Toulouse, encore

Sister Rose and I are back in Toulouse. We are both very tired after our first day, but in a nice way. We spent part of the afternoon in a salon de thé doing our homework. I had menthe à l'eau (minty water) and Sister Rose the Admirably Adventurous had Thé Magie - Magic Tea, which was an infusion of rosemary, lavendar, and 2 other things I can't remember.

The salon is a cool, kind of bohemian little place. Here's Sister Rose working on les devoirs (which means the homework, for the non-francophones) in front of the walls of pictures and handbills.

Last Day in Brighton (this trip)

It was raining and cold and blustery - about as far from last weekend's perfection as possible. England was reminding us of her other face. We went for a walk in the rain. Snapped pictures of a row of pretty houses in the North Laine.





Took the recycling to a drop off point, and watched the seagulls raiding the rubbish bins.
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Then we went to Harry's English Food restaurant in Hove and had English Food. The COG had kippers - which he said were really good. I had Scotch pancakes ( disappointingly not oat pancakes, actually just like American pancakes) and some really fantastic bacon. We drank 2 huge pots of tea and had a lovely time. I think Harry's will become a tradition.




Then home to clean and pack etc.

English News Headlines- They're Better Than Ours

Not better in the sense of 'good news' but better in the sense of more inventive and fun to read. Of course, the story behind this murder is very sad, but the headlines are fantastic! They've arrested a graduate student writing a dissertation about serial killers. You couldn't write a better mystery. The latest episode is that they've found 'what they believe to be body parts' near where one of the bodies was discovered and they are running tests on them.

British Place Names

I love British place names. Some of them are very old, and I try to look them up in books I've acquired about naming.

In fairness, I do have to point out that this sign was defaced and it's not really Poo End, but Pool End. But the other names are correct.

And the second sign is not defaced - Wyre Piddle is a real place in the Cotswolds. There's also a Much Piddle, but we didn't pass a sign for it.

Click on either of the pictures to enlarge them.

Puzzling British Signs: Part 6 in the continuing series

Lovely Weekend

This weekend we visited family in the Cotswolds and then in Herefordshire. The weather has been perfectly beautiful. And the drive, once we left the motorways, was lovely.

The COG's cousins in Herefordshire live in the most idyllic spot possible, and they have a beautiful house and garden. It was lovely to be out in the country and hear birdsong and see the amazing views of countryside.

Here are some random pictures I took from the car on the way. You may have to click on them to see them really well.

First picture is for Vivi - a flowered Mini - I missed the sign on the back that said "this car runs on fairy power'.








Everywhere there are fields of the most intense bright yellow. They are rape fields - growing rapeseed used for making vegetable oil. In America, they'e renamed it Canola Oil, but it's the same thing.








A miscellaneous motorist with a unique hairdo. I'm sure he was coming from Brighton.








A Cricket game in progress. Cricket is always so picturesque with the white clothes against the green cricket lawns.

Brighton Beach

Beautiful weather has arrived and today is particularly warm and sunny. We went for a long walk on the beach. Brighton beach is not a lovely expanse of sand, as you might imagine. It's a shingle beach, meaning it is a beach of rounded stones. They make a lovely sound when the waves pull back, but they are not as easy to walk on as damp sand.