Mountain Break

4.8.15:

A gentle start with toast and marmalade looking over at the mountains from the terrace. Then followed a long coffee break for me in the village café about 5km away while Rowena did work and council stuff at the Mairie which was connected to the outside world. Luckily my trusty ipod and myself enjoyed the peace and quiet as I galloped towards the bloody end of Philippa Gregory's "The Other Queen" (Mary Queen of Scot's).
Rowena treated me last night so it was my turn to pick up the tab today. I took her to a restaurant overlooking the river; once again in Spain where apparently she'd always wanted to try. Glad to say that she wasn't disappointed. http://www.amielmolins.com/
From here we went into Figueres for a bit of shopping and went in and out of shops until our legs lost the will to go on.
On the way home we stopped off to water plants that Rowena had planted around the church in the little hamlet (there's no budget for anything more grand). Sadly she'd forgotten the wateringcan so we improvised with the cool bag that should have been filled with the frozen food that we didn't have the energy to go and buy. Must have looked a bit odd. It was well into the evening by the time we arrived home so it was as well that we didn't need to eat before we headed for an early bed and for me, Mary, finally lost her head. That's the problem with historical novels .....  you're always waiting for the tragic end right from the very start. It's no wonder that I read crime novels as a counter balance to give me a dose of mystery.
Did I buy anything you'll no doubt be dying to know.  Yes, of course I did. Another pair of baggy lightweight trousers. Since I've lost a few kg, I'm feeling very Lauren Bacallish, if you know who she is. If you don't, no matter. Just think willowy elegance! Well, a girl can dream!
Weather:
35° Hot and Sunny

3.8.15:

Well, it's an ill wind that blows no one any good, as they say. Roger from the village knew that today I was going to Rowena's a way up in the mountains on the border by bus. He insisted on driving me to get my connection thus saving a wait of over an hour between buses. As it happens he looks after holiday homes, one of which is down the rough track where Rowena lives and there was a problem that he needed to go and sort out. So, unexpectedly I had door to door service!
There was a lunch of (gluten free) quiche, salad and champagne sitting under a pergola in the garden with the sound of water running into a little pond and mountain views opposite. Iydllic!
Living as she does in the back of beyond, you can imagine how important it is to have a good internet and telephone connections so with a pole that had come down, Rowena was anxious to know what was happening. We went up the track and down another one to visit the mayor and his Swedish wife, to find out what was what. Apparently, 48 hours was needed to deal with it. Ooooh, scary!
The (new) mayor who seems to have good ideas and open approach was interesting to talk local politics to and we whiled away a couple of hours refreshed by orange juice and another beautiful view.
In the evening we headed over the border for dinner at La Quadra http://www.laquadra.com/en/restaurant.html after an al fresco apéritif in the square. Great for Rowena as Spanish/Catalan restaurants take gluten allergies seriously; they mark their regular menus accordingly and may even have a dedicated one. Certainly not the case in France. Gluten free or not, the meal was excellent.
Weather:
Hot and sunny