Friday is a lovely, bright sunny morning – crisp with clear blue sky. We drove into nearby Saint Hermine to stock up on food for the weekend. The market was small but had the usual lovely displays and friendly stallholders. We got really tempted in the boulangerie and then wandered around Casino supermarket picking out some typically French items in a bid not to buy the same old familiar things.

There is sweet stuff galore and we chose some madeleines, a brioche tressee, some speculoos biscuits, creme brûlée and some stripy sweets called Arlequins. On the savoury side, we are trying Coulommiers cheese and one of those gnarled dry sausages (saucisson sec) that always look rather scary. Someone also recommended Apericubes (little cubes of various cheeses to have as aperitifs)! We haven’t tried any restaurants yet so I’ve been doing a lot of cooking which I really enjoy.

Derek has been for a long, lycra-clad (i.e.fast and without me) bike ride, had a cup of tea and is now washing the car. Probably just curl up on the sofa tonight and watch the Friday night telly.

Bon week-end tout le monde!