From the Tarn-et-Garonne, we headed south on a day in which the train company was on strike. Of course...France is known for its strikes so it makes perfect sense that the one day when we need to get somewhere, they decide to begin what turned into a 5 day work slowdown. Fortunately, we weren't impacted at all and were able to catch the train to Toulouse where we took advantage of a multi-hour layover to take turns walking around the city center. From Toulouse, we caught the bus towards the Pyrenees to the town of St. Girons (photo, above), known for its large and hippy-dominated Saturday markets. Our first impression of the area wasn't overwhelming on that first day in the rain but the next day, the sun shone and with this view from our window, we were enchanted!
Our second hosts in France were a young couple (our age :) originally from England who purchased a ruined sheep barn to convert into a Bed and Breakfast. They did all of the renovation work themselves (with the exception of the plumbing) with the help of volunteers like us and some friends here and there, and now, after three years of hard work, they have opened their beautiful and impressive accommodation. They call their Bed and Breakfast L'Ancienne Bergerie (the old sheepfold). You can take a look here: www.anciennebergerie.com.
They did all of the tiling, waterproofing, staircases, doors, re-pointing of stones, plastering, painting (with natural pigments), drywall, flooring, etc., etc. and found time to make the website, too. What is even more inspirational is that they had done little to no DIY work before starting the project!
We were there at the point in the project where there were just the final touches left before completion, so after preparing and planting their potato patch, we did lots of the final cleaning to get the rooms ready. This was in preparation for a dry-run with some pub friends they invited from Scotland for a long weekend. They wanted to be sure that the wood-fired home and water heating system worked properly, that the bathrooms all functioned as expected and that they had thought of everything necessary for the comfort of the guests to come later in the summer.
There was an exceptional amount of drinking, some good eating (our hostess makes (amongst other things) outstanding home-made bread) and more work to be done on the house while the guests slept off their hangovers. Michiel moved on to painting, varnishing and placing slate for the outdoor terrace while I focused on sanding; I spent a good deal of week two sanding the posts for the pergola that will be a major feature of the terrace.
After the friends left (though they were stranded for another week in Spain due to the volcanic ash), our hosts received a booking for the following weekend from a French couple. I encouraged them to accept it but to explain that the work wasn't complete and to offer a discount. They took my advice and even accepted a booking from another French couple for the same weekend. It was great to be with them for the momentous occasion of them receiving their first paying guests (and in French, as well!) and to support them in getting over their trepidation. Almost everything went super smoothly and the guests seemed quite satisfied.
We were joined during the second week by a young and very quiet Swede who dampened the jovial atmosphere a wee bit but we greatly enjoyed spending time with our hosts, especially since they had vast interests in all sorts of exciting homesteading activities like beer-brewing, wine and cider making, wild plants, and raising chickens, pigs and sheep (they had all of the above). When we weren't talking about these topics, we listened to a staggering variety of music and talked about almost every topic you can think of. It was a real treat made even better by their extensive library and map collection.
They entrusted us with their big Landrover and we did some epic drives on the narrow, steep and winding tracks of the Couserans (the name of their area). We also did some great hiking which enabled us to explore the area and get some much-needed hill training. From the B and B, it was only a two hour hike from the front door to a gorgeous alpine ridge with sweeping views of the green valleys below. They were even located right on a marked long distance route (the GR78, which is one of the routes to Santiago de Compostela), which we followed to the lovely and charming town of St. Lary. (Perfect place criterion number 3: easy access to great hiking...CHECK!)
St. Lary
Terrefête - just below L'Ancienne Bergerie
The view from St. Lizier
The Lac de Bethmale
On our last day with our hosts, they decided to take a rare day off and took us all out for a hike high up in the Biros Valley. Here is just one dozens jaw-droppingly beautiful scenes from that valley and a photo of one of its denizens:
The view from Uchentein
As we travelled around the region, we stopped to look at the offerings in real estate windows and there were a good number of affordable (for us) places that had some land but would need some renovation (not a problem after our HelpX experience!). (Perfect place criterion number 4: affordable properties with land...CHECK!)
This area was certainly starting to look like a winner. As we'd already met criterion number one (within short travel distance to Michiel's family), we needed to focus on criterion number 2: lots of sunshine. This is a bit of a problem in the mountains, especially in spots without southern exposure or deep in a valley. Fortunately, our hosts are great at telling us which places are dark and cold in winter and should be avoided and which spots stay sunny and warmer. They assured us that with good southern exposure, there were plenty of winter days when they could be wearing t-shirts in the snow. Sounds promising! So though we moved on to another host further to the east in the same departement (the Ariege), we will be returning to the Couserans tomorrow to look at a couple of houses. Whooppeeeee!
