While we wait
Winter is upon us in the south of France. Carcassonne has been miserably cold and windy, with threats of snow on a daily basis. Châteaux hunting has ground to a halt as we wait for return calls from listing agents.
We entertain ourselves by working and going on road-trips. We get in the car, drive to the edge of town, and choose a direction. It amazes me that in a country that is so comparativly small there are so many climates and varying landscapes within a very short drive. At this point we are keeping our drives to no more than an hour and a half away from home base. We have been south, north, east and west. From the Mediterranean Sea in the east, to the snow covered Black Mountains in the north. Our eyes are always peeled for amazing hidden properties that might possibly be for sale. Ruins on a distant hillside send us twisting down roads that we aren’t even sure are roads, or through ancient villages with streets so narrow that we draw in the side mirrors and creep slowly forward while all of the sensor alarms are screaming in the background. We make notes on properties we see as our agent Anna is gutsy enough to drive out to them, want up to the door and knock! “By any chance is your Château for sale?”
Along the way during our road-trip last weekend through the Black Mountains, we wound our way through an area that was dedicated to the Granite industry. Quarry after quarry, stone finisher after stone finisher, lining both sides of the road. Everything was dedicated to Granite with the finishers showing their wares on the roadside…
The roadside wares
Inside of one of the Quarries
We also do a lot of meandering around Carcassonne. The ancient City is above our heads, imposing and ever present. But the modern city of Carcassonne, built in the seventeenth century, so comparatively modern, is fascinating and full of lovely little shops, restaurants, museums, and public squares. Of course most of these are closed due to the pandemic, but there is still some liveliness, and it is fun to wander and explore. I always find myself attracted to those spaces that once were. The levels of patina are incredible and instantly draw my eye. The history behind these facades is fodder for the imagination!
And while we wait, food porn is always in order! The way that vegetables are displayed in the nicer stores are simply breathtaking. And then there are the mysterious concoctions in jars Even when we puzzle through a translation, the concept of eating what is in them is a bit daunting to say the least.
We are finally hitting the Châteaux shopping trail again beginning Friday. We have one to see on that day, and at least eight over the next two weeks. Our fingers are crossed that one speaks to us and we will be in the position of making an offer!