T'is over......

This is it! I have said it before and I say it again...... travel is the way to open your mind and your heart. You have to be open to move along with people and to be able to operate in places...... to be closed means that the world will be closed to you.
I now have so many wonderful friends overseas.... I have had so many kindnesses offered to me. I have learnt about people and I allowed people to learn about me.
Travelling is an exposure of trust and learning.....
I have been to my wish list...... and I now have to develop another one so that next time I go in2014 I need to have a  few over the top desires to fulfil.

Thanks to you all for reading my blog.... yes it does stop as there is no way that you would want to read about my day to day life.... pretty tame...................... and also my type of work is not about blogging!

If you enjoyed my blog I would love you to email me and tell me what you liked and why you liked it......

lisada75@gmail.com

please mail me......

Farewell!xx

Deja Vu in Abu Dhabi!

Could I really have been here before? HOw long ago was it? How did it feel? Well, seems I am back and the Gate is full.... gotta be a huge plane........ Left CDG this morning and decided that next time, it was not a priority to fly into Paris.....find another French city!

We will be loading soon and heading back in time.. does that make me younger?
There will be one ,ore update before this blog will be history... and I will probably write it this weekend.......
Thanks to you all for reading it...
It has been so much fun!

Memories in Photos

At Auberterre- Cathedral totally built out of rock

Cathedral at Auberterre- the sepulchre was one block

Our home in the Dordogne

Dordogne home

Brantome

Au Revoir a France demain!

So here we are...... Pullman HOtel at CDG Paris. Caught the train this morning at 11 a.m. from Perigueux to Bordeaux then to Paris CDG. Long trip  but great train in first class! A woman sitting in front of us had two tiny puppies - poodle x fluffy things..... tiny tiny doggies so at least in the current state of doggie deprivation , we got to have a cuddle! So different coming up from Bordeaux to Paris... flatter land and much more almost largish acre farming.......

However.... yesterday in the John household..... we went off to Brantone and Bordeilles. IN Brantone, this small village, part of the town is built into a rock cliff and it lies along a river ...

Nice night of farewells last night... slow beginning this morning!!!!!

And here we are!
It is our last night in France
So much fun!
So many people!

And you must see my fabulous silk Italian hat!

Dordogne and .....

Am back! You all thought I had disappeared! Here we are in the Dordogne with John and Susan! What a beautiful area this is. Had an interesting trip up on the train from Avignon to here - Perigueux in the Perigord! Had several heroes along the way who just greased the pathway and made life very simple and easy for us... especially when it comes to moving around  with enormous cases full of stuff! Mind you the stuff is excellent..........
So here we are in this tiny little hamlet 25 minutes from Perigueux, surrounded by green fields and forests... the place here is so lush and green . Has not been as hot as in Uzes where we almost melted...............

Yesterday travelled to a place called Aubeterre, where we spent time in a cathedral , begun 2000yrs ago, and continually added to - it is a carved out of a huge rock!.... and it is awe inspiring - nothing like this.

Part of the Cathedral

Haven't got enough battery to write much more...
We will be here until Tuesday when we head off to Charles de Gaulle......... and prepare to return on Wednesday......
Will write again soon.......

I Don't Want This to End....

Impossible! In the last two weeks there has been so much happening... I forgot to tell you that our pigeons , living in the hole on the wall outside our apartment , have laid eggs, hatched them and have two perfect offspring who are about to fly.....

We have photographed nearly every dog in Uzes...

Found the perfect resting place for the afternoon where tapas and wine can be had

Eaten a thousand olives...
Spoken in French and even conversed........
Bought too many clothes for summer time..
Wished a million times that this would never end.....
PLanned how to return......
Wonder how to buy a house in France...
Can I become a fruit picker?
Can I really go back to winter and cold?
Is it time to change directions?
What do I want to be when I  grow up?

So easy ,when in the calm and long days of vacation, as you have time to ponder and consider...... what would be really possible to do?
All this as we have our last day in Uzes today.. last ice creams, baguettes, tapas, saucisse,... no more buying Italian linen dresses...... no more little conversations ....... no more basking in the hot hot sun..... turning brown...
It really is nearly done.... tomorrow we drive back to Avignon and return the car. Will be catching the TGV to Lyons then train across to Perigueux for a few days in the Dordogne. So today is a day of reflection and contemplation... and making sure that we can fit all into the cases!
I will make another offering this evening.... it is morning now and cool. Yesterday was really hot and the stone buildings and paths are absorbing all heat which radiates ..........

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I just changed the things with how to post

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Finally... I met Geoffrey....too late!

It might seem unreal to many folk and also highly improbable, but one can wait forever for something to happen......... for that right meeting, for that right moment....

Today was my moment!
Thousands of years ago, Mme Zazusch showed me a picture of the Camargue and the horses that are an integral part of that area....... she spoke of the freedom and the wildness of these creatures....... she showed me a photo of these amazing white animals, racing through the water. It spoke to me of beauty and freedom, of possibilities and joy............. and I remembered that wonderful French teacher of mine as she spoke of the Camargue.....

I met Geoffrey.....................
That white dashing steed............. splashing through the Camargue waters... taking me into flight...............

Here we are... Geoffrey( alias Mimi) and me......... see the modern boring flats in the background? Well worn road? Murky water to the left?

I whispered words to Geoffrey.............. How does it feel to be carrying just another tourist over the same old same old road, Geoffrey? Don't you hate it when these hopeless riders get on your back and you just plod out, walking and hating it.... how can you like this?

I wondered where the free horse of the Camargue had gone..... around this area there are many many horse riding places cos everyone wants to ride a horse on the Camargue....

There was a sadness and resignation to the horses.............. I don't believe that they actually roam free anymore........ in Iceland the horses are let loose every night.......

Here there is too much value in the tourism industry and the poor animals are slaves to that.............. the whole town of Les Saintes Maries de -la-Mer is in the clasp of the tourist dollar........ totally and blatantly...........

There was no free wild horse of the Camargue......... I guess this was so for the people too............ they were enslaved...............

This pink flamingo looked like it had been parked for the day!!!!!!

The Mighty Dollar and the ghastly muck for tourists..........

Found a lunch place in the back streets

The Meditteranean ....


When I said goodbye to Geoffrey, I wondered what his future held...... is this the fate of all older white horse of the Camargue? Slaves of the tourist dollar?

But I have been and I have seen and I can now make a statement.................... poor Geoffrey and the Camargue..........................

Roman in Orange

All French roads have a number..... too bad if you don't know what number means you are somewhere! BUT.... we coped!
Today it was a day to Orange.... and the odd Roman ruin or two.... fair trip BUT

We extended it by half an hour.... why? Because we missed a turn on the roundabout and nearly got back to Avignon! Vigilance saved the day! Blue beast turned around and back on the right path.... and so we came to Orange.............

The aim was to view the Antique Theatre a Roman....

And indeed we went there.... stupendous! Here was a theatre over 2000yrs old , that had been restored to its current state so that opera and other productions could be held here.... Imagine hearing the music of Carmen in a theatre with perfect acoustics... designed 2000yrs ago! Very soon , the Pahntom of the Opera is to be he'd here and they are currently setting up the stage..... the stage is enormous...... huge....

It is so so Roman

And we climbed the amphitheatre... Vertigo! OOOOOHHHHHH! I couldn't look back at all these floating thousands of rimless seats...... great relief when we could leave at the top. This theatre had been sacked and burned by the Visigoths,,, rebuilt and burnt again,.... at one stage the people had built a township backing onto the theatre wall! It wasn't until the 1800's that the little village in the theatre was removed!

Thelma and Louise soldiered on

Phew.......

More roman ruins at the Arc de Triomphe

Equally archaic
Then .....
we decided to head of to Chateau Neuf Du Papes! So you think you like that one?

And we did find outs way home...... but it was nice to get back to the square...... and tapas and pastis!

Loving France......