For those unaware, we do indeed now have our Landrover back! Whoop Whoop. We don't know why we were given a crazy long timeline but we are of course thankful that we got the car back within just a few days. Between messaging from the Breakdown service, and the garage, we understood that we needed to wait for the car and it was going to be a long wait. With this in mind, just an hour or so before we were told that in fact the Landy was ready to be collected, I'd just booked an Airbnb for the next week within about 10 miles of the garage. And would you believe it, it was non-refundable!
So let's catch you up on the comings and goings of this week. So yes we have our Landy, but having talked through whether to crack on or stay around here for a while longer, it seemed that the cards had been played for us. So we are now spending a further week in the South West Region of France before heading to Spain and onwards to Morocco. As my mum says "When life gives you lemons, make gin". Well, to you she would say "make lemonade", under the pretence that she's not as sassy as she actually is. But to me she'd say 'Make Gin'!
This region truly is quite beautiful and now rather than pass through, we are exploring a little more. There are some real hidden gems of towns and villages tucked amongst the countryside and laid against the drama of the Pyrenees mountain range in the background. The people are incredibly friendly, partly I think because we try to speak a little french and they try to speak a little english and somewhere in the middle we laugh and it's all very human.
We spent a lovely day in Tarbes walking the pretty streets, drinking coffee at a popular cafe, and exploring a small vendors market in the centre of town. Stalls ranged from established butchers and cheesemakers, to a man selling his 10 pots of home-made honey and a few jars of pollen and a lady selling her homemade biscuits.
We stayed for a few days in perhaps a converted coalstore, now a bijou stylish holiday cabin in the village of Orleix. The village was nothing to speak of but there were pretty elements and the nearby lake was simply beautiful.
We're currently in Capvern des Baines, named after the historic local thermal baths that are still here today. It's a quaint village of grand old French art deco and art nouveau architecture, with weathered doors and original shutters lining the streets to keep the burning sun at bay. The main road winds down through a gorge flanked up high by juliette balconies and forest beyond. Typically there is a cafe at the end of the street, a boulangerie opposite and a public swimming pool (€3 pp) around the corner, that also boasts the grandness of the old architectural details. It makes you wonder how in such a small place, the community swimming pool is maintained, when we seem to get community facility funding so very wrong in England.
Whilst we hadn't intended or expected to spend so much time in this region, the added time has given us the chance to properly explore at our own pace, rather than just pass through and miss all that the area has to offer.
Looky Likey
So the Landy is indeed back and we are happy to be back in the old Gal. She brings with her a bit of reassurance and comfort that it's not just us and two oversized backpacks. Instead we are 2 people, 2 oversized backpacks and all the other stuff that Gaz didn't want me to bring, but that does make us prepared for anything!
And of course, hanving the car means that we can explore further afield, and in order to give her a good run, we have been out and about exploring. And on these drives there is as I'm sure you'd expect dear reader, an element of waffly chat that surfaces. On one such drive this week, the subject of people that look like each other came up and I said that it was about perception. I mentioned that our friend Chris P had once thought that Gaz looked like the lead singer of the band Cast. Now, those of you that know Gaz may agree or disagree that Gaz looks like John Power when the hair gets crazy, but that was Chris's perception. Personally I think that Gaz looks more like US Actor Gary Sinise, but that is my perception. At the time of the conversation, I couldn't remember the band name or John Power's name. It was a moment of blankness. Yes, even I get these moments. Gaz however perceived someone completely different and said "Simon Le Bon?".
erm...
Yep. He said Simon le fricken Bon. Brilliant.
Once my brain had fully interpreted that Gaz had just put forward the lead singer of Duran Duran as his potential doppleganger, i fell into fits of laughter. Bless Gaz, at least he had the decency and humility to laugh as well. It was one of those pure moments of hilarity that I will never forget.
Don't worry _ I may take the michael out of Gaz from time to time, but he's got a list of silly stupid things I've done as long as his arm, and he keeps threatening to write a blog and expose me. We shall see.
Buzz buzz
One of the things Gaz and I were both aware of and keen to avoid was mosquito bites. They can turn a happy day into a miserable night and I hate them. Apparently however in France they are even more sinister than elsewhere. Here you don't see em comin. You don't hear em comin. But them come never the less and they chew and chew and chew. Gaz is covered head to toe in bites. Some of them are really inflamed and massive welts. After 2 or 3 days they do go down a bit, but he's dosed up on antihistamine and anti itch cream (as am I).
it turns out they're probably not ninja mosquitos trained by the French Legion after all. They're probably Noseeums. A type of miniscule flying insect that you don't see and can't hear, but they bite never the less and instead of making a puncture wound to suck your blood, they slice your skin and allow the blood to pool before sucking it out. This slicing is why the bite burns and irritates so much and for so long. Mother Nature's a bitch sometimes! https://thebugagenda.com/no-see-ums-bites/
And with that little tasty morsel I shall leave you dear reader to make Gaz a glass of vin rouge; Facebook have locked him out of his account because they don't believe it's him, and he's now suffering inflexible process hell with a helpdesk drone that keeps telling him to login to his account first before they can help him.