Our main reason for prioritizing the heating was that the family had decided to visit en-mass for Christmas.
Two daughters Tracy and Mandy with partners Kevin and Desmond (Des) also Mandy's two sons John and Declan.
Did I say we had a three bed-roomed house? Guess who returned to the caravan for sleeping? They actually arrived on Christmas eve It was necessary at that time to fly into Girona in Spain as there were no air links from the south of England to this area.
Thank goodness things have changed.
I had promised the grandsons that we would visit a beach on Christmas day.
Nan's cannot break promises so on that day we drove for about 15 minutes to Serignan Plage.
Not a soul in sight and such a bright if somewhat windy day.
We returned to the house to eat a traditional english Christmas lunch..
In the evening we had a french style meal which included a very gooey gateaux Of course the boys spent some time playing with their Christmas gifts.
On boxing day we were able to really surprise the boys.
We walked into town to the Allees Paul Riquet and there stretched before us was a fair.
It covered the length of the Allees.
Something for everybody big kids and little kids alike, roundabouts, rides and rifle shooting, to mention a few.
There were also stalls selling treats and stalls for a chance to win something.
Nan and Grandad definitely won that day.
Yes we certainly gained brownie points and not with just the young boys.
Because this is France children are allowed in bars etc.
When everybody needed a little break we headed to one of the many bars for refreshments.
The choices numerous, various beers,wines and spirits for those who wished but also coffee, tea, hot chocolate and innumerable fruit drinks all served as the norm.
I think it took nearly as long to choose as it did to drink.
After a day at the fair it was difficult to persuade the boys to do anything else.
They knew the fair was on the Allees for a month so thought we could go every day.
After a little friendly persuasion coupled with a small amount of bribery i.
e.
we will go to the fair tomorrow.
They changed their minds and we went for a walk.
We went to view the locks (neuf ecluses) on the Canal du Midi.
It took about 10 minutes (the boys had only got little legs) The walk was lovely and the canal looked so calm and flat.
It came as a surprise when Des decided to show the boys how to play ducks and drakes,otherwise known as stone skimming.
Picking a suitable flat stone and taking careful aim the stone was skimmed.
It hopped about 7 times and everyone then realised that a part of the canal was frozen solid.
Good fun had by all.
No skating of course because the ice was not thick enough for that.
The resident ducks seemed to do it quite well.
They were only here for a few days so we did keep our promise and returned to the fair the next day.
We also visited the O Chinois - a pick your own type of Chinese restaurant.
Each person chooses from the selection on display and it is either heated up to eat there or packed up to take away.
Isn't it amazing how much little boys can eat? The day before departure was also the day before Declans birthday so as a treat we went to our local pizzeria called the Cardinal.
I had asked Roget the patron if he could make a birthday cake.
This he did, a very large, very sticky chocolate cake complete with a candle.
It was far too big for us all to eat so Declan, (with some help from Grandad) asked Roget to give some to everybody in the restaurant When we requested l'addition (the bill) the cake was not included.
"It is a present" said Roget.
That was not the only present - all of the ladies received a rose and each couple had a greetings card with a pen attached.
Surprise surprise we visit the Cardinal as often as we can.
The next day we drove back to Girona so that the family could catch their plane.
Yes we were sad to see them go but we knew they would return soon to the Languedoc Rousillon and Beziers.
In the meantime we would continue to explore and discover new places to visit and to enjoy our new lifestyle.
I hope to be able to entice you to keep reading and maybe visit and discover this beautiful region for yourselves.
Two daughters Tracy and Mandy with partners Kevin and Desmond (Des) also Mandy's two sons John and Declan.
Did I say we had a three bed-roomed house? Guess who returned to the caravan for sleeping? They actually arrived on Christmas eve It was necessary at that time to fly into Girona in Spain as there were no air links from the south of England to this area.
Thank goodness things have changed.
I had promised the grandsons that we would visit a beach on Christmas day.
Nan's cannot break promises so on that day we drove for about 15 minutes to Serignan Plage.
Not a soul in sight and such a bright if somewhat windy day.
We returned to the house to eat a traditional english Christmas lunch..
In the evening we had a french style meal which included a very gooey gateaux Of course the boys spent some time playing with their Christmas gifts.
On boxing day we were able to really surprise the boys.
We walked into town to the Allees Paul Riquet and there stretched before us was a fair.
It covered the length of the Allees.
Something for everybody big kids and little kids alike, roundabouts, rides and rifle shooting, to mention a few.
There were also stalls selling treats and stalls for a chance to win something.
Nan and Grandad definitely won that day.
Yes we certainly gained brownie points and not with just the young boys.
Because this is France children are allowed in bars etc.
When everybody needed a little break we headed to one of the many bars for refreshments.
The choices numerous, various beers,wines and spirits for those who wished but also coffee, tea, hot chocolate and innumerable fruit drinks all served as the norm.
I think it took nearly as long to choose as it did to drink.
After a day at the fair it was difficult to persuade the boys to do anything else.
They knew the fair was on the Allees for a month so thought we could go every day.
After a little friendly persuasion coupled with a small amount of bribery i.
e.
we will go to the fair tomorrow.
They changed their minds and we went for a walk.
We went to view the locks (neuf ecluses) on the Canal du Midi.
It took about 10 minutes (the boys had only got little legs) The walk was lovely and the canal looked so calm and flat.
It came as a surprise when Des decided to show the boys how to play ducks and drakes,otherwise known as stone skimming.
Picking a suitable flat stone and taking careful aim the stone was skimmed.
It hopped about 7 times and everyone then realised that a part of the canal was frozen solid.
Good fun had by all.
No skating of course because the ice was not thick enough for that.
The resident ducks seemed to do it quite well.
They were only here for a few days so we did keep our promise and returned to the fair the next day.
We also visited the O Chinois - a pick your own type of Chinese restaurant.
Each person chooses from the selection on display and it is either heated up to eat there or packed up to take away.
Isn't it amazing how much little boys can eat? The day before departure was also the day before Declans birthday so as a treat we went to our local pizzeria called the Cardinal.
I had asked Roget the patron if he could make a birthday cake.
This he did, a very large, very sticky chocolate cake complete with a candle.
It was far too big for us all to eat so Declan, (with some help from Grandad) asked Roget to give some to everybody in the restaurant When we requested l'addition (the bill) the cake was not included.
"It is a present" said Roget.
That was not the only present - all of the ladies received a rose and each couple had a greetings card with a pen attached.
Surprise surprise we visit the Cardinal as often as we can.
The next day we drove back to Girona so that the family could catch their plane.
Yes we were sad to see them go but we knew they would return soon to the Languedoc Rousillon and Beziers.
In the meantime we would continue to explore and discover new places to visit and to enjoy our new lifestyle.
I hope to be able to entice you to keep reading and maybe visit and discover this beautiful region for yourselves.
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