November 2018

November has included two big birthdays, a trip back to England and a weekend in Venice. The Ariege has been beautiful this autumn - lots of sunny days and the trees at their best. The first snow fell on the mountains a week or so ago but is slowly melting away again.
We have been busy as usual, catching up with jobs that we don' have time for in the Summer.
Here are our albums for November

Lesley's album

Dave's album

October 2018

The warm and sunny weather has continued for much of October, except for the one night a couple of weeks ago when we had some heavy rain. It was nothing like as bad as it was in the Aude though - the excessive rain fall caused a tidal wave (literally!) of destruction. 

We enjoyed a walk up above the little ski resort of Guzet - really beautiful dramatic scenery, and some vulture spotting (see Dave's album)
We are packing up for a drive back to the UK this weekend, so are sending the blog out early

Here are our albums
Dave's album
Lesley's album

September 2018

As very often in September, we have enjoyed some lovely warm and sunny weather. Near the beginning of the month we had a short visit to the Dune du Pilat, near Arcachon on the west coast. We camped right by the dune, which was much bigger and more impressive than we had imagined! We also cycled along the kilometers of cycle paths along the coast to Cap Ferret which is so well known for its oysters - we enjoyed a rose wine and oyster lunch before cycling back to the car, with a stop off at the beach on the way. 

We then enjoyed a few days in England with the family before friends from Maidenhead came to stay for a few days. The weather was great and we all enjoyed walking on the Plateau de Beille and visiting the cave at Mas d'Azil.

Finally, on the last day of the month, we did a beautiful and scenic circular walk at the Port de Saleix

Plenty of photos in our albums this month!
Dave's album
Lesley's album

August 2018

August has been a busy month with lots of guests and lots of hot and sunny weather. 
We don'y have many photos this month so have put them together in this joint album.
Dave's are the first 5!

Our album for August

July 2018

As in the rest of Europe, July has been very hot....and its getting hotter!
We have just very much enjoyed the family staying here with us for a couple of weeks. During their stay the Tour de France went past the village again for the 3rd time since we have lived here - great fun as always.
The village fete took place as well - we joined them for the Sunday memorial service and aperitifs.
There was also a 'Country' festival on in Pamiers which we went to watch - Lucy joined in a couple of the dances on a hot afternoon!

We also hosted a summer party in the garden - our musician friends provided some very welcome entertainment!

Here are our few photos from the month
Lesley's album
Dave's album

June 2018

June was one of the wettest months on record for the Ariege. The fields were were waterlogged and swimming pools overflowing! However the last week of the month saw the return of the hot and sunny summer.
We have been busy with guests as usual, but also enjoyed our first mountain walk for some weeks. We climbed up to the refuge to Ruhle  - a beautiful walk with Spring flowers in abundance. 

We have just returned from a weeks holiday in Corsica - a stunningly beautiful and varied island. We tood many photos as usual, but have just included one or two here in our albums.
The first view above is of our Ariege walk, the second is Corsica, the coastline just south of Calvi

Dave's album

Lesley's album

May 2018

We enjoyed a short stay in Lisbon at the beginning of the month so several of our photos are of this colourful city.
We also had a good trip back to England for a few days to see the family. We were pleased to meet Lucy and Andy's puppy Nala for the first time!

Back in the Ariege the weather has been quite wet and unsettled but we have been busy with guests and keeping the garden tidy as everything is growing very quickly

Here are our photos for May
Lesley's album

Dave's album

April 2018

Signs of Spring! As in the UK, we had a mini heat wave in April so decided to open the pool, much to the delight of the guests who happened to be staying with us that weekend. It is not normally warm enough until at least the middle of May, but the weather is all over the place at the moment. The warm spell enabled Dave to plant the potatoes and the onions, and me to tidy up the strawberry and raspberry plants. Everything is growing very quickly so lots of mowing, strimming and cutting back is also needed at the moment. 

The beginning of May has brought back the cold and windy weather - hopefully not for long. 

We have just enjoyed a few days in Lisbon with friends from England so that will feature in next months blog.

Here are our albums for April - still a few more snowy ones!!
Dave's album
Lesley's album

March 2018

More snowy pictures this month! We enjoyed a second week skiing this year, this time in Morillon in the French Alps with Daniel and Jess. 

At home at La Maire the weather is gradually warming up but the ground is very soggy from recent rain, so preparing the vegetable plot for this years planting will be a little delayed

Dave's album

Lesley's album

February 2018

We have some very snowy photos this month! It was lovely to get a couple of snowy days at La Maire. It is especially beautiful when the sun comes out and the roads stayed clear so we had no trouble getting out and about.
The snow in the mountains has been incredible this winter and we enjoyed a particularly magical walk at Roquefixade.
We were in England for the recent cold snap as well, but now Spring is well and truly on the way.

Here are our snow albums!

Dave's album

Lesley's album

January 2018

Most of our photos this month are of our recent skiing holiday with friends and family in Andorra. After arriving to 24 hours of rain, the skies turned blue and we enjoyed 4 days of skiing in the sun, even though the snow condition wasn't at it best. Just in time for our last day the weather turned and we had about a foot of fresh snow to enjoy. 

We also enjoyed a snow shoe walk with friends a few weeks ago - we hope there will be more of those to come while the snow lasts.

Here are our snowy albums for January
Dave's album
Lesley's album

December 2017

Happy New Year

to everyone! 

We have spent most of December in England with the family so have a mixture of photos this month from both France, and England.

We wish all our blog readers all the very best for 2018 and hope that many of you will come and visit us at La Maire during the year

Here is our album for December