Autumn in the Conflent

 Lots of fêtes - chestnuts, ewes and goats, new wine - any excuse really! Lovely community spirit where the "fêtes committee" and the mairie lay on roasted chestnuts and wine to celebrate the autumn, the halfterm holiday is a break for more people than just teachers.

Shops close for a week, parents take their kids out during the day, kicking leaves, walking the transhumance paths up to waterfalls...






The Olette Foire de l'Automne had guess-the-weight of the lovely pink-skinned Rouge de Roussillon sheep, "the one with the blue collar and the bell". Presumably the shepherd will prepare it for the pot and the freezer!
The shepherd turned out to be the young man we had walked the transhumance path with in June; his sheep had come home fatter, more delicious from the mountain grass and herbs.

A little trek up the Cami de Ramader, a slated path with a rise of 200 metres into the lime green, lemon and pink of the turning leaves. A stop at the bridge (de Llosa), a bit of cake and a sip of water, and the realisation that the sky was a bit darker grey than before, so we made a judicious exit from the valley. And then it didn't rain! And today it's been up to 20 deg C.

A last night's meal at the much-loved Le Café de la Paix... seiche à la planxa, beautifully garlicky.
Tomorrow - Paris...