Part 2: Round tuit

On the bus on our way from Clermont Ferrand to Mende

What is a Round tuit, you may ask. Good question! It is a play on words from the phrase "When I get around to it". It has been hard getting a round tuit, this week, they have been in short supply. I had quite a long list of jobs to do before I could start on with the blog again. At least the list is going down but that's an item for the next blog. The point is, in a long and convoluted way, I am now getting around to writing up the blog for last week. As I mentioned last week I was in France on a conference. It was a two site conference with a field trip in the middle. I think it is a great idea to have a field trip in the middle, because after two days of listening to people rattling on, even if they are rattling on about interesting topics, my brain starts to freeze and I gather it happens to most other folks too.

I just thought it was an interesting
combination of textures, colours and
design details

A quaint little town

I teamed up with a very nice Swedish lady for much of the day and after lunch we took a short walk up behind the venue to look out over the city. As we were wandering down a young chap was just coming up the path, obviously he had a similar idea. Turns out he was Latvian and he was a bit surprised to find out I lived there too. We met up over lunch later on in the week and chatted a lot about Latvia and Latvian life. Apparently I am an honourary Latvian because I pick mushrooms, collect herbs for teas and medicines and bottle various vegetables for winter.

On the bus. I think I should have
taken more notice of where we
were, but my head was too full of
information.

The entertaining chap in his bright orange trousers. Such a
great heart for the people and the valley where he was born

The field trip was hosted by an entertaining chap, a lecturer who was born in the valley. I didn't catch what his subject was but I think it was something to do with tourism. His guided tour was from the heart. It wasn't just about the various landscapes and quality of life - topics of the week, but about the people who live there. There were lots of little anecdotes and at one point the coach had to slow down as we were going past the house where he was born. The trip was based on slow tourism, which apparently means getting to know the host and the surrounding area, rather than rushing off doing lots of activities. I think our recent guests have enjoyed that kind of approach at our place and it is something we did talk about.

Here they were trying to develop the flatter area of the region
for visitors who are not able to tackle the nearby mountains

And yes there were hills, lots of them

I think the main thrust of the tour was to visit places where guests could chill out in small numbers. It was important to the various places that they were not over run with people as the facilities would not cope with a huge number. We also visited a restaurant run by a farming family and so we had examples of local beef, cheese and salad for lunch. Vegetarians really struggled this week and one guy gave up and ate fish. I think there is more chance of getting a vegetarian meal in Latvia than in France. I am not sure a vegan would stand much of a chance at all, with all the cheese.

Three cheeses to choose from, or
all three as I did

And mountains and rain. The only rainy day of the week. I
didn't begrudge the farmers their rain though. I know what
it's like to be longing for rain. We have had only one substantial
day of rain since April and maybe three good showers. The rest
have been pitiful and barely enough to wet the bone dry ground.
The only reason it is so green where we are is because of the
dew in the morning now. 

A view of the Cathedral in Mende. This time built with white
limestone instead of black volcanic stone

I stayed at another AirBnb place. This one was in an old house in the city centre. Very convenient for the university and the gala dinner. It literally took me about two minutes to walk home after the meal. It was beautifully done out and very spacious and only ruined by the overpowering smell of the laundry and air-freshener. The next day it had eased off and I realised then it was partly due to trying to mask the slight mustiness of old houses. Not something that I particularly minded as it wasn't bad. Getting into the place was interesting and fortunately two other folks also appeared at the same time and one of them was able to ask a local where the entrance was. It was described as the red portal, but in English would have been better described as a red gate topped with wrought-iron work. I suppose a gate is a portal though.

A view of the bridge built by Gustave Eiffel, the same as
the tower in Paris

I did find this gem of a cafe in Mende
which had a whole range of teas, in
fact pages of different teas. White,
green, black and herbal teas were
all on offer. 

I got back late on Friday night and was met by Ian at the airport with his usual Griezites Alpakas sign. Even better he had brought fruit salad, pastry and a flask of tea. Bliss! I was beginning to crave fruit, veg and tea. At least I had got a decent salad at Schipol airport. A late night meant a sleep in the next day. I bet those alpacas were tapping their toes in the morning waiting for us to wake up, I mean they had to wait until about 8am before we woke up. At least Saturday was a fairly leisurely day if interesting day.

Pretty!

Somewhere near the Puy Mary at a lookout point. I didn't
get to see it as it was going to rain anyway and the mountain
unlikely to be seen.

Ian and I sat around and talked for quite a while but we also went mushroom picking and fishing. Our bottom pond is now just a tiny puddle and the fish were clearly visible and struggling. The bottom was still a bit soft but by using wood Ian was able to stand and catch the fish and pass the net up to me. I got them out of the net and put them in a bucket. We caught 7 fish, which is not bad when there was 8 put in. They are also getting to be a reasonable size now. There were also visitors to show around.

More views from the lookout point

From the look out point

And because no blog would be complete without some
pictures of the alpacas.

The following day I had to go back to our apartment and do the washing. Ian came back too and we sorted out the gas cylinder that had run out before I went away. It was rather inconvenient as I was trying to get some tomatoes bottled and I am not sure if they had their full time in the oven or not. At least they did seal. I returned later in the day and some visitors turned up and asked if they could look around. I said I would find Ian, as he usually does this. I looked around but couldn't find him. Eventually I phoned - not that that always works, he often doesn't have his phone with him. As it turned out, he was showing another set of visitors around who had turned up on bikes. No wonder I hadn't heard them. So while he continued showing them around, I showed this group around. It's a good job I have heard Ian's spiel many a time.

Ian has been trying to get the new alpaca house finished
whilst I have been away. No news yet as to how many we
are definitely getting

Don't be fooled by that sweet innocent face

Monday meant the start of catching up. I had work to write, work that needed marking and gardening to do. I try to do some writing and then take a break with some gardening. Whilst I was out in the garden, I was a little shocked to hear someone running. I looked up and there was my husband haring down the path with a fishing net in his hand. I wondered if the chickens were out again, but he didn't say anything to me as he ran past. I then noticed there was a single fish in the net. Apparently it hadn't died, it was just hiding. Ian had found it flat on its side He thought it was dead at first but then saw it, gasping for breath.