Isobel by the front gate
A Roussillon Farmhouse, Fourques, Perpignan, France - 17th September 2006
Nosher and Isobel - on a first real holiday - head over, via the joys of Ryanair, to Girona in Spain. From there, after picking up a hire car, it's a couple of hours' drive to a farmhouse up in the hills of Roussillon, somewhere near the village of Fourques, which is itself somewhere vaguely near Perpignan. Here, we meet up with Isobel's friend Jules and family - some from Brussels and others all the way from Iowa, USA - for a relaxing few days hanging out, eating meat and cheese with baguettes, and, for some, picking this year's harvest from the nearby vineyards - something Nosher hadn't done for several years. The house itself is interesting, as it was rumoured to have been home to some kind of commune or even cult at one time. It's a largeish building with a main living area-cum-studio surrounding a courtyard, with extra "detatched" bedrooms upstairs and is totally off-grid, with its own well and a generator plus solar-powered battery backup. However, the best thing has to be its aspect, which is kilometres from anywhere along a dirt road, perched on a hillside and with stunning views of the Pyrenees. Waking up in the morning to look out of the shuttered windows upon a misty field of vineyards backed by the mountains is something pretty cool. There's also the opportunity following dinner, which various people took in turns to prepare for the group, and following L'heure du Muscat, to sit out and look up at the Milky Way in the clear, dark, night skies.
next album: Girona, Catalunya, Spain - 17th September 2006
previous album: Baits Bite Lock, Folk Night at the Salisbury Arms, and Kebabs, Cambridge - 12th September 2006
Dirk mills around, preparing for dinner
Isobel and Jules
Jules with the Baby Kai
The farmhouse kitchen
Lunch is served: people mill around
Isobel and Jules have lunch
Lunch turns in to dinner
In the courtyard for dinner
After an Heure du Muscat, we watch the skies
The view from the bedroom window
Natan makes fart noises down a piece of tubing
A view of the pickers
The dirt track in and out of the farmhouse
Jules, Isobel and Kai roam around in the vines
Jules in the vineyard
Isobel grabs a bunch of grapes
Kai (The Baby Nosh) helps by passing over a grape
Vineyards of Rousillon
A derelict hut
Jules shows Isobel and Nosher around the old hut
By the old hut
Back in the kitchen, it's our turn to do lunch
Natan
Jules's parents, Natalie and Bill
Sticks of fresh French bread
Relaxing in the lounge
Pieter hauls Natan around on a boogie-board
Natan leaps out of shot
A woman at Cap Leucate surveys the beach
Jules and Kai
Jules' dad Bill
Pieter's dad Dirk
In the kitchen at night
The view of the Pyrennees from the bedroom window
Another view of the vineyards
Nosher and 'The Baby Nosh' Kai play with cars
A plant-pot holder on the courtyard wall
Isobel tries a grape
Bunches of grapes
A huge cricket is spotted
A tractor on the road between Fourques and Cerét
The 30s Majestic Cinema in Le Boulou
Le Boulou town centre
Anne-Mie, Dirk and Isobel
Isobel plays piano, as it echoes around the house
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Isobel by the front gate
Isobel by the front gate
Dirk mills around, preparing for dinner
Isobel and Jules
Jules with the Baby Kai
The farmhouse kitchen
Lunch is served: people mill around
Isobel and Jules have lunch
Lunch turns in to dinner
In the courtyard for dinner
After an Heure du Muscat, we watch the skies
The view from the bedroom window
Natan makes fart noises down a piece of tubing
A view of the pickers
The dirt track in and out of the farmhouse
Jules, Isobel and Kai roam around in the vines
Jules in the vineyard
Isobel grabs a bunch of grapes
Kai (The Baby Nosh) helps by passing over a grape
Vineyards of Rousillon
A derelict hut
Jules shows Isobel and Nosher around the old hut
By the old hut
Back in the kitchen, it's our turn to do lunch
Natan
Jules's parents, Natalie and Bill
Sticks of fresh French bread
Relaxing in the lounge
Pieter hauls Natan around on a boogie-board
Natan leaps out of shot
A woman at Cap Leucate surveys the beach
Jules and Kai
Jules' dad Bill
Pieter's dad Dirk
In the kitchen at night
The view of the Pyrennees from the bedroom window
Another view of the vineyards
Nosher and 'The Baby Nosh' Kai play with cars
A plant-pot holder on the courtyard wall
Isobel tries a grape
Bunches of grapes
A huge cricket is spotted
A tractor on the road between Fourques and Cerét
The 30s Majestic Cinema in Le Boulou
Le Boulou town centre
Anne-Mie, Dirk and Isobel
Isobel plays piano, as it echoes around the house