Roussillon Farmhouse, Near Perpignan, France - 17th - 21st September 2006
Nosher and Isobel (on a first real holiday) head over, via the joys of Ryanair, to Girona in Spain. From there, after picking up a hire car, it's a couple of hours' drive to a farmhouse-slash-ex-commune up in the hills of Roussillon, somewhere near the village of Fourques, which is itself somewhere vaguely near Perpignan. Here, we meet up with Isobel's friend Jules and family - some from Brussels and others all the way from Iowa, USA - for a relaxing few days hanging out, eating meat and cheese with baguettes (sticks!), and (for some) picking this year's harvest from the nearby vineyards - something Nosher hasn't done for several years. The house itself is pretty special: rumoured to have been home to some kind of commune (or even cult) at one time, it's a largeish building with a main living area-cum-studio surrounding a courtyard, with extra "detatched" bedrooms upstairs. It's totally off-grid, and has its own well and a generator with solar-powered battery backup. However, the best thing has to be its aspect, which is kilometres from anywhere along a dirt road, perched on a hillside and with stunning views of the Pyrenees. Waking up in the morning to look out of the shuttered windows upon a misty field of vineyards backed by the mountains is something pretty cool. There's also the opportunity following dinner (which various people took in turns to prepare for the group), and following L'heure du Muscat, to sit out and look up at the Milky Way in the clear, dark, night skies.
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These are cropped thumbnails. Click on an image to view the full photograph.
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Isobel by the front gate |
Isobel and Jules share a giggly (slightly fuzzy) cuddle |
Lunch is served: people mill around |
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After the first of several Heures du Muscat, we watch the skies |
Natan hangs around in the morning making amusing fart noises down a piece of tubing |
On the way back from a foraging expedition, we stop off to pick a few Muscat grapes |
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Isobel grabs a bunch of grapes |
Kai (The Baby Nosh) helps by passing over a grape |
A derelict hut |
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Jules (right) shows Isobel and Nosher around the old hut |
Back in the kitchen, it's our turn to do lunch. Natan follows around with his favourite plastic bag |
Natan |
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Sticks of Franch bread. In the background, Jules regards Nosher's camera with wariness |
In the lounge, and a nicely-lit shot as Isobel and Jules read a magazine, whilst Bill takes a nap and Natalie reads a book |
Down at Cap Leucate, the other side of Perpignan, Pieter hauls Natan around on a boogie-board |
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Natan leaps out of shot as he's thrown up by Pieter |
More splashing around in the Mediterranean Sea |
A woman, with her back to the sea, surveys the beach |
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Family snapshot: Kai and Natan's heads just peep above the sandbank |
Pieter tries to wash the sand off Natan... |
...but to no avail. |
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Jules and Kai |
Jules and a hot mug of tea |
Jules' dad Bill |
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Pieter's dad Dirk |
The night sky above our heads, with a splash of (green?!) Milky Way |
The view of the Pyrennees out of the bedroom window on a misty morning |
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Another morning view over the vineyards |
Nosher and "The Baby Nosh" Kai (so-called as he eats everything) play with cars |
Three "boys" in blue play with toy cars |
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A plant-pot holder on the wall around the courtyard |
Out in the vines, as we walk around in the dusty heat, a huge cricket is spotted |
On the dirt-road between Fourques and Cerét, a tractor rumbles by with a payload of grape-picking equipment |
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A butterfly briefly alights on a flower |
In Le Boulou, and cool 30s-ish Cinema |
Le Boulou town centre |
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On our last night, after everyone but Dirk and Anna-Mie has left, Nosher cooks dinner |
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Isobel gets some piano practice in. The slightly (but not much) out-of-tune piano echoes nicely around the house |
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