jen and i are just back from a couple of weeks holiday in france. we had not holidayed there since 2008 i think. one week was in the hautes pyrenees and the other in the dordogne near bergerac. i love the rhythm of a couple of weeks holiday each summer. i have always loved france so it was good to be back. i have added some photos here which is a good way for me of remembering in years to come when its all a blur – at least that and the blog. we had an amusing start when we stayed a night in chartres to walk the amazing labyrinth. i had remembered that it is only open to walk on fridays and checked on the web site. only it turned out the day we arrived it closed early for a wedding. but a look back to photos from 2004 reminded me we had walked it before. i had remembered trying once before and it being shut which was a previous time. so i was glad for the photos (and harry remembered correctly, and this blog ).

i love that the labyrinth pattern of chartres is also on drain covers in the own now!!!

we chilled, visited lakes and mountains, canoed, paddle boarded, walked, talked, ate great french food, read books and so on. i read some great books this year and played an amazing game – summer is about the only time of year we play games i think. i’ll try and post about those in due course.

a highlight for me was visiting chateau de monbazillac – monbazillac is a dessert wine which has featured in my life since a 6th form exchange trip when i got a taste for it. we were staying very close by so it was fun to go tasting and i had to come away with a few bottles – this is me in a happy moment.

we arrived back to the obligatory courgettes turned into marrows on the allotment (i am not a fan) and happy to say some amazing ripe sweetcorn. back into action on monday.

if summer is a holiday season for you i hope you manage to relax and enjoy the rhythm of it.