We’re trying to get into a bit more of a routine here with some regular activities to be planned into a week or month and to do some more physical activity. Joe is making use each day of the weight machines that were left in the barn but we seem to have got out of the habit of walking.
We joined the nearby International Club as they arrange some walking events and we thought it would be a way of seeing other areas and getting know routes that we can walk on our own, as we’ve often done on our travels. This week we joined the first of the shorter arranged walks, a 10km circular walk in the countryside around the village of Miramont de Quercy about 25 minutes south of us. The monthly walk is arranged by a British couple and our group of about 12 walkers was made up of both French and British locals, with several of the Brits joined by dogs which you don’t tend to see with French groups. The walk gave us views over rolling countryside with the mid-point being an old chapel. A few hills got the heart pumping and made us feel that we had earned lunch when we got back. Later in the month we’ll be joining an all day walk with a lunch stop at a restaurant en route.
A number of activities start back up in late September/ October when people are back from summer holidays or have said goodbye to summer guests and visitors. I was hoping to find a local Pilates or similar class and was given the name of a Dutch lady who holds Yoga and Pilates classes in Tournon and other local villages. With a creaky back in need of some stretching, I made contact and went along to two classes last week, both very enjoyable and of great benefit for my back. It’s already clear to see that expat contacts tend to be interconnected as it’s a pretty small community. The Pilates teacher is good friends with our Canadian neighbour and there were several faces from the walk earlier in the week at the classes. Most of them seem to have known or know of the previous owners of the house and many have been in the house.
October is breast cancer awareness month in France – Octobre Rose- and many villages and town halls put up pink themed decorations or ribbons and various fund raising events are held. Several of the surrounding villages are holding village walls or cycle rides and we signed up for the walk that our village held last weekend. There were routes of various lengths ranging from 10 to 40 kms and with staggered registration and start items. For the longest distance walk, registration was from 7.30 a.m. Given that it doesn’t get light here until just after 8.00 a.m., and temperature was expected to be 32C, we opted for a short walk, setting off around 9.30 a.m. when there was still a nip in the air. Given the number of cars when we arrived, there must have been a good number who did set off at daybreak. We followed a well marked route through the local forest, discovering areas at the extents of the village that we hadn’t seen previously.
In true French style there was a refreshment stop halfway offering bread, cheese, fruit, honey cake and local prunes. We had similar scenery for the second half of the walk – the pale Quercy stone and scrub oaks that Joe loves so much and hidden ruins of abandoned houses and outbuildings. We were approached by another walker asking if we had seen someone in a matching yellow t-shirt and she explained she’d been so busy chatting that she hadn’t noticed her fellow walker was no longer with her. That must have been some conversation as we hadn’t seen or passed anyone for at least 15 minutes! There’s a walk next week at another local village so perhaps we’ll try that out too.
