Leaving Moulin Saleth
Sorry it has been so long since my last post! We fell into a routine and blogging just wasn't a part of it. The first few days of our trip were so crazy that writing content was easy to come by. Lately things have calmed down - which we enjoy, but isn't as entertaining as running away from hosts and all that madness.
Work has been enjoyable. I finished mudding and sanding the walls in one room. After that Tawnie and I have been chipping paint off a door frame in the mornings for a couple hours, then lunch, then chainsawing and chopping wood in the afternoons for a couple hours. Denis and Perrine are appreciative of the work, but really they're more excited about the cultural exchange that takes place over meals.
Lunch and dinner typically lasts about 2 hours. All topics under the sun are discussed and even though I don't speak French, Tawnie does a great job translating things quickly, and I've enjoyed the conversations with Denis through Tawnie.
One night two couples came over that live in the neighborhood. One couple was a man from London married to a woman from South Africa. They both were fluent in English and so-so in French. The woman was very polite and translated most the conversations for me. Her husband was a little annoying. He let us know he had the chance to live anywhere and he settled in France. He loves over indulging in wine, froise gras, and cheese. Aside from throwing his wealth around, he wasn't so bad. Many people from outside of France that retire here don't bother to learn the language or the culture, so props to them.
The other couple was french. I didn't hear much from the woman because we were at opposite ends of the table. The husband was across from me and spent much of the night talking to Tawnie about sights we must visit nearby. He used to be a policeman in Paris and let us know that cops in France are all trustworthy aside from one small region.
For dinner we had crepes! First we had a crepe with ham, cheese, and egg whites on the inside, with the egg yolk plopped on the outside. After that was a crepe with a homemade chocolate sauce similar to Nutella. It was all washed down with cider and red wine. It was an exhausting night, as it lasted from 8-midnight, but it was fun to be around others.
Otherwise it's been pretty quiet. Some other highlights:
- Sunday there is a big market in town. We went and bought some bars of soap made from donkey milk, a sweater, a button up shirt, and an aloe vera plant for Denis and Perrine. Here are some pictures of town and the market:
- Over the weekend a bunch of young people came and partied Saturday night. We were wiped out from the Friday night dinner party, so we didn't partake.
- While Tawnie did homework I went on a 13 mile mile bikeride to some small farm towns. I hated biking before coming here, but I enjoyed the 3 rides I went on here. Lots of winding roads with great scenery and few cars.
- More of a lowlight. There was flashflooding just 2 hours away from us with at least 13 casualties. We're in a flood watch zone, but so far so good. We have noted the river has risen maybe a foot, but would need to raise drastically for there to be any issue.
We just had our last dinner with Denis and Perrine. Tomorrow Denis drives us to his friend Pierre's house, and Pierre takes us to Toulouse at 8 am. We get to Toulouse at 10 and play tourist until 2:30 when our ride share picks us up and takes us to Lourdes. Around 5pm our next host will pick us up, and hopefully we'll be at our next destination around 5:30.
We said our goodbyes to Perrine after dinner and tomorrow it will be Denis turn. Despite being here for only 3 weeks it's still super sad to leave. They took us in with no notice and treated us like family. Their love of life was contagious and they were two of the happiest people I've ever been around. We will miss them dearly.
Work has been enjoyable. I finished mudding and sanding the walls in one room. After that Tawnie and I have been chipping paint off a door frame in the mornings for a couple hours, then lunch, then chainsawing and chopping wood in the afternoons for a couple hours. Denis and Perrine are appreciative of the work, but really they're more excited about the cultural exchange that takes place over meals.
Lunch and dinner typically lasts about 2 hours. All topics under the sun are discussed and even though I don't speak French, Tawnie does a great job translating things quickly, and I've enjoyed the conversations with Denis through Tawnie.
One night two couples came over that live in the neighborhood. One couple was a man from London married to a woman from South Africa. They both were fluent in English and so-so in French. The woman was very polite and translated most the conversations for me. Her husband was a little annoying. He let us know he had the chance to live anywhere and he settled in France. He loves over indulging in wine, froise gras, and cheese. Aside from throwing his wealth around, he wasn't so bad. Many people from outside of France that retire here don't bother to learn the language or the culture, so props to them.
The other couple was french. I didn't hear much from the woman because we were at opposite ends of the table. The husband was across from me and spent much of the night talking to Tawnie about sights we must visit nearby. He used to be a policeman in Paris and let us know that cops in France are all trustworthy aside from one small region.
For dinner we had crepes! First we had a crepe with ham, cheese, and egg whites on the inside, with the egg yolk plopped on the outside. After that was a crepe with a homemade chocolate sauce similar to Nutella. It was all washed down with cider and red wine. It was an exhausting night, as it lasted from 8-midnight, but it was fun to be around others.
Otherwise it's been pretty quiet. Some other highlights:
- Sunday there is a big market in town. We went and bought some bars of soap made from donkey milk, a sweater, a button up shirt, and an aloe vera plant for Denis and Perrine. Here are some pictures of town and the market:
- Over the weekend a bunch of young people came and partied Saturday night. We were wiped out from the Friday night dinner party, so we didn't partake.
- While Tawnie did homework I went on a 13 mile mile bikeride to some small farm towns. I hated biking before coming here, but I enjoyed the 3 rides I went on here. Lots of winding roads with great scenery and few cars.
- More of a lowlight. There was flashflooding just 2 hours away from us with at least 13 casualties. We're in a flood watch zone, but so far so good. We have noted the river has risen maybe a foot, but would need to raise drastically for there to be any issue.
We just had our last dinner with Denis and Perrine. Tomorrow Denis drives us to his friend Pierre's house, and Pierre takes us to Toulouse at 8 am. We get to Toulouse at 10 and play tourist until 2:30 when our ride share picks us up and takes us to Lourdes. Around 5pm our next host will pick us up, and hopefully we'll be at our next destination around 5:30.
We said our goodbyes to Perrine after dinner and tomorrow it will be Denis turn. Despite being here for only 3 weeks it's still super sad to leave. They took us in with no notice and treated us like family. Their love of life was contagious and they were two of the happiest people I've ever been around. We will miss them dearly.
Donkey milk soap sounds interesting 😛
ReplyDeleteIt has been used now. Tawnie and I give our seal of approval!
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