Its been a busy summer with local brocantes, markets and aperos with friends and all in beautiful weather, and its not over yet!

I have been loving my dog walks in the countryside from July when we had weeks of the fields bursting with sunflowers. In the sunshine the fields looked almost a fluorescent yellow, just stunning. In the morning the flowering buds and young blossom face the east and then track the sun. This is distinctive to sunflowers and called ‘heliotropism’.

Did you know, France is the fifth largest producer of sunflower oil (Ukraine being no.1). And sunflowers have additional uses aside from human consumption. They are able to remove toxins from the soil and in fact where used in the remediation of contaminated areas affected by nuclear disasters in Chernobyl and Fukushima. Sunflower seeds were even grown successfully on the International Space Station back in 2012, as part of a biological experiment by astronaut Don Pettit.

Sorry, let me move on from my obsession with sunflowers!

Late July, I spent a wonderful evening at a theatrical show ‘L’exode de Ardennais’ which was performed in the grounds of the Château de Javarzay in Chef Boutonne, Deux Sévres.

The show explored the different cultures, the solidarity, fears, mistrust, friendship and love of two families in the Mellois region. As during the Second World War, May 1940, there was a government directive to around 70,000 people in Ardennes, to flee the advancing German army and take refuge in the department of Deux Sévres. How would people from the industrial East be welcomed in the agricultural West?

A very moving and funny story. It was of course all in French but I managed to follow and understood about 50% of the language which was a pleasant surprise for me!

Then it was time for my city fix and a visit to Paris and another exhibition, this time at Le Louvre.

I had never been to Le musée du Louvre and could not believe the size but then it is the largest museum in the world! A far cry from when it opened in August 1793 with 537 paintings both royal and confiscated church property.

The iconic glass Pyramid designed by the late I.M. Pei, was inaugurated 29^th March 1989 after four years work. It is a mini city and took us about twenty minutes to locate ´Louvre Couture’ and that was with Carolyn knowing the museum really well!

It was situated in the Richelieu wing, ‘Department of Decorative Arts` home to unique collections from Byzantium to the Second Empire.

(L to R – Christian Dior by John Galliano, Jean Paul Gaultier and Balenciaga)

It was the first time contemporary fashion pieces and accessories have been exhibited at Le Louvre. Exploring the interplay of design, fabrics, techniques with the history of art and culture, it sounded interesting.

If I’m honest some of the pieces ‘vanished’ in the many vast opulent rooms which was a shame. It wasn’t always easy to see the amount of detail.

(Top L to R – Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Fendi and Vivienne Westwood)

We both agreed it was still good and pleased we visited the exhibition

Walking around Paris was lovely and we could really notice the reduced traffic and with so many electric cars, positively quiet! After a late lunch, 18,000 steps, we returned back home to the countryside.

A couple of weeks ago, I drove to Aubeterre-sur-Dronne, two hours south on the border of South Charente and the Dordogne. Listed as one of France’s most beautiful villages. Of course, in August it is very touristy but well worth the visit.

Charming winding streets and passage ways with plenty of artisan shops to look around. It has welcomed pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostella in north west Spain and tourists for over 1000 years. The Place Trarieux is full of restaurants and cafes under the shade of trees with a relaxed French vibe! As it was 40C that day, it was one of two cool places to be.

The other being the underground monolithic church of Saint Jean. Carved into the cliff in the 7^th century and enlarged by a community of Benedictine monks in the 12^th century. The highest point is 20 meters. Tombs were discovered between 1958 and 1961 as it was believed burials were performed in the nave until 1865, this being halted for public health reasons. Up the stone carved stairs the view from the gallery really showed what a feat it had been to carve out such a structure. It is one of the most important such churches in France.

At the foot of the village the meadows lead to the River Dronne where you can find a beach, sports facilities and a campsite. But on such a hot day, I decided instead to have lunch and a huge iced coffee before walking back up a very steep hill to the car and thankfully air con!