You may have heard that right now, much of Europe is experiencing the greatest heat wave (called “Canicule” in France) since 2003. We’re expected to reach well more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit for the next several days, and we’re receiving all kinds of warnings about how to survive the heat.

We’re so fortunate that today, our friends Carole and JJ hosted a pool party at their beautiful home for about 12 of us – what a fun way to beat the heat!

Last Tuesday, June 18, was the first day of Carcassonne’s umbrellas above our pedestrian street in La Bastide! They’ll be there for about three months. This is only the second year that the city has done this, and people love it! They shade us from the sun, protect us (a little bit) from the rain, are fabulous in photos, and add so much summer color!

Thursday, June 6, 2019, 20 of us took a wonderful day trip to the lovely little hill town of Rennes le Château. It’s an hour south of Carcassonne, and has commanding views toward the Pyrenees, a proud estate and a lovely chapel both dating to the late 1800s, a museum, a tidy assortment of stone homes and buildings, artisanal shops, scenic restaurants and 24 residents.

Check out this fun restaurant, Le Poulpe (The Octopus), a “summer pop-up” on Leucate Beach on the Mediterranean! Its owners spend a few weeks in May bringing to the beach everything needed for this excellent restaurant and setting it up. Its opening day this year was Friday, May 24, and I was fortunate enough to dine there on Sunday May 26! It closes in early fall.

Last Saturday, May 25, was the one-year anniversary of the day that Jeff and I left the United States. It’s amazing to me to think that we’ve spent the first of many years in our new European home. Here’s a photo tour of some of the places we’ve been in the last year. If you’d like to read a little more, click on the links – they’ll take you to the blog posts I’ve written about some of these beautiful places.

Our Farmers’ Market in Spring! It’s bursting with spring fruits, vegetables and colors. Just gorgeous.

March 31 – During Geri’s visit, we biked from home, along The Canal du Midi, past vineyards, to our nearby town of Trebes for lunch along the canal. Just gorgeous. I’ve added some history of The Canal du Midi’s construction at the very bottom of this post.

There are so many fun, scenic things to do in and around Carcassonne that it’s a delight to plan visits for family and friends. My dear friend Geri, from Colorado, visited us in early April this year for five days, and my next posts are about some of the fun things we did together.