Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
11
Mirepoix Meltdown
“It's no good, Jack, we're going to have to stop.”
“Why?”
“Poor Biff looks like he's going to peg out any minute. I need to check him over prop-
erly and give him a breather.”
“Don't be silly, giving him a breather out there will be like sticking him in an oven.
Look at the outside temperature reading, it's
boiling.
”
“Yes, but he still needs a couple of minutes in the fresh air. Anyway, he might be burst-
ing for a wee.”
“Right. Have it your own way, but just be quick about it would you? And don't blame
me if the poor little bugger dies of heat exhaustion,” grumbled Jack, now thoroughly nettled.
Our unplanned stop turned out to be sensible. Biff downed gallons of water, had a long
pee and finally stopped fizzing. We had a quick potter around the
Aire
then re-loaded him
and cracked on with the journey. There was no escaping the fact, though, that inexperienced
as we were about the weather in this area, it did seem to be unseasonably hot for April.
We arrived at the family run hostelry in the late afternoon. Mirepoix lies in the depart-
ment of Ariège, about 120 kilometres from the Mediterranean coast and 60 kilometres north
of the Pyrénées peaks. Its closest neighbouring towns are Limoux, Foix and Castelnaudary.
The
auberge
was situated on the edge of the town. Small, clean and with a nice little restaur-
ant, it was owned by a friendly French couple who liked to speak English. Perfect!
It was here that the first of many similar incidents took place. On this occasion it was a
member of staff, clearly a dog enthusiast, who took an immediate shine to Sam. As she was
passing she stopped to exclaim.
“
Ooh là là!
Your collie is so beautiful. So beeg also and so
beau
.”
I thanked her, but couldn't stop myself from making the obvious correction. I painstak-
ingly tried to explain that yes, he was certainly handsome, but he definitely wasn't a collie
and that his size was quite normal for the breed. The origins of the Australian Shepherd and
the popularity of the breed in the USA instantly became the subject of a very animated and
entirely inconclusive discussion.
