St Gaudens
4 -7 May
Isabelle Got (former French assistant at The Correspondence School) now lives in a village called Villeneuve-de-Rivière, close to St Gaudens,(pronounced sarn go-darns) about 45 minutes from Toulouse Spain , UK and Germany
The area has a long history, and St Bertrand de Comminges, which is close by, was a Roman colony in the 1st century AD. There are many traces of the first settlements there, which were fairly extensive, and the cathedral on the hill is a mixture of Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance, with some 20th century restoration thrown in. The setting is very peaceful and from the 12th century cloister there is a view right over the plains. 
Jimmy and Isabelle were married last July and all the festivities took place within a couple of minutes of Isabelle’s house, with relations from everywhere staying in the local hotel. It seems to have been a great day, enjoyed by all and beautifully documented in Isabelle’s creative way, which she delighted in showing us.
It was just great to see Isabelle again and more than a pleasure to meet Jimmy, who has led a life so different from ours. We loved listening to his stories of nightclub life and also listening as he composed and compiled nightclub music in his studio. It is a long and repetitive process but Chris and I both rather miss the familiar sounds and rhythm.
Saturday morning saw us at the market. Not a big one but fresh produce brought in for the occasion. Sunday afternoon we had another market to go to - flowers and vegetables for the summer. There was a huge range. We bought a climbing rose, some profusely flowering daisies, beetroot and tomato plants and stopped by the stall of the man who does mosaics, a real labour of love, and who had made a model of Roman central heating. I hadn’t realised that they could also send heat up hollow bricks at the far reaches of their houses and had openings part way up the wall to let heat into the room.
On the Saturday afternoon we went to visit some friends who live ‘in the country’, which in this area implies narrow and rather winding roads, dwellings but no shops, and the ruins of Madame de Montespan’s castle from at least 3 angles. The friend’s house was enormous and despite this, the dining table occupied the length of the dining room. There was easily enough room for the four of us and the eight or more of them – and that was only about three quarters of the table occupied! We hadn’t come to eat, though we all accepted the apple and berry tart that was offered. And the coffee! And the chocolate!
The elections took place on the Sunday we were there but except for watching the TV broadcast at 8pm sharp, we didn’t participate in anything. There was a very high turnout of those enrolled (but we have no idea how many didn’t enrol and it is a complex process involving queueing…) and the result was miles closer than was expected. Ségolène says the battle is not yet over. She has a lot of support from the young people, who are pretty displeased with the election result and have been displaying their anger. And there is still the election of the deputies in June. The whole scene is more left wing here than we are used to. But the social problems worry everybody, especially employment for young people (qualified people included), who don’t have access to a stable form of revenue and can’t imagine what will happen to them in the future. For the first time, the next generation looks as if it will be less ell-off than their parents. Well, enough of politics. Our stay up in St Gaudens was memorable for things other than the elections!
More photos at
