The archway leading into Les Matelles
The hill village of Murles in the distance - amazing to think it is only half an hour from Montpellier
Well all I can say is - I hope that the Easter Bunny knew how to swim as he made his way around the Languedoc Roussillon this past weekend.
Ever since Sybil flew back to Miami, we have had successive days of grey sulky skies, flurries of drizzle and some fairly serious downpours, but precious little sunshine. Definitely not tourist weather, and I found that in the absence of any Hot Cross Buns, my derriere was taking on the shape of one, having been planted in the armchair for so long.
At least my good old "Free To Air" British TV kept me hugely entertained while Jean beavered away on his computer, and I find that grey weather is conducive to cooking warming food like stews and pies. I recalled how, in the five years that we lived in Florida, we revelled in the occasional wet Sunday when we could in all conscience, stay home and relax, rather than feeling that we ought to be outside in the sunshine. But now I am tired of the armchair, and the recent rain has brought the garden into a flourish of green and I am keen to get outside with my wheelbarrow and compost.
Speaking of compost, I was extremely grateful for the recent gift of two large bags of well rotted horse manure mixed with straw. Isn't life funny; a couple of years ago, the idea of driving around Miami with two bags of manure in the back of the car would have seemed odd in the extreme, and highly suspect had we been pulled over by the police. But driving back home through the country lanes bearing our loot, we were happy to find that it had no unpleasant odour, and it would be the creme de la creme of compost for our new plants.
Taking advantage of a break in the weather on Easter Monday, we drove west and discovered the little enclosed medieval village of Les Matelles. I can imagine that in the summer, this is a veritable magnet for tourists, but apart from one cat and two residents, we had the entire village to ourselves. Nothing that the creators of Epcot could have designed and built would equal the charm of this truly lovely village, and I would encourage visitors to seek it out, but make sure you do so out of season.
While touring around, we happened to pass a group of public "poubelles" (municipal dustbins) and spotted a large aquarium that had been dumped. In a trice, we loaded it into the back of the car, and having cleaned it up, it is now a rather lovely terrarium. Fish are too much trouble and neither of us are interested in snakes and lizards, so instead, Jean has landscaped and planted it and we will be able to observe our mini biosphere while relaxing in our sunchairs on the terrace.
Tomorrow I am going to a lecture on tomato growing with members of the American Women's Group. It will be a test of my French if I am to make sense of all the instructions, but it will be fun to get together with a jolly bunch of ladies once again.
Next week we are treated to tea and a garden expert and then a cookery class where we get to eat delicious Thai food. There is a walk planned on Sunday when the weather is promising to cheer up, and the posters are starting to go up for endless Plant Sales, Spring Fetes, Bull Running and general fun. We are resisting "casting a clout" but it really does look as though the south of France has said goodbye to winter, and as someone cheerfully commented, "a drop of rain in April equals a litre of wine in November" so as they say - "we ain't complaining"!
