October Holidays Part 4

Our holidays went by so quickly and we soon found ourselves heading home... but on the way we decided to make a little detour to a beautiful natural site, le Cirque de Navacelles. It is located between the two départements of l'Hérault and le Gard, and was a fairly quick trip off the road we were taking to get home. But what a road to get there! At times, the roadway was barely large enough for one car, and wound its way up the hillside, with some very precarious spots in between.

Once we finally arrived, we were amazed. The Cirque is an incised meander cut off from the Vis River about 6000 years ago, which left an oxbow lake. It later dried up, leaving the only patch of land suitable for cultivation for several kilometers (the rest of the area is rocky - mostly limestone). And it is quite an impressive sight. The Vis river is mostly hidden from view, but from our spots from either side of the vally, the meander is still clearly visible.

Looking at the meander from the north

An overall view, including the river (bottom left) and the
road we eventually took to get to the viewpoint on the other
side of the valley

From the south side of the valley

Beautiful old outbuilding

Limestone cliffs

Good view of the road on both sides of
the valley and the meander in between

Keeping herself entertained
on the way home

Biscuit books are the best for long
car trips

October Holidays Part 3

Continuing on with our trip...

The next day brought a bit of heartache and pain. Aimy, Alixe, Carlos and I shared a room at the house, and on the 29th in the morning, Aimy decided to jump around on the bed while Carlos and I were busy getting breakfast and such ready... and she slipped and fell off the bed onto her shoulder, or at least that's what we assume, because neither of us saw her fall. She was very upset and cried a lot, and would cry out in pain when either one of us tried to pick her up with our hands under her armpits. She sat on my lap to eat breakfast and was all hunched over and very hesitant to let me touch her left shoulder... so we took her to the emergency room at the local hospital, and though the intern who examined her didn't think it was serious, I was pretty sure something was broken. The pediatrician came and took a look, and sent us for an x-ray right away, though he wasn't sure if there was a problem with her arm, her shoulder blade or her collarbone. They let me come into the room with Aimy for the x-ray and the tech and I both discovered it together: a hairline fracture on Aimy's left collarbone.

We went back to the exam room and the doctor came back right away to give us a sling (that Aimy started calling her 'special backpack') for her to wear for the next 6-8 weeks. There's not much else to be done for a broken collarbone, but Aimy - and all kids, really - was lucky in that she was able to snap back to her old self right away. After a long nap that afternoon, since she was exhausted from the stress and pain of the morning, she was back to her old self, as the photos below will attest. But through the whole thing she was very brave, and after the second day wearing the sling, it was as if the fall had never happened. For a few weeks after that, we were still unable to pick her up the way we usually did, but she didn't complain of being in pain and her x-ray 8 weeks later showed normal healing. 

And of course, ever since that day, she hasn't once jumped on the bed again!!

Poor baby. Being brave at the
hospital.

As I said, we still went out and visited a few more villages before we left - Aimy was feeling fine and we had no restrictions on putting her in the car seat (which was a relief, seeing as we were going to be leaving the next day to head back home). This part of France was completely unknown territory for me, and I'm hoping to go back there again someday and explore more!

Brissac's church belltower, seen
from the rooftop terrace of the house
where we stayed

Ironwork

Saint-Martin-de-Londres

Old houses, Saint-Martin-de-Londres

Eglise Saint Martin, XIth century

Looking towards the archways in earlier photo. The doors at
the top of the stairs lead to the municipal library. How
would you feel about working at a library in a building like
that, Mom?

Another little house...

... and its nearly hidden stained glass window

Back side of clock tower showing the
modifications made to the city wall
over the centuries, Viols-le-Fort

Another door, Les Matelles

Walking through Les Matelles

Picturesque houses covered in vines

Take away the humidity, and I could
totally live in this house.

As you can see by the big grin, Aimy
was feeling much better by this point.
She's wearing the sling under her
sweatshirt

She even felt good enough to climb
the steps up to someone's front door

A wild rosemary bush, just growing out of
a crack in the rocks

Just short enough to fit in the doorway!

The girls were thrilled to bits about
holding hands with each other and kept
giggling as we walked through town.
Can't complain about that!

October Holiday Part 2

Our holidays continued with a trip to the area north of Montpellier. The husband of one of our friends is from the area and is working on a house in the village of Brissac, and though he was working and unable to come, we spent a busy few days with our friend and her mother, exploring some amazing towns in the area. The first place we visited was the medieval village of Saint-Guilhem-Le-Désert, a gorgeous town tucked into a valley next to the Gellone river. Even though it was misty and rainy for most of our visit, it was still breathtaking. I can only imagine what it must be like in the summer, and I'm glad that the weather kept the streets from being busier. Definitely worth the visit, if you ever happen to be in the area.

Fountain

Village map. The site has been named
one of the most beautiful villages in
France and is on St James' Way (Chemin
de Saint Jacques)

One of the many beautiful houses

Neat old-style window

Street view. Notice the lack of electrical
wires or anything modern. And also
very clean!

A little alleyway leading to someone's
front door

Sculpture of a Cardabelle plant (not sure if that is the right
name in English) A cousin of the artichoke, these are placed
on doors in the village as a way of predicting the weather:
 the pointed leaves retract when rain is imminent!

Neat doorway

The church, part of the former Gallone Abbey

House in the main square, with ruins on the summit of the
hill behind

Alixe having a ball in the backpack. She
sang to herself for most of our visit

Anne-Cécile and Aimy

A door with a cardabelle plant

Hanging out in front of the abbey church

Evelyne, Ourson and us in front of the abbey

October Holidays Part 1

Carlos's first school holidays of the year began on October 18th, and we had decided that we were going to give ourselves a complete change of scenery and hit the road. First, we visited Carlos's parents, and the kids had fun playing outdoors at the local playground and in their grandparents's backyard on the swing set with their cousins. Alixe especially was excited about being able to walk everywhere this time and chase after/be chased by everyone.

Climbing at the playground

Papy helping Alixe up

Trying to balance (with a lot of help)

She made it across!

Looking at a duck on the pond

After a few days there, we went to Toulouse to visit Carlos's old friend Stefan and his family. The girls were a little shy at first but warmed up to everyone, especially Jumpy, the puppy (though the poor thing was scared of Aimy! He didn't mind Alixe so much, and I was surprised at how gentle she was with him.)

Aimy loved playing the piano

And she loved posing for me too!

Sheriff Alixe

Matthis and Jumpy

She loved playing with the tracks

Matthis encouraging Aimy

And through all of this, we had gorgeous weather! More to come in the next entry.