17-21 November Ceret

After a lazy breakfast we and our friends jumped in the car to head to the coast. Sunday is market day in Collioure, though when we arrived it was soon obvious that by November, the market is a shadow of itself compared to the summer months. The same applies to the shops, restaurants and cafes. We were really surprised at how many had closed up completely for winter. We eventually found a cafe on the waterfront to sit down and enjoy a coffee while admiring the surroundings. We always bring our guests to Collioure, as it is such a very pretty place, even in peak tourist season.

Coffee stop, Collioure

Getting on for 1pm we set off for the extra 6 kilometres further down the coast to have lunch at Port-Vendres. Again, many of the eating places were closed. We had been anticipating having moules frites (mussels and chips) but all opted for something lighter in the end. It was very enjoyable to wander around the port, looking at all the vessels and buildings on the waterfront. The painting we have on our dining room wall is a scene from Port-Vendres.

Sunday dawned rather wet, so we delayed our walk around town until nearly lunch time. It wasn't difficult. It was very nice having a lazy morning, chatting over a croissant for breakfast and staying tucked up nice and warm in our apartment. When we did go out we showed our friends the convent that we had at one time wondered about buying. They agreed it would have been splendid, but it just wasn't to be.

Beautiful colours on the wet plane trees.

There is not much activity in Ceret on a wet Monday afternoon, but we did spy a hoist moving at height outside our window. The local council is busy erecting Xmas decorations around town.

Decorations going up in our square

Our friends left on Tuesday morning, off to Barcelona, via Girona. They flew back to NZ the following day. It was really fun having them to stay. They are very like-minded. It's also enjoyable sharing Ceret with our friends back home, so now they have a good idea about where we go and what we get up to when we come to this side of the world each year.

Later that morning John and I walked down to see our mechanic, again. The parts we'd finally managed to order for the car had indeed arrived, and we were keen to get the work underway. The first chance to get the car seen to is next Tuesday, so we'll have to stay closer to home until then. It is driveable, but we'd rather get the new parts in before we go too far. The weather remained very cold, but the sun was glorious.

More snow on Canigou

On Wednesday it was time to get back into our fitness regime. It was only 1 degree at 8am, so we, very wisely, opted to wait until 11am to go on our run/walk. Alas, we had lost a lot of fitness since being laid low by the flu, and our 'sprints' were not pretty. 'Sprint' is far too generous for the shuffle we managed. However, at least we were back on track. Another quiet day, basically just keeping warm in the apartment, doing admin on the laptop and wandering 'where to from here' as any ambition to do another renovation project seems to be scuppered for now.

Thursday was slightly warmer, so we did our walk at 9am. We definitely love the scenery here, and there are a number of tracks just on the fringe of Ceret to choose from for our daily walks. The autumn colours are gorgeous.

Ceret in the foreground. Clouds in the distance, not snow!

A wider view

Virtually everyone is hunkered down inside the cafes for their morning coffee now, with only the smokers braving the outdoor seats.

A few things about this time of the year in Ceret: The light is wonderful, very soft. I don't think we ever get light like this in NZ. Also, it is so quiet, especially during lunchtime when the shops are all closed up and if anyone is having a coffee at a cafe (unusual at lunchtime) then they are inside. The place seems deserted, but at the same time very small-scale, hunkered-down and internal.

Beautiful soft colours and light

Life does go on as normal, however, like the guy who's painting the building next door. He happily cleans his hands in the fountain, just a laissez-faire French kind of thing. The guy using chemicals on his home garden chucks the remnants down the irrigation channel that feeds the community's gardens...

12-16 November - Ceret and a day trip to Figueres, Ian & Erin

Autumn has definitely arrived and it is much colder. The snow on nearby Mt Canigou was pretty low.

Mt Canigou

We have been taking things pretty quietly. An interesting article in one of the local papers was rather amusing. The sole bakery in a village was closing. The solution was to install three baguette vending machines, each in a different location. They will be filled each day by the baker from a nearby town. However, you will even be able to choose how crispy you want your bread as there will be three levels of 'cookedness' to choose from. Amazing.

On Friday 15th we decided to head over the border to Figures, just 45 minutes into Spain. Our aim was to find a replacement coffee cup for one that had been recently broken by a granddaughter. We knew the shop it had come from, so it seemed a good excuse to have a break from the house - where we have been laid up for the last few weeks. It was a lovely sunny day, though very cold.

It ended up being a very successful day, not because we found a new coffee cup (the shop had closed down and we couldn't find another one similar) but we did come across some great clothing buys. The bonus was a Spanish lunch in a fun little corner restaurant, which was filled to the brim with locals.

A lovely selection of Japanese teapots (we'd still love to return to Japan)

Tapas bar in Figueres

Saturday morning was market day, as usual. Our friends Ian & Erin from Nelson arrived in time to catch the end of the market. They had been on a trip through Portugal and Spain. It was wonderful to see them, and after enjoying lunch chez nous (at home) we went on a bit of a walk around Ceret.

The weather was unseasonably cold, and more like the temperatures expected in January or February. Even the locals were grumbling. The temperature was about 1-3 degrees when we wake up, about 4 degrees when we head out for a walk, and the high for the day perhaps 10-12. However, it's been mostly sunny so it's still really nice to go outside, you just have to wrap up super-warm.

9-11 November

Saturday morning was market day as usual. Neither of us were feeling great, because our flu or colds seemed to revisit us. We got ourselves to the market around 11am and had a quick coffee. We didn't join a group of our friends at their table because we didn't want to pass on our bugs. I can't even remember what we did during the afternoon, obviously very little. 

I slept very badly and again felt flu-y on Sunday, but thankfully John was definitely on the improve. We got ourselves out to the cafe 100 paces away to sit in the sun while we had an espresso. We didn't realise until we got there that a sardanes band was just about to get underway in the square directly opposite the bar. The band was from Banyoles in Spain, and the sardanes music it played was quite different to the local variety, and seemed somewhat softer and more melodic - not actually very difficult as sardanes is typically rather loud and piercing. Despite it being cold, and everyone being dressed up in thick coats, scarves and woolly hats, many people stripped off a layer and joined hands to dance. It was lovely to see. It's a wonderful dance in that anyone of any age can join, and do as small a shuffle or big a hop as they like. One old man could hardly move his feet but he was there and enjoying himself in the circle of dancers. Some little girls were just jumping up and down and trying to emulate the adults. It was fun to watch. A little boy was standing nearby, complete with mini saxophone. He clearly loved the music, and the band leader let him play his drum during a break.

Sardanes band under the arch, the dancers make impromptu rings everywhere

Fun for old and young alike

Yesterday afternoon was quiet. We try to enforce a rule of doing no work on the house in the weekends, though there is little in the way of maintenance to do now at any rate. 

However, the highlight of the day was of course Skyping with Bella and family. It was Heath's birthday, turning the grand age of one year old. Bella had made the most fabulous cake, and Heath, as usual, was all smiles. 

After seemingly endless debate and heating of brain cells, John and I have, we think, come to the conclusion that the second property we viewed just out of Cortona in Tuscany is just not going to work for us. It is a stunning property, with immense potential particularly in the grounds, and has a spectacular view. However, with the nearest cafe a good 15 minutes walk away, we think we might get lonely, though of course our focus would be on working on the property rather than on socialising right outside our doorstep as we do here in Ceret. The hour's walk to Cortona doesn't put us off at all - it would just be good exercise and would take in small paths not on roads - but it's not something you would do every day. Cortona is a beautiful town that we don't think we would tire of. However putting big money, long hours and energy into a project that would massively cut our time in Ceret doesn't seem to fit the bill. We don't want to sell Ceret, but it could stand on its own feet by renting it out. Having said that, renovating the Cortona house and terraces would be immense fun.

Monday was Armistice Day. It hadn't really registered with our sub-par brains, so we walked down to the mechanic's shop in the hope of reminding him to send us the details of the parts we have to order. Of course when we arrived he was closed up. Dumb. It's a public holiday. No wonder there was so little traffic on the roads... We got back into town in time to enjoy a coffee in the sun before arriving at Place de la Liberte for the 11am Remembrance service. All the town bigwigs were out, and the pompiers (firemen and women) lined up in parade with their fire helmets shining. After some remarkably short speeches and the laying of wreaths, and a little band music, it was all over. Time to go back home for breakfast, at 11:45am.

Armistice Day. Pompiers in their bright yellow and red hats are lined up on the left

John spent a few hours in the afternoon putting the finishing touches on finishing up the wall he had been working on. It's as good as new, and now sealed internally so nothing can escape from the flue below the wall.

We were both feeling substantially better, and about time. It had been a long haul, but we hear from so many people that this illness is doing the rounds. 

6 - 8 November

Another fairly slow start to the day but after breakfast we wandered down to the mechanic's again.  John had to verify the new parts he had to order. M. Bru promised us he would research the correct fittings and let us know by email. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for sitting in the sun having a coffee and reading L'Independant. We spoiled ourselves for lunch - a custard and chocolate jesuite and a nice chocolate cornflake concoction from one of the local bakers. It seemed time to spur on our appetites a little...

Some much needed 'ergs'

It was also time to work out how to seal off the disused chimney flue that once was inside one of our walls. When the couple downstairs decided to light a fire in their non-existent fireplace a few weeks ago, smoke leaked into the wall and out the air gaps around some of our light fittings and the air conditioning unit. Hence, John cut some generous holes in the wall behind the sofa and heaped plenty of liquid plaster in to seal the rubble blocking the chimney space. This should stop any further instance of smoke or flames getting into the wall, though we trust our neighbours have now accepted that they do not have a functioning chimney!

Sealing up the chimney flue inside the wall.

Thursday remains a bit of a blur, though I was feeling as though I was getting on top of my cold or flu. On Friday morning we were off in the car to Perpignan, with a small list of tasks to accomplish. We managed less than half, but at least got some new wiper blades fitted, found a paint colour to match our shutters (though the actual paint wasn't available) and bought some non-chocolate muesli at Auchan. We were cutting it fine to get to a village out of Perpignan by 1pm to have lunch at our friend's house, so followed Google's directions down narrow pot-holed country lanes to get there as quickly as possible. Our little car is a thorough little cross-country warrior, even though it shakes, rattles and rolls quite a lot because we haven't got the new suspension buffers in yet.

Anyway, we duly arrived and had a most wonderful time, in fact staying for 'lunch' until 6pm. They have been building their house for the last year, and it is just about complete except for the annoying little finishing off bits. D&S stayed in our apartment in Ceret for 5 months during winter last year during the initial building phase and have become good friends.

2 - 5 November Back into Ceret

Our flight from Rome into Barcelona was fine. Being Ryanair it was no-frills, but again the legroom was appreciably better for me than with many other carriers. A bit of a drag when we arrived as the pickup for our off-site car parking was very slow - 20 minutes quoted when we rang, but 45 minutes had gone by before the shuttle arrived. We won't be using them again.

The drive through the early night was fine, until about 40 minutes out from home when the heavens decided to open and we had to drive carefully through torrential rain. We finally got into bed back in Ceret not long after midnight. So nice to be in our own comfortable bed with a nice down duvet and feather pillows!

We slept pretty well, to wake in time for breakfast and a trip around the Saturday morning market. One of the main issues we saw with the new possible Cortona house, and indeed the previous one, is that it is quite remote from the main town and opportunities for interacting with the locals would be limited. In Ceret it is impossible to carry out life without bumping into people constantly. Indeed in the morning we headed off to our favourite baker for a croquise loaf, meeting two friends during the 200m walk. We got a few veges at the market, talked to more friends and had a coffee in the lovely bright sunshine. During coffee we got a call from our winter renters and friends who had seen us pass by, and we ended up spending a delightful 2 hours talking to them. So all in all a lovely social morning.

Our coffee spot at the market

Saturday morning market 

We had both been battling colds, with John also having a temperature and feeling pretty awful at times during the past few days. He survived on regular doses of Panadol rather than much food. On Saturday afternoon I went quickly downhill and felt simply terrible for 24hrs. We'd already rung up French friends a few days before to decline a kind invitation to lunch on Sunday, and just as well. By late Sunday I managed to toddle to the local cafe to sit in the sun for half an hour. 

We had booked the car in at 9am at the local mechanic's for Monday morning to get its suspension and steering improved. When he arrived he asked if we could bring it back on Tuesday instead. Back home to rest up. We tried again on Tuesday, and left the car there all day, but on returning to collect it at 6pm found he wasn't able to do any work on it because he needed more parts. Darn! We'd ordered what he'd requested, but he needed more, so we started the process of doing that. The car should drive immensely better afterwards, and with fewer audible clunks, than it does now. Hopefully it will all be sorted by the end of next week. 

Clearly it's been a very quiet time for us. We wandered the 100m to sit at Bar Pablo on Monday afternoon in the sun and ended up sheltering inside when an almighty cloudburst put paid to any rays of sun. So much for needing sunglasses. However, the weather has been pretty mild (low 20s) and mostly fine and sunny. This is always a lovely time of year here.

25th Oct - 1st Nov Santorini - Cortona - Ceret

It was an early 4.30am start on Tuesday 25th. Our shuttle was on time at 5am, and we arrived at the airport in good time for our 7.20am flight to Athens. Less than an hour later we touched down, had a shortish wait and then onto the 2-hour flight to Rome. Again, an easy flight, though less generous leg room for John on the second flight. A quick pick-up by our car rental people and we were dropped off at their yard. We'd booked a Fiat 500 (or similar), and got the 'similar', i.e. a Fiat Panda Plus. John was not sure what the 'plus' signifies, but it was a pretty good little car, though with less oomph than our Hyundai. We were a little disappointed not to get the Fiat 500. With a pit stop immediately to pick up some food and water to go, we were on the toll road for the 2.5hr drive to Cortona. There were definitely a lot fewer trucks on the motorway than we were used to driving through France or Spain. The car hire, for four days, came to the grand total of 19 Euros. Yes, for all four days!

On reaching Tuscany, we went straight to the property we're thinking about buying. It's just 15 minutes' drive from Cortona. The first task was to walk around to take a whole load of measurements. John had bought a small laser device which gave us some really accurate data. While on the property we waved hello to the woman next door again, and she invited us in to her house. Donatella is a lovely person and seemingly lives in her big house on her own. She has muscular dystrophy so can’t move about very easily and I imagine doesn't get out much. She spoke no English but we managed to communicate, with lots of hand waving and laughter. She’d be a wonderful neighbour. She was keen for us to come back.

Views would be lovely once a low wall was put in to hide the foreground

After leaving Donatella, time was marching on. We finally arrived at the Cortona council offices around 4pm and managed to find the guy I’d made a tentative appointment with. He was really helpful and friendly, and again, we communicated remarkably well, though Google Translate helped. John could understand his Italian fairly well anyway. At the end of the day, it was obvious that our plan for redeveloping the property wasn’t going to work. Four properties in our immediate vicinity (Il Passagio), including ours, have a special heritage zoning, so the rules for any redevelopment are very rigid. A pool has to be 2m back from any boundary, and must be below ground. There just isn’t the room to do this on the property, plus we discovered the septic tank is located directly below where we’d hoped to put the pool. Also, no roofline can be lifted above the original, so we couldn’t redevelop the animal shed, butcher’s room etc in any way that could make the spaces function as a kitchen, living room and so on. It was all rather disappointing but we suspected things could go astray. We felt we'd given it the best shot we could.

A Cortona square in the evening

We had a beer to fill in the hour until we could get into our AirBnB. Our place is nice, a typical old Italian-style apartment in one of the buildings right in the heart of Cortona. We could only manage takeaway pizza (rather unappetising) for dinner, and were shot after our very early morning start.

After marginal sleeps and a lie-in we had a short wander around Cortona. It was lovely to be back. It is such a gorgeous town. We popped in to see our real estate agent and gave him the low-down on our meeting at the council. He subsequently contacted us after lunch and asked us to come to his office at 2pm. He would have his English interpreter with him then. We rolled up and went through the problems with the Il Passaggio property. They were very impressed with the plans we'd developed and that we'd obviously been serious about trying to make the property work, but they both accepted it was just too difficult. We went through other properties on his books, and in the end drove out of Cortona a bit to visit a villa to the west. 

Fantastic views out, Cortona to the left, Tuscany centre and Val di Chiana right

This new place had a wonderful outdoor area, stunning view across to the hills and plains beyond, 4000m² of land with 80 olive trees (which the owners were harvesting when we arrived) and a two-bedroom two-storied house. The top floor comprised all the living areas, albeit in a strange arrangement. The lower level was a series of four separate cellars/storage rooms plus an animal manger which had been converted into a wonderful living room. It would be possible to live in the house as it is, or do a more serious conversion of rooms, including an internal stairway between the two floors. It was getting dark and John had been battling a nasty cold/flu for the past day and a half. We were in bed by 8pm, but slept badly with too many thoughts whirring around in our heads.

The house from one of the many terraces

View to the west - pure Tuscany

The ex-manger living room downstairs

On Thursday morning we met up with Sylvie and Pierre (our nephew's partner's parents from whom we had hired the villa in September for our birthday bash). We had coffee together and they were very keen to know about the place we had seen the day before. They thought it sounded great, in a very good location and very well-priced. They especially liked the sound of the outdoor limonaia (outdoor room used for wintering lemon trees in big pots) which is highly valued by Tuscans and could be used as an outdoor eating area in summer. They wanted to see the place so we jumped in our car having failed to get in contact with our real estate agent to get the key for the place. However, we had a good wander around outside. They were even more impressed. Now John and I were really scratching our heads.

The main terrace, with olives, figs and shade trees, not to mention that view....

After Sylvie and Pierre left, we wandered around the section some more, thought about what changes we could make, took more photos and then headed back into Cortona. Neither of us were feeling brilliant so reheated pizza for lunch was the best we could do. A much needed rest was called for, but of course our brains were whirring. A late afternoon wander around the town was a good tonic, and luckily the rain had stayed away. Our plan to visit the Etruscan museum was mutually vetoed, we just didn't feel up to it unfortunately. 

The afternoon was taken up with a pleasant drive to Rome through Tuscany and Umbria, the car drop-off and getting through to board our Ryanair to Barcelona.