It's confession time. 

Here is where I admit that this walking business is a struggle. I'm having real difficulties pushing myself to do it and, most of the time, not enjoying it when I do. So I've decided a couple of things.  1)  I will take Sundays off. That's my reward to myself and  2)  If the weather is foul or if I really really don't want to do it on any given day, I won't. That's my safety valve.

Having said all that, not counting today, the last walk I did was on Saturday. Sunday was my day of rest and Monday it just chucked it down the whole day long. It took us an hour to dry out just from nipping down to the local shops so I wasn't about to venture out in the afternoon.

Saturday's walk was OK to be honest. I decided to walk down to the big round-about at Chateau d'O, take the first right and just keep walking for half an hour, then turn round and come back. I had no idea what was down there but ended up seeing some really good sights.

This was the sort of countryside I was walking through - just to give you an idea . . .

The path followed the course of the main road for a Km or so but then, in the distance, it looked as though it was heading away from civilisation. I was a bit unsure about going there. A couple of times I've been walking in Parc Malbosc which is very isolated and felt a bit uneasy. But, in the end I decided that I'd be OK if I could continue to see the road even if at a distance.

It was a pretty walk. Lots of twisting turning paths lined with the lovely parasol pines that Malbosc and the surrounding area seem to be so fond of . . .

Just after I'd taken the lilac photos, I found that the path had headed back towards the main road, though a long way above it. A huge iron bridge crossed it and at the other side I found this lovely water feature pouring its clear water down steps to the bottom of a steep incline. 

Click on the images to make them larger . . .

I was pretty certain no-one would have put this feature here without a reason. It had to mark something and, sure enough, it led on to the gates of our Regional Administrative Headquarters.

It's a sort of town hall but serves the whole Département of Herault . . .

I kept seeing, in the distance, a dome-like structure but was really too far away to tkae any good shots of it. However, a bit later I managed to get up pretty close.

It transpires that it was a local college, the Lycée Jean Monnet . . .

And that was the end of the Saturday walk. From here I just walked back the way I'd come.  

Altogether I walked 4.14 km and burned 314 calories.


Now today's walk (Tuesday) was a whole different kettle of fish. It was stultifyingly boring. Boring suburbia with nothing but endless apartment blocks and a few random shops. So the only photos I took were of flowers I met along the way.


Enjoy the slide show . . .

Wonder of wonders. Chateau d'O has now re-opened its gates to the public. So that's where we are headed today. We enter via the South Gate. . .

Tip of the day:  Click on the smaller images to enlarge them.

Last year it was decided to restore the 18th century gardens, including the fountain in front of the chateau to their former glory.  This first shot is taken in the side gardens.

The next 2 photos are of the Chateau and its fountain and the third is taken from the opposite direction with the house behind me.  The house was never lived in. It was built as a folly rather than a real house. But, hey, we can all let our imaginations run freely can't we?

They've just added a new feature. All over the grounds you find these strange little structures which cast coloured lights on the ground when the sun shines on them.

So, we've seen the house. now let's head off into the grounds. Here we have acre upon acre of cultivated olives.

And dense forest as far as the eye can see . . .

On the road from the South Gate of the estate to the North Gate we pass through what look like three gateways (but without gates these days). Each of them has a statue at either side of it. Together, they make up an interesting little collection of curious figures - some of whom you may recognise.

Finally we reach the north end of the estate where a new amphitheatre, auditorium and restaurant have been built.

And guess what's on in the next few days . . .

So, we've walked all the way from the south of the estate to the north. But I still haven't been out for an hour yet. Solution?  Back towards the south gate via the quickest route along the tramway and then back home through the countryside trails. It's a much longer way round but this is supposed to be an exercise regime after all. Actually, I love this route home with its lovely lanes:

Its bamboo and cactus plants . . .

And its strange fruits . . .

So there we have day 3. I was out for an hour and walked 3.51 Km. BUT for the next several days we are promised heavy electrical storms and I'm not that keen !  So I'll see you when the sun returns. Thanks for joining me . . .

Before you start texting me to complain, I know I said I was going to walk an hour every day, but yesterday was Sunday so I took a day off. Mmm I'm a teeny bit doubtful about my level of commitment here but hey ho. I did get out and about today though.

Today, I took a short bus ride (about 9 minutes) to a small town just outside of Montpellier called Grabels. I've heard people say that it's a pretty place and, now that I've seen it for myself, I have to agree. I didn't get too far though. I really just stuck to the main road (with one or two trips down side streets) but on the way back I found a map which shows the place to be much larger than I originally thought.

It has a very villagey type of atmosphere. 

But, at the same time, there is a fair amount of new-build too. And some amazingly grand villas. 

Just off the main street is the one and only church.

I was surprised to find out that the town forms part of the route of two major world-wide pilgrimages.

And delighted to find that the town is surrounded on all sides by some stunning countryside views.

Clearly there is so much more to explore here. But tomorrow - I'm going back to Chateau d'O to see whether the strike has ended and the park become available to the public again.  See you there . . .

Okay Okay, I know. It's the end of June, half way through 2014 and I'm just making a resolution. think of it as being a New Summer's Resolution. Any road up—I am overweight, blood sugar is not healthy, and I spend far too much time exercising nothing but my fingers on a keyboard. So I am going to try to walk for an hour on most days. I won't be forcing myself - that way lies failure - but I will be making an effort. 

Yesterday was the first of my walks, which was OK...ish but not terribly interesting. Some of you will know that I am currently in the process of trying to learn how to take half decent photos. So why not combine the two things? Go out each day, armed with my trusty camera and try a few random shots. After that, come home, load today's shots onto my pc and bore the living daylights out of all of you.

Sounds like a plan.

So today, Saturday 28th June (incidentally our 3rd anniversary of moving to France) I decided to walk to the quartier Chateau d'O. Chateau d'O is the next district down from ours. I've explored one side of it before but never crossed the main road to see what's on the other side.  The first thing I came across was part of an 18th century aqueduct. It stretches for miles. Part of it forms a major tourist attraction in the centre of Montpellier.

Of course there were signs all over it forbidding anyone from climbing on it, but never mind. It's name?

Then I found a map of something called "La Marathonienne". I thought, at first, that it must be the route for the annual marathon here in Montpellier, but when I got home and looked it up, it turns out to be a 42 km walking and cycling path that is supposed to link up all the rural areas around the city. I believe it is still in the process of being built but one of these days I will go back and see just how far it goes. 

Just beyond the sign I found a boarded walkway which forms part of the path:

I followed the walkway for what seemed ages and really had no idea where I was. But eventually it brought me back to the main road and my route home. Believe it or not the photo below - taken on that same main road - is what passes for student accommodation in these parts. Not a bad life eh?

OK - here I digress for a little while to introduce a smidgen of local news. The quartier Chateau d'O is so named after a real chateau (d'O) which sits on the edges of quartier Chateau d'O and quartier Malbosc (where I live). The building itself is really a folly but a very nice folly for all that. It sits in several acres of rolling countryside and the grounds, though not the house, are open to the public all year round. It has a theatre and a stadium at which there are plays and music performed on a regular basis. Well, that's the idea at least. It used to form one of my regular Sunday morning strolls and the formal gardens - recently restored - are a delight. So follow this sequence through then. I am at this point of the walk, on my way back home when I find a sign pointing to the entrance to the chateau gardens:

Note the phrase "Accès public" which, I think needs no translation. So I follow the sign round to the main gates:

"Welcome to domain d'O", it says. Followed by "Public access denied."

Why?

This is why. All the way through June there was supposed to be a festival called "Printemps des comédiens" (The Springtime of Comedians) taking place at the chateau. But it has been on strike for the whole time (en grève) and has resulted in the whole of domain d'O being closed to the public. No explanation, just a sign. This, as my husband is very fond of saying, is France!

Almost home now. Final leg - a stroll through the woods. 

And oh how I love the cypress trees at the end ...

Here we are at last, back at the steps up to my street:

And home sweet home. Feet up and a glass of chilled water, I think.

I wonder where I should go tomorrow ?...

Happy New Year to one and all.

What a tangled web 2013 proved itself to be. Lows and highs aplenty though I’m not going to dwell on the lows. I will just mention them though in passing because I think I’ve learned something from them and hopefully I will be able to deal better with similar experiences in the future.

Let’s start with the bad bits then.

 A good friend of the family died. He left a wife and two sons to whom my heart goes out. To them especially I wish a happier 2014.

I lost another friend too, not through death but, sadly, through misconceptions, mistrust, and misinterpretations. That’s too many misses in any one sentence I know but, hey, blogger’s licence and all that. It taught me a hard lesson and the hard lessons are those from which we reap most benefit in the end so – time now for me to move on.

Dealing with French bureaucracy has been a bit of a nightmare this year though there’s nothing new in that and we will, almost certainly, experience more of it again this year. I’m not altogether convinced that the last debacle (involving the water company shutting our water off for not paying a bill they never sent us) – think about it – is yet resolved fully. We have our water back and a brand new account but still no bill. This may sound like a problem made in heaven but we expect with every new day that we will switch on the taps one morning to find we are again cut off. It’s not happened yet though so let’s not travel the pessimistic road.

I think that’s pretty much it for the bad stuff.

Some of the more positive things were these: Peter started to paint again after a break of I don’t care to remember how many years. He is developing a unique style and the results are wonderful. A neighbour of ours who is, himself, a very successful artist has even suggested that they might hold a joint exhibition at some point. How wonderful would that be?  Take a look at Peter’s work here.

As for me, I went through a brief lull in activity and started to feel a little bit down. So what better way to counter the blues than by trying something new? So I threw myself (metaphorically) into providing a free proofreading service to Indie writers. Went away and got myself some training, became a member of Distributed Proofreaders and am now proofreading for the Gutenberg Project as well as for individual authors. As a sort of offshoot of that I also now have the opportunity to record some audio books but am having to work up a little courage to begin that. I think I might just make it my sole New Year’s resolution to be brave and go for it.

A dear friend, Kensington Gore, played an active role in my developing a new skill. He was kind enough to accept a short story I wrote for inclusion in an anthology of shorts which is being sold for charity. I enjoyed the process so much and was thrilled at having something published that I have now written a longer piece which is attracting a lot of very favourable attention. There may be some very good news coming about that in a short while but can’t go into detail just yet.

By the magic of the internet I managed to get in touch (after many years of trying) with an old school friend of Peter’s, Dave Eager. Dave came out to Montpellier for a few weeks in the autumn and much reminiscing was done. Fun fun fun and was so pleased to have been a part of it.

I also ‘met’, in the internet meeting sense, some amazing people this year.

Terry Tyler, an Indie writer whose work has so captivated me that I am currently working my way through everything she has written.

Nicky Haldenby, a really talented musician/song writer/composer. He has a new album out and it has become my music of choice for afternoons working at my keyboard.

And Alexandra Kaczynska who has done me the honour of placing her trust in me to proofread her magical stories before publication and who managed to get herself engaged to my old mate, Ryan Claffey. Ryan – you jammy dog!

Bless you all.

And finally, to my wonderful and ever loving family. You are the best.  Happy New Year my darlings.

Well, here we are and Christmas is once again upon us. You hear a lot of moaning about Christmas – too dear, too commercialised, too pressurized and so on and so on. But I reckon that if you are fortunate enough to have somewhere dry and warm to live, it is what you make it. Sadly, not everyone is that lucky – for some this day is just the same as any other and our thoughts go out to those people wherever they may be.

Christmas Eve here in almost always sunny Montpellier is, this year, dull, cloudy, with a pretty stiff breeze. But the room is warm and quiet and there is an odd atmosphere I can’t quite put my finger on that lets you know, by some strange psychic means, that the time is special.

I spent this morning tying up some loose ends so that perhaps over the next couple of days I might just indulge in a lot of reading and try to stay away from the keyboard for a little while. After that I will be back in the thick of it, editing, proofreading and reviewing. And in the New Year I will be embarking on an entirely new venture for me – recording audio books. Quite excited about that in a ‘sad person’ sort of a way.

A quite amazing thing happened today. I had just finished reading a novel “What it Takes” by Terry Tyler and had loved every word of it. So, of course, I wrote a review and put it up here on the site and on Amazon. I meant what I said and was so impressed that I have since downloaded every book Terry Tyler has written so far – lots of great reading for me this Christmas. Terry, bless her, was good enough to post the review on Facebook and now lots of people are not only congratulating her but saying how good the review is. Brought a tear to my eye.  That’s what they call payback in the best possible sense and it makes all the work worthwhile.

Merry Christmas all and may each and every one of us have a happy and prosperous New Year.

 For those of you who don't know me yet — and many do not — my name is Hache L. Jones (I know, sounds pretentious doesn't it?) and I maintain this website in order to do my little bit, inadequate though it may be, to support and to promote Indie artists in film, literature and music.

In case you were wondering—the little avatar above is one that I use as standard to represent me because, unlike me, it is terribly pretty. I, on the other hand, have a propensity for cracking the lenses of cameras just by looking at them.

So why, I hear you ask, am I spending my time promoting the work of, as yet, virtually unknown artists? There are multiple answers to that question depending on i)  how well you know me and ii)  your personal level of cynicism. There are those who think I lost the plot when I retired and am looking for ways to convince myself – or is that delude myself? – that I still have something to offer the world. There might be a smidgen of truth in that but I prefer to ignore it. My personal take on it is that I have a huge admiration for indie artists for a number of reasons.

I have, in the past, been heavily criticised for taking that viewpoint. The argument against it, I gather, goes something like this: “Oh come on. Get real. These people don’t do real jobs. Brain surgeons, yes. Refuse collectors, yes. But actors? Film makers? Self-publishing writers? Musicians? Please ...”  Well, it’s an opinion I suppose.

But what I continually find as I get to know more indie artists is that they are people of vision, people with a dream. But, unlike the majority of the rest of us, instead of saying “well, I have this dream but I don’t have the wherewithal to make it come true.” They just get out there and do it anyway. I love that. It kind of sums up what I never did in my younger days and I am trying now to support those who do.

And it’s much more fun than jogging ...