First Days in Auvillar

The original plan was for us to spend 3 nights at the Chambre d'hôte of Mme. Falc, but there was some confusion with the group that had rented Moulin à Nef over their exit

Cheryl and Mme. Falc

date, and we ended up staying 5 nights. This was absolutely no hardship, as our room was lovely, Mme. Falc is a very charming and petite bundle of energy, and it was a lovely introduction to the village.

Our room at Mme. Falc's

We go down for breakfast the first morning, after having learned about the three
different bell towers within earshot. The church at L'Espalais, just across the river, rings all night on the hour and half hour, and it's actually kind of charming, sort of like listening to a marine clock on the boat. When those long sleepless periods occur in the night, no need to fumble around for your glasses to see what time it is, just wait a few minutes for the next bells. And then at 7am, the local church, L'Eglise St. Pierre, and the clocktower, L'Horloge, both start. The church bells are very impressive, especially from Mme. Falc's, which might be 100m away.

Après le petit dejeuner

Breakfast is in a room that shows off Mme. Falc's persona - everything is in warm colours, oranges, reds, yellows; there is coffee in carafes, decaf for Cheryl and regular pour moi, two huge croissants, yogurt, baguette, butter and homemade jams. Oh, and a basket full of fresh fruit - usually amazingly juicy white peaches and nectarines, sometimes plums too. The knives and the spreaders are Lagioule, style is everywhere, we feel like we're really in France. The windows are open to the street, which is barely wide enough for a single car. Across the street is an ancient abandoned house, two stories tall, with part of its roof caved in. One wall leans eerily over the vacant lot next door, but is braced with a big 2x10 lumber brace. I take a few photos of the setting and the building across the street, thinking wouldn't it be nice for a car to come by to give some scale, et voilà, a

View from le petit dejeuner

black Mercedes convertible, top down, obliges as if on command. We find out later that it's Christophe, a good friend to the VCCA, accomplished photographer and member of the Auvillar Council.

On our way from the Toulouse airport, Lucy had driven us first into the Port section of Auvillar, called Le Port, and then up the crazy steep single lane 'road' into the

Le Baladin resto in the main square

main part of the old village (called Centre Ville in villages large enough to have more than just a centre ville). Cheryl and I take off after breakfast, trying to work off the jet lag, on a walk down to Le Port to see for ourselves. It's a beautiful day, going to get hot very soon, as we set out down Rue St. Pierre. We're at La Halle in the main square

La Halle in Viens Peindre Auvillar

(actully it's the main triangle, an odd configuration for medieval French villages) in a minute or two, and check things out in the square. Some of the buildings appear abandoned, but we find the Office du Tourisme, a calligrapher's studio, a couple of restaurants, and a couple of galleries. La Halle, in the centre of all this, is a circular building under a roof, open all the way around, with a raised section in the middle. Apparently the grain exchange used to take place here. Now La Halle is

Top of road to Le Port

used for a variety of events in the village, including the Sunday marché des fermiers, Viens Peindre Auvillar, various dinners, etc.

Eventually we finish our look around the main sqaure and we start the descent down into Le Port. It's a lovely walk, down through the easy to defend entrance into the

Road to Le Port just above Un Autre Ailleur

old village, past the ancient lavoir, then down past the outdoor terraces of Un Autre Ailleur and into Le Port. I wonder how in the world we're going to get back up -

Entry to Le Port from Auvillar

it's pretty steep - but I shoot a few photos and decide to worry about the ascent later.

We're told that Le Port used to be a community of more than 1000 souls, in the days when La Garonne herself was used for navigation, prior to the canal and the

Window in Le Port

railway. Today there might be 50 full time residents, and that many more part-time. There are two streets only, one close to the river with some garden space in front, and another behind the first.

Arrive in Toulouse

Lucy met us at the airport in Toulouse around 5pm. Since our bags had originated from outside the EU, we had to go into the special baggage area to wait for them,

KLM's "Ingrid Bergman" at YVR

and then take them though customs - "If they're even there" as Lucy said, referring to the customs people. It took quite a while for the bags, Cheryl chatted with a woman from Morocco in French - their bags hadn't been on their plane with them, and they were checking every flight. Eventually our bags appeared, but the customs inspectors didn't, so we just walked on out. It was hot, low 30s, as we piled into the van and headed out for my first experience of French roads and traffic. Even though it was right in the middle of rush hour, there were few slowdowns and before long we were on the autoroute (A62) headed for Auvillar at 130 km/hr. No A/C in the van, so all the windows that worked were down, which made it hard for me to hear what Lucy and Cheryl were talking about - Lucy has been living here ever since her second term as Directrice at VCCA three years ago. She's been the Directrice again this year for the spring sessions and through the Yale stay, and is an amazing source of local customs and information. We stopped for gazoil (diesel) on the way, 1.05€ per litre, something like C$1.75 compared to C$0.95 in Vancouver the day before.

Lucy gave us a quick drive-by of Le Port, then up the hill, which she said was illegal, and into the village to Mme. Falc's Chambre d'hôte on Rue Saint Pierre, right between L"Eglise Saint Pierre and the square of La Halle. Mme. Falc is lovely, very animated and expressive, and her maison is tastefully stylish and impeccably clean. Our room on the second floor is the only one with it's own bath, and has a lovely view out the back over La Garonne toward Espalais and beyo

Le Sadoul de la Tour in Auvillar

nd. Lucy had said the local Casino (grocery chain with supermarkets and corner stores) closed at 7, so we had to get the bags up to the room quickly (hot work, lots of luggage) and walk to the store for some supplies. The Casino in Auvillar is the size of a small corner store in BC, but it had a nice selection of wines from 3€ to 8€, and a 5ltr box of the local Brulhois for 13.50€. We picked up a few things, back to the room for a much appreciated shower (we'd been traveling 20 hours or so at that point), then walk a block or two to Le Sadoul de la Tour for our first meal in France.