Hmmm...where did those muscles comes from?! I do believe I feel sore from yesterday's pilates session. Excellent. Bring on the next one.
Debate over term 'retreat'. Melanie doesn't like it. She worries that implies something it's not. Interesting. I think when she hears that word she's thinking more of a monastic retreat, perhaps even a silent one, with limited food or alcohol, meditation or prayer time, that kind of thing. I use the term to mean escape from my real world where I can disconnect, focus on myself and my thoughts, do something healthy be it pilates, hiking or swimming. It's great to be in the country where I can recharge my batteries and disappear from the noise and bustle of a city. I want to observe what phase the moon is in, not just read about it. Can I find Cassiopeia? Can I spot a deer? Can I find time to sit and read a book? This is what I mean by retreat.
It's also interesting that there are women who come here to get some time alone. Ladies with the demands of a family and a job looking to check-out and do something they want to do. This place is perfect for them. And yet here I am, with all the time in the world to myself, always doing what I want, still looking for the same kind of escape. It's a bit of a contrast and yet I think that in both cases it has to do with what you have and what you don't.
I'm reading this book called "Tales of a Female Nomad". After twenty some years of marriage, as it starts falling apart, she goes on a trip and discovers who she really is. That she can explore the world and go and do things without a man. Ironically, I have been doing that for the last fifteen years or so and have been looking for a man to share these adventures with the whole time. A variation of her story in reverse?
Here at the non-retreat I am as alone or social as I want to be. There aren't very many people here. Liz, the new arrival, has gone walking today...in 38'C heat. Yikes. Natalie and I just had pilates together and are chilling separately with our books. Melanie is doing work. But still, should I choose to go and chat, I could. I don't. Not now. Maybe later. This down time is brilliant and moreso because it's a choice. I can see, however, that this place isn't for everyone. Those who want complete solidude can't really get it because the meals are communal...and that is so nice, even if the conversation is occasionally stilted. Those who want people, people, people, won't get it either. There are only 4 rooms therefore, at max, this place will only accommodate 8 people. I feel like Golidlocks, for me this is just right!
An afternoon car trip to Cenac and Domme was a good escape from my 'escape'. I was excited to come back to the Dordogne after all, why not see some of the scenery? I'd been a sloth for pretty much 48 hours by then, time to stretch my legs.
It was a pretty meander through all the hamlets in the area as I took the back roads there. I thought I might get some 'intel' about canoeing tomorrow but couldn't really be bothered. Unplanned is the flavor of the holiday thanks very much. Instead I tested my stick shift driving skills, the clenched jaw was unavoidable, and drove up, up, up from Cenac to Domme through an old stone archway barely wide enough for a car and through an adorable little town. I didn't get to really enjoy it the first time through as I was scanning for a parking spot - as was everyone else. I didn't want to stop lest I need to make a hill start and roll back into the Mercedes behind me but before I knew it I was again pointing downhill, out through another gate and down to the main, larger parking area.
I walked back up the hill which suited me fine only I was roasting. I had a hat, my sunnies, and my paschmina wrapped around me in lieu of sunscreen. I'd put out my MEC thermometer in the shade and it read 36'C. A time & temperature sign in the sun in Cenac read 43'C. An average of 39'C was still more than double the average temperatures of the Netherlands in all of July! Good thing I had a water bottle with me.
Domme is a cute town with typical touristy shops which I quite like poking into. Jewelery, ceramics, clothing and food speacialties like foie gras (no thanks!) were everywhere. The ice cream shops were making a killing. There was a church I popped into to look at, they're always fascinating to go into, and briefly escape the heat. There was a cave that I opted to skip and instead went to a restaurant with a cafe on the town's cliff edge and ordered a glass of white wine (2.50€). I was dripping with sweat by the end of it but it was shaded so I could take off the paschmina and hat. The view was spectacular and I was quite content.
I arrived back at Les Tilleuls in time for the tail end of happy hour with our new arrival, Margaret - a teacher from London. I think we'd reached critical mass with English ladies and I let them discuss the English school system and TV shows I'd never heard of. They're all lovely but I think the heat had taken a lot out of me and I ended up excusing myslef and going to bed right after dessert was served.
For the record, tonight I tried duck for the first time. It was okay but I doubt I'd seek it out again on purpose. This place does seem to be playing up to my food dislikes. Melanie has commented more than once that she wished I'd been more specific on my food-form. Maybe I shouldn't move to France after all!
Debate over term 'retreat'. Melanie doesn't like it. She worries that implies something it's not. Interesting. I think when she hears that word she's thinking more of a monastic retreat, perhaps even a silent one, with limited food or alcohol, meditation or prayer time, that kind of thing. I use the term to mean escape from my real world where I can disconnect, focus on myself and my thoughts, do something healthy be it pilates, hiking or swimming. It's great to be in the country where I can recharge my batteries and disappear from the noise and bustle of a city. I want to observe what phase the moon is in, not just read about it. Can I find Cassiopeia? Can I spot a deer? Can I find time to sit and read a book? This is what I mean by retreat.
It's also interesting that there are women who come here to get some time alone. Ladies with the demands of a family and a job looking to check-out and do something they want to do. This place is perfect for them. And yet here I am, with all the time in the world to myself, always doing what I want, still looking for the same kind of escape. It's a bit of a contrast and yet I think that in both cases it has to do with what you have and what you don't.I'm reading this book called "Tales of a Female Nomad". After twenty some years of marriage, as it starts falling apart, she goes on a trip and discovers who she really is. That she can explore the world and go and do things without a man. Ironically, I have been doing that for the last fifteen years or so and have been looking for a man to share these adventures with the whole time. A variation of her story in reverse?
Here at the non-retreat I am as alone or social as I want to be. There aren't very many people here. Liz, the new arrival, has gone walking today...in 38'C heat. Yikes. Natalie and I just had pilates together and are chilling separately with our books. Melanie is doing work. But still, should I choose to go and chat, I could. I don't. Not now. Maybe later. This down time is brilliant and moreso because it's a choice. I can see, however, that this place isn't for everyone. Those who want complete solidude can't really get it because the meals are communal...and that is so nice, even if the conversation is occasionally stilted. Those who want people, people, people, won't get it either. There are only 4 rooms therefore, at max, this place will only accommodate 8 people. I feel like Golidlocks, for me this is just right!
An afternoon car trip to Cenac and Domme was a good escape from my 'escape'. I was excited to come back to the Dordogne after all, why not see some of the scenery? I'd been a sloth for pretty much 48 hours by then, time to stretch my legs.
It was a pretty meander through all the hamlets in the area as I took the back roads there. I thought I might get some 'intel' about canoeing tomorrow but couldn't really be bothered. Unplanned is the flavor of the holiday thanks very much. Instead I tested my stick shift driving skills, the clenched jaw was unavoidable, and drove up, up, up from Cenac to Domme through an old stone archway barely wide enough for a car and through an adorable little town. I didn't get to really enjoy it the first time through as I was scanning for a parking spot - as was everyone else. I didn't want to stop lest I need to make a hill start and roll back into the Mercedes behind me but before I knew it I was again pointing downhill, out through another gate and down to the main, larger parking area.
I walked back up the hill which suited me fine only I was roasting. I had a hat, my sunnies, and my paschmina wrapped around me in lieu of sunscreen. I'd put out my MEC thermometer in the shade and it read 36'C. A time & temperature sign in the sun in Cenac read 43'C. An average of 39'C was still more than double the average temperatures of the Netherlands in all of July! Good thing I had a water bottle with me.
Domme is a cute town with typical touristy shops which I quite like poking into. Jewelery, ceramics, clothing and food speacialties like foie gras (no thanks!) were everywhere. The ice cream shops were making a killing. There was a church I popped into to look at, they're always fascinating to go into, and briefly escape the heat. There was a cave that I opted to skip and instead went to a restaurant with a cafe on the town's cliff edge and ordered a glass of white wine (2.50€). I was dripping with sweat by the end of it but it was shaded so I could take off the paschmina and hat. The view was spectacular and I was quite content.
I arrived back at Les Tilleuls in time for the tail end of happy hour with our new arrival, Margaret - a teacher from London. I think we'd reached critical mass with English ladies and I let them discuss the English school system and TV shows I'd never heard of. They're all lovely but I think the heat had taken a lot out of me and I ended up excusing myslef and going to bed right after dessert was served.
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