title A Roussillon Farmhouse, Fourques, Perpignan, France - 17th September 2006 intro 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 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, and, for some, picking this year's harvest from the nearby vineyards - something Nosher hadn't done for several years. The house itself is interesting, as it was 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 and is totally off-grid, with its own well and a generator plus 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. imgp6474 Isobel by the front gate imgp6476 Dirk mills around, preparing for dinner imgp6478 Isobel and Jules imgp6479 Jules with the Baby Kai imgp6480 The farmhouse kitchen imgp6482 Lunch is served: people mill around imgp6485 Isobel and Jules have lunch imgp6487 Lunch turns in to dinner imgp6497 In the courtyard for dinner imgp6498 After an Heure du Muscat, we watch the skies imgp6503 The view from the bedroom window imgp6505 Natan makes fart noises down a piece of tubing imgp6507 A view of the pickers imgp6508 The dirt track in and out of the farmhouse imgp6514 Jules, Isobel and Kai roam around in the vines imgp6515 Jules in the vineyard imgp6517 Isobel grabs a bunch of grapes imgp6521 Kai (The Baby Nosh) helps by passing over a grape imgp6526 Vineyards of Rousillon imgp6527 A derelict hut imgp6528 Jules shows Isobel and Nosher around the old hut imgp6530 By the old hut imgp6534 Back in the kitchen, it's our turn to do lunch imgp6536 Natan imgp6538 Jules's parents, Natalie and Bill imgp6539 Sticks of fresh French bread imgp6540 Relaxing in the lounge imgp6546 Pieter hauls Natan around on a boogie-board imgp6550 Natan leaps out of shot imgp6554 A woman at Cap Leucate surveys the beach imgp6572 Jules and Kai imgp6576 Jules' dad Bill imgp6578 Pieter's dad Dirk imgp6595 In the kitchen at night imgp6867 The view of the Pyrennees from the bedroom window imgp6870 Another view of the vineyards imgp6879 Nosher and "The Baby Nosh" Kai play with cars imgp6886 A plant-pot holder on the courtyard wall imgp6897 Isobel tries a grape imgp6899 Bunches of grapes imgp6906 A huge cricket is spotted imgp6927 A tractor on the road between Fourques and Cerét imgp6938 The 30s Majestic Cinema in Le Boulou imgp6939 Le Boulou town centre imgp6986 Anne-Mie, Dirk and Isobel imgp6992 Isobel plays piano, as it echoes around the house