Sarah says:In the above photo you can see the garden of the house we stayed at in Montréjeau, which is in the Haute-Garonne part of south-middle France in the Midi-Pyrénées. The town itself is nothing to write home about. But the region and many of the surrounding towns and villages are really beautiful with special landmarks. The mountains are close and the sea was about two hours away on either side. The Spanish border was about a 30 minute drive from where we were.
My daughter and I really enjoyed having a pool in the backyard. The weather wasn't great all of the time, but some of the time it was perfect. We read many a newspaper at the table next to the pool, as well as played a few board games and had some meals and snacks there. Very relaxed and relaxing!
My daughter was especially pleased that the owners of the house had two dogs. Every day, my kid got up and ran outside to play with the two dogs and brush them. She took care of them and they took care of her. I never knew she liked dogs. It made me happy for her but also a little sad - poor kid has no brothers and sisters and she'll never have house pets other than guinea pigs I assure you... She has all these care-taking abilities in her and is lonely a lot I suspect. Those two dogs gave her unconditional love and attention for those two weeks we were there and she basked in it! I can't describe how happy she was with these dogs and how gentle she was. It was nice to see her in this scenario though a little eye-opening too... By the way - behind her and the dogs, you can see the house we stayed in - in the top floor apartment with two bedrooms, a living room, bathroom, toilet and kitchen. It wasn't high luxury or anything but it was certainly just fine for the three of us - especially thanks to the pool and the dogs ( for my daughter). And for 14 days, it only cost us about Euro 440 or so... Can't complain about that! It allowed us to take day trips all over the region. And the kitchen allowed us to make most of our own meals and pack picnics rather than eat out all the time, which in that region of France wouldn't even be possible because of eating times and opening hours and all that money we saved!!! I highly recommend this sort of set up and this sort of vacation - though the place we stayed wouldn't be for everyone of course and a car - a good car - is essential for all these day trips through mountains and valleys. And with that in mind, I must add that gas cost us an arm and a leg! We had to fill up so many times! And there are expensive tolls to pay throughout France. To get to the sea, two hours away, it cost us more than Euro 25 in tolls alone. But the roads are great - well-cared for and clearly marked. That was a surprise to us. We though it would be more like in Wallonia here in Belgium, which can be hell to drive through as one minute there is a sign and then nothing for miles! Very easy to lose your way! But not in France! Where we were, even on the smallest back roads, there were good markings and directions. Made life easy and relaxed as we didn't always have to be busy looking at maps and all...
There above you can see the first meal I made with salad and warm goat's cheese and honey for me and my husband and more kid-friendly stuff for the girl! I really enjoyed making meals during this vacation. It's different than at home. Time isn't really important. No real schedule. I found it really relaxing to be in the kitchen throwing whatever I could together. But taking all the time I needed to do so as my kid played with the dogs and swam...
VERY VERY VERY SAD THING ABOUT THE ABOVE AND BELOW PHOTOS IS THAT THOSE WERE ABOUT THE LAST TWO PHOTOS MY FAITHFUL CAMERA TOOK BEFORE IT TOTALLY BROKE (thanks to my dropping it on my desk on the 29th of May!) I knew it would eventually just give up! And that it did, on day three of our vacation in Toulouse, which I'll tell you more about soon! The above photo is of a big bug on a leaf - very trippy. And then the camera came back to life just a little for the final photo it ever took below... May that wonderful old camera of mine be remembered well and fondly for all its good and hard work over the last few years. I took almost every photo on here with that lovely camera! I honestly will miss it! It was so easy and durable for all those years until I let it fall so hard! It served me and Face The Day so well!
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