It sounds sad, perhaps, but Sainte-Foy-La-Grande is never far from my thoughts, even in the winter months when we’re sat in the Caribbean warmth and I know that it is cold and wet there.  I count the days until we can board a plane and return and when we’re there I try hard to be an ostrich, not ticking off the weeks until we have to return.  Don’t get me wrong …… I don’t dislike being in the British Virgin Islands, not at all; its just that my heart lies in Sainte-Foy.

This morning, while dawn broke and the sun rose over the hills on the far side of the harbour, I was hunting down Sainte-Foy on YouTube.  Apparently, there are approximately 1,000 videos of the town and its environs, but  a hefty proportion are of properties for sale.  There is an intriguing percentage of Zumba footage too.  I quite liked this little one of the communes that comprise the 33220 post code and this one, produced by the same people, that shows some of the activities that are a regular feature of our lives throughout the year …. we’re a busy little commune!  The torch-lit guided tour of the town is very popular, but I think that more people would do it if it were offered in English too (watch this space … I may offer to do it – I have a secret yearning to be dressed in mock- medieval glad-rags!).

The history of Sainte-Foy is an interesting one, and there’s a neat little video that covers the town’s early history here.  The sound is a bit muted in places, and it is narrated in French, but there’s sufficient visually for non-French speakers to get the gist, particularly if you’ve studied any of the history of the region and the run-up to the 100 years’ war.

I love fireworks, and we’re very lucky that on Bastille Day the commune puts on a very good firework display, which is set up on the north bank of the river almost directly opposite Les Terraces.  People come into the town from miles away and congregate on the quayside to watch.  We have a privileged position, unrivaled in the town, one might say, from our top terrace, so each year we have friends around for dinner and the fireworks.

People often ask us whether there’s any decent fishing in the Dordogne.  There are fishermen out at all times of the day, in all weathers.  While some of them are certainly doing nothing more than escaping their trouble and strife, most of them do seem to be really fishing, as this video suggests.  I can’t say that we’ve ever seen anything quite the size of the fish displayed in the clip, but we’ve certainly seen and heard some hints of good-sized fish in the river …. why don’t you come and try your luck too?

Well, I hope that this post has given you a slightly different perspective of life in Sainte-Foy …. one other than mine!  Dive in and explore for yourself.  Or, better still, come and visit!