A day in the sun.......

With beautiful weekend weather, albeit a real scorcher, I hit the road on Sunday morning and traveled further afield covering 130 miles to visit three different flea markets where there was also some antique shops, too. Again, pickings were slim, two of the venues being complete wash-outs but what I did manage to find my customers are sure to appreciate. 

At the end of the day and in a very small village in south west France, I took advantage of the outstanding scenery offering some great photo opportunities, and despite having left my 'real' camera at home utilized my phone which took surprisingly nice pictures. 

This gorgeous chateau is open for guided tours for just 6 euros but unfortunately was closed when I visited.  As a side note, closing 'shop' is a common pattern I've noticed in my region of France, bars, restaurants, shops, swimming pools, etc, all regularly closed on days that would prove to be very profitable; but why? Yes, yes - I agree, being laid back is all well and good, but many small businesses seem to close at irregular times, even on work days, which makes me wonder how on earth they survive? After all, it's not as though there are not plenty of great opportunities to close-up and chill out, such as during the long, boring winter months here when you're lucky to see any human beings!

In front of the chateau is an absolutely gorgeous restaurant with seating under umbrellas, and also loungers next to the river with a table each to place your drink and snack.  I might also mention, the river is clear and clean and you can see the fish swimming around. You can  notice a distinct lack of customers - I guess it was too early in the day as their menu board stated they were fully booked. I truly want to visit this place for drink and a meal - I really want to so badly - just not on my bloody own!

To take the photos of the chateau I am standing in front of an ancient stone bridge. If you turn around to view the other side you'll see the above, and please note, yet another beautiful restaurant.  It was so hot I felt like wading into the river but of course, didn't! 

I was standing across the road for so long trying to take a photo without people in the way, that I didn't stop to consider the photo would be rather boring with no human activity. Anyway, for just for a second the coast was clear - so this is a lovely wine shop minus any lovely people.

Okay, until my next post, au revoir.

Today's photo................

Someone is busy at work in my garden.........

Slim pickings..........

My weekend's buying trips produced very slim pickings which makes me realise I'm going to have to venture further afield to find items for my Etsy store. I suppose this is an advantageous situation, as surely now I can get to explore new areas, although it will also mean bigger fuel bills and other expenses. And just think, if I wanted to, I could jump in my Golf and drive to Spain, Italy, Germany or any other part of Europe I wished! That thought has always given me a big kick and is surely something to appreciate, even more so now, as who knows when this will all change.

At the moment I am being very careful with my euros, the fiasco in the UK meaning I'm living in the shadows of ex-pat uncertainty. I could talk about how frustrated I feel, seeing  the instigators of the UK's current situation jumping ship to make my country look even more laughable, but I won't. In fact I have just deleted a 'War and Peace' length mega-paragraph of thoughts on the subject - there are others more well-versed who can do the subject better justice and with decidedly more eloquence. 

Anyway, I digress! I am looking forward to seeing more of France so now seems the perfect time for some extended weekend buying trips!

Star gazing...........

It's fantastic to go outside during a humid summer's night, maybe sit down with a beer or glass of wine (which unusually for someone living in wine country, I don't drink a lot of) and gaze at the twinkling night sky, scanning the stars for ...........UFOs?!  Yes, that's right, unidentified flying objects. 

Since moving from a city lifestyle into the countryside, it's amazing how breathtaking and clear the 'sky-scapes' can actually be, something that you just can't fully appreciate if you live in a large town or city.

Well, UFO-spotting is something I really do once in a while and am convinced one evening a few years back I actually saw one; sadly, or perhaps even happily (depending on their intent), there has been nothing to report since.  

And so to the photos for today's post - after deciding to test out what the zoom capability was like on my Nikon P80 I shot a few snaps of a star.....

As you can see from the photos above, without a tripod the camera shake is substantial and the star ends up looking like quite a credible UFO; maybe this accounts for many explainable photos? Who knows, but I thought it was interesting none the less and it's a fascinating subject to speculate, don't you think?

Out and about.......

Poppies and corn flowers I spotted on today's journey.

Traveled around 70 miles this weekend looking for new items for my shop, yesterday's pickings being better than today's.  Today's events were truly terrible and I wouldn't have wanted most items offered for sale even if someone had tried to give them to me for free - it really was that terrible!  That's just the way it goes in this way of life though.   

Funnily enough I met an interesting chap while perusing a stall at yesterday's flea market who was overjoyed at the sight of a horrendous piece of 'modern art' (I'm very open-minded with art, so believe me when I confirm, it was terrible!); he stated it was truly one of the worst pieces he'd ever seen and was having a laugh with the French stall holder about it - I asked if  he really liked that sort of thing and he told me he'd given up trying to find any nice things for a reasonable price, so now collects the worst pieces of bad taste he can find for his collection. It's fun when I meet interesting new people. I suppose I really should have taken a photo of the art for my blog but I was to shy to been seen looking at it.

So, to close this post I'll reassure myself that today's journey was not a complete loss, as after all, the weather was perfect and I enjoyed the drive in my little VW Golf while singing along with some retro 80's music.

Polishing copper!

A rather mundane post I know, but here's one of my weekend purchases which as you can see in the photo on the left, was a rather dull-looking copper planter which I wasn't too sure about to begin with, but after spending yesterday afternoon with my polishing cloth, the pic on the right shows the fruits of my labour.

I still have some more polishing to do but this one will be available very soon.

The Vintage Citroen...........

When I visit brocantes and flea markets quite often they'll be other attractions besides the regular stalls such as dancing, singing, animal petting stalls, tractor-shows full of beautiful antique machines, or sometimes other vintage vehicles. 

The Citroen van below is one of my favourites. These were manufactured from the late-1940s to the beginning of the 1980s. While not particularly attractive to many, and some might even argue their corrugated bodies are nothing more than unsightly, to my eyes there is something alluring about that short snout and little headlight eyes; in France she's affectionately known as the, 'Nez de Cochon' (Pig Nose), which perhaps explains why I like these vans - I love pigs!  Unfortunate for me then that these vans fetch high prices even when in what I call 'relic' condition; they're a nice alternative to the much-loved vintage VW camper vans and certainly very different.

And below are some lovely Citroen Traction Avants, manufactured from the early 1930s to the 1950s - they don't make them like these any more! Popular in black as you can see, although there was a burgundy one right on the end. 

These cars were very often used by German forces when they occupied France, so it's common to see them in WWII photos, many of which show them in far-flung corners of Europe and enduring all types of terrain and weather conditions. In the photo below the Citroen wears German camouflage but has been recaptured by Allied forces who have quickly adorned the vehicle with a rather crude allied star.

Photo for conversational purposes only - internet photo.

More soon......................