Have scythe, will travel!

Howdy y'all,

Well my second week at Chateau Brametourte has flown by. It's great to spend another week in this delightful part of the world but my placement is fast coming to an end. I leave tomorrow (Saturday), and I'm travelling from Toulouse to Paris on a TGV train, the sort that can cover a quarter of the globe in about 15 minutes - if you believe the French!

I'm definitely sad to go. I've had a great time here and met some wonderful people, who I hope to stay in touch with for a long time. But a leopard don't change it's spots, and after two weeks in these tranquil surroundings I'm ready to prowl the city streets like the buddha of Rock that I am, searching for fresh carrion.

I am meeting up with my good friend Katy in Paris, to start our month of travelling together - though she might struggle to recognise the sun-shrivelled fly-blown mess I have become. I have grown a bit of a beard again now that two weeks have passed without my chin seeing a razor. Also I have gone a couple of shades more brown, but that's mostly dirt. I've grown older and wiser.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of eastern Europe, though I'm wondering exactly what the Ukraine holds in store! 'Cheap as chips,' the Lonely Planet guide tells me, 'but don't drink the tapwater or dance provocatively with the locals - you will most likely be shot.' Having never been there, I have no choice but to believe them.

Despite these words of caution it promises to be great fun. I will be providing photographic evidence of all our escapades! (If you're wondering where I'm heading I've done another blog explaining it here.)

This week I have mostly been working outdoors, clearing space for vegetable allotments in the field known as the potager [1]. I have also been learning how to use a scythe [2]! (The picture shows me preparing to harvest the souls of some French peasant folk. I did get a bit carried away - thankfully not much damage was done.)

Part of the chateau's charm is how it teems with hidden wildlife, with bats flying through the rafters at night, and falcon chicks nesting in one of the upstairs rooms. Paul and Alison also keep several chickens, whose antics almost fill the void left by TV [3]!

I have no tales of dinner parties or open-air pools to entertain you with this week, though on Monday I went on a drive with Peter (one of the Australians) to a nice town called Albi [4] [5] [6] [7], which was the birthplace of Toulouse Lautrec. We had a look around at the amazing giant mutant cathedral of Sainte Cecile [8] [9] [10] and sat out at a cafe "watching girls go by", as per the Andy Williams song. That was fun. We felt at least 10% more cultured afterwards.

This week has been a mixed bag weather-wise. We caught the tail end of some of the nasty UK weather on Wednesday. I got caught in a torrential downpour while I was working, and I got all wet and pissed off. Today though, there has been brilliant sunshine and scorching temperatures. On a clear day like today you could see as far south as the Pyrenees and Andorra. They lie on the horizon like forbidden jewels.

I spent tonight attempting to cook dinner [11], then having a final meal with everyone [12] (left to right: Bin, Geoff, Paul and Alison). Tomorrow I'll be saying my goodbyes and hopefully looking forward to a long but very fast train journey. I'm not sure how soon I can do another update, as it depends if Katy & I pass an Internet cafe, but treat this as just the first slice of what will hopefully be a very intriguing travel pie.

Hope you are well, wherever you are this Christmas.

Much love and respec',
Bondy