November photo a day albums

Here are our albums for this November.
Another mixed month of weather - some lovely warm autumn sunshine and just recently, much colder temperatures and quite a lot of snow appearing on the mountains. Maybe it will be a good year for skiing!

We held a Christmas craft fair here last weekend, which was great fun and well attended.  It was good to see so many familiar faces here, but we also made new friends and met more local people, both English and French. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, so maybe it will become an annual St Victor Rouzaud event!
We hope you enjoy the photos - one more month to go!!

Lesley's Album

Dave's Album

October photo a day album 2012

Here are our albums for this month and a few extra's above as well.....putting away the garden furniture, yet another morning sky - and a moody, misty day in London.
We are in the UK at the moment, driving back to France next week. It appears that winter has arrived in our absence!

Lesley's album

Dave's album

September photo a day albums 2012

Lesley's album

https://plus.google.com/photos/106845264213097004579https://plus.google.com/photos/106845264213097004579/albums#photos/106845264213097004579/albums/5793914154222825777#

Dave's album

https://plus.google.com/photos/115069724410772350510https://plus.google.com/photos/115069724410772350510/albums#photos/115069724410772350510/albums/5793933899186945201#

Two mountain walks

We have recently done another couple of very scenic walks in the Pyrenees. 

Yesterday we drove up the Aston Valley as far as you can go to the Pla de las Peyres  and walked up to the Etangs de Fontargente. It was a long drive which is not tarmaced for a large section at the end, but it was well worth it to get to this more remote area of the mountains. We went with friend Jean Paul  -  it was good to have a guide who knows the mountain well. The climb took just under 2 hours and wasn't difficult. The lakes were absolutely beautiful - even on a slightly overcast day. The water was incredibly clear and it was very peaceful up there. We spent a couple of hours having a picnic and exploring around the lakes before returning to the car - with thunder rumbling behind us and one or two heavy showers of rain!!

The previous Saturday, Dave was in England for the weekend so I went up to the Soulcem valley where we have been before, again with Jean Paul as my guide. This was a bitterly cold but very sunny day which made for very clear conditions. We again climbed up to a couple of lakes, which was well worth it, but the clamber back down on a very rocky track made for very wobbly knees!!

Photos of both walks can be seen here
https://plus.google.com/photos/106845264213097004579https://plus.google.com/photos/106845264213097004579/albums#photos/106845264213097004579/albums/5786127077518633793#

August photo a day albums 2012

Lesley's album

https://plus.google.com/photos/106845264213097004579https://plus.google.com/photos/106845264213097004579/albums#photos/106845264213097004579/albums/5783103140455092497#

Dave's album

https://plus.google.com/photos/115069724410772350510https://plus.google.com/photos/115069724410772350510/albums#photos/115069724410772350510/albums/5782368357628310113#

Basque coast holiday

After a very busy couple of months, we found we had a few days off last week, so treated ourselves to a short break to the Basque coast. 
We dug out our tent and camping equipment which last saw the light of day in New Zealand in 2010 and booked in at a small family site just inland from St Jean de Luz which was clean and efficiently run. We soon slipped into the camping routine again. The positive side being breakfast outside the tent - the negative trooping off to the wash-block at bedtime armed with toothbrush and loo roll!

We spent 3 days of non-stop sightseeing - St Jean de Luz and the coast-line north and south, Spain and the city of San Sebastian, the very picturesque Basque villages, the ever present mountains, Biarritz and Capbreton. August is very high season so there were tourists everywhere, but a nice atmosphere and very warm weather, if a bit hazy at times.
Some photos of our trip are here

https://plus.google.com/photos/106845264213097004579https://plus.google.com/photos/106845264213097004579/albums#photos/106845264213097004579/albums/5781431346357347169#

A couple of walks in the mountains

We have had a couple of good hikes in the Pyrenees over the past week. The first was with Daniel and Phil to a mountain lake with the most beautifully clear water. The second was to the Pic de Tarbesu, a peak about an hour's climb from the Col de Pailheres. This was a lovely walk for a hot day - a welcome breeze and then 360 degree views at the top

https://plus.google.com/photos/106845264213097004579https://plus.google.com/photos/106845264213097004579/albums#photos/106845264213097004579/albums/5771669009547924529#