Sunday 11 August 2024 Another glorious day at 33c and a light breeze. Our host brought over two delicious pieces of terrene that he had made and they were scoffed on the spot. A little trip into nearby town of Chateaugirond to get some groceries before the (very French) Sunday 12.30 closing - and back to our gite for the GnT’s and a light omelette for dinner. We also watched the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics, as we have TV. That’s a novelty for us, as we haven’t had it for most of our trip. And we haven’t missed it much either. I must say, the closing ceremony was much better than the opening ceremony. But even a cow in a paddock would have been better than the silly opening ceremony. As to our Brittany exploration. It has an interesting history, with the Celts settling here and being the first recognised people in the area millennia ago. Good old Julius Caesar conquered them in 52BC, but they were only superficially Romanised, retaining their fierce independe...
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Friday and Saturday 9 and 10 August 2024 Our hosts head off to Ill de Re (on the coast off La Rochelle and as crazy as Sorrento at Christmas!) early this morning for a traditional family day out at the beach. Loaded up like all the others with three bikes strapped to the fully loaded Subaru Outback. We are to mind Truffle the dog, which proves to be easy, as she sulks in the garage all day, awaiting the return of her master. Saturday morning is spent discussing forthcoming engineering works, including the construction of a fence, once the10 tonne, 30 metre long, 2 metre high, concrete wall separating the yard from the secret garden comes down. This is long overdue and frustrating, as Fabrice the digger man, keeps making excuses. Then there is the question of the proposed new kitchen extension. So, much stomping about with tape measures and Lady P’s scale drawings, before we depart for a week in Brittany, around mid-day. July and August are summer holidays in Europe and th...
Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 August 2024 Leaving our Bordeaux neighbourhood this morning we discovered a delightful coffee shop in a part of the area we hadn’t noticed before. All designer shops, Michelin restaurants and in all, quite an upmarket part of the neighbourhood. It just goes to show, that you need to spend time in a place to really appreciate what it has to offer. We decided that we really like Bordeaux, this being our fourth or so visit. We headed off to Lalinde and, just outside, the hamlet of Auriac, to visit Cyrille, the host of the home exchange we stayed for 14 days, five years ago (almost to the day). It was like we were there only yesterday. Apart from not looking much older (bastard!) and the grass being a bit longer, the cottage, pool and gardens were much the same. After a cooling swim (Lady P) in the pool, Cyrille’s new partner Danielle, appeared and we had Champagne while Cyrille prepared dips and saussion for an appetizer and then confit duck with potat...
Tuesday 6 August 2024 Another experience with the wonderful French health system today, when Flashy had to go to the GP for a cyst on his back. No doubt caused by lack of red wine. A young (aren’t they all!) English speaking GP soon fixed him and supplied a script for 27 different items (slight exaggeration), all for €26,50. A likewise English speaking, caring and attractive to boot, chemist, enquired after his health, adjusted the prescription a bit and even provided a big bag for all the goodies. Then, to a shared pizza and some water to take the first pills and home for a nap. Awakening relaxed and revived, we trammed into town for our booking at Petite Mignon, a 20 seat restaurant that’s almost always booked out. At 7.00 pm sharp we arrive and order two burgers. In our experience, the French do burgers well, as you might expect. Hand chopped beef and cooked how you like your beef. They have a high reputation at Petite Mignon. Now, I won’t attempt to do a review as goo...
Friday 2 August 2024 After an early morning call from Australia, telling Joanne that she had the job, celebrations were planned. (CEO of Australian Compliance Institute). Champagne was mentioned. However, today was to be one of education first, so, off to Chateau Moulin de l’Horizon. This is a delightful small chateau, overlooking la Loire on a rise and it has a complex underground system, carved out of the limestone cliffs (a troglodyte cave). Love that name – one expects ugly, little gremlins to be scurrying about, boiling babies for breakfast. But not here. 22 vaulted spaces that were once the working winery. Arriving above ground to a little car park, one enters the shop front to be greeted by our small Asian lady called Jennifer. Her perfect French and English also displayed a cheeky sense of humour, as she explained the first thing we had to do to earn a tasting. You get a 10 question quiz, pencil and paper and put on a head torch and head down into the caves, on your own...
Tuesday 30 July 2024 Our first full day in Saumur since arriving last night. It is quite hot now. High 30’s inside and out and no air conditioning. We survived under fans last night – just! Joanne had her second interview for a new job via Teams back to Australia, this morning. So, Flashy went for a walk in search of wifi, as there is none in the house we are renting, which as you can imagine, is causing stress in some of the party. Despite originally expressing an opinion that the “U Express” supermarket, 50 metres down the road, would be ‘just like a 7/11.’ Well, it was a wonderful treasure trove of goodness, with everything from bread to booze. It was also airconditioned and their free wifi worked in the car park as well. He was lost in the space for an hour, before returning with some coffee and the amazing story. It was so good that he will take Joanne for a visit as well. Jo’s birthday lunch was at Alchimiste, a semi formal French restaurant with white tablecloths and...
Saturday, Sunday and Monday 27, 28 & 29 July 2024 Lady P finally got her train out of Paris and 4.5 hours later arrived in Surgeres, where Flashy was waiting in the little red Peugeot and we took off for Bordeaux. It was busy on the road but not like the good old days in Melbourne on the Hume at Easter, but close! Jo was waiting by the kerb at the airport and we turned back for LPR. The trip home was surprisingly good. The next two days were a bit of a blur with Flashy and Johnny cutting down more trees and the others lying around and in the pool, as the weather was magnificent. Much sampling of wines and a couple of good old fashioned wood fire BBQ’s, sitting in the shade of the cherry tree. Sunset here is around 10.30 pm, so some in the party struggle to stay up that late! Monday we catch up with admin, and head off to Saumur. A spectacular Swiss wine Under the Cherry tree