WELCOME - BIENVENU to my A to Z Blogging Challenge - 2014 Theme: For The Love of France

Welcome to my first post for the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge. This year my Theme is "For the Love of France" and will be heavy on photos/images. If you seek to distract yourself from everyday life and fly away to places and spaces unknown, venture out to the masses of other blogs participating at: http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/a-to-z-challenge-sign-uplist-2014.html You don’t have to sign up, just scroll until you hit the list. With over 1600 of us, there IS something there for everyone!

ASPET is a quaint town (950 population) tucked into a small valley in the Saint-Gaudens district of the Haute-Garonne department (county) of the Midi-Pyrenees region of France. Though small, it sports farms, shops, bakeries, ruins, and a unique historic church/chapel with a drive through. Picturesque and quiet, Aspet (pronounced Ahsspeh) is a perfect place for a weekend of great eating, easy hiking, (we went mushroom hunting and ate them for dinner), and deep restful sleep. The countryside is easy to navigate and dotted with historical towns, forts or churches/cathedrals. We stayed a long weekend with some friends who keep a house there for just that purpose. We had homemade omelet’s with our hand-picked mushrooms, Cassoulet with freshly baked bread, and MMMM . We also partook at a little jewel of a restaurant hidden deep in the folds and valleys of the Pyrenees. For more information on Aspet visit: http://www.francethisway.com/places/a/aspet-haute-garonne.php

Walking downtown Aspet

French people love flowers!

Rose vines and more color

Typical, with flowers

Blazing colors of autumn

Front view of the Chapel with ruins behind

The Chapel with it's drive through arch.

Some colors of Aspet

Where we stayed and our buddies.

Taking a break with his best friend

Lovely Pyrenees  nature

Lush mountainside

Les Pyrenees when in their soft glory

Our mushrooms, yum!

On our walk into the mountains

Our omelet!

On the mountain in the field

The real thing

The sun touching life

Huge mushrooms!

Hunting Chestnuts, never had before...

An artist's rendition of the restaurant

AMIS ET FAMILLE EN FRANCE

A quick peek at our friends "Amis" in France...  http://youtu.be/sjqVUXzxg8A

L’ABBAYE FLARAN, in the Gers

The sight of Flaran Abbey takes adjusting to when you’ve only seen abbeys in photos or ruins. Perfectly preserved/restored (numerous times, most recently in 1972), Flaran Abbey is tranquil yet thriving not only with history but also with art. Walking in the long gardens or on hand made wooden floor tiles, gazing at massive stairwell walls covered with drawings and paintings of all kinds, and touring the kitchen, chapel and museum had our senses on overdrive. Seeing the identifying marks left on purpose from the individual masons who restored the massive interior pillars and archways illuminated their talent and dedication. Light playing across expanses of stone tiles, tiny hidden staircases, and reading the history of the abbey, built in 1151 AD, sent my imagination into divergent flights of fancy. If only walls could speak… For more information visit: http://www.brouquere.com/visit/abbaye-de-flaran_en.htm

The Chapel

A mason's marks on the column

Hidden stairwell

The inner courtyard

The well is in the middle

The "famous" image of the Abbey

Counter in the kitchen

Hand cut wooden floor tiles/bricks

Kitchen view

Another view, with window

Tile hand decorated

Main entrance

Part of the park lands of the Abbey

All photos by me.