Last night was the annual town meeting chaired by the Mayor. It was in the local salle de fete which is a converted barn with exposed stone, tiled floors and huge steel and glass windows. The whole town council was there, and I would guess 2 to 300 citizens of Olonzac. Not bad when there are only 1700 citizens in total and there was snow on the ground. Subjects included the beautification of principal boulevard, scheduled for this year, making it more pedestrian friendly and improving the outside terraces for the cafes and restaurants.

Fingers crossed, the golf course just outside of town will get planning permission within a few months  and will start in the fall or next spring as will the regeneration of the boulevard in front of Jardin de Charlotte. New traffic control measures are proposed to keep heavy traffic out of the center, slow it down and generally making travel by foot and bicycle  more secure . Olonzac is on the way up! It deserves to be. This is a beautiful part of the world.
The snow? That's a rare thing here and lasted for an entire day. The sun is back and everything has melted.

Another beautiful day in the Minervois valley. The forecast was for rain but as you can see, and as so often happens, it was a beautiful bright weekend. We started this weekends walk from the village of Agel, locally famous for it's spring water. The ancient fortified Chateau is in the upper picture. Thick walls and a variety of towers are on the site as is a long tree lined drive to the main building.
The courtyard shown in the picture below is an example of the kind of courtyards we will incorporate into Jardin de Charlotte. This restored property sits up in the hills above the village.
The route we took up into the Haut Languedoc is through vineyards, forest and the wild garriage. No wild boar, one fellow on a bicycle, one couple hiking and only one car seen in the course of this excursion. This region is a walkers or bicyclists dream.

www.jardindecharlotte.comDecember 29, 2012

Today we went on a 2 1/2 hour walk in and around Rieux Minervois which is only a few kilometers from Olonzac. It has an ancient Chateau started in the 11th century and a seven sided church, beautifully restored in the center of town. Is there a Templar connection?
There were 20 or so people and afterwards we visited the home of a Dutch couple for, and I'll get this wrong, louleebole?, essentially a doughnut sprinkled with icing sugar and mulled wine. Not the 20C we had a few days ago but a lovely day.

Sunset in southern France

                                                                  The Lake at Sunset
This is where young Arlo goes everyday for a swim and a bit of stick throwing. The sunsets in the Minervois valley of the south of France remind me of the sunsets of Southern Alberta in Canada.

 www.jardindecharlotte.com    
December 16,2012
The major demolition is complete and the foundation work begins this coming week. Foundations will be in by Christmas and move in date is scheduled for early July 2013. If you get involved early enough the opportunity exists to choose colors and finishes. Watch our construction progress on the blog and for other news as well.
David

It starts

Today the bulk of the demolition was completed on the stone building we are converting into three luxury homes. We also took down a section of the stone wall that surrounds the property in order to create a new entrance to the parking area we are developing. Ca Commence!

A walk in the Pyrenees

The Pyrenees

On the last weekend in June I walked 26 kilometers as part of the Ruta dels Rontrabandistes / The smugglers Route from France over the border through the High Pyrenees to Spain. It is a smugglers route used up until the mid 1950's. It's always a real challenge undertaken by a group of about 75 people.
This year we ran into a herd of more than a thousand sheep and goats being guided up from the lower slopes to the high mountains by a group of Catalan shepherds. Next year we do it in the night like the smugglers of old.