Flaming June has arrived with the first heatwave of the year in Southwest France and I’m loving it. Unlike last year, we have also had some great weather during May so we, and our guests, have been using the pool already and, given the forecast, it will get a lot more use during June.
Eymet has been a hive of activity this month as the new water / drainage infrastructure continues to be rolled out along with fibre internet throughout the village. A wave of new traffic calming and pedestrian focussed measures have been put in place during the month which should make the Bastide and the Boulevard both safer and calmer. Place Gambetta is traffic free in the evenings now so the tables and chairs for the bars and restaurants can spread out and the kids can safely play around the square and fountain.
One day last week I was out running some errands before our next guests were due to arrive. I drove over to the farm just outside Eymet where we buy our eggs and, once again, was struck by the beauty of the countryside around us. It was a beautiful day, the vines are in full leaf, the corn and sunflowers are shooting, the Aquitaine Blonde cattle in the fields have calves with them and the wildflowers are stunning in the meadows. I reminded myself to get out for a run later to take some time to soak it all in properly.
Yesterday we spent a couple of hours in the sunshine at a local family run vineyard Domaine de Sauban who had an open day for tastings of their wines and those from other producers, great food provided by Andine, quad bike vineyard tours and various activities to keep the kids amused…oh and plenty of wine to buy direct from Christophe and team. Relaxing at events like this remind me how lucky we are to live here.
While we were planning our 2025 season I suggested to Tom that we block out a week for a road trip early May to take advantage of the late spring weather before we get too busy. Tom took no convincing at all of course, so at the start of the month we drove down to San Sebastian in Spain for 2 nights, back across the border to Saint-Jean-de-Luz for 3 nights, then 2 nights in Biarritz before heading home from there. It was lovely to spend a week by the ocean in the Basque region, with plenty of running and hiking along the beaches, superb seafood and local wines. It was our first time in St Jean de Luz and I thought it was lovely. I can imagine all 3 towns get extremely busy at peak season though, so May was a great time to make the trip. Time to start planning the next one!
