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