22nd November- Gourdon
We had a domesticated morning, a leisurely breakfast,
followed by cleaning, and the washing of many articles of clothing and
tea-towels etc. We have been looking for a Laundromat for days, and though the
hand-washing of small articles is OK the weather has been so grotty for weeks
now, that getting bigger/more bulky items dry is a problem. Today though the
sun was shining, and now we are back in France we don’t need to be so frugal
with the gas (it can only be refilled here in France as the fittings and bottles
are all different here) so we have been being very careful all the way through
Spain, and one bottle has lasted us the whole time, and is still going). But
anyway, today I turned the hot-water back on so the cylinder is a good place
for giving things that final little warm burst to air and completely dry
them. So we put out rows and rows of
clothes, t-shirts, jeans, singlets, socks, undies……… all happily flapping in
the breeze, (until it clouded over and the rain came, about three quarters of
an hour later!!!!!!!) but then it cleared again and they flapped or for wafted
in the light breeze, and watery sunshine.
We had lunch and then Di and I went for a walk down the road
a bit, through beautiful French forest, chestnuts, walnuts, oaks and other
autumn touched deciduous trees, while Hilary watched a video on the computer in
the truck. She was locked in, with strict instructions not to leave the truck,
or let anyone in, unless the truck was on fire. I think back to when our
generation was young, we had such freedom and were left to our own devices a
lot, and didn’t get in to too much trouble, so though I was a little
apprehensive about leaving her alone, she is sensible and we weren’t gone for
more than an hour. Anyway, she was fine, nothing untoward happened, and Di and
I managed some alone time, pretty much our first for nearly 8 months, in fact
it may have been.
When we got back we gathered Hilary up and set off for a
browse around Gourdon old town, stopped for a coffee at a lovely little tea
salon which did have very nice, but highly overpriced coffee, and then
continued on through the town to the information centre. Once there we got lots
of useful information about the town, and wider environs, including a pamphlet
which contained two walks around the town which we completed later on, and
another which has a bike-ride through a couple of villages and along beside the
river past watermills, leaving from this town and heading northwest.
 |
| A series of views from our walking trail around town. Including views over the surrounding countryside from above the cathedral |
We have
prepared a picnic, expecting a nice day tomorrow, and if the weather is fine in
the morning will spend the day out on our bikes, touring through the area. It
is only a twenty km ride, but with coffee stops, lunch, viewing sites and photo
stops along the way, I think we could stretch it to fill most of a day.
After our walk around the town here, I came back to get the
washing in before the dew got to it (I was back before five but already it was
beginning to turn from drying air to dampening) the others stayed to look
around a Christmassy looking shop, then we all had some quiet time before
preparing and eating dinner.
It’s 10.30 already, another day well and truly gone, we seem
to fill them quite easily, and unfortunately I need to stop now or I’ll be a
grumpy person tomorrow when we go out for the day. So I’ll have to catch up on
our last day in Narbonne tomorrow.
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