Soleil - Magnifique!

Monday

The sun is out, so, we find the road that goes along the river.

On the Aude River, a small dam for the Fish Reserve

No cars on this road
it's blocked off in Esperaza and to the north near Quillan

Cherry blossoms here in Esperaza - Spring is on it's way

Aude River is a little rough after all the rain

A desserted shed along the river road

Letting the sun into the cottage

***

Tuesday

-It's raining –  We plan for Wednesday-

***

Wednesday

 - We get a car for our Barcelona trip-

On the bus going by the walled city
to pick up a car at the Carcassonne airport

***

Thursday

French class in the morning...

then to Moulin a Papier de Brousses – the paper mill

When I found out about this place, I made John promise that we would visit and tour this place.

The Brousses Paper Mill is the last mill in activity in the Valley of "La Dure" (there were 67 mills in 1845) and is the last paper mill of Languedoc.

Brousses  is recognized as the paper centre of the former province of Languedoc since the end of the 17th century.

A 400 meter walk to the mill

Before Electricy, this was the power source
to run the mill

This is the rag room
Old linen, old jeans, cotton rags are cut up
then "pulped"

The "pulping: machine"
powered by the water wheel

In the drying room
small letter size sheets drying

Larger paper sheets (53x70cm)
are dried on sheets of linen

During the summers this frame (about 6x10 feet)
is used to make one large sheet

The different papers made
here in Moulin de Brousses
The dark green - horse dung paper
The light green - elephant dung paper

My purchases - I should have bought more...
I only bought one large sheet of paper,
but they gave us two mailing tubes so I can send
my larger finished pieces home

 ***

Friday

- We drove to Quillan for copies and coffee  -

Oh, and we found a Tango Class in Couiza!

We are really settling in here -

Tuesday, Yoga; Thursday, French; Friday, Tango

***

Saturday

 – We get ready for Spain and I blog -

Another look at the River Aude

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Next week - Our Barcelona Adventure...