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So, these two photos are from a trip I took to Florac a few years back, which is a small town right on the edge of one of the larger expanses of wide open spaces in that region known as la Causse Méjean. Funny, lately sitting in my offices at work, I've been dreaming alot about roaming in wide open spaces like these, where abandoned farms can still be found with old plows and other bits and pieces laying around, and have been for the past 50 years or more . . . a heart-breakingly beautiful stretch of landscapes if there ever was one . . .
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And yes, this is of course one of my Dream Houses . . . just needs a little tiny bit of work . . .
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23 comments:
Oh my, greater for being in black and white. Love the Dream Home.
BTW, Lynne and I have been talking about you behind your back at her place (about her town post....)
Amanda, Oh dear, sounds like double trouble then ! Today it's you who gets the early bird award ! Hmm, how about a decorative but empty bottle of port ? You know where from !
"Oh give me land, lots of land and the starry skies above" (all together now)--"don't fence me in!"
That house--nothing a good coat of paint couldn't fix up! And maybe a tarp if it rains.
We have some rusted out farm equipment in our "yard" that Pierre rescued from somewhere. Maybe he should go over and collect the one in the first photo. He'll probably want the stones from the house as well, though. Let's have drink with the Saj and ponder this a bit further.
I love the location of the house but it's just a tad too much work for me. I don't mind a fixer-upper but this one is too falling-downer.
I would love to live in that area of France. Heck, I'd like to live in any area of France.
Look at those stone arches holding fast to the memory of the roof that once was.
I may have to put a bid out on that house...
The second picture looks like a still from WIthnail & I. Here hare here...?
I love the Lozère too , i was near Florac this summer and the region is still the same, authentic !
This reminds me of the song "Wide open space" by Mansun - "I'm in a wide open space, it's freezing"
Give me the city anyday!
Owen, thanks a lot for all the positive comments about my work. I'm much better to take picture than to write posts, so I really appreciate your blog for the amazing balance between power of images and power of words.
For Owen's readers who joined in July or after, I really recommend you the amazing Aussie Tractors post. It almost made me cry. I would like to write so powerful words to my daughter in few years...
Owen, I like these two photos very much, may I print them out for my own use in our little house?
I think the Perigord is near les Causses--whose cuisine is hallmarked in a NYC restaurant called Le Perigord (?) You''ve got a lot of work to do before you move in! I think you need a mason! Nice that you have a shade tree in your front yard! Love the thrasher (?) old farm implement. your photos remind me of beautiful old westerns with big skies.
Hi Margaret, the Perigord is not too terribly far... yes, will have to find a good mason, or maybe just a good bulldozer ? Big skies indeed, sort of like on the car license plates out in Montana, that said "Big Sky Country"... yeah, maybe I'll just pitch a tent under that tree for a few weeks...
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Hey Techno, sure, no problem, although they are fairly small versions of the photos... enjoy...
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Bonjour Arnaud... it's a pleasure to write a word or two trying to help steer a few people to a well deserving blog such as yours. Many thanks too for your words here... see, you can put together a few words to touch someone... you just did. See you out on the Causses one of these days !
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Hey Adam... when I'm in the city after a while I start getting itchy and wanting to get to a place like this... then after a while in the empty spaces, I'm ready for the city again. Balance, a question of balance. Happy anniversary... one year ! Cool, that makes two of us... my first post went up on the 21st of September, a year ago... coming up soon. Keep up the great work, keep the aspidistra flying !
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Hi Babzy, good to hear Florac is still in the real world, am going to have to get back there, I really had a fine time there, more than once... day trips from Florac abound in possibilities, les Gorges du Tarn, les Causses... etc...
Steve, you've got me there... am going to have to look up Withnail... but I imagine there could well be a few hares hidden here, hiding in the tall grass, hear hear to hidden hares, and wild hairs that help us hop out of our habits and happily hoof it into the hinterlands... no 'arm in that, as the Saj would say...
:-D
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Dear Fram, I'm sure you could get it cheap, in fact someone might even pay you to take it... talk about peace and quiet !
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English R, yeah, that arch may still be standing there holding up an imaginary roof long after we're all gone... some things were built to last... thought you might like those old stones...
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Hey Karen, well, where there's a will there's a way, right ? If you really want to live in France... there are plenty of properties in slightly better shape than this one... this burner-downer as some might say...
:-)
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Dear L., glad to hear Pierre is a collector... Listen, I think you could get the stones and the large roller equipment shown here onto a sturdy platform, then lift it with a medium sized blimp, then head west to the maritimes... but then again, there must be a few falling down farm buildings in acadia with stones for the taking ? But for sure, "don't fence me in"... good motto. Don't know what kind of paint you have up your sleeve that could make this place right again, but I'm sure you haven't finished unveiling all your surprises yet either... I do happen to have a big blue sturdy tarp that could probably render at least one corner of this place habitable...
;-D
Hello! Many thanks for pointing me in the direction of the excellent slug blog. I have been there and apologised for my anti-slug post.
Meanwhile, I am also in the market for a new home with lots of space!
Sx
Dear Scarlet Blue,
You are very welcome... Mr & Mrs Slug do give another, and rather enchanting, perspective on the life of slugs, which we humans do tend to looks askance at, if we look at all, usually preferring only rapid thoughts of distaste and disgust, especially when we have the misfortune to end a slug's life by stepping on one in the dark. Mr & Mrs Slug have helped me enlarge my world view to embrace slugs as vibrant sentient beings, rather than mere sources of slime...
In any case, I enjoyed perusing your (very popular) blog, and will have to stop back in... it was from TechnoBabe's place that I dropped in...
Best... Mr Toad...
Re:moving lock, stock,barrel & stones to the Maritimes
I was thinking more along the lines of getting it all on a platform and sailing it across the Atlantic, like the Newfies moved their houses from the remoter areas of Newfoundland to designated centres of "civilization." Picture grandma sitting in her kitchen rocking chair as they floated along on the tide!
At least you have some good material to start building a new house; the spot looks really nice!
Peter, there you go, that's the spirit, when old stone houses fall down one just needs a good mason to help perform a resurrection, and indeed, the spot was lovely...
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Lynne, sailing is fine too, I've been thinking it would be a great idea to set up a transport company using only horse drawn carts on land and sailing ships on the sea, or barges floating downstream on rivers, or pulled by mule teams upstream from towpaths, thus having no petroleum products in the logistics lines... could be the future...
J'arrive très très tard pour une fois Owen !
Je vois que tu as encore essayé de faire fonctionner ta gazinière dans ta résidence secondaire... !
Les causses comme tu les présentes dégagent une certaine nostalgie ! Et c'est aussi ce sentiment qu'on peut éprouver à la vision de ces espaces ! ! !
On retape le toit quand tu veux ! Il faudrait être comme les chats.... et oui ! ! !
Ciao amigo !
A bientôt ....
Well, it's a dream landscape, but I don't know about the house! Might as well start over, I think. Funny how old farm equipment seems to hang around long after it's useful days are over. We see that here, too.
Hey Jeff,
C'est vrai, je n'ai pas beaucoup de chance avec mes gazinières et chaudières... chaque fois que je les mets en route, il y a une conflagration époustouflante qui soufflent carrément la maison entière, je ne sais pas combien de fois que cela m'est arrivé ! C'est pour ça que je blogge, et que je ne sors plus, si tu voyais toutes les brulures mal guerries, tu comprendrais mieux.... :-D
En fait, c'était peut-être un centre d'entrainement du GIGN qui avait été criblé de balles de tous les calibres... ? Peut-être c'était un site secret de aterrisage des OVNI ? Le souffle de leurs réacteurs en quittant rapidement le secteur aurait pu produire cet effet ??? Ah là, plein de possibilités... a+
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Janie, hey there ! Yeah, you may be right, it's seen better days. What a beautiful landscape you just posted there, gosh, I'd love to trade places with your dog, and go run down that slope in to the wilderness... gorgeous...
Bon... tu as fini de dire des conneries Owen ! ! ! C'est pas ta maison ?
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