you leave the restaurant and look up the street there is a resale shop and the mairie's (mayor) office, and of course the church. We went in for our official handshake with the mairie and found her to be a wonderful lady who very much wanted us to feel welcomed to the commune. Even though her english was as limited as our french we got on wonderfully with the help of another lady, Lorna, that works in the mairie office who is english and didn't mind translating for all of us. Luckily, for us Lorna is actually a neighbor and only a few doors away from us in Epagnat. I am hoping to get to know her better when I spend a few months there this summer. She has a wonderful daughter Ellie who I think is around 6 and very wellspoken and not afraid to add to the conversation. We should get on just fine! I haven't met her partner, Richard, yet but hopefully he is just as nice.

And just about a kilometer away from the house there is this beautiful little lake for fishing, picnicing or just relaxing and reading a book. Looks like a nice place to ride the bikes over to and see who is catching the fish that day.

We are both hoping to entice our family in Canada over for a visit as well so thought we would include this picture of the river that flows through Aubusson which is the biggest town closest to us and only about 15 km away. They are into outdoor sports in this region and have a very active kayak club. Maybe our niece, Kelly, and her partner Derek will consider coming over to try out the local waters sometime soon? Actually the whole family is very active and would hopefully love all the hiking trails and wonderful views along the way.