Part Time Neighbors

WE COULDN'T LEAVE Puivert without saying a big 'thanks' to our summer neighbors. Vic and Gay live in a beautiful house next to the one we rented and they have been incredibly nice and helpful this whole summer. Whenever we had a question about the area (where is there a market today? which are the best Chateaus to visit? how far a ride is it to Mirepoix? what is the Cathare region, anyway?) they had the answer. And Gay often brought us beautiful products from her garden: beans, tomatoes, zucchini, plumbs (Kerri made plumb crumble. Yum!). And quite often we received a wonderful platter of freshly baked muffins -- which were too good to describe in only one blog post. Patrick, Julia, and Henry were always eager to say 'hello' to them each morning -- which was usually pretty easy because Vic and Gay spend a lot of time outdoors on their patio.

Last night we joined them for dinner at a nice little Afghan restaurant here in Puivert (yes, there is an Afghan restaurant in this tiny french village!). We had a great time talking about their travels, US politics (Vic loves US politics!), and their life in France.

While on the subject, I encourage you to visit Vic's blog because it summarizes and incredible feat that he will undertake next year. Vic will be 70 next summer and he is planning to walk from Puivert to his childhood home...in Northern England!! Both Vic and Gay are avid walkers and cyclists so I have no doubt that he will be able to do this. His goal is to make the walk in 70 days, arriving at the home where he was born on his 70th birthday! How great is that. You can see all the details at vicsbigwalk.blogspot.com.

CJS