A brief dally in Salies

We arrived at Chris and Sue’s house mid-afternoon, to be greeted by a cherry picker repairing the roof at their new place, an amazing old traditional farmhouse.  

In classic Chris style, the first part of our tour was to see his ‘giant’s workbench’ ready for action on the renovations, followed by a wander around the rest of this extraordinary old building and across the fields to the woods that were part of the purchase.

After the cherry picker had finished for the day, we popped the van in the courtyard for an overnight stay and headed into the village for dinner.  Chris and Sue are renting a cute little 3-storey townhouse in the picturesque spa town of Salies-de-Béarn, a couple of miles away from the farmhouse.  We ate at La Grignotine, a lovely little place tucked away in the centre of the village and a real treat of local Bearn cuisine.  We ate far too much, washed down with some delicious local red and slept like the dead in our private campground under the stars. And what a sky it was!  It’s been a while since we’ve seen such dark skies away from ambient light.  This place will be a real treat to live in – and revisit, with the Pyrenees as backdrop to some spectacular views.

Next day was market day – unplanned and lucky for us – I love local markets! We wandered around the market wishing that the van ‘fridge hadn’t just defrosted itself all over the floor and we could actually buy stuff to take with us.  That story had a happy ending though, and the ‘fridge was working again when we got back in the afternoon.  We found out that because we’d turned it down when it had become a bit frosted up from all the hard work in 35+degrees, we’d inadvertently activated the defrost cycle.  Luckily, the only casualty was a soggy doormat and half a bag of squidgy frozen peas! 

The market was lovely, with all sorts of goodies from olives to roast chickens, salamis, cheeses, fruit and veg and everything inbetween, including clothes, espadrilles – in amazing colours and patterns, and secondhand books.  We even spotted an accordion player getting ready to serenade the lunchtime diners!  

Before we left, our host kindly bought us some local kiwi juice – who’d have thought kiwis grew here too!

Next stop was Sauveterre, quite a contrast to the hustle and bustle of Salies, with its serene atmosphere and river.  

This is a rather beautiful spot, where you can canoe and swim in the river and drink in the peaceful atmosphere.  We had lunch at a little tearoom outdoors on the riverbank before heading back to the van and saying our goodbyes.

Then we were off on the next and almost final leg of our trip, along to the wild west coast and Lit-et-Mixe, in the hope of some breezy sunshine and not too much sand in my bikini bottoms from the rough seas!

J.