While my last morning in Fumel was coming up roses…

More had spread their wings overnight…the sheets washed, the sky overcast (so promising a cooler travelling day), bag packed and weighed…me a little heavier (yay) and the bag a lot lighter coming in under the 20kg Ryanair limit!

Kev and I took out the “little” car…

For a food shop…to fill in the morning and get some snacks for my trip…

A mere 6 litre bottle of Red…one would have trouble pouring? Not needed in the travel case!

Roland arrived home before us from his mornings work, I enjoyed a relaxed coffee, before the Boys dropped me to my first little train from Monsempron to Agen…on time leaving, which was good as I only had a 10 minute changeover to board the Agen to Toulouse train, which is not usually a problem…however today it was!

As we left the station in Fumel a very smelly homeless person was wandering through the train…asking all the passengers for something…which I indicated I didn’t understand – but he wanted money and smokes. He disappeared for a few minutes and I hoped that was the end of it, but no…he appeared back and sat in the seat in front of me, making me gag! Oh well, I thought, I can cope with the 40 minute ride!

However, this little train stops several times on the way to Agen to pick up the odd passenger…first stop, we did appear to be waiting a bit long…the smelly man taking the opportunity to career past me and outside to smoke an old butt he had found! Next minute the station controller and the train drivers and the conductor….were in and out of the train in deep conversation.

Minutes ticked by…and every minute was precious, due to my short changeover time…after 10 minutes, I knew I would be missing my connection…meanwhile the smelly man kept coming to his seat, rummaging around and taking the delay as a welcome opportunity to smoke another old butt or two! Not at this point realising he was the reason for the hold up!

THEN…. Four policemen arrived…and removed him and his smelly bag of junk from his seat (in front of me) ….more delay, by now over half an hour sitting patiently, while they proceeded to get him to unload everything from his backpack just outside my window. It was a sad affair…and not sure what the big issue was… other than he didn’t pay for a ticket.

So finally – they all left the platform with another traveller and we chugged out 35 minutes behind schedule.

Phew…time for a bathroom break, the bathrooms in the trains are usually great…but I opened the door and it was a swimming pool of urine and other bodily fluids…for the first time in a long time the urge to pee just totally went away….bathroom rating -10! If that is the worst ever! The conductor told me I’d be best to wait until Agen…like that decision hadn’t already been made.

I am now waiting at Agen station for the next train connection in an hour or so…still overcast and not too hot, aside from the train trauma (some things you just cannot unsee!) I will still have time to catch the bus to the airport in time for my flight to Malta!

My last day in the Fumel/Monsempron, Lot et Garonne area in the south of France…four days of heatwave, and lots of watering by yours truly…the Roses are blooming in the garden.

Saturday was a day of lumping another 12 bags of metal, to level out the paved areas in the garden, more soil for the planter box…that had shrunk in the heat, and a bit of barking around the roses to keep the moisture in….

The final touches making the garden a very pleasant area to enjoy a cool drink in the evenings…that is when it gets cool, right now (and for the last four days) temperatures have been hitting 40 degrees in the late afternoon, just when Roland goes to work for the dinner shift at the Brit Hotel, where many guests choose to sit on the terrace to enjoy the view, rather than the inside air-conditioned dining room! To be fair, Kevin and I did the same for lunch on Sunday, our day of rest to let the bodies recover!

Monday we were invited to a friends house for lunch, taking along the Kiwi/Oz asparagus rolls for an appetiser…followed by a four course lunch, of which I had to stop at two! As we clambered in the car at 2pm, the temperature outside was 50 degrees. It was home for a rest all round…lying still is the only option in our upstairs bedrooms which are still 32 degrees at 10pm! Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining, the alternative of a wet cold winter in NZ is far less appealing than the odd bucket of sweat!

This morning, my hosts had a prior engagement, and I am left to my own devices…watering, washing and wandering…jobs done I took off on foot, roaming around the side streets towards Monsempron village. The new abode of Kevin and Roland is between this village and Fumel.

The stone homes of old…

And the greenery (even in this heat) are beautiful in the morning shade….

These villages criss-cross over little rivers flowing into the Lot River.

I reached the centre Ville around 11am…having been strolling on the shaded sides of the street…

The temperature outside the Pharmacy already recording 36 degrees…I bought some fruit and a couple of cans of coke and settled under the umbrellaed terrace at the town cafe to enjoy a large latte! … nearing midday I decided I had better head home, before I would be in danger of melting…taking a different route…

Down tree lined streets, actually the most direct route I could envisage…without once looking at Google maps!

Home…the villa welcoming me, with closed shutters, a cool retreat for the afternoon…but first one more load of washing to hang, and a check to see if the plants need another drink…

The garden is happy, with large hibiscus trees flowering in abundance…

And the solar powered water feature bubbling away in the early afternoon sun…but now an afternoon in the coolest part of the house watching Wimbledon (tennis) matches …. Was going to pack as tomorrow I embark on my next (long) journey to Malta, but I have tomorrow morning to do this.

The last evening in Foix…was a dinner out to a fantastic Indian Restaurant where we all devoured the three course menu…

Daylight until 10pm in this part of the world, often means a late dinner. We were entertained, if that is the right word, by the local drunks annoying the diners, until the restaurant owners move them on! Unfortunately, this lovely town attracts a rather unsavoury population of dirty, smelly, people who seem to have lost their way!

Yesterday we were up and on the road by 9am heading home to Fumel, as Kev and Rols had a BIG delivery of pavers and metal arriving after 2pm, in readiness for the last big garden landscape activity.

Due to the amount of gravel, edge pavers and stepping pavers being delivered we envisaged a truck with a hiab (lift) to deposit pallets of these supplies….but no …. We had barely eaten our sandwich and the first van load arrived with two blokes! It was then a furious hand unload of 80 (20kg) bags of metal, 384 edge pavers (could carry 6 at a time) and 50 stepping pavers (1 at a time) ! Ok mini break holiday over!

The plan was to launch into this activity over the weekend, but in good Bonnici fashion we thought we would make a start!

Five hours later, 3 beers down and….

YES! We had laid every single paver, rock and stepping stone! Including an extra 70 edge pavers, that Roland raced back to buy mid arvo, as this product had been slightly underestimated!

The smile is due to finally sitting down and enjoying a beer, in my sweaty smelly garden attire!

Needless to say, the shower (x3) was a welcome end to the day, after which we ate salad (thanks Rols) baguette and cheese at 9pm and fell into bed to lie flat!

View of the afternoons work from the 1st floor kitchen window….shady fig tree in the foreground!

Of course there is a list today for finishing touches! Before the heat hits..next heatwave rolling in!

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!

Heatwave in France, Kevin escapes Malta from the heat, however he is not on the winning side in June this year!

Monday I had a coffee at the Brit Hotel in Fumel then took off on foot, through familiar territory, destination LeClerc (supermarket) on the other side of the river.

The start of the journey was very pleasant all downhill…

This year (as opposed to last) the roadworks are all finished…providing a very pleasant dustless stroll…towards the bridge

Over the Lot river…looking back up to the village of Fumel.

Midday sun warming up and overhead, not much in the way of a shady side of the street…

Whikst sharing the footpath with the giant pot plants….being a flora lover, this area provides an abundance of colourful wildflowers and greenery.

However, I was very pleased to arrive at the air conditioned supermarket for a cooler respite. Spending an hour or so perusing the aisles and collecting mostly only what was on my list, mindful I needed to carry back..

By now the temperatures had risen further, mid afternoon to a mere 38 degrees C

The Lot river having been lowered by 3.5 meters as the new lock is being constructed…

And this Kiwi was starting to break out in a sweat… the long straight walk back home beside the old iron factory did provide a slightly shaded footpath, and conveniently dotted iron benches to plonk myself (and my shopping) on for a few minutes respite!

Consequently on arrival, I downed a bottle of electrolytes and jumped in a cold shower…and collapsed in the garden with a cold beer!

Yesterday was a big garden day…Rols was on lawn duties…

I planted wildflower seeds and sunflower seeds, watered the garden and dealt with washing…while Kev…

Had his project to build a planter box around this old double concrete tub, that had been deposited in the back yard..and is now immovable (due to its weight) ….. Tools out and sweat on!

The day rolled on…the engineering heads (three of us) , hammer hands and tiring backs collaborated…. And the building progressed…

The Kiwis got hotter- after a late lunch…Rols retired for a short rest before his evening work…Kevin and I collected some more wood, dirt and plants to complete the project!

The homeward straight was a tiring, sweat drenched, determined exercise, however being Bonnici’s we were not giving up until complete..at 7pm …

After showers we could enjoy our beer, and newly created ambiance of freshly planted herbs and flowers!

A light snack and barely the energy to climb the two flights of stairs to lie flat!

This kiwi has landed in Fumel, south west France….

After a beautiful day in Clichy on Friday, wandering the local environs…

Roses for $6.00 NZ a bunch…spring/Summer has definitely hit Paris in time for my visit…a mere 35 degrees Celsius!

Bidding my final farewell to Clichy, the afternoon was a rest time for the gals before our big night out at the Paris Diamond League Athletics event…

The main events were starting at 8pm at Stade Charléty in the south direction…and our planned journey was Train…then tram! Both very full on a Friday early evening…and over an hour of jostling, walking, and rubbing shoulders with the 20k fans heading to the event..

This trip to Paris was planned to take in the athletics meet, being an avid follower of world athletics and our kiwis on the big stage, accompanied by Sally, an equally avid athletics fan…long time Parisian (born in Nelson NZ) … she has the sports gene!

When one books online, months in advance, to secure a seat to this sell out event..one never quite knows where one will be seated. We were excited to find ourselves half way down the home straight…about 10 seats up, and on the shaded side of the stadium(in 35 degrees a must) …we had two kiwi girls competing in the pole vault on the other side of the stadium, so luckily Sally had brought the binoculars! But the plus side, was triple jump men’s right in front of us and all the running events on the home straight! Was a fabulous evening finishing at 11pm, where we exited with the masses heading to the train station and caught a Bolt taxi home…a mere painless 30 minute ride to our front door!

Saturday morning, I closed the (new) suitcase…ubered to the Montparnasse Train station, where the taxi driver dropped me on the wrong side! This meant a frantic run(almost) with luggage for about 2 kms through alleys and down three flights of steps to reach my train just as it was boarding. Finding myself in a tight space once again, a row of three seats, in a full to capacity 3.5 hour train ride! And off we went at 300kms per hour heading to the south of France! My change of train was at Agen, where I had two hours before the little train to Monsempron Libos and Kevin and Rols!

38 degrees and a cold beer helped, but the sweat glands kicked in and by the time I boarded the last (air conditioned) little train I was very relieved! and of course on arrival Kevin had a nice cool beer to relax with in the garden.

Roland was working yesterday, so Kevin and I took off at 10ish for a bike ride…around the town, past their rental house, where we weeded the long neglected entrance..and out into the country

Following the meandering Lot river. Felt the legs as we returned home around 12.30pm, thank goodness for electric assist when needed…for me needed most of the way back!

This morning sitting in the garden, in the shade while temperatures are cool, listening to all the birds – there’s lots of them here in this peaceful country garden! Tona – the bird app picked up 12 yesterday in a very short time!

I am very lucky to be here in this warmth and dry climate, and will never complain about the heatwave!!!

Three days have flown by as the kiwi wanderer has put in the steps in Paris….with temperatures rising to the 30+ high point during the afternoons…

Tuesday was a day of ticking off a jobs list, with an evening reward of cocktails on the rooftop terrace of a nearby hotel..

With views to Sacre Coeur

And moving to the south …..the Eiffel Tower and La Defence…

Two cocktails later and the terrace now filled with 30 somethings, the old gals wandered home having ticked this activity off the wish list.

The next day was a Sue day in place de Clichy – near Montmartre and the Moulin Rouge cabaret. While these tourists attractions were not the object of my excursion, this area is littered with charity shops…which were on my list of must do’s while in Paris…

I must comment that even in the commercial areas of Paris the tree lined streets provide pleasant meandering conditions! After around three hours of digging though racks and racks of Parisian vetement (clothes) treasures and laden with a full carry bag, I stumbled to the nearest cafe for a cool beer and bathroom stop! The cool beer was great…

The bathroom was interesting to say the least…this image for the Texas bathroom rating team – maybe a 4/10…it had toilet paper,soap and hand towels! A very unisex arrangement – where I could use either a urinal or seatless bowl…either way interesting graffiti art to distract oneself!

By mid afternoon the main streets and side streets were full of tourists

And while I had full intentions to carry on and walk the avenue de Clichy (and more charity shops), the feet were burning and the bag already overflowing, my walk ended after I was on the homeward straight with a bus ride home around 4pm…

Another short stroll to the supermarket for some dinner supplies and home for a catch up with Sally’s son(digging out my HR training to assist him with his CV cover letter)

This morning found a full washing machine of charity shop treasures, after which the wanderers took (once again) to the streets for a meander along the river Seine and a French Pastry for morning tea!

A popular (suburban) area for house boat living…

Spring flowers

Riverboat gardens and arched bridges across islands in the river.

We spent the majority of our riverwalk getting out of the way of these three motorbike police officers…who appeared to be looking for something or someone… whilst disturbing our morning reverie!

We were around an hour from home by this stage and decided to utilise the public transport pass and grab a bus back to our abode… there did seem to be some issue with the bus that was supposed to arrive in 2 minutes, then also the one due to arrive in 8 minutes later, then after another 14 minutes (we would have been nearly home by this time on foot) as we were about to abort the public transport idea, she rolled up in all her glory!

So all is well that ends well…we have now had our lunch at our favourite Italian cafe and relaxing in the late afternoon of a very warm day!

Today I will start at the end of a fabulous blue sky day in Paris, a very comfortable 24 degrees! (Celsius for my Texas family)

4pm found us at our favourite cafe/bar for a holiday beverage before heading home!

Ok, back to the morning… both early risers, a load of washing done, we headed off to the metro(train) at 8.30am to embark on our days excursion…. Joining with the morning train rush we squeezed into the train, standing room only, packed like sardines…a train change at Champs Elysees to ride the electric train (no driver) towards our destination….The Paris Zoo!

Before boarding the final (Bus) leg we felt a coffee was in order…

A kiwi size coffee for me and a French size coffee for Sally! Then on the bus to the zoological Park! Several packs of loud French children and louder French teachers but relatively unpopulated at 10 am!

Again with most zoos worldwide the animal comfort versus the human enjoyment is a little unbalanced – the animals winning out! In 2008 this zoo closed for 6 years to undergo habitat renovations….

Creating a more environmentally friendly habitat for its residents.. consequently we did manage to spy most of them (with patience and moments when the loud groups of primary aged kids had moved on)

The lion was noticeably absent but these guys were lazily active…

The zebras provided us with a zoomy race around their enclosure avoiding their rhinoceros roommates.,,

And being spring here the fluffy brown flamingos chicks were hanging out with their pinker parents: seals, giraffes and toucans doing their Monday things! Not much after breakfast!

This zoo is 15 hectares and it took us not much more than two hours to stroll the human designated pathways, so we were out of there by lunchtime (conveniently)

We bused back to the beginning of our train journey and revisited the same (coffee) cafe for lunch

Paris version of a shrimp cocktail and a Pina Colada for lunch …. And back on the trains to head back for our suitcase replacement mission! The 2nd train found Sally and I heading for two vacant seats…as this was the longest ride…when a nasty Frenchman dived in front of me(Sally had sat down) and pushed me out into the aisle and plonked himself on my seat! He was about our age and not incapacitated – just RUDE…. He then proceeded to scroll his phone and get his book out to read, avoiding eye contact with anyone around us…if I could speak fluent French I would have given him a piece of my mind! A kind lady, who was disembarking at the next station, gave me her seat and scowled at the (oblivious) man!

We then continued on to avenue de Clichy (a street, that Sally dislikes and I love as it is full of charity shops) in search of a suitcase for me to continue my travel next weekend.

Three baggage shops later, we boarded our final (bus) transport, new green suitcase in tow, back to Clichy, where we did our final grocery shop and pastry shop and half filled the suitcase…before resting at our cafe/bar for a well deserved refreshment!

After a very deep sleep, jet lag not even a hint, Saturday morning Sally and I ventured out to organise a few bits for my week in Paris! Primarily a transport card and coffee and lunch!

The transport card was duly purchased but needed a passport photo to complete… even Sally’s vast knowledge of services in Clichy left us wanting for a while as we strolled the busy streets. To no avail, we took a coffee break…

And caught the first of my summer rays! The final decision was to go to the photographers shop and have a professional do the job! chin up… again… and after numerous attempts he caught a shot that he was happy with. Personally I didn’t really care what it looked like….as I said to him “I am not French, anything will do”. I must admit, however, without makeup it is one of the nicer shots of my mug! We then went to an Italian cafe for lunch, me craving a salad (after all the carbo stacked plane food) and that is what I got!

The Clichy Saturday street market was in full swing and provided us with first of the delicious summer fruits…. Flatto peaches, nectarines, apricots and strawberries! All of which I savoured for my dinner after an afternoon nap!!! Back to healthy eating… again crashing as soon as my head hit the pillow…and waking to an overcast slightly cooler day…

Perfect for my Sunday plans … a 3.5 mile walk to the antiques flea market in St Ouen… a distant memory of a place I visited many years ago… google walking maps taking me on my journey…

Past parks with blooming spring roses…

And impressive retirement apartment block….

And a street market at st Ouen village centre…which warranted a side stroll!

Getting near my destination I found the first cafe and sat down (after over an hour on my feet) for a cappuccino…

More froth than coffee but it did the trick and provided a restroom stop before the miles and miles of markets ahead of me…

Street art streets

I arrived at my destination and switched google maps off as I followed my nose (and other tourists) through the alleys of antiques and collectables. That done, the adjoining streets merged into more flea markets…

Garden art…

Knock off labels (Nike, adidas, under armour, Ralph Lauren etc….) boosted by the busyness of shoppers, vendors yelling, loud club music, marijuana wafts, incense, and nasty fried food smells…every human immigrant variety….at times a little overwhelming, as I worked my way through the maze of continuous stalls, clutching my handbag to my stomach…hesitating to stop for long in fear of being accosted by an overzealous stall holder. I did wonder at times is I was still in Paris or had I been transported to the Middle East?

Another block of more established antique and retro collections…by now having decided I was not actually going to purchase a piece of very expensive junk, I decided to plug in my Paris abode address to mr google and head for home…this time I was taken through some very interesting areas…tent cities of the homeless and a street of car dwellers…cooking their food on gas cookers inside broken down old cars…but not to get lost, I continued to follow the maps (while craving for a sit down and not daring to as a stationary target is more susceptible than a moving one! )

The scenery finally became more appealing with the corner florist(and delivery truck) and I finally found my feet on the familiar Clichy streets…and back to Sally’s apartment after my five hour walking tour…collapsing on the terrace with a much needed coffee!

My walking tracker confirming the sore feet and hips were warranted, after over 15000 steps and 11kms recorded for my morning wander…by now 2pm, the worms in my tummy were telling me it was time to eat…so back out on the street, with my host, to the nearest cafe for a late lunch and cool beer…a much enjoyed treat!

My penultimate day in NZ became a Gran’ma Tyler day as he decided he needed a day with me before I took off!

It was a fun day as finally the sun came out and the tide was out …. For a two hour beach adventure!

Coming across this giant jellyfish (marooned) on the sand banks..

We then baked and chatted until all the team arrived for a fish and chip dinner…

Thursday was cleaning and packing day, with an NBA finals game to watch thrown in the mix while folding washing!

It was then farewell and Jaxon dropped me to the airport around 8,30 pm… to go through the airport process for a midnight flight!

The airport was extremely quiet at this time on a Thursday night and the processes seamless! I didn’t even get my usual customs pat down and bag search!

Leaving a cold wet New Zealand is brightened by this Perspex creation fill with the iconic NZ Buzzy Bee!! Hundreds of them.

Leg one of the journey – 10.5 hours to Singapore was as expected, full, a few hours sleep and a couple of uninteresting meals at either end!

Then a four hour wait before boarding an Air France (14 hour) flight to Paris… no choice of seats and was allocated the second to last (near back of plane) aisle seat in the middle row…all around me full!

I know I have said many times – I just suck up the cattle class travel and get to my destination… but as the seats have got smaller (or my legs longer which I doubt) the flight attendants have got larger (an aisle seat meaning many knocks as they bustle back and forward) one toilet at back of plane (meaning the punters hang around your tiny space for a lot longer) meanwhile poor dad is walking the crying baby up and down the aisles for the duration! Needless to say, the noise cancelling earphones only dulled the activity and I arrived at my friends in Paris around 8pm Friday feeling like a zombie just woke from an eight hour sleep!

One job pending is to search for a new suitcase as mine arrived in Paris somewhat worse the wear like its owner….and will not survive the journeys to come – my repair stitching job only instigated half the case ripping open… it just lasted intact enough not to burst fully and catapult Kevin’s Vegemite around the airport!