Bonjour. We have a few days’ gap between visits: an ideal moment for a quick Frog Blog update. We just had a highly enjoyable few days with my parents and were blessed with perfect weather for it too. We’d been monitoring the forecast all week and it kept wavering between partly cloudy to rainy and overcast for the weekend, so we did very well to have clear skies and sun every day in the end.
On Saturday morning, Matt mowed the lawn which yet again had gotten too long. I left him to it to go and collect my folks from Limoges. Their flight landed at 2.30, so we were all home and out enjoying the garden for the rest of the afternoon. This is now truly in bloom with all our irises, roses and peonies in full flower and looking quite lovely. We also went on a walk through the nearby woods to build up a bit of an appetite for the evening’s meal.
That evening, we drove to La Coquille, a town about 20 mins away, to try a restaurant we’d not been to before, but about which we had heard nothing but rave reviews. It is called Les Voyageurs and is a very large place, a hotel and restaurant, with a huge dining room and an outdoor terrace too. The decor was questionable, but the food was extremely well-prepared, with a large menu to choose from. Mum and I had 3 courses, with Matt & Dad going the extra distance and squeezing in a superfluous cheese course as well. We were all blown away by the quality of each dish but especially the desserts, which were works of art. The previous Monday was my parents’ 35th wedding anniversary, so the meal was in honour of that. Funnily enough, they celebrated their 25th by coming to France and doing something of a nostalgia trip, so perhaps a tradition has been started. Feeling extremely full, we made our way home to digest. I had been Des (designated driver) so had gone easy on the wine, meaning I was in need of a digestif when we got in. Matt stayed up with me for a last beverage, but the folks, who had gotten up at around 5 that morning, both turned in.
The next morning, Matt and Mum nipped down to the shops to stock up on supplies for dinner that evening and to get some croissants for brekkie. We’d decided to go for a BBQ seeing as it was so nice out. We spent the day mainly lazing in the sun but also got in a wee bit of gardening too. Seems they never get away with a trip to Port 80 without ending up being put to work on something or other! For lunch, we did a bit of a Smörgåsbord of bread, cheeses, meats and salad which we ate outside. Early cocktail hour was called and several were squeezed in before we got around to the BBQ. We had the usual – potato salad, coleslaw, sausages and chicken (and salmon for mum). Mum and Matt had also bought some patisseries from the bakery, so we ended the meal with those and were yet again left feeling extremely full. We still had room enough to sample a few different wines though. We stayed up chatting till around midnight then all turned in.
The following day was a bank holiday, meaning no work for Matt, so we decided to go out for a wee explore. We had flirted with the idea of a day-trip down south to Sarlat and Beynac, but it was another scorcher, so the idea of spending several hours in the car wasnt sitting well with anyone. By way of compromise, we breakfasted on croissants again and then drove to Bourdeilles, a very pretty and Brantôme-ish town that my folks hadnt seen before. After a stroll through the streets, we headed to Brantôme itself for lunch – at Cute Waiter restaurant of course. It had been ages since we’d gone – certainly not since last year – so we were gratified to find the eponymous waiter working as usual (and still cute, bien sur). Matt and Dad both had large salads, Mum ordered an omelette and I had a croque monsieur. Neither Mum or I were too impressed with our meals unfortunately. That was the first time that place had been a let-down food-wise, but it was packed out, so I suppose it can be forgiven. For some reason, Brantôme was that day playing host to a huge troop of bikers. There must have been around 50 motorbikes lining the river by the abbey. Some of them apparently couldnt cope with the tranquility of the town and felt obliged to fill the peace and quiet with the sound of revving diesel engines which was unfortunate. To escape the pillocks, we made our way back to Port 80 for another chilled afternoon in the sun. Dinner was BBQ part 2 followed by an early night.
The following day was their return flight, so we all got in the car to drop Matt off at work in Nontron. From there, I took the folks on to Limoges and then back home. I took advantage of the continuing heatwave to get a couple loads of laundry done, then that afternoon went to see one of my website clients. They have a gite and I was due to take photos of it for the site, which meant waiting for just such a sunny day to cover the exterior. It was a real scorcher so I was sweating buckets by the end of it. It was especially mean to be taking photos of a gorgeous swimming pool on a hot day, but I now have all I need to get that site underway, so that will be today’s project. I also have 2 others I am working on at the moment which are coming along nicely. Nice to be busy again.
I mentioned that this is a gap in between 2 visits. Our next set – Mary-Carol, her husband David and 2 daughters, Alice (4) and Maeve (<1) – get here this weekend for their second visit. Technically, all 4 came out last June, but at the time, Mary-Carol was heavily pregnant with Maeve. Hopefully both of them enjoy their second trip more than the first. If the first one is anything to go by, the poor cats won’t enjoy this visit too much however. We barely saw them at all for the whole week last time. Although Alice was perfectly well-behaved, her presence was too much for the pusses. The gregarious Smoo loved having Mum & Dad here this weekend, but Louis doesnt really like sharing the house with anyone, and only relaxed properly yesterday after conducting a thorough search of the house to be sure they had left. Little does he know what awaits him this weekend…