A stay of three weeks in one place seems quite settled by our recent experiences and we’ve got back to doing quite a lot of cooking.  I bought a cookery magazine in WH Smith at Eurotunnel  and we’ve been trying a few new recipes.  It took three visits this week to supermarkets at nearby Montendre and Montguyon to get stocked up and we’ve also been to the local grocery store, boulangerie and market in Chevanceaux!!

We’ve had some good grub though – highlights include
Lovely fresh fish from the supermarket – we bought mackerel, prawns and cod
Sardine rillettes – recipe from Jack in The Guardian
Derek made roasted veg with Toulouse sausages
Chicken salad with bacon and sweet corn – vinaigrette mixed with mayo for the dressing
I made my first beef biryani which we really liked
Thai cucumber salad – I braved red chillies!

We’ve been trying not to eat too much bread but the boulangerie is full of temptation and the local pains aux raisins are fantastic.

Derek loves the wine and is currently drinking very chilled Muscadet and is even putting the red wine in the fridge.

We haven’t eaten out yet but are driving over to the Gironde estuary tomorrow so hope to find a fish restaurant for lunch.

Meanwhile, back in London, Danny watched the last stage of The Tour of Britain and took this photo of Wiggo and Cav.

Yesterday we drove to nearby Montlieu La Garde in search of info about walking routes from the Maison de la Foret. The lady in the information centre was really helpful – we know from past experience that promotional leaflets are always freely available but really detailed maps and info cost a few euros. Sure enough we needed the book of walks costing 7.10 euros. Determined to get our money’s worth, we set off after breakfast on walk number 25, a 9k circuit estimated to take 2 hours 15 mins.

Our newly acquired printer has been very useful – we’ve printed off and filled out another form for the lovely people at the DVLA and also copied the walking instructions so that Derek could read the map while I grappled with the French instructions for the route.

I am pleased to report the morning was a great success – we had a lovely walk which was fairly well signposted and we’re back in time for lunch. Highlights included the clear blue sky, a young deer really close up, lots of wild poppies and scabious and the mid walk coffee and pains aux raisins Derek carried in his backpack.

We drove to Jonzac this morning in the belief there was a market. No such luck! The town was lovely and it was a beautiful day – a bit hot – but ok. We wandered about, visited the tourist office for maps and was informed there was an evening market starting at 6.30.

After coffee sitting outside in the main square and next to the chateau we set off for Le Clerc to pick up more food. I’m also in search of a cheap printer so we can print off some tickets, a DVLA form and some Google map extracts. Plenty of food but no cheap printers!!

Back at the barn we have a late lunch and then set off along the Voie Verte to burn off a few calories. We also take a few photos inspired by the outdoor exhibition in Jonzac this morning.

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We get some work done this afternoon and after supper head back to Jonzac to the market. On arrival it’s very quiet!! However as we approach the market square we hear music but it’s not Elton John – it’s some old french crooner singing a mixture of French and English classics and it’s not a regular market. What we see is a communal supper – about 400 locals seated at tables eating and drinking with food stalls all around. There are oysters, mussels, escargots, boulots, all sorts of quiche, paella etc etc, and of course, copious amounts of beer and wine. It must be the end of season party!!

So sadly no night time market either – after a bit of a wander we head back to the car and get back just in time for bake-off.

It’s still very warm here even at 11.00 at night and the weather looks set fair for a several days to come. A good long bike ride set for the morning.

The house we are staying in is a semi detached barn conversion which is part of a little settlement of about half a dozen properties in a rural location, optimistically named ‘La Ville’.  The houses on either side of us aren’t occupied at the moment so it’s very quiet and the views are of sunflower fields – the huge sunflower heads looking very dry and brown now.  The house dates back about 200 years and was originally a distillery used for making cognac – when they renovated the ruins in 2007, they found bottles of 100 year old cognac apparently though they don’t say what it tasted like.  The town of Cognac itself isn’t far away and there are lots of vines growing locally.

Today started with rain, thunder and lightning – the storm cleared by mid morning and it’s been dry and warm for the rest of the day.  We did a bike ride this afternoon – about 12 miles along a nice flat Tarmac path through woodland – la voie verte or green way.  I worked up enough of a sweat to cool off in the pool when we got back. The water is chilly and I only managed to submerge up to my elbows – better than Derek though who merely paddled his feet.

Derek is busy in his office (kitchen table) dealing with website updates and the usual admin hassles minor (getting a refund from Millets who sent me walking boots, one 6 one 7!) and major (DVLA seem to have lost our new car registration documents).

Anyway, we have now unpacked properly and been to the supermarket – will probably take a walk into the village later to find the local boulangerie.

Having spent July and August in the UK, we’re off to France again – just two locations – Chevanceaux (near Bordeaux) for three weeks and Castelnau de Guers (near Beziers and Pezenas) for four months.

We’ve got a slightly shinier, updated look on the outside.  The Volvo XC60 replaces our old XC90 and Derek is sporting some new polo shirts including this season Tigers design.  Inside, it’s the same old us and we’ll be doing all the usual stuff – walking, cycling, cooking, updating websites etc etc.

We’ve had two driving days – yesterday we did Stratford to Folkestone, Eurotunnel to Calais and on to Le Mans to overnight in one of the ever reliable Ibis hotels. Today we’ve driven via Tours and Poitiers down to to Chez Amelia – a barn conversion which I think will suit us fine.  I’ve dipped into the pool – it’s been about 28 degrees this afternoon – but we’ve still got loads of unpacking to do.  

The French countryside along the journey looked well tended as usual with field upon field of sunflowers growing but as usual so many little towns and villages look rather closed and deserted!  It’s ‘back to school’ here too so summer festivals are all done and tourist attractions start to wind down.

So, I’m sitting on the patio watching the sunset and Derek is setting up his office just inside in the kitchen/diner.  So far, so good!

Really sad to be leaving MFH. We’ve had a lovely couple of weeks here, the weather has been mostly good, the dogs a delight and the house, courtyard and garden really quite special. We are heading back to Stratford tomorrow to sort out storage and to pack the car ready for the grande depart back to France. We are booked on the 11.36 crossing on Friday morning courtesy of Tesco and plan to get to Le Mans for an overnight stop. On Saturday we continue our drive south to Chevanceaux where we will be based for three weeks.

Not sure if I’ll manage to post again before the weekend. We are staying at Weston Sands for the next three nights so will try to do a write up before we leave. They are one of our clients so it will be interesting to stay and review the accommodation.

Breakfast and a morning walk do take it out of you!!

The dogs just weren’t that interested!

Heavy rain on Monday

Lunch outside in the sun

Quite a contrast in the weather. It rained all day on Monday but today, Wednesday, has been glorious. I managed a 35 mile bike ride in a short sleeve jersey, we had lunch on the deck and and a long sunny walk this afternoon in shirt sleeves. We are sitting at the end of the day with all the doors open sitting quietly waiting for ‘Bake-Off’. All this rain and sun means the grass need cutting again – which is good because it gets me away from the computer screen!

Two very tired dogs

after their afternoon walk

Today, Tuesday, is a bit of a recovery day. The bank holiday weekend was mostly fine weather and we had some good walks with the dogs. Jess is increasing her range and today we nearly got to the Suffolk Way before Barb took her back. Yesterday poured with rain all day – really heavy at times so the fields are now VERY wet. Hunter didn’t seem to mind that at all and decided to roll around in the mud as much as he could – fortunately he is quite happy to be hosed off when we get back and then towelled off. In fact I think he does it just for the cleaning up at the end of the walk!! Riley is very laid back and seems to get back just as clean as he started.

Our friends, Julia and Martyn were going to call in on their way back from Tunbridge Wells but holiday traffic was so bad they had to resort to plan B. John and Ann however, made it across from Leicester yesterday although the planned bike ride had to be abandoned.

We spent the day catching up, drinking tea and eating far too much. We also planned some future trips, monitored the Vuelta and ordered stuff online. Most orders could be picked up today in either Waitrose, M&S or Boots. Click and Collect is just so easy.

Danny and Britt spent the weekend in Cardiff and enjoyed a couple of days trekking, cycling and catching up with friends before the rain set in – it took them 4 hours to get home last night. John and Ann also had a very wet drive creating bow waves as they hit deep hidden puddles on the A14 at 60mph.

So, today, has been – collect online orders in Bury, walk the dogs (twice), clean the dogs (twice), clean out the chickens, clean up all the muddy boots and shoes, email out the newsletter and progress the  JT website.

Barb also took a few pics over the weekend – see below: