At 0630 sleep alluded me. So I lay there and composed this blog posting. After a while I got up and showered (bathroom ensuite) and emerged at 0715 and opened the shutters to the salon to find that the sun was nowhere near up although the sky was as clear. How things have changed overt the last week when, at 0715 the sun was poking its head well over the horizon. By this time, of course all rememberance of the wonderful blog post I'd 'written' had disappeared into the recesses of what passes for my brain.
Villeneuve seems to be emptying. Some of the 'summer residents' have now returned to the UK. Some, like John, are returning this week. David and I leave on Wednesday. Soon many of the restaurants and cafés will be closed or only open for a few days each week.
Soon the autumn and the frantic harvesting which is going on twenty-four hours a day will cease. The fields will be quiet. Winter will be here.
One of the things that struck me when I first came to France many years ago was the fact that at night a village could seem absolutely deserted because no houses showed lights. Every house has shutters. Shutters are shut at night, during the day to keep out the fierce summer sun and closed in the winter to keep in the warmth. They are good but they do isolate people.
This holiday has provided me with enough photos to enable me to blog continuously until I return to New Zealand. All I have to do now is make the time to write the blogs.
So, even in France summer is drawing to its close? Here, in the past week or so, we have definitely stepped from summer into early autumn.
ReplyDeleteThose thoughts that whirl through the head just before and after sleep are often hard to hold on to. Did you ever try recording verbal notes? I've done it periodically because of physical difficulties writing. Had a tape recorder by the bed instead of a notepad. Now my mp3-player has a recording function but I haven't used it much.
I'm ashamed to say that I, too, have a recorder at the side of the bed in Eagleton and one on my phone which is always next to the bed wherever I am. But I never remember to use one.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was going to say...all you have to do now is sit still long enough to write blogs :)
ReplyDeleteI would love to share in your journey full of photos!!