Rêver de la beauté de France...

The swifts and the swallows swept over the turquoise water and mid swoop - so quickly you would miss them if you blinked - a quick sip and they were gone... In the distance, the comforting clanking sound of a cow bell, or, as I found out later, a sheep bell. In fact, all the sheep in this alpine region seemed to have been bestowed with a cling-clong-clank around their necks, and the mass effect when the whole heard decided to graze just behind our house was that of a noisy yet strangely soothing symphony. 

The small geckos came out soon after the rest of my noisy family had left for their walk, enjoying, I suppose, the silence as much as I did. My back had decided to misbehave this holiday, and as much as I love long walks in beautiful surroundings, I confess I welcomed this rare opportunity for solitude. The sun, my book and I really tasted the true flavour of holiday that morning...

We are very lucky to have friends who have the good taste to welcome us in their house in the south of France, near the foothill of the Pyrenees. The views are breathtaking, and I could happily sit and stare at the mountains all day, at their changing colour with the light, in the evening ending up in a hypnotic, multidimensional, gloriously panoramic parade of different shades of blue. This is where we spent the last days of our holiday a few days ago, and looking at the photos now, it already seems a distant, but oh-so-sweet, memory.

As so many houses in this region, this one just happened to come with an old barn (what I wouldn't do for one of them!), and one part of this large barn houses a ping-pong table, where you can work off some of the glorious local cheese and paté, before sinking into the irresistible pool to cool off. Another part of the barn has two floors, with the top floor wall-less on two sides. The owners have there put a large rug and a pile of cushions on the floor, and it serves as a haven for afternoon siestas or even alternative sleeping arrangements on hot nights. In short, the whole place is a little piece of paradise, and I feel very lucky to have tasted its sweetness.

No wonder I can't stop *dreaming of the beauty of France...