Last night friends of Tom and Lynne’s arrived for a couple of days. We had a lovely dinner with lots of chat and got to bed around 11pm. We needed some energy for the next day trip to Cabazon the outlet centre.
We had a good breakfast and armed with water bottles and credit cards headed off to the center about 1/2 hr away. It was the biggest center I have seen …. All painted desert colours. And wow the selection of shops was amazing.
We in Australia just don’t know what outlet shopping is like. It’s set up so well. It’s cheap, it’s clean and it’s not full of rubbish . I could have done even more damage than I did.
Just a few shoes- but medical ones for my poor feet! That’s what I call Ecco shoes and some lovely Cole Hann loafer type and some pewter wedges. I found a new linen jacket for Steve! Glasses for Rob and Brendan, two pants ( Anne Taylor)  red jeans and linen  ones from DKNY. A 

Another lovely day in the desert area.
Went to the gym at the golf club before heading of to meet Lynne’s friend Trisha .

Then visited a few galleries and lunch at Wolfgang Puck’s new restaurant. Delicious Kale salad. we then hit the shops again Macy’s and lucky me  found a dress to wear to my niece’s  wedding. A Calvin Klein black and yellow number. I tried on about 8 dresses and finally the last one was a winner. It’s straight through with black panels on the side and black yellow and white.
Big success.
We got home and met Lynne and Toms friends Audrey and Jim.  Jim Tom and Audrey were all at Primary school together. Jim is even taller than Tom!
Went to bed and tried to sleep the whole night through!

Lynne Lesley and I went for a bike ride into  La Quinta village . It was a lovely flat ride along bike paths down streets lined with bougainvillea in the richest red, past the entrances to lovely gold resorts and into the quaint streets of the old town. . It’s quite Mexican looking with white building tile roofs and a great coffee shop. Had my first bagel YUM. And a lovely coffee before browsing the streets. Lycra clad bike riders are in the coffee shops here as well as home and though we were bike riders we certainly weren’t wearing Lycra.

Hello readers . Welcome back. 

Yes get your maps out! I’m on the move again this time in America. I’m visiting Lynne and Tom my favorite Canadian friends.
La Quinta is a golf resort in the desert area about two hours south and inland from LA.
More to come……. I’m a bit jet lagged. 

WATCH OUT!
The Leisure Queen is on the move again … 

Again, a gorgeous autumn day so we decided to say good bye to Rose and Vaughan and then wait for the Brannock’s next visitor Rachel Nolan. If the name is familiar to Queenslanders, she is the former Minister of the Bligh Government – on a four month stay in France deciding what it do next. Interesting!

Margaret and I unmade, then made beds and prepared to say farewell to Rose and Vaughan. Pity their car didn’t start so they didn’t get to go!! I wandered the village and send a parcel to Jordan, Rob’ s girlfriend in California. It’s her birthday. The French post office works in a slightly less operatic way than in Italy, but they lack the packaging the Italians have to offer. I wanted a small packet  but the ones they had were only for France. The man had to go behind the scenes and come out with a bent piece off cardboard that I had to roughly write the address on and put the wee little present inside.
He then used masking tape to make a kind of envelope. Very strange. I hope it gets there.

We spent the afternoon waiting for one group to depart and then Rachel to arrive, but life is very laid back in Cotignac so it wasn’t a problem. Margaret and I walked up to Notre Dame, the short way – all uphill! But not like the long way of last week (see story “A walk in the woods”)

We finished with a glass of rose in the village and then showered and prepared for my last dinner – at the lovely La table a la Fountaine. We arrived there around 7.30 which is early by French standards and got a table upstairs. We enjoyed a Coup de Champagne and a delicious fish dish.

Lots of laughs and my last night was over. So sad. 

Today we visited some of the little villages in this area called Var.
The weather was perfect and John and his friend Vaughan decided to ride there and Marg, Rose and I drove.
We stopped in Salernes first and sat in the sun for a coffee admiring the view and the weather. Then we walked though the markets and bought food for dinner.  Found the most beautiful looking fresh artichokes so thought we could manage something nice with them.

We continued our drive towards Tourtour and starting winding up the mountain. It’s a small hill town and the hills a covered  in autumn trees blazing in red and gold. We passed the cycling men labouring up the hill and gave them an encouraging wave as we whizzed by.
We arrived via a vary narrow street controlled by lights as two cars can’t pass.  Parked in the main piazza or Place as they are called here. It’s a vy pretty space with the usual cafes but has a vy lovely garden area overlooking the view down the valley.
We wandered around the streets and chose a place for lunch. It was a clear blue day but a little chilly so decided to sit indoors with a view through the windows!
After eating beautiful duck confit and a glass of Rose we walked around the village and up the hill to the church and lookout. It’s a gradual climb through grassed area filled with picnic tables indicating just how busy it must get in summer.

We took a few photos then headed for home and the cooking of the artichokes.
I decided to google and you tube the ” how to ” and Margaret and I set about cleaning and preparing them. It w a bit of work but oh my the results were worth it. We loved them.
This was followed by risotto with Chanterelle mushrooms. Yum
To bed feeling happy and a little sad a tomorrow is my last day.