Trip to France - Day 4

On the Monday of our holiday we headed into Mirepoix for the market. It was recommended by the host of our gite, and I'm so glad it was as it was such a fantastic market. Really busy and well used. So French! We got there about 10.30. We hadn't planed to be near to Mirepoix particularly but it turned out to be such a lovely town and I'm glad I got to see it. It's a mediaeval town, with no cars allowed in the main square, and tons of 'halles' where there are tons of bars and shops under old wooden structures. The market took up all of the square plus lots of the spaces near the church. We were mainly looking for food stuff that we hadn't been able to get at the supermarket, like quinoa, but we looked at all the other stalls too. I think that day I only bought some goats milk soap which smells divine, and I've heard it's really good for dry skin because it's so nourishing. 

There were plenty of places to sit on the square which was helpful to me. We also stopped for a drink at about 12.30, in a bar that turned out to be a Basque bar and sold a bunch of Basque products inside, which was pretty cool. I don't know if you've ever heard of Kir, or Kir Royale, which is blackcurrant liqueur with either just white wine or sparkling white wine - I really love it and we drank it lots in France. Anyway this bar had Kir Cidre, which was the creme de cassis with cider. It was lovely, I really enjoyed it!

I was wearing my flamingo skirt and pink top to go to the market, with anti chafing shorts underneath but otherwise with my legs bare. I have to say it was quite difficult to be both fat and visible disabled in France this time - I feel like I got a lot of stares and a few comments. But it was also hot, so I was going to wear what I wanted, thank you!

When we got back to the gite we went swimming sunbathing again, which was lovely. After a shower I put on my oversized yellow dress which I absolutely love and which is lovely to wear on holiday. Lee and I made chilli for everyone, we made it vegetarian first of all then cooked beef mince for everyone else as neither of us eat it. Everyone really enjoyed it which was good! 

Flamingo skirt and pink top - the top is getting a bit bobbly now so I really need something else to wear with this skirt - maybe I'll find something next summer

A very old building in Mirepoix itself. It's a lovely town, I really recommend it, especially on market day!

This carousel was so pretty but sadly wasn't open, or I would have gone on it

Following my godparents through the market. This photo really doesn't show how busy it was

This one does better! The buildings are so beautiful

This square in the middle was left empty with stalls all round the outside

Kir Cidre

Chilli outside that evening

And finally my evening outfit, my favourite mustard coloured dress

Trip to France - Day 3

On the first Sunday morning of our holiday Lee, Alison, my mum and I went to the supermarket. Most supermarkets in France close at noon on Sundays so we had to get a shift on. We bought enough stuff to last a few days, including stuff for barbecues. My mum and Alison had got some veggie stuff for me, including a thing that was just breaded cheese, which was delicious! We bought a ton of stuff. I love French supermarkets, they are filled with such wonders. 

In the afternoon we sunbathed. It was hot and the pool was so refreshing. I had bought three new swimming costumes to wear on holiday, although I ended up only wearing two of them. This bright orange one was in a two pack with another that is orange with a purple pattern. I like it - it's slightly big around my bust but it stays up fine when I've got the halter strap on, although it is removable if you wanted. I got the costumes from Crazy Clearance at bargain prices which I'm pleased about.

After sunbathing I had a shower and put on this floral dress. I love it but don't wear it that often, I'm not sure why. My friend commented on the instagram photo of it saying she really liked it on me. And I agree! I'll have to try to wear it more often. The cardigan came from Peacocks absolutely forever ago. 

Lee made pan haggerty to go with tea, which everyone enjoyed. It's just potatoes, onions, butter, and cheese, but it's absolutely delicious and everyone likes it. I was really grateful to him for doing some of the cooking for everyone! 

In the evening we did quizzes in the living room. It dropped quite cold at night, a bit too cold to sit outside, but it was nice in the living room with the doors open so there was a breeze coming through. The sofas were nice and comfy too which we appreciated. 

My view from the sun lounger. I do love having a private pool on holiday, it feels like such a luxury!

In the pool in my new orange swimming costume. It was lovely, I really liked it!

There was some cloud but on this day it kept moving quickly which was good

Simply Be floral dress

And finally pan haggerty all ready to eat!

Trip to France - Day 2

Lee and I had to leave our Airbnb by 10am on the Saturday morning, but my godparents wouldn't be picked us up until nearly 3pm as they were leaving their home in Charente at 9ish. My mum and stepdad left there then, too, but they went straight to the gite where we were all staying. Lee had asked if we could stay in the apartment longer, but we didn't get a reply, so we left at 10. We ate breakfast - pastry, juice, and coffee - on Place Carnot. It was very warm but quite overcast, but it got sunnier as the day wore on.

I really wish I had googled Sephora, because there was one just a few streets north of where we were. We would definitely have had time to go there! But I didn't think until later! So we set off south, looking at some shops and then we found a huge market, where I bought a nice little piece of garnet. All the markets I saw had rock stalls, which I very much appreciated as I love a semi precious gemstone! It was really hot so we sat for a little bit near the church. We headed back to Place Carnot for some lunch because I had seen that there were a few veggie options. I had a really nice cheese poke bowl, Lee had a chicken one. 

We went in some more shops after lunch but eventually just sat near the church on Place General de Gaulle waiting for Alison and Derek. It was hot and we were both so tired! They drove past us once (not their fault) but we eventually got in the car and thankfully to airconditioning! We got on to the motorway and were then on our way to Mirepoix! We got there around 4pm and got unpacked. The house had a bit of a strange set up - from the drive there was a steps up to the terrace and into the house, where there was a kitchen, an open plan living/dining area, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. From the terrace the steps you can see in the last photo went down to the garden, where the pool was. Then under the house were two more bedrooms and a bathroom, with their own entrance. Lee and I slept down there and it was fine - each room had windows and it was much cooler down there which was good. It was a nice house and we didn't mind having to go round and up the steps to get into the house! 

This was the place we stayed in in Carcassonne itself, on the second floor. It was cute!

The fountain in the middle of the square

Selfie showing off the sunglasses I had bought a few weeks before. I took contact lenses for every day of the holiday so I could wear my sunglasses, and it worked out well

Breakfast

These gates kept the centre car free

Typical French street

And another one

I loved this doorway and balcony, so fancy

One of the city wall entrances. The market was here

I loved this chic bicycle too 

Poke bowl for lunch! I'm not sure why the lunch offerings for vegetarians were better than the dinner ones, but there we go

And finally here's the pool in the gite, at 7.30 that evening just before we put our feet in it!

Trip to France - Day 1

On the 2nd of September Lee and I set off to France for ten days in the sunshine with my mum, stepdad, and my godparents, Alison and Derek. They live in France full time now, and have for ten years, and I haven't spent much time with them in so long, so I arranged for us all to have a holiday. We booked the gite last October and have been looking forward to it ever since! We had it booked from the Saturday until the following Wednesday, but as it turned out Manchester only has flights to Carcassonne on Wednesdays and Fridays, so Lee and I flew out on the Friday and had a night in Carcassonne by ourselves. We arrived at the airport really early and had a coffee then had a wander round the duty free before getting KFC for lunch (love their vegan burger!) and then queuing for the plane. 

We had booked an Airbnb right on Place Carnot in the 'new' city. Carcassonne is world famous for having the 'old' walled city, which was built by the Cathars, but it has a newer city too, which is still pretty old and still very beautiful. Place Carnot is one of the main squares in the 'new' city, so we were happy to stay right on it. We arrived around 5pm, having got a taxi from the airport, and rested for a bit in the airconditioning, before setting out to get something to eat.

Now, vegetarian options still aren't great in France, which I already knew, especially in smaller places. Basically everywhere will have pizza, but I don't always want to have pizza. So I had told myself I could eat some fish if I wanted - I do very rarely eat salmon and always really enjoy it when I do, so I'm not going to beat myself up too much. We walked round the whole square looking at each restaurant and sure enough vegetarian options were pretty thin on the ground. So I had salmon pasta in L'Atelier. Lee had a pizza, and then I had Cafe Liegois and he had chocolate liegois. So very French and absolutely gorgeous!

We went back to the Airbnb and watched Netflix. We were both very tired so didn't want to do much else. My mum and stepdad were already in France, staying at Alison's until the next day, so we were nearly all ready to meet!

We did Drop and Go with the car in Manchester which was fine but meant a really long walk from the car park for me. But I did it!

It had been really foggy over the tops on the way there

Sitting in Costa

Our plane - nothing fancy but it didn't take too long and was basically fine

In the Airbnb the lift went right into our apartment - you had to put a code into the lift to take you to the right place. This cute mat met us directly out of the lift

The room/apartment. You couldn't really have cooked in it but it was fine

Out on the square

Looking down one of the side streets with these cute hanging balls overhead 

Lee in the restaurant

Me drinking an Aperol Spritz with the toilets in the background - I go the best places, me

Salmon pasta

Cafe liegois

And finally Lee and his dessert. Just after this it started raining really heavily and everyone ran for cover near us. There was a proper thunderstorm overhead during the night, it really scared me!

Films of the Month - August

I managed to watch twelve films in August, which was a massive improvement on July, so I'm glad about that! Here's what I saw:

I was perusing the films on iplayer and came across Carousel, which I've never seen. I know the song You'll Never Walk Alone is from it, though. I quite like it, and Lee told me it was his grandma's favourite film, which is nice 

My friends Sam and Jac and I had a day out in Leeds and saw Joyride in the Light. Sam had seen a lot else of what was on and I was happy to go with whatever. I really liked this film - it's funny and moving in equal measure, and Olivia Coleman is of course brilliant

I've seen Boy A before, but not for a decade or me. It's loosely based on the story of the killers of James Bulger, starring Andrew Garfield, who I like 

My friend Stacey recommended The Father, so I watched it on Netflix. I liked it, but it's so sad

Netflix thought I might like Love Sarah, so I gave it a go. It's a cute enough story, but pretty boring. The film did not thrill me

Lee and I watched X Men Days of Future Past together, it's my favourite X Men film, I just love it. I love Quicksilver especially, I need a whole film just of him 

It was some years since the Rocky Horror Picture Show was released, and I mentioned it to some friends, so we all watched it together. I haven't seen the film in forever - I've seen the stage show more recently - so it was nice to rewatch it, and especially with Sam, Jac, and Jodie

Girl, Interrupted turned up on Netflix so I watched it. I LOVED it when I was younger, so it was nice to see it again. Brittany Murphy is a particular highlight, I miss her!

I had been watching the final Neighbours episodes when Guy Pearce turned up and reminded me about Priscilla Queen of the Desert. I've seen it before, but not for ages. Lee and I also saw it live when we were on our cruise! It's funny, I liked it

Someone was on about How to Build a Girl on Twitter so I thought I would give it a go. I don't like Caitlin Moran but I LOVED Raised by Wolves. This was pretty terrible, though. Beanie's accent was awful. I definitely hate watched it, ha

Because I'd watched Priscilla I was reminded of Hedwig and the Angry Inch so I watched that - it's fab, really funny and full of pathos 

Lastly I watched Say My Name. I can't even remember why I wanted to, but I did. I didn't love it - it's very odd. But Marc Bonnar is in it, so that was an unexpected bonus for me