Tag Archives: St. Girons

Unexpected Things on Rue Gambetta

Still loading photos online for the (fingers crossed!) upcoming launch of the photo website to link to all of our travels for the last 5-ish years.

Unexpected things that have made me smile immensely tonight as I worked…

Went to Google Maps and pulled up our old address in St. Girons and did a quick swish around the neighbourhood and astonishingly, the Google Maps car had come by on a day and time when Mark’s van was parked in our parking lot across the street!

Then I was editing photos in Lightroom and when I was cropping this photo of Rue Gambetta, I noticed a VERY familiar white van (with some rural mud from job sites splashed on the bottom) parked at the end of this section of buildings — and there it was again — Mark’s van. He must have gone into the bank because that’s the building with the curved arches over the covered veranda.

Feeling homesick for France right now because it is too hot to sleep tonight in Ballarat and Christmas feels so very wrong when it isn’t cold!

Ah well…

On The Verge Of Christmas in France

We weren’t certain what to expect at the St. Girons Christmas Fair on Sunday, but we headed across the bridge to see what was unfolding.

Headed to the Christmas Fair in St. Girons

Oh my — it was all rather underwhelming. I had been hoping for something along the line of the amazing Christmas markets that I had been to in Germany. But the folksy fair was a very accurate portrayal of the fact that France is generally not the same kind of consumerist society that we have lived amongst in Australia, the UK, or the USA. It seems that the holiday season here is more about families gathered around the table to enjoy food, drink, conversation, and company than about how many gifts are under the tree for each person. And isn’t that charming!

Here are a few pictures from Sunday’s Christmas Fair — followed by a few more from the previous day’s weekly Saturday market. That actually would have been a good place to purchase last-minute Christmas gifts since there were some splendid items for sale at very fair prices.

Christmas balloon seller in St. Girons, France

Carnival-style booth at the Christmas Fair in St. Girons

Hand-cast candles for sale at the Christmas Fair in St. Girons

Food sales benefiting the Autrefois le Couserons association

Christmas quiche seller at the weekend market in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France

Market stall selling straw goods in St. Girons, France

Happy Holidays to one and all!!!

It’s Almost Christmas In France!

There are only 2 and 1/2 days left until Christmas Day and we had a leisurely ramble through our wonderful Saturday market today here in St. Girons. Thank heavens it is a little less crowded than during the manic summer months!

Saturday market shopping in France on the Saturday before Christmas

After buying our vegetables and dried fruit, we strolled through town enjoying all of the Christmas decorations and the happy vibe of the people all around. There was absolutely no sign of frantic last minutes shopping and everyone looked quite relaxed.

Now we’re home, listening to Christmas music on the stereo — and working on a super-secret project. Sorry — no advanced peeks!

Music for the Christmas season

9 Days to Christmas In A French Town

Taking a break from all of the photos and articles on Spain for a glimpse of a French town when there are 9 days left before Christmas.

The local town council has attached Christmas trees to the lamp posts on both sides of the bridge over the river.

Cyclists on the bridge in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France

View from the bridge in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France at Christmas time

This charming little dog was waiting for his/her owner to finish shopping in the toy store.

A little dog waits patiently for its owner to finish shopping in the toy store.

The weekend market now has a wintery Sunday version that has vintage goods for sale. It was quite enjoyable to be able to walk freely through the bare-branched avenue of trees without being jostled by the large throngs of people that attend the Saturday market. We didn’t actually find anything we wanted, but it was certainly was pleasant to walk in the fresh air and have a look around.

Shoppers at a winter outdoor market in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France in December 2012.

Photo Of The Day: St. Girons at Dusk in Black and White

Thought I’d share the background image of the new business cards that I ordered this week. We were crossing the bridge last Saturday evening after walking through a few streets looking at houses that were for sale.

The light was wrong for colour — but it was perfect for this black and white interpretation. This looks exactly like photos of St. Girons that we have seen from the mid-to-late 1800s into the early 1900s. This, like many other towns in France, really is a timeless place — and we love that.

Enjoy!

The beautiful Midi-Pyrenees town of St. Girons in the South of France at dusk from the footbridge over the river.

Oh My! I’m Publishing Photos of (GASP!) People!

3 PM UPDATE: Always wanting to make certain that I am doing the right thing, I had a talk just now with two charming gendarmes from the local police department. They assured me that if I was a valid professional, had a press pass (and of course I do!), and was not trying to infringe on people’s privacy, I am certainly allowed to take photos at public events. They also suggested that I just slightly blur children’s faces in a crowd, but they assured me that I was acting quite responsibly and they had no issues with the types of photos I was taking. I had felt quite confident that I was acting ethically and it was good to have that confirmed!
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After yesterday’s interesting little foray into EDITORIAL USE in photography, I’m back with more pictures of people taken in the context of a large PUBLIC EVENT. I can still barely believe that it’s even necessary to write that!

This morning I decided to do a little research above and beyond what I already knew.

Look what I found at the local news online — photos of identifiable people, face forward, including (wait while I gasp again) children. Like I said — NEWS coverage, whether print, online, or television, allows for picture taking at PUBLIC EVENTS such as festivals, parades, exhibits, weekend markets, and rather a lot of other circumstances where there are a lot of people present in one place.

Now, enough of that — let’s move on to the fun stuff…

At the Autrefois Le Courserons parade, these wonderful tall puppets came gliding by with no wibble-wobble whatsoever. And just look at how many people are lining the street on both sides to watch.

Giant puppets on parade at the Autrefois Le Couserons celebrations in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France

And then bzzzzzzzz — there go the beekeepers.

Beekeepers in the Autrefois Le Couserons parade in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France.

Look how much fun the sausage makers were having on their float!

A jolly time being had by the sausage makers in the Autrefois Le Couserons parade in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France.

Hope you continue to enjoy these little slices of life in the South of France because it is fun to share even if I do, to quote a fellow writer and world traveller, encounter the occasional ‘Nasty Nellie’ along the way.

Encore Avec Le Coq!

You would imagine that if you made the transition from a wee-bump in the French road, a village containing perhaps 200 people, to a regional town complete with restaurants, shopping, and traffic that certain brain-grinding rural sounds would not follow you. Not necessarily!

The back garden where Le Coq lurks amongst his feathered friends

All throughout the day during our short period of residence in Engomer, I heard the rooster — known locally as Le Coq — crowing repeatedly no matter what the hour. He was definitely not just a morning sort of fellow, but he did crack the peace and quiet of the early hours from about 5 AM onward. Unless I had the double-glazed windows shut tight and I was in one of the back rooms of the large house that we temporarily lived in, his incessant crowing filled the air.

Into St. Girons we moved a month and a half ago — but somehow the sound followed us. Know why?

At the bottom of the garden, hidden discretely behind a curtain of green vine-draped fencing off in the distance of that photo above, one of the neighbours has a garden that backs directly onto ours. Not only do these town dwellers have another noisy rooster lurking there, they also have chickens which softly cluck,cluck, cluck all day and several truly large geese which flap and squawk rather loudly.

Ah well — I should have remembered that no place in France outside of the major metro areas is ever really that far from the rural way of life. Thus in our own lives — it’s encore avec le coq!

This entry was posted in Europe, Ex-Pat Living, France, Travel and tagged backyard animals, europe, France, le coq, Midi-Pyrenees, regional living, rooster, rural life, St. Girons on 23/08/2012 by Deborah Harmes.

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