Suki’s Place – Arrival on October 2nd

Each time we do a trip like this we research online.  For this trip especially, Maxine did a ton of research to find us a place to rent.  (Try sabbaticalhomes.com and vrbo.com.)  We also reach out to friends and friends of friends for tips.  That’s how we ended up with Suki.  She’s an English woman in her 60’s who’d retired from London to the South of France.  Bought a property with 2 buildings on it.  One’s her house.  The other, a four room separate building, she rents out.

Downstairs is one open space that I’m calling 2 rooms.  To the right of the doorway is the living room with an L-shaped sofa large enough for 2 people to sleep on.  It’s placed in front of a fireplace which (I’m looking at it right now) is wide enough for me to sleep in as well.  There’s a desk, which we decide will be Maxine’s for the trip.  To the left of the doorway is a table with six chairs.  I’ve claimed the area of the first 2 chairs as my desk for the trip, and it’s where I am as I type this.  Beyond the table, a 75% of full sized refrigerator, and over my shoulder the kitchen. 

At the center of the open room is a staircase that leads up to 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  Back downstairs, there’s another door off the kitchen that leads outside to a covered patio, a laundry room, and a bathroom.  There’s a pool that I’m sure we’ll never use in October, and there are the views.  From outside we can see Suki’s house, in fact, we can hear her in it.  So, it isn’t that private and secluded, not that we expected it to be, and in truth we’re glad for it.  Being out here in the country, we prefer to know that there are people around.

 

It’s in the village (100 people) of Broze, which is next to the town of Gaillac, which is in the Tarn, which is in turn part of the Midi-Pyrenees, which is a department of France.

After spending a hour catching up with Bill, we picked up our Hertz rent-a-car (piece of junk, more later…) and drove the hour to Suki’s.  Truly a lovely property on a hillside with views looking out to vineyards.  Photos soon!

Unpacked (punch drunk… I don’t think it’s possible for me to travel to Europe and not get jetlagged regardless of pills or beds or anything else).  This despite a simple flight over.  We made our way through the apartment, unpacking, examining the accommodations, checked what was in the kitchen drawers, looking out the views of the windows.  In short, confirming that this place was what we'd thought we were getting -- it was.

Took a walk through Broze, past one of the 100+ vineyards in the area.  We'd arranged in advance for Suki to prepare dinner for us our first night.  It was a pleasant time but, honestly, we don't remember much.  We were asleep by 9 pm.  Or, noon, if my body is still thinking it’s in Los Angeles.