Back in Belgium

Now that I’m back home I’ve finally had the time to upload the video I took while watching René bake his bread. I added it to the corresponding post. But just to be sure, here it is again.

So, now that I’m home it’s time to get packing! We’re signing for our new place this Thursday (yaaaaay), Friday we’ll be cutting open some walls so that the cable guy can come, finally on Saturday we’ll be moving all our stuff. Thank God Tom’s dad and little brother will be helping us out. As always I’ll try to make as many photos as possible.

The Stove Story

Our new place has a perfect place for an old fashioned stove in the living room. However the stove itself is missing. Luckily I rememberd my parents buying one second hand over a decade ago in Holland, and bringing it down to France. Once there it has been gathering dust and rust in a corner of the barn. After some negotiations we got the stove!! Now only to de-rust it, paint it, and get it back together.

The Before

The During

The After

The de-rusting took about eight hours, and has certainly shortened my life with a couple of months. But the result is great! The next step is taking it back to Belgium, painting it, and fitting it into our new house!

Restoring the well – before & after

Finally, the well is finished!. Everything has dried up perfectly, and the well is ready to be taken back into use. To our great pleasure the river-stone top turned out really pretty (as you can see below).

Around Montpezat-de-Quercy

 

 

Many of the villages in southern France look like time has stopped. When you can think away the cars and the people on their cell phones, you can imagine how these villages looked like fifty years ago, or a hundred years ago, or even longer ago. Montpezat-de-Quercy is one of those typical villages with a long and rich history.

 

Besides the dreamy streets and French cafés Montpezat has a Collégiale (collegiate church) that was built by Cardinal Pierre des Prés (1288-1361) in 1337. One of the main features in this church are the amazingly detailed Flemish tapestries form the sixteenth century depicting the life of Saint Martin.

Restoring the well–part 2

The front of the well had a huge hole in it. It once began as a small crack but in time some of the stones have fallen out. Using metal rods we have been able to repair most of the hole.

Big parts of the top (old concrete) have been coming off. At first we wanted to cover the top with our chalk mixture, but in the end we decided to decorate it with river stones. This way we hoped to both restore it, and show that we have restored it. I know that sounds a little strange, but I hope the final pictures will show you what I mean.

Le Fournil de René

Yesterday our neighbour asked me to help out with making bread. Locally this is still done very traditionally. René gets up at six in the morning to prepare the dough, and around nine the furnace is lit and the bread is folded into the right shape.

The bread is laid out and covered to prevent them from drying out.

The fire is lit to heat the oven. Afterwards the burnt wood is pulled out and a piece of newspaper is inserted to measure the heat. If the newspaper goes brown the oven is at an ideal temperature. If it burns in any way the oven is too hot and you have to wait for it to cool down a little.

The bread is then flipped onto a small board using the folds in the fabric. From this board the bread is sled onto a larger board and placed into the oven.

Once the bread is brown and crusty they are taken out one by one.

And voila the end result! Amazing traditionally made bread by René.

Restoring the well – part 1

Our well has definitely known better days, and is in desperate need of restoring. As you can see on the before pictures above stones have been falling out and the old cement is crumbling. If we would leave it for a couple more years without a facelift, we wouldn't have a well any more.

Under the all seeing eye of the dog (aka the boss) we have taken out loose parts. We do this part by part, careful not to dislodge the general structure of the wall. The good stones we keep, the bad ones we throw. After cleaning out a hole we puzzle together a new one, using the old and new stones. The puzzles are stuck in using a mixture of 3 parts sand, one part chalk, and some water. This mixture is less rigid than cement and is thus more suitable for our old (and moving) buildings. Everything made of cement cracks and tears within a couple of years in this region.

We’ll keep you posted on the progress!

Mum and the dog on the tractor

St-Etienne Cathedral – Cahors

The side door is the only one that is used to enter St. Etienne cathedral in Cahors (Dept. Lot). On Saturday the square in front of the cathedral is used for the weekly market. Even though the square is buzzing with activity, the cathedral and adjacent abbey are quiet and peaceful.

Not every statue has survived the hand of time. However,some are detailed enough to see what they symbolize.

Last but not least is the little mistake just above the main altar. To mask it in a divine way they have decided to put tow little angels in the space of the misplaced beam. You can see them above. The ceiling of the ship of the cathedral is one of the main attractions. It is decorated with a 14th century fresco depicting the stoning of St. Etienne. I And it pulls away the attention from this little mistake above.

Off to France

I'm off to see my parents today. For me that means roadtripping to the south of France. 

See you soon guys!

Cherries

Message from my parents: the cherries are ripe!!

Around Divion, Nord-Pas-de-Calais

 

 

Divion, Domaine de la Biette (and site of our camping)

Lapugnoy, Bois de la Roquelaure

Diéval, small chapel

Bours, Donjon de Bours (for info and entry)

Bours, small chapel

Camping & Amat’s birthday!

This weekend we went camping again, this time in Divion (France). As usual by now we took Amat with us. We spent the most of Saturday Geocaching and melting in the French heat. Sunday we spent celebrating Amat’s first birthday, Geocaching, and off road driving towards Geocaches. All in all a great weekend out.

 

Even my parents are gardening

When I was little my parents tried having a veggie garden. However, everything died it soon became a flourishing cactus garden. To my surprise they've started over again. As you can see it's growing slowly.. and it's still alive (yay).

The veggie garden

The flower garden

Around Ribemont

Windmills near Brissy-Hamégicourt 

Abbey of Saint-Nicolas-aux-Bois 

Source de Fontaine á la Goutte near Saint-Nicolas-aux-Bois 

240 year old oak tree at the site of three menhirs near Saint-Nicolas-aux-Bois 

La Chapelle de la Salette near Proix