A lazy Sunday afternoon at La Franqui near Narbonne.

Driving past elegant villas which have a 1930's look!

Families enjoying the glorious sunshine, sand and sea.

Restaurants facing the beach..lovely to eat and view at the same time:-).
Soft, clean sand and wonderful clear sea.
Reminds me of a layered cheesecake dusted with icing sugar:-).
Tranquility and beauty - what more could you want...ok, a very large ice cream?:-).


Packing to go home as the wind had dropped..I think he was feeling a little deflated!!


The view towards Cap Leucate.

View across the bay to Port Nouvelle.
This one is for Mike's Grandson Archie...he loves Motorbikes.
No, it's not raining just protection from the sun's rays!
Enjoying the rest and the view.

Seraphine de Senlis

Seraphine de Senlis in her studio.


A lovely French film that won four Cesars (Oscars). Yolande Moreau in the lead role won 'Best Actress as 'Seraphine', a French painter discovered by Wilhelm Uhde, a German art collector. He brought her fame and fortune until 'The Depression' of 1929 which brought it all to an end! She became mentally unstable and lived for the next twelve years in a psychiatric unit, where she continued to paint. Her paintings were classed as 'Naive' and she had three major exhibitions in Paris. A very short career but wonderful paintings. Colourful, full of life and energy.

I have just discovered we have just missed a retrospective exhibition of 'Seraphine de Senlis' in Paris!! Damn!

Link below to see film trailer.

http://www.seraphine-lefilm.com/index.html

Link below for more info on Seraphine de Senlis in English and below in French.

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://autourduperetanguy.blogspirit.com/tag/SERAPHINE%2520DE%2520SENLIS&ei=nMTZSe__IOPOjAfJ172WDQ&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=3&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dseraphine%2Bde%2Bsenlis%26hl%3Den


http://autourduperetanguy.blogspirit.com/tag/SERAPHINE%20DE%20SENLIS

'Spring' on the Balcony

We only have a tiny balcony but to my delight when I returned from the UK there was this small but very colourful display of dwarf Narcissi and Grape Hyacinths. Enjoy too.

Au revoir, a bientôt.. Bonjour UK

Suitcase packed..off into the square to enjoy last drop of sunshine. Although it sounds like UK's weather has cheered up a bit too...Great!

Déjeuner chez Ken

A lovely sunny afternoon spent with Ken and Spring at Labastide Esparbairenque.
Hurry home Rosie and Hope to catch the wonderful Mimosa and Cherry Blossom!.
Spring is now very bored with all this intellectual chit chat...scraps of food she wants not words!! A girl might as well get some beauty sleep!


Michael and Emmanuelle's house looking picturesque with Mimosa in full bloom..

Port Nouvelle on a lazy Sunday afternoon

A glorious day at Port Nouvelle on the east coast of France. Sand and sea beautifully clean and clear. A good time to visit before the holiday crowds arrive.


A bracing walk along the pier to the lighthouse. Now you see him...
Now you don't! Man overboard;-)


A brave swimmer...sun is warm but the sea is not!

A solitary catamaran...beautiful!

The day Lagrasse nearly caught fire

We decided to visit Lagrasse in the Corbieres region famous for its wines on Saturday. First impressions were good....a very pretty little village. Very tranquil and picturesque. It was a glorious sunny day...just the sort of day you would think 'lets have a fire, burn some of the grass along the banks of the river'!! NO!!

Picturesque sights.




Small but charming cemetery. I do like a nice cemetery.


As we came towards the river we could here the crackling of a fire and then we could smell smoke! And then we could SEE smoke!

Yes...someone had thought 'it is a good day to start a fire. Everything nice and dry..a bit of a wind to get it going!!' Looked a bit ominous to us..in fact looked a bit out of control!!


The house directly behind the fire was a bit too close for comfort! Hope she didn't have any washing out!

Then we passed the local priest on his mobile... we thought perhaps he had a direct line to you know who or was he is calling the fire brigade?


Yep...obviously not with direct line..he was phoning les pompiers! Thank the lord for that! I bet they were just having a nice cup of tea!
Because it did get a bit out of control.... the wind changed direction..as it does when you light a fire!
and caused a bit of a stink and a smoke screen across the village.......glad we came early otherwise we wouldn't have seen it at its best! In fact we wouldn't have seen it at all!!







From the safety of the bridge the locals cannot believe it! We will visit again...hopefully when it is a smoke free zone! And who set the fire away.....was it:
a) A man b) Un Homme c) Message from God (a man by all accounts)!
Somehow I don't think a water pistol will help but good thought little boy:-).