2013-09-08 Sunrise and Clouds

 

 

This was on the way home from the Var.

Home at Cailho, 8.15 in the morning….Sunarise !!

wow, I love my home…….

2013-09-06 The journey home

We had an eventful day on our way back, firstly we were given a vacuum to use on our vacuum bags….Dave was using it when he realised its last job had been to clear a drain, and the foul water spilled in the mobile home…..pooooooh :O( When we sorted that out, we headed into town for some cheaper petrol, then on to the auto-route, we drove for about 1/2 hour before reaching the end of a traffic jam…….there had been a bad accident and we were stuck, it was 34C in the car, and we have no working air con !! Fortunately we were right beside an “aire” or service station, on with toilets, shopping and coffee machines, and like a lot of other cars/ trucks we decided this was the place to wait……..it took 1/2 hour to get into the service area, we were there for 2 hours!! then on our next leg of the auto-route there was a terrific thunder storm, and i feared we might see accident number 2…….but fortunately not, so that was our 3 bad things….they come in threes ‘tis said :O)

Meanwhile a picture missed by most auto-route traffic as it speeds by, were these snails….aestivating/estivating.  http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312800/estivation.htm

According to a friend, this is how the travelling people all over this area used to gather the snails to eat…….a bit like cockles i suppose ?

2013-09-05 At the Poisson Bleu Frejus.

 

Dave and Ann enjoying a drink as the night market begins to get ready along the sea front.

2013-09-05 Tortoise farm/village

 

This was our last full day at Frejus, and we wanted to go and see if this farm was very different from the one we visited last year, and it was, their whole ethic was to preserve the tortoise in its natural environment, having tortoises as pets was very discouraged, which is a shame as I would like one ! (or two!!)

They have a clinic, which had several tortoises which had been half eaten by dogs when we were there. Also they have a breeding program, ( as you can see !!) and release tortoises back into the wild. I was very impressed that after feeding time, (which we arrived just after) the staff cleaned all the food away afterwards, with a separate dustpan and brush for each enclosure.

If you would like to know more about them there is a web site   http://www.villagetortues.com/ which has a lot of information on it.

 

 

 

 

I like this one where the “lady” tortoise already has her cigarette :O)

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

2013-09-01 Holiday in the Var.

Frejus to be precise, on the Cote d’Azure.
Firstly we picked up Ann at Beziers airport, and spent the first night in a hotel in Montpellier……as it saved a lot on time and fuel as Montpellier was en route.
We booked in advance and got a 3 person room (bunk bed over) with en suite for 46€ !

Ann and my feet !

Me looking through the rungs of the ladder for the bunk bed…..:O)
Monday 2nd September………………we arrive at the campsite and get our mobile home.

Dave in the kitchen.

Dave playing with the camera, doing a panoramic view of the inside of the mobile home….tres chic !

Dave and Ann at table d’orientation , Cote d’azure.

There is a red squirrel in this picture…he looks quite black in these pictures, but in the video, he is red ! There were three of them chasing around the trees in a small park we found en route between Frejus and St Aygulf.
Here are three stills from the video, which can be found at:-
http://youtu.be/1ACLvMtgKKg


 


Here’s my favourite :O)


A beach along the coast a bit.


Carousel on the sea front….there is a video of this too…..  http://youtu.be/ubehu2ngGXk

Two little kittens and their mother came and played outside our mobile home, until another better bet came along !




this also exists as a video, and is really sweet :O)   http://youtu.be/ibt5BjoHm44

2013-08-11 Market at Lagrasse

Some friends of ours, at their stall in Lagrasse.

It was a lovely day spent wandering around the stalls……bought some nice things….and was given some nice things too :O)

 

 

 

 

2013-08-08 August in the garden

Firstly apologies for the lack of photos this month, our camera broke and we ordered a part to repair it, which took an age to arrive, and when it did, it was not the right bit…..:O(

So we bought a new camera, quicker (and cheaper) in the long run ! So some of the pictures may be a bit whacky as we have had to try out ALL the different  modes on the new camera :O)

 

An EXTREMELY diligent ant carrying a dead cricket , vertically up the side of our water tank……he had several attempts before succeeding this far ! 

 

Two slightly fuzzy pictures of the “Broad bordered bee hawk moth” similar to the humming bird moth, and just as quick :O)

Storm arriving……..

I thought it was a big beetle at first, then realised it was moving too quickly, turned out to be a Pigmy shrew, first one we have seen, I have reason to believe the cat has seen many more ! (sorry about picture quality, it was through a plastic pot)

 

Les tomates.

  

L’onions.

 

Cailho, my Cailho !