Written on Monday, March 28th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
aquarobics, pool, swimming, swimming pool
My recent daring dip (see latest Twitters) has prompted some thoughts on pool props.
Aside from the usual lilos, balls and sundry inflatable animals to play with in the pool there are other various necessities for the well equipped piscine. Those of you who frequent aquarobics classes will be very familiar with these:
- for frog impressions you will need aqua mitts (they also help to keep your hands marginally warmer when swimming in sub-arctic conditions and increase resistance for arm exercises)
- for wannabe divers you will need a wetsuit (also vital when swimming in March – see above. Note – this is only ever done by Brits and regarded with absolute disbelief and horror by French neighbours. However it is crucial to maintain the reputation of British eccentricity.)
- noodles (not the edible type as they tend to disintegrate in the pool) are great fun for balance and buoyancy and come in a variety of suitably garish colours. They are also known as woggles and also to my friend Sue as Franks. The derivation of this term is best explained by Sue after the watershed.
- aqua dumbells which are another exercise resistance aid for arm exercises, not a reference to intellectually challenged beauties.
- ankle weights – again a resistance aid rather than something found in the type of catalogue that arrives in a brown paper cover. One tip here – do not purchase the ones that need filling with water. First of all it is impossible to gauge equal amounts as you fill them – this is rather important if you don’t want to end up with one leg worthy of Arnold Swarzenegger and the other belonging to the proverbial 8 stone weakling. If you put on one and then try to fill the other you will probably keel over and risk drowning. If you overestimate the amount of water in both you may never make it out of the pool again without the embarrassment of calling for assistance. So yes – I threw them away!
After all this exhausting talk of exercise I realise that there is one piece of pool furniture that I definitely need to put on my shopping list: a small inflatable tropical-looking island complete with parasol where you can lie back and sip a pina colada while soaking up the rays. I know I’ve seen one in a catalogue somewhere……
Written on Saturday, March 26th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
wifi
One of the extras we provide for clients is WiFi access in the house, however recently I had some problems with Orange/FranceTelecom – don’t ask! – which resulted in no Internet access for a few days. Apart from the need to field gite enquiries my day job in England requires constant access so I set off for Nyons mistakenly confident that finding free WiFi access would be a cinch. I fought my intrepid way through torrential rain (yes, it does actually pour here on occasion!) battling from mediateque to hotel to computer shop to no avail. I decided to give up and treat myself to cafe and croissants and what do I find – Cafe du Kiosque near the cinema has free WiFi. Result!
Written on Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011 at 1:28 pm
cycling, Tour de France, walking in provence
Trawling the internet the other day – my work distraction method - I came across an interesting blog on www.alastair.humphries.com about ‘micro adventures’. This seems to involve spending a weekend in a challenging activity such as cycling or hiking.
Why not try a cycling weekend in France trying out some of the Tour de France route? We are not that far from Mont Ventoux if you really want to test your stamina and there are plenty of other smaller mountains to practise on first! Take a look at some cycling posts in our Blog to get a flavour of what’s possible. If you prefer hiking there are countless trails here for all levels of proficiency – we have plenty of info on routes at our house.
Flights to Nimes, Marseille and Avignon mean a French micro adventure at Chateau Colombier is a real possibility.
Written on Monday, March 14th, 2011 at 10:20 am
books, reading
Mentioning the library at Chateau Colombier (which certainly caters for very varied tastes in French and English!) made me think about Book Clubs and the pleasures of sharing thoughts about books with like-minded people. We plan to offer reading breaks here – a chance for single ladies of a certain age (as the French so tactfully say!) to relax in a safe and comfortable environment, and to combine sunshine and good living with some gentle intellectual ‘workout’. Look out for details soon.
Any suggestions on books to discuss? I’ve just finished Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’ ( an amazing book – should have read it years ago) and David Starkey’s ‘Elizabeth’ which held my attention for the first two thirds but then seemed to get bogged down in boring detail. About to start ‘Room’ by Emma Donoghue.
Written on Thursday, March 10th, 2011 at 9:44 am
activities, books, cycling, visitors
It’s always great to get feedback from visitors (take a look at our Testimonial page on this site) We’re always looking for ways to improve the holiday experience for visitors to Chateau Colombier so we send out regular newsletters and this year we attached a quick survey for people to fill in. This blog is another way we try to keep in touch with people and let you all know what is going on in the region and any exciting changes we are making at the house.
A pleasing comment we received on the most recent survey was:
“We loved the library and thought it was a wonderful resource. We also enjoyed playing boules on your gravel drive, and giant jenga in the garden. It was excellent to be able to borrow bikes to get bread in the morning and the restaurant next door was high class quality dining.”
Written on Thursday, March 10th, 2011 at 9:43 am
activities, antiques
For a great day out why not visit L’Isle sur la Sorgue which is well known for its Sunday morning antique market. Twice a year at Easter and in mid August it hosts an internationally renowned antique fair. From April 22nd to the 25th this year over 300 local and visiting antique and flea market merchants will congregate in this picturesque Vaucluse town. The town is situated on an island between 2 arms of the Sorgue river which is a branch of the Rhone.
Whether you are a serious antiques connaisseur or just a casual collecter of ‘brocante’ this is an occasion not to be missed!
Written on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011 at 1:49 pm
activities
Easter is a great time to visit this area and it’s not too late to book a long weekend.
One of the main attractions over the Easter weekend is the ‘Corso’ or Easter Parade held in Nyons( about 10 minutes away by car) to celebrate the arrival of spring. Upto 30 floats brightly decorated with multi-coloured paper flowers do a circuit of the town, and each year there is a new theme. The Reine (the queen – a pretty girl elected the day before) and her dauphines (attendants) preside over the parade. If you want to get some idea of the amazing floats that you might see, visit www.lena26-mesbaladesenfamille.blogspot.com a site with loads of photos of past parades.
You can also visit the incomparable House of Horrors that forms part of the accompanying fair.
Extend your stay for a week or so and you can escape all the incessant Royal Wedding coverage that is bound to hit TV around then!
