We were up early at 5am for a 5.45am departure to Toulouse to check out the set-up for the St Aubin Market. We learned when and where we have to be for the Sept 7th concert at the market, before all the traders arrive to set up their stalls.

We then drove on to Cucugnan to check out the arrangements for the lunch on the day the band arrives. We had lunch at the bakery on the hill near the windmill, then booked tables at Auburge du Cucugnan for the band lunch. Then up the mountain to Queribus, which perches on the ridge high above Cucugnan, and then down the southern face of the mountain to Marly, where market day was taking place.

It was total bedlam in Marly, with cars parked on both sides of the road and just a single lane in between. Traffic was trying to go up and down the hill, with absolute chaos. The Spanish coach would not have fitted through by itself, without the opposing traffic! We subsequently got in touch with Autocorb and explained the situation, and they decided to downscale our coach from 36 to 28 seats to ensure that it could get up and down the mountain pass and through Marly!

We then headed across to Les Cabannes to visit the Chateau de Gudanes in preparation for our first performance on 24 August. It was relatively easy getting there, except for the last few kilometres when we missed a turn and got lost in the adjoining village of Chateau Verdun. But it was worthwhile, because our first view of the Chateau was stunning!

After several false starts, we eventually found Chateau de Gudanes, and gazed in disbelief as we approached the stately front gates. I had seen this scene several times on Facebook, but it was another thing altogether to see it in person.

We were greeted warmly by the owner Karina and her daughter Jasmine, together with a bunch of other Australian friends of theirs who were visiting at the time. We were then treated to a tour of the chateau to see the progress on renovations. Since we were going though the same process in Moissac, albeit on a much smaller scale, we were most interested to see what they had discovered and how they were handling the numerous “surprises” they were finding. The following pictures show just a small sample of the chateau (for more detail check out the Chateau’s Facebook page).

After the tour, we were treated to a BBQ lunch and a glass of wine. Over lunch, we talked about our visit on the 24th, and Karina suggested that in addition to our filming of playing in the grounds of the Chateau, we might also like to put on a small concert for the local townsfolk. We thought this was a great idea, and arranged to send some materials for them to make up some promotional flyers. This sounded like a great way to introduce some of the local people to the new life of the Chateau.

After a very busy day, the drive home to Moissac was filled with discussion of ideas of what we could do on the 24th! While we have been doing a lot of running around in the past month lining up venues etc, it has been a great excuse to get out and see the countryside.

Once we arrived home, and were sitting on the back deck having a quiet beer, Nico, Miyu & Massa dropped by for a chat, so we invited them to stay for dinner. As seemed to happen quite often over the past week, post-dinner conversation turned to the topic of toilets! Nico suggested that instead of trying to clear the outlet pipe by pushing something through it, we could use the Hartcher wet vacuum to suck the obstruction out of the pipe! We agreed to meet in the morning to test out the idea.