Winning France over one cat at a time

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It is quite a handy thing to be on good terms with your ex-boyfriend when he has a wine bar in the South of France(ish) and the latest copy of Borderlands 3. After informing Chris on arrival that our priorities were wine, wi-fi and a washing machine, in no particular order, we immediately focused all our attention on the local cats, but have had to work hard for our smooches. These French kitties are not so easily won over, but there are two of us and we will not leave until we have subverted at least one of these little beasties.

But that’s not why we are here. Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val is a perennial front runner for prettiest town in France and where we are holed up to get a taste of rural France. It is a very small town for a couple of big city gals but a perfect antidote to the stressors of everyday life. Visions of a life in this town, if things had turned out otherwise, flash through my head and I am thankful I have no regrets, although sitting out the front of  Noble Bachus is a pretty fine way to spend an afternoon. We spend several here, rotating through various eating establishments. I’m not sure my liver is going to be able to cope with the outcomes of this trip – my waistline certainly isn’t!

In an effort to stave off the inevitable kilo creep, we went for a three and a half hour canoeing trip down Aveyron river/gorge. Let’s focus on the fact that we made it without hitting each other over the head with a paddle, rather than how we got stuck on the rocks along the way.

We also hiked the top of the gorge, before making our way down to the caves in the hillside. As we were scrambling down the cliff, it occurred to me that this is how those news stories about people being air-lifted out by helicopter with broken legs start out. Fortunately we made it out again, but age certainly doesn’t bring wisdom (or my thrill seeker gene is kicking in again).

As lovely as it has been to recover from our travel and play video games, there’s a lot more than this neck of the woods to discover, so onwards and upwards etc.

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