I want to preface this entry with an apology to Mum and Dad. It was their anniversary on the 21st of May (the alleged day of the rapture, according to a mad old man in the US who far too many people took seriously) and, despite being reminded, I totally forgot to call them up or even send a card. Spurious apocalypses aside, we’ve just been a little preoccupied, Saturday especially. Sorry, folks.
And now for the rest of the O’Keefe/De-Zutter visit. My driving lesson at 8am on Thursday morning went very smoothly. This may be partly due to me getting more confident behind the wheel, or it could have been the fact that my instructor was most excited that it was her last day before heading off for a week-long holiday to Croatia with her best friend. I suspect that it would have been hard to do any wrong in the mood she was in. I was a little less chipper, it being far too early to have to be concentrating so much, but there were no casualties, so that’s a good sign.
After the lesson, it was back to Port 80 for more chilling out, and work on the garden. Matt and David rigged up a neat irrigation system for the tomatoes (idea © Lucien): upside-down water bottles with dirt in the bottom stuffed into the ground by each plant that slow drip the water all day long. Speaking of the garden, I must mention that it is fast beginning to bear fruit – literally. Our cherries are all of a sudden turning a nice shade of red and a few are already ripe (and yummy too). Also, our wild raspberries are just starting to ripen. Collecting fruit from the garden looks set to be a daily chore for us this summer.
For dinner that evening, we gave Matt’s new and beloved Weber BBQ a spin and served up some homemade burgers and chicken along with the usual range of accompaniments. It was all very tasty and I have to say that I am beginning to understand Matt’s insistence on getting a Weber and only a Weber – it takes no time at all and cooks the meat extremely well too. After we had eaten to typical over-excess (both cheese and patisseries of course followed the main), we digested it all in front of a silly comedy and then turned in for the night.
A quick word on the cats at this point. They did not enjoy Mary-Carol and David’s visit very much at all, bless them. Well, more specifically, it was Alice they had the problem with. This was a real shame as she is an extremely well-behaved girl and never gave them any cause for concern. If anything, she was largely disinterested in them. They however could not cope with her at all. In fairness, this was their first toddler experience, but it was surprising that it even took the ultra-gregarious Smoo several days before he would come out of hiding. They both spent most of the week in the log-shed, sulking and staying out of reach.
The Smoo did sort himself out in the end and started playing in the garden and coming in at night, but Louis is still largely log-shed based at the moment. The day that Mary-Carol and David left, I spent about 20 minutes persuading him that it was safe and he could come out again. I eventually succeeded, got him as far as the front garden and rewarded him with his water bowl and some food, which was rapidly demolished. Most unfortunately, just as he was starting to enjoy himself and have a play, a bulldog came tearing out of nowhere into our garden, growling loudly, and chased Louis right back into the shed again. The owner, who was out walking him, was extremely apologetic and said it was entirely out of character for him to chase cats, but the damage was done. I don’t know if Louis will ever quite trust me again after that final trauma!
But I am getting ahead of myself. On with the visit: Friday was largely a repeat of the previous day, except this time, dinner that evening was round at Sharon’s. We swang by Brantôme for supplies en route and gave the guests a very brief tour of the town, then headed on to Badaillac. It had been yet another hot, dry day but clouds had been gathering and it looked for a while like our meal (another BBQ) might have to be moved inside. Fortunately, or unfortunately for all us gardeners, we had barely a drop of rain and it all cleared up.
Sharon had 2 guests staying at her gite, so they joined us for dinner. They are a young couple (mid-20s), he an Aussie and she a Brit. They partly came out for business purposes: he is an internet marketeer and Sharon has a few potential web ventures, so I think they were offered a bargain rate to come and stay and share ideas. Anyway, they were both great fun and we had a typically yummy meal out by the pool, along with a number of cocktails and some wine. We left soon after to get Alice in bed and weren’t too long to bed ourselves as Mary Carol and David had a long road ahead of them.
Our guests packed up and left us by around 10 am the next morning, heading to Amiens (about 130km north of Paris) for a final stop-over before their return to the UK. After bidding them a safe journey, we got the sheets and towels washed, did a quick clean and got everything in order for the next set of guests, who were arriving later that afternoon. Conveniently for us, they were getting the train down from Paris to nearby Thiviers, so collecting them was nice and easy. The new set of guests are a friend of Matts’ mum called Suzi and a friend of her’s called Alfreda. They both work in international development and are often stationed in some fairly challenging places for several years at a time. Alfeda explained that placements are generally either 4 years, or 2 years, depending on how safe/developed the country is. Interesting and challenging work, by all accounts!
They got to ours at around 4 pm on Saturday and, after the obligatory tour of the house and garden, were both keen to set out and explore, so Matt took them on a local walk. Soon after, we drove over to Brantôme, where we had a table booked at one of our favourite restaurants, Les Saveurs. It seemed unusually busy when we got into town and we soon learned that this was because there was a medieval festival going on. There were damsels on horse-back and knights carrying swords trotting about town. Apparently, it was all culminating in a medieval music concert in Brantôme’s huge Abbey. Bizarre but true.
After a good stroll through town, topped off with an aperatif at a riverside café, we hit the restaurant at 7:30 and eventually made it out some time after 11, moving slowly. All of us had a fantastic and huge meal out on their terrace, topped up with complimentary and superfluous amuse-bouches between courses. I had a goats-cheese/asparagus “millefeuille” for starters, followed by a superb duck breast for my main. This was served with a side of mushrooms and some creamy, cheesy potatoes. Mmmmm. I was more or less full after the starter, but somehow also squeezed in a double chocolate dessert after my main. Matt had salmon to start, followed by a lamb main, a cheese course, and then a very fancy version of tarte tatin called “delice de pomme”. Alfreda went for that oh-so-compulsory Perigordine dish, foie gras, followed by the same duck breast main that I had. She insists I add that the garlic mushrooms on the side were especially divine, which indeed they were. Suzi, who had seen profiteroles on the dessert menu, decided to ensure she saved enough room so skipped the starter and went straight for the same lamb dish Matt had. I could be wrong, but I think she quite enjoyed the profileroles… It was a lovely evening, but required serious digestion at the end of it.
Right, this is once again far too long, so I am leaving it here for now. Matt will conclude the story imminently. Bonne soirée.