Dead Monday

Long long long early early drive north. The weather took a turn for the worse as we neared Carcassonne and by Toulouse the rain was lashing down, reducing everyone to 50kmph on the autoroute. The rain let off slightly as we got to our estate agent's office - early - to be sent away across the square for a coffee at "the lovely cafe". The lovely cafe turned out to be a cafe bar, full even at 9.15am with men bent on enjoying the public holiday in time honoured fashion. Confusingly, they were French but swearing in English. Lovely for the kids, of course. Happy to have chosen espresso, we swigged and left.

Saw four lovely houses with an intensely annoying agent. All four houses had their fatal flaw (too expensive, enormous structural cracks from half the house slipping down a hill, no scenery or just didn't grab us the way a home should). So we'll carry on looking.

The photo is in St Antonin, a lovely medieval town. I managed to get this just before the kids swooped and kicked all the leaves up as they chased off after some rapidly disappearing local cats.

We stayed tonight in Castelnau de Montmiral, one of the local fortified hilltop villages. Quite beautiful. And quite quiet. Today is a holiday here. In the UK a bank holiday would have every restaurant flinging open its doors with family specials ... here everything closes. We ended up eating take out from Macdonalds in our hotel room. Grim, but necessary. We will get used to the French way. We will get used to remembering not to go anywhere when there's a holiday. One day.