Before we moved to Poitou Charentes on September 23rd.

 The Food

Pan Fried Saumon å la Chef Brian

   To describe the difference in the taste of food I would compare it to when we quit smoking. The flavors are enhanced and magnified: roasted chicken, pan fried Norwegian salmon, lamb kebobs, salads: all mouth watering. “Petit pois” (peas in a pod)  were available into August.  Almost every night we have salad, for two reasons. One, it is extremely tasty using soft buttery lettuce and the other is practical. The fridge does not keep the vegetables fresh very well which then demands that we  eat them quickly! Of course, none of these dishes would be so tasty if were not for Brian's cooking skills, for which I am daily thankful.   

 

The Tourist-y Thing

We visited  Carcassonne, Europe's largest fortified town still standing and just a couple of hours south of us. This was our fourth visit because it is such an amazing place, but this was our first visit this year.  Unfortunately, we have never been there at night. Looks spectacular, doesn't it?  The bridge is built over the Canal du Midi.  A perfect medieval cité. Link for more information:    http://www.beyond.fr/villages/carcassonne.html

We strolled through the cobbled streets, had a  bit of lunch then visited my favorite gargoyle.

I first fell in love w with him in 2005.
Such an expressively tortured /tortured-ly expressive face!

                                                 

≈

      Angus and Jo in the CIté                                

 The work of navigable waterways linking the Mediterranean and the Atlantic through 328 structures (locks, aqueducts, bridges, tunnels, etc.) is one of the most remarkable feats of civil engineering in modern times. Built between 1667 and 1694, it paved the way for the Industrial Revolution. The care that its creator, Pierre-Paul Riquet, took in the design and the way it blends with its surroundings turned a technical achievement into a work of art.  Sadly, most of the 200-year-old plane trees which were planted on either side are diseased and will have to be cut down.

                                                                                         LE CANAL DU MIDI  241kms/130miles long

Thomas Jefferson visited the Canal du Midi in 1787 (He lived in Paris as Minister to France 1785-1789) with a mind to taking plans back to America which would connect the Potomac River in Washington D.C. and Lake Erie. . A plaque was placed in 2009  (220th Anniversaire de la Revolution Francais) near the bridge (A Bridge for  Liberty)  by the lake. I have no idea where this is on the Canal, we just stopped to take in the scenery. I stumbled upon this plaque but was not tall enough to take the photo at a decent angle but it states Jefferson was a "great guy" and played a key role in the draft of the Constitution of France.

                                                                           So there you have it!

                                                   Views of rural Southwest France

It is quite difficult to photograph scenery while traveling at warp speed                          

CANOLA PLANTS

CORRECTION:  I was so wrong about the small green plants now growing in the fields in the Poitou Charentes area. I had written that they would be in the markets this fall. NON!  They will never be eaten in plant form. They are "rapeseed" commonly known as "canola" in the US. They will grow until November then become dormant until March and then make a teenager-like spurt, before being harvested and turned into cooking oil.

Update to be posted very soon...........