Musings

There are many things to love about France. Everybody knows about the scenery, the café culture; the fact everyone appears to be so chic. There’s the joie de vivre, the wine and the food, but well, have you considered … crisps? “Chips” (pronounced “sheep”, or even “sheeps”), as they are called here, arrived from the…

Happy New Year I hope it’s not too late to wish everyone a Happy New Year, Bonne Année, Feliz año nuevo! (I added the Spanish version because four out of our most recent bookings have been from families based in Spain, most notably, Barcelona, which is only about three and a half hours’ drive from…

A Change of Perspective Rightly or wrongly, long ago, I acquired a reputation as a bit of an old cynic and even something of a curmudgeon, but one of the things I’ve noticed since Marianne and I moved to Puivert a year ago, is the spirituality of the people here. Before that, I actually didn’t…

Welcome to Chez Marius, the little local café in my ‘home’ village of Puivert. Join me in my favourite cosy corner as I pen this blog, trying not to drip coffee from my croissant onto the laptop keys – we dip them here, you know!   First, let me tell you about Jonesy. He’s been…

Welcome back to our little village of Puivert, nestling in the foothills of the Pyrenees in the “département” of Aude, noted mainly for tourism, agriculture and wine production. Locally, there is little industry and most that is here, is allied to agrochemicals or aerospace, the latter being centred in Toulouse, about 90 minutes away. Like many rural…