Farewell La Hasta

After a wonderful month at La Hasta (otherwise known as "Chez Smith") it was time to move on.  I couldn't have asked for a more lovely setting, a more welcoming family or more good eats and drinks!  I also felt pretty good about the projects I'd been able to see to completion - including the "Sheri Memorial Rose Garden" and putting similar edging fences around a good deal more of the garden beds, regular pool cleaning, using the riding lawn mower, doing a bit of painting and learning how to tile (Thanks, Sam!  You're a great teacher!)  I also learned a valuable lesson about linoleum, which I'll share with you...removing the linoleum is the easy part of the job - but removing the ADHESIVE is the hard and time-consuming part.

Here are some photos from La Hasta, which comprises a 4 bedroom rental property in the downstairs portion of the family home and a one-bedroom rental cottage, as well as a spacious lawn and swimming pool.  Check out the La Hasta website here or via the link in the list on the left.

Garden edging

View of the pool

Gite accommodation on the ground floor. We had many meals and drinks on the balcony, above.

More Edging

Rental Cottage and Veg Garden

Grouting and cleaning

Cols, Peaks and Valleys

On another day out, I had great fun and super scenery driving up and over the multiple cols (passes) in the Ariege - some of which have been made famous by the Tour de France, which passes through the Ariege every year.  In fact, I'll be able to watch it from where I am staying on July 16.  Here is the Col d'Agnes and the Port de Lers on Mother's Day.

   

On a less sunny day, I did a local hiking favorite called "Roche Ronde".  The short hike took me to a great lookout spot where I could get a good idea of the valley layout near Saurat, Bedeilhac and Surba.  On the downward part of my loop, the hike passed by some terrific caves which are apparently used for bouldering and climbing routes.  The low cloud on the day I was up on top of Roche Ronde made the skies very dramatic.  The pictures don't come even close to doing it justice.  Special thanks to Caly, my fabulous hiking companion.

The Round Rock from which the hike gets its name

Caly

   

Calames - a popular rock climbing spot

The Cathars' Last Stand - Montsegur

Over the course of my month Chez Smith, I had some wonderful drives in and around the department of the Ariege and finally visited the Cathar (a Christian sect which was essentially wiped out in France through  Inquisition by the Catholic Church in the 1200s) bastion in which the last remaining believers were wiped out in 1244.  Montsegur is a well-known tourist site on the currently popular "Cathar Tourist Trail" and it provided a nice stop with great views, a cute town and a little museum with Cathar relics and history books in French, Dutch and English.

Views of the Fortress/Bastion

   

   

Views from Montsegur

   

Views of Montsegur from the town and parking area below

   

Last Year's Project - The Refuge de Rive

One of the difficult things about HelpXing is that we often participate in a project but never see the final outcome.  Last summer, we helped put some of the late stage touches on a new climber/biker bunkhouse.  We saw the bunkhouse as it was nearing completion but moved on before it was ready for the public.  Luckily, I got a chance to go back and see it this year.  It looks great!

We assembled the beds!

We assembled all of the cabinets!

We assembled the railing!

The Refuge de Rive is for sale - along with the owner's house next door.  Way too much for our budget, but a wonderful spot and a business ready to go.  I feel a little sad that the fruits of our hard work will be enjoyed by a stranger - but, hopefully, our dear friend, the current owner, will get a good price for it and can parlay the money into another great project in the area.

Not this one....

Michiel stumbled upon this fabulous and honest real estate listing in France.  If only they were all this funny...http://www.french-property.com Home Listings

Mirepoix

When the weather cooperates (which it hasn't done a lot of in the past week and a half) and I am not out with an agent looking at properties, I have been trying to get out and about to find new areas that might be nice and cheaper to live in.  I've been combining these trips with touristy activities.

Here are some photos of Mirepoix, a lively medieval town that is now home to lots of British expats (due to the proximity of the Carcassonne Airport and its budget flights to the UK).  It has a charming village center with lots of bars and restaurants, but the area was too far from the mountains and way too expensive!  (I have discovered that the prices of property in areas that are full of expats are way higher than elsewhere.) 
It made for a pleasant afternoon out, though.


   

   

   

The Rose Bed Project

One of the projects I have been working on (with help from Helen) is the rose bed project.  The project consisted of weeding, digging a trench around the bed and setting up fencing and then filling in the bed with beautiful black compost.  We get the compost from the town dump where we get rid of the weeds, branches and any other green waste.  The dump brings all of the green waste to another dump where they mash it up and let it compost.  The bigger dump returns gorgeous compost to the local dump.  There are no real posted rules on taking the compost, but we have been going with a 1 for 1 swap - for each barrel of green waste we deliver, we fill up a barrel of compost.  It's fabulous!

Here are the before and after photos:

Before:

   

Introducing the Sheri Memorial Rose Garden

   

   
...but I'm not dead yet.....