The week began like any other week during the summer, warm days and wonderfully long evenings, when I find myself still gardening at 10pm because I’ve totally lost track of time and because it is still light. I’m accompanied by the sound of birds still singing, doves cooing, chickens clucking and cicadas warming up with the rest of the band. I’ve often thought I should find my EarPods and listen to a podcast whilst I am alone with no one to talk to, but just think what I would miss, this natural orchestra is too precious to block out with modern technology. Continue reading “Out and About in the Heatwave”
For the past few days we’ve been basking in real summer warmth. You know the type, when it’s almost too hot to do anything, when the dogs spend their days sprawling in the shade, the most energetic thing they do is to open and close one eye, just in case they should miss something. When the lizards scatter across the terracotta tiled roofs and when the frogs in the pond lay motionless in the sun, so well camouflaged one could almost miss them. The chickens take it in turns to indulge themselves in the dust bath and our newest addition, the ducks, spend every waking hour on the water. 
I have to start this with an apology. I feel I have been rather distant and remiss of late, but I promise it’s just a start of summer sort of thing. The children are on holiday, everyone has been here, there and everywhere and I have been rather pulled in every possible direction; super busy yes, but absolutely loving it all the same! As you know, last week I was in San Marino with our youngest daughter and wow, what a country! 
We are marching at full speed towards July and August, those sixty days of summer when the coast is packed with holidaymakers and visitors outnumber locals. It is the time when anyone in the tourist industry works at 100% capacity while still coping with a home life – typically this means shopping at 8.00am, before the masses stir. And yet, somehow, a sense of calm still prevails; there is still that wonderful feeling that life should not be hurried, and the little pleasures should be enjoyed to the full, complete with sunsets, sand on the kitchen floor, and the perfume of suncream in the air.
YESTERDAY EVENING, 11.45PM.
There is a place where the land, the sea and the mountains are one. A place that gets its name from the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenean range. It’s a department bordering Spain and home to the Béarn and Basque country. Welcome to the Pyrénées Atlantique.
Our French Oasis 