Wednesday and Thursday are days off for the Fumel garden fairies…and a mini break in the northern side of the Pyrenees, in the village of Foix (pronounced FWA for us English speaking Kiwis) About as far south as one can go without crossing the border to Spain..
Having watered the garden (priority) A one and a half hour drive through the French countryside and little villages we stopped for lunch (around 12.30pm)….as cafes are only open between 12noon and 2pm for eating activities…at a village called Mauvezin.
Again taking in the summer florals of France, and taking advantage of the shaded walkways…temperature hitting 38 degrees C
We found a cafe terrace covered with planting and out of the heat..
Kev and Rols waiting for their 3 course lunch, meanwhile as I had devoured my salad at the entree course, and we were on top of the hill, I took a stroll to the lookout nearby
No one is out in the early afternoon heat and sunshine..
Overlooking the village…
The memorial to World War One and World War Two soldiers (with a rooster on the top) under restoration. We were then back in the car for the next couple of hours drive to Foix…
Past fields of lavender (taken from car window whilst driving)
And Tournesol (sunflowers) just starting to bloom…
More villages, including the commune of Saint Suzanne (I knew mum must have named me after someone – mystery solved!)
Then by 4.30pm entering the mountain town of Foix, which is located at the crossroads of two rivers, the Ariège and the Arget in southwest France…
We found (with a little difficulty) a carpark and traipsed our way to our apartment for two nights..(small bags only thank goodness). Three floors up (6 flights of stairs), a test on the legs after the previous days garden activities! Aircon on, bathroom stops and off to the first bar for a cool refreshment! Never mind that the beer was hoppy (boutique style) and the AC/DC heavy metal band for the evening was warming up! In true French style they were still tuning up their instruments when we left to search for some home supplies to take back to the coolness of our air conditioned apartment!
However – this being a medieval town – I had to capture this original (still used) door dating back to 1617….we don’t build them like they used to!
The landmark of this town is the Foix Medieval Castle perched on top of the hill above the town..dating back to the 10th century , the castle became capital of the County of Foix and played a decisive role in medieval military history…
This morning, Thursday, a planned day trip to Ax-les-Thermes, primarily a ski town further into the Pyrenees mountains. Rather than drive the 45 minutes there and back we took the train for a mere €23 for the three of us. By the time we arrived, the clouds had rolled away, and the pleasant 25 degree temperature of today made for pleasant rambling…
Again on the crossroads of several rivers (these ones rather raging and noisy…
Rols and Sue trying not to pose!
The mountains and Rivers beautiful in the midday sunshine.
We spied a moving cable car going up the side of the mountain and headed towards this for our adventure of the day! A little disappointed to find it only opens for a short time over summer and that is not until the 5th of July…The aforementioned movement, we guessed, was some operator testing going on…never mind, it was once again lunchtime, we sat down to a coffee and purchased some sandwiches for lunch, which we took to a wooded park and ate in the shade of the giant trees. Our return train to Foix left at 2.20pm, so we wandered down the main drag…
Behind the ceramic cow…are mineral springs hot pools and a casino…to keep the ski bunnies busy over winter!
Back in Foix around just after 3pm..the shops were opening up again for the afternoon…Roland and I did a scope of the charity shops(not much to speak of) and Kevin moved the car to another spot for the night…
In a while we are out to dinner, having not overindulged at lunchtime…for another evening at our mountain getaway!
All who wander are not Lost girls 