A French Experience

Ashur and I are sitting at a table in an arched arcade facing onto the square of a medieval town in Quercy in south western France - the long, soft evening light is slowly fading. Lou Reed is playing and we are sharing the cafe with an eclectic mix of young dreadlocked hippies, artists, down and outers, religious pilgrims, travellers and wealthy retired Europeans.
As you look down the arcade through the curved stone arches you can see across to the other side of the valley and the red, red sun setting above the thickly forested hillside. We have the Macbook connected by WiFi and are checking emails.

We chanced on the beautiful, medieval village of Lauzerte and booked into the Hotel du Quercy - our room is all white with a tall window looking over the valley to the south - wheat fields turning gold, fruit trees and vines, oak forest on the hills. The village was founded in 1000 AD and is set on a hill at the confluence of two valleys. It is apparently one of the "Plus Beaux Villages de France"

Ash and I made our way to the top of the village from our hotel along a road winding up under the ancient city walls, tree lined with walnuts, chestnuts and figs, with views down the valley. At the top we walked through narrow streets decked with flowers in pots on the cobble stones, hanging from windows, above doors, in windows, to the town square - a cobbled area surrounded on three sides by buildings built out of a creamy stone with an arched arcade under the buildings around the square - on one side is the church with a clock in the bell tower - the bell rings every half hour. In the square are two shady chestnut trees with chairs under them and in one corner is the cafe with chairs under the arcade and spilling onto the square. Once again there are flowers, predominately red, in pots everywhere.

Lou Reed still playing and Ash and I having a glasses of Rose and Apple Juice, checking the net and watching the sun set.