We had a day of small labours and big rewards. Yves, Keith, Jean-Pierre and I were off to collect wood for the winter. I thought that we were going into a forest to look for fallen branches but we actually loaded the trailer with already cut and split wood from a wood yard about twenty minutes away from here. It was a bit like being kidnap victims driven around with blindfolds on so that we wouldn’t know where we were, but in our case we didn’t need the blindfolds because the windy nature of every road meant that we entirely lost our sense of direction. It is hard to believe but after three trips there and back, we have no idea where we went. Another factor was the nature of the road signs. At most intersections it seems to have been a matter of pride to have a sign pointing to at least seven places, so you have to be a speed reader and even then some places like the Côte d’Azur, surely not nearby, are mentioned. I am certain that I saw a sign that said ‘Bouvesse 0’. Part of the explanation for so many signs is that there are so many villages close together, sometimes with less than two kilometres between them.
Loading the wood was a breeze with four people. Chantelle rewarded us with a delicious lunch of rice salad and a cheese soufflé, beautifully risen and a perfect texture inside. Conversations are getting easier because we can both understand the gist of things, if not the detail. After lunch we sampled a ‘digestive’ of distilled alcohol and a mountain plant called genipe, which looked like juniper to me. I tried it drizzled on a sugar lump and nearly burst into flames. Keith sipped his, despite the advice that it is usual to down it in one gulp. The meal and the wine did not seem a great idea before our last trip but, on the contrary, we worked just as well.
An extra reward of the morning was seeing a young red squirrel on the road, where it sat for a few moments before it scampered off. It was certainly more tail than anything else and had a dainty elfin face. In the afternoon, on a winding forest road on a hill, somewhere unknown, we saw a fawn, probably not older than one week. At first we both thought it was a hare but when it stumbled to its feet and hurried off, it was definitely a deer. It did not have any spots which, upon reflection, seems strange.Arriving home after three o’clock, the afternoon just disappeared with emails, blog and reading the paper and soon it was time for me to prepare the dinner. I enjoy cooking and this kitchen, with excellent appliances, racks of spices and condiments and room to move, is a dream to work in.
The evening was spent trying to work out how to manage our time from now on. We have a few priorities and the Schengen requirements plus our budget to consider, so it is quite complex. Suddenly one year, with trying to avoid winter, does not seem long enough for even half of what we thought we would do.
A church in a village near where we got the firewood.
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