Parents in town

My parents arrived on Tuesday - their second visit to Carcassonne and the first staying here at 42rvh. When they last came we were still in the middle of the renovation and the thinking was that it would be better for my Dad in his wheelchair if they stayed close by in a hotel with proper disabled facilities.

The so called disabled facilities at Domaine D'Auriac proved to be anything but, so this time they stayed with me, even though we are on the first floor - once inside everything would be easy with all on one level, huge rooms and double opening doors everywhere.

He can walk a little bit but getting him up the grand staircase was still going to be a problem and so much depends on how he is feeling as to whether he has the strength to make it easy or difficult. And that's how it has been. Arrival on day 1 was easy as was going out on day 2 - coming back on day 2 was a bit more difficult but going out day 3 was ok - coming back on day 3 was very hard because he was tired and hot. We are restricted to one trip out per day - it would be much too much otherwise.

They do appear to be having a great time though and it is a much needed change of scenery and a rest for my Mum and, of course, they get to see me.

We didn't do much on Tuesday when they got here as travelling always takes it out of them and they like to get settled in. Besides, they hadn't seen the finished apartments and I'd had two sets of guests leave just that morning and needed to change those rooms over immediately, so Mum nosed about having a good look into every space and then 'helped' me with the room changes.

"I'll just take this towel through", said Mum
"There are more towels here to take", I said
"I'll come back for another", she replied
'Are you sure you aren't French', I thought to myself - talk about job creation.

Likewise on Wednesday morning - guests out and an immediate room change for new arrivals later in the day. Once that was done we ventured out together for the first time, just down to the Place Carnot for lunch outside at La Roulotte, where we were looked after very well as always and the food was superb and fantastic value at €15 each for three courses. I still don't know how a restaurant offering food that good and that well prepared can survive on those prices. Mum then checked out every shoe shop in town, and there are quite a few, before we ambled home.

Yesterday we went to one of VinEcole's excellent wine tastings and then had lunch on the restaurant terrace at Domaine Gayda. I've done the wine course several times so was very grateful that Matthew changed the wines - it was all new for my parents so they loved it all and I discovered some new wines that I hadn't had before - excellent. It was one of those glorious blue sky Languedoc days and with snow still on the peaks of the Pyrenees the view was outstanding and certainly took my parents breath away. We could see the weather starting to change as we sat and ate and the clouds started to pour over the peaks from Spain.

It was hot yesterday and that's why it was a problem, by the time we got home, for my father to get back up the stairs. Once he was in I knew that he would have a quiet evening and would need a good rest and sleep. As a result, we didn't do much and there was a grave danger of the evening developing into parental sitting (everyone sits in silence staring at each other), so I asked Mum if she'd like to go for an evening stroll around the town - a sort of 'passegiata', if we had been in Italy - which she was more than happy to do. I think she has had enough of sitting with my Dad.

Whilst we were out she asked me if I had noticed any changes in them. I said that I didn't think Dad's mobility had deteriorated at all during the last two years or so but that both of them are more frail generally now and their hearing and memory seems to be a lot worse. Ten minutes later she asked me the same question which just confirmed my concerns.

I postponed plans for today until I knew what the weather would bring and how my dad was feeling once he'd got up. It was grey and cloudy but that also meant cooler temperature wise, so after a very lazy start - by me too it must be said, the first morning for over a week that I didn't have a guest breakfast to do and I slept until 9am instead of usual 7am alarm call - we decided to head for the coast as Mum wanted to see the Mediterranean.

I booked a table at L'Hospitalet, a wine estate situated on the top of the 'Montagne de la Clape', the mountain that separates Narbonne from Narbonne Plage. It was exactly the sort of place that my Mum and Dad love. I don't actually think that the food in the restaurant is all that good, certainly not as good as Gayda the day before, but the staff were excellent and the whole place is extremely wheelchair friendly and my Mum bought herself a watercolour from the resident artist and Dad bought me a dozen bottles of wine from the 'caveau', which was extremely decent of him.

After that we drove down to the beach at Gruissan Plage and I took my Mum for a short stroll on the sand and then drove back slowly via Bages and Peyriac and then across country to Lagrasse and Carcassonne. Despite the overcast weather the whole region is looking fabulous at the moment with poppies everywhere and gorse and hawthorn and all the trees and shrubs on the hills looking all soft and fluffy with their new growth. Sorry, went a bit gay there.

I am pretty sure that I have sold them the whole idea of them moving to the Languedoc - a drier climate will be better for my Dad, a sunnier climate will be better for my Mum, the Mediterranean diet will be better for them both and a change from the routine they have had for 10 years would definitely benefit them - but they will probably find every reason why they shouldn't and not do anything, rather than embracing the positive benefits of such a change. What can you do?