Senses Working Overtime

See The Pyrenees out there?

The blog has been tough for the past few days. The constant influx of new sight and experiences has slowed. We’ve come here (en Dimanche outside Mauvesin in the Gers region) to stay in one, new place. So writing has become a more internal exercise for me. But the lack of new stimuli seems to serve to heighten my other senses. As tacky as it sounds, it’s true.  

It is probably the decompression from my normal, Canadian life, and from the travel and constant moving of the past month. The new balance of our days here (drink coffee, ride bike, practice cello, read books) allows me to perceive differently. So I find myself noticing: colours are deeper, tastes are stronger, smells envelope me, and sounds? Well, I’m a listener, and becoming more of one each day!

big airplane models: Those are wings!

We are quite deep in the countryside, so the darks at night are darker, even as the stars burn brighter. But the sounds….. Well, the quiets are certainly fuller, I’ve noticed it at night especially: there really aren’t any busy roads near us. The only real interruptions are aircraft overhead. (Coincidentally, Toulouse is the home of Airbus, the aircraft manufacturer, which gave us the startling view of these plane parts on their way to the plant for final assembly, obviously they can only be driven late at night…sounds noisy…) During the mornings, I feel like the birds sing louder and more complex songs here, and coupled with the relative silence, the air is drenched with their songs!

Yesterday, Sue and the boys and I drove into Toulouse (my first trip off the farm, except to ride!) and found a lovely old part of the city with narrow streets and interesting boutiques and beautiful architecture. On the way home, we stopped a tiny foie gras farm (ever wonder where your foie gras comes from? Well we can tell you!) and bought a morsel for us to sample. Today we’ll go to Isle Jourdain to the big Saturday market to see how it differs from that of Divonne and other 200 markts we've seen on this trip! 

Toulouse balconies

Unfortunately I’m aware that this dream is all coming to a close. We’re in our last three weeks, and I find myself withdrawing a bit from the others here, to try to absorb all of these sounds, sights and smells even more, before it’s too late and we’re back to normal. Luckily our house here has plenty of room to find a quiet hideaway, to enjoy the song cycle around me!