Medieval Villages

We’ve been in France a week now so we’re in the adjustment phase, discovering how things work. Like door locks, for example. At our apartment in Bordeaux, we managed to lock ourselves in, which is a mildly disconcerting feeling (we eventually escaped). At the grocery store, we had trouble finding milk and eggs because they’re kept on regular shelves and not in the refrigerated section. It took even longer to find peanut butter, because we did not. A more pleasant surprise was when Ray picked up a bottle of wine and said, “This can’t be right.” About $5 for a nice Cabernet Sauvignon.

The biggest adjustment has been opening hours. In Canada, we’re used to places being open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, if not 24/7. Here, most shops close on Sundays and often one other day during the week, plus they close daily between 12 and 3. Restaurants serve lunch only between 12 and 2 and don’t open for dinner until 6:30 or 7:00. Some places are closed until tourist season begins around Easter weekend. We learned our lesson the hungry way after wandering around Navarrenx one afternoon, unable to find so much as a pain au chocolat.

We planned our visit to Sauveterre-de-Béarn more strategically. We’d go in the morning when the market was on and then sit in the sun outside with a croissant and a cup of tea. We found outdoor cafés, but they didn’t serve pastries, and we found patisseries, but they had no seating. We eventually determined that the tradition, at least in that town, is to buy pastries at the shop and eat them at the café with your coffee. I say coffee because they didn’t serve tea where we went. No peanut butter. No tea. I’m going to be drinking a lot of that cheap wine.

Below is the beautiful spot we chose for our croissants and drinks that weren’t tea. We liked the vibe and the service at this place – La Légende – so we returned for lunch. You can see the makeshift oven in the background that cooks food using the heat of the sun.

Navarrenx, the oldest fortified town in France, is only a 10-minute drive from our place.  It was built as a bastide (walled town) in 1316 and you can still walk along the ramparts today. It also served as an important stopover for pilgrims along the Santiago de Compostela route, so Ray was feeling nostalgic, remembering his time on the camino (though this wasn’t part of the portion he walked).

Sauveterre-de-Béarn is another pretty fortified medieval village a short drive from where we live. I chose this as the destination for my birthday outing (which we celebrated on Saturday instead of Sunday as the weather was looking far more cooperative that day).

Sitting in the sun sipping wine and enjoying good food in a picturesque village in the south of France is a rather nice way to celebrate one’s 55th birthday and helps ease the somewhat shocking sound of that number. My mom used to say she looked in the mirror and saw a woman with grey hair and wrinkles, but she still felt 16 on the inside. For me it’s 28, which makes sense I guess, given that my mom left school at 16 to help support her family, whereas I was a full-time student until the age of 28. How old are you on the inside?