Happy New Year. Bonne Année from the Gard. It's glorious sunshine with a blistering Mistral blowing. But with blue skies above it's hard to feel down cast.
Work has been gathering pace here, with the exception of a hectic Christmas. Lots to repair, refresh, renew and create everywhere we look it seems! We like our gites to be top notch so are working hard to make sure no guests will be disappointed. In our own house builders are just about to mount an onslaught so we may well be living in a gite ourselves for the next few weeks. Lucky we have three to choose from!
It's been a great time for walks - more trips to the Cevennes and this week we discovered a couple of gems closer to home which were great right now but surely will be stunning in Spring or Summer. At St Quentin La Poterie we walked out of town straight into the winter vines. Through olive groves and undulating forest it was a simple but very pretty circular walk ending back at the Bar du Marchè for a quick tasty lunch.
The next walk started in the vines too, at the Domaine de Malaïgue just south of Uzès. Some American friends took us to find the Pont Roman, a hidden away relic of the Empire, fording a small river on the route between Uzès and somewhere we have yet to figure out! From there we walked up to Les Capitelles - more reminders of a distant past, though not so old. Built as shepherd's huts and animal shelters these dry stone huts ( also called Bories) dotted the landscape. Interesting in their number and especially for the unusual triple cabane.
There's always something to discover in this area. Almost at the end of our first year now we feel we've barely scratched the surface. If, like us, you enjoy the outdoors, history, gourmet food and beautiful weather - our self catering gites are a MUST!