Friday and Saturday 10 and 11 May 2024

Friday we were away early to la Rochelle, about 45 minutes drive to the coast. It is a beautiful city (75,000 people) with an amazing marina full of yachts, seaside restaurants and shops. Very touristy and full of people for the (almost) long weekend. Wednesday and Thursday were public holidays, so what’s Friday? A sick day of course!

We took a bus de mer (water ferrry) across the marina to town and wandered around the markets. Unfortunately we left our planned big bowl of mussels too late. Lunch service was off by the time we tried, so a couple of wines sufficed and a lot of people watching before a drive back to les Petites Revieries.

Flashy is up early Saturday and starts the process of removing the apple tree, as agreed with Johnny before he left. We met Claude (no English) our (no French) neighbour and negotiated to borrow his chainsaw. 

Amazing what a background in charades can do. Said item is a relic of the revolution. Must be 40 years old, but it works beautifully. A small 300 mm bar, but it took out the branches but couldn’t handle the 350 mm diameter trunk. So, the cunning plan is to leave it at 2m high so the big excavator coming to pull down the fence can rip it out like a rotten tooth. ‘We’ve done it before,’ Flashy reassured Johnny. We took photos, had some beers and smoked salmon, then lay back in the shade as it’s 28c today.

Part of the marina. Sky's still blue.

First Aperol Spritz of the trip. they use Champagne here. Of course, they do!

Unusual street art.

Haven't seen one of these for decades.

Restaurant Andrew (no lunch service at 3pm).

That's the big boy to come down

The cutter doesn't fetch and carry!

Only the stump remains.

Despite being exhausted from unfamiliar exercise, Flashy can still  manage a beer.