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Southwest France vacation 2009


limeyangler

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Hi all,

 

Finally got round to posting some holiday snaps our time at our place in the peaceful French countryside. Unfortunately could not take long distant shots the whole time..as my camera is broke, so no scenery shots at all!!??!! plan was to get one duty free at the airport, ended up not having the time, and the ones on sale in France were literally twice as expensive as they would be in Canada.

 

House is an old Nunnery dating back to 1690....don’t think Canada was even born back then....lol...and the converted barn is more recent, probably mid 1800's, our family have owned it for 25 years now.

 

 

THE HOUSE

 

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THE OUTSIDE AND INSIDE OF 'THE BARN'

 

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The weather in this part of France in the summer is HOT......HOT.....HOT....and this year was no different...some days it was a little too hot for my liking...36 degrees C in the shade one day!!! Plenty of interesting plants and animals down southwest way.....we have lizards.....all kinds of fancy bugs ( and some more familiar skeeters....lol)

lots of grapes, and fig trees around too.

 

 

PLUM TREES EVERYWHERE

 

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POMMEGRANITE TREE BY OUR GATE

 

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GRAPEVINES ALL OVER THE HOUSES

 

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OUR BABY WAS INTRIGUED BY THE STRANGE NEW PLANTS

 

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FIGS GROW HERE TOO

 

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SOME RANDOM LIZARD CHOMPING A MOTH

 

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A PRAYING MANTIS CHOMPING A CRICKET

 

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Like i said it was very , very hot. Most of our time was spent inside the barn where it was cooler or brief dips in the pool. normally w would get out and about the countryside, visit the coast near Bordeaux etc... but things have changed...with our new baby we quickly discovered that it was no longer practical to do a lot of long distance excursions involving long periods outside on blistering hot days, instead short and sweet trips locally were better for everyone.

 

I absolutely loved this holiday, as without work this was the first time since jack was born in march that i had spent so much interrupted time with him........More pictures of him than a 4gb card could hold almost....lol.

 

 

MOST OF OUR TIME WAS SPENT IN THE POOL OR IN THE BARN WHERE IT’S COOLER

 

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OK......lots of baby pics i know...but like i said things change....lol...but not completely...i did manage to go fishing about 4 times in the three weeks we were there.

 

 

The fishing i used to do is like European 'coarse fishing, those of you who are carp fishermen will be familiar with some of the methods used in Europe, and if you have seen that programme on the fishing shows called fishorama you'll recognize the fishing pole....

 

 

POLE FISHING BY THE RIVER DRONNE

 

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The fish are very shy here, and because i have no boat there i can only really access where the fishing pressure is highest.....to be blunt...fishing sucked! It did not help that 2 years ago our house there was broken into...and all the tackle i had left there was gone...grrrrrrrrrr :angry: ,

 

so after dangling maggots on the pole line for the first few days with only a couple of very small fish i broke out my spinning rod I’d packed and tied on my trusty Mepps fury to try for some pike and perch which apparently inhabited the river...with a little more success.

 

 

DESPITE SEEING MUCH BIGGER CARP AND CHUB CRUISE BY, 2 DAYS YIELDED ONLY A SMALL ROACH AND A SMALL CHUB.

 

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THE MEPPS PROVED A WINNER AGAIN

 

 

 

THOUGHT I"D BRING MY TOURNEY SIGN FOR FUN

 

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EVEN GOT THE BOY TO HAVE A GO...1ST TIME FOR HIM...WAS SOOOOO PROUD :D

 

 

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BUT MOST OF THE TIME HE JUST CHILLED OUT IN THE SHADE WITH MUM AND HIS BOTTLE OF WATER

 

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As you can probably tell from the photographic record...lol...my holiday was all about the baby and family, he got to see Gwampa and Gwamma again and one of my sisters got the train from England for a weekend visit to see her new Nephew......

 

 

PLAYING WITH GWAMMA UNDER THE GRAPEVINES

 

 

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FIRST TIME HE"S MET HIS AUNT (my sister) AND 1st TIME IN 4 YEARS IVE SEEN HER TOO

 

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Soooo.....not much of a fishing or scenery type report, but i got lots of quality time in beautiful surroundings with family.

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Excellent report and pics as always Simon!!! :clapping:

 

36*C isn't that hot, we have that 6 months a year here! B)

 

I have 4 Fig bushes in my yard, I really like fresh figs but the birds usually get them before I do. :rolleyes:

 

Looked like some pretty nice Pike over there! :Gonefishing::thumbsup_anim: ... that river must stay pretty cool?

 

That certainly is a beautiful place your folks have over there, thanks for taking the time to share your trip with us!!!

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Wow Simon, what a great report.

I am sure that being from England, France doesn't seem like that special of a destination, but for me here it seems like quite an undertaking.

I have spent loads of time in the UK and know that you guys are huge on your holidays. I have never really understood how the economics works out though. Not just for the travel, but the prices for everything as well (when looked at in terms of the wages earned).

I have a question; Would your family rather spend time in France together, or travel to your spot in the great white north?

Jim

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Great report, pics and video Simon :thumbsup_anim::clapping:

I'd been anxiously waiting for this one and only one word comes to mind "PARADISE" B)

 

Your sister must of been real happy to see you guys and to finally meet little Jack.... Man is he ever growing fast :w00t: Soon enough he'll want his own rod and will be joining you on your fishing adventures.

 

You guys sure got to spend quality time with family and just doesn't get any better than that!!!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us Simon

Jacques

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Thanks for the replies good folks, was a totally awesome trip......

 

 

 

 

Excellent report and pics as always Simon!!! :clapping:

 

36*C isn't that hot, we have that 6 months a year here! B)

 

I have 4 Fig bushes in my yard, I really like fresh figs but the birds usually get them before I do. :rolleyes:

 

Looked like some pretty nice Pike over there! :Gonefishing::thumbsup_anim: ... that river must stay pretty cool?

 

That certainly is a beautiful place your folks have over there, thanks for taking the time to share your trip with us!!!

 

 

Cheers Glen, certainly felt different seeing trees other than birch and pine....lol...almost forgot there are other types. The figs were good...but the plums were like candy!

 

 

Wow Simon, what a great report.

I am sure that being from England, France doesn't seem like that special of a destination, but for me here it seems like quite an undertaking.

I have spent loads of time in the UK and know that you guys are huge on your holidays. I have never really understood how the economics works out though. Not just for the travel, but the prices for everything as well (when looked at in terms of the wages earned).

I have a question; Would your family rather spend time in France together, or travel to your spot in the great white north?

Jim

 

Hey Jim, it felt very expensive this time round. When we lived in England it cost $50 return fair on the car ferry across the English Channel and about $200 bucks gas ....you can drive there from England in under 12hrs. Now with the air fare and travel times its definitely more of an undertaking...mind you the baby was absolutely amazing on the plane(s) slept most of the time. The real kicker now is that the French have been steadily bumping up their prices since they adopted the single European currency (the 'Euro'), couple that with the fact that its almost $2 to the Euro.....OUCH!

 

As for whether they prefer France or GWN....France i think.

 

 

That is quite a place! Fresh figs are a true treat, my neighbour down the road has a few fig trees and is very specific as to when you can and can't eat them.

 

Nice place.

 

Thanks PF, the figs only got ripe in the last few days we were there......but they all ripen very quickly, one day they are all green, then within 2 days theyt are all ripe.

 

 

Great report, pics and video Simon :thumbsup_anim::clapping:

I'd been anxiously waiting for this one and only one word comes to mind "PARADISE" B)

 

Your sister must of been real happy to see you guys and to finally meet little Jack.... Man is he ever growing fast :w00t: Soon enough he'll want his own rod and will be joining you on your fishing adventures.

 

You guys sure got to spend quality time with family and just doesn't get any better than that!!!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us Simon

Jacques

 

Thanks Jacques, took me forever to get the time to post ....its been a whirlwind since we got back....was really great to see my sister after 4 years. $years also took a toll on my ability to parlais....i can still understand what people were saying(mostly) but ntrying to respond was hard....could not even manage my normal 'Franglais" responses....lol.

 

 

Awesome budday!! Really glad you shared that with us. The place, the critters, the fishing... You totally pimped that out dude!

 

cheers

HD

 

Cheers HD. I gotta get another camera though...cuz i missed out on some fantastic scenery shots...especially the fields and fields of huge sunflowers, ancient architecture.....castles, Chateaux...etc.

 

 

Gorgeous... You gotta love that Mediterranean landscape... I spend a fair amount of time in Italy and it reminded me of that!

 

Great pics...

 

Italy is also a cool place....lol...would you believe it....the folks have another place there (near the french riviera)

 

 

Those pike and perch look a bit different over there. Really like the picture of the mantis and lizard.

Thanks for sharing the pictures from this distant place rich in history and culture.

 

The pike were very silvery compared to the ones here in NWO, and i saw some huge Perch too...the European Perch grow to 5lb+ !!!

 

BRILLIANT!

 

I love the flashlight pic.

 

So,

 

How many digital pics do you have and when do you think you'll have the time to see them all??

 

(we have millions! LOL)

 

Thanks man,

 

S

 

Cheers Snag....yeah...the flashlight pic is cool...he was playing with a mini one we found. As for the pics...i think they run into BILLIONS....lol......but like i said before...most were crappy because of the faulty camera.

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