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We left for Bordeaux on Friday morning and made good time getting there. It would have been even quicker had I not missed a turn on our approach. Due to the morass of one-ways, it took an extra 20 minutes driving around with the hotel tantalising in view but just out of reach. The weather was mostly cooperative with temps in the low 20’s and a bit of cloud but no rain either day. After unloading, we headed out and had a spot of lunch at the same cafe from our last visit there with Chuck. We spent the next few hours walking around the city taking in the sites including the “water mirror” on the river quay (see pics). We also walked most of the length of Rue St Catherine, the main pedestrian route and Will purchased some guitar strings. We stopped for a beer before returning to the hotel for a siesta.
We strolled around a found a place to have dinner, in the old town. The restaurant, Cafe des Gourmets, didn’t exactly live up to its name. The service was great, friendly and efficient but the food was just ok. This is probably due more to the fact that we’re spoiled here in the Dordogne with a selection of true gourmet restaurants. Will had his standard menu of warm goats cheese salad to start and confit de canard as a main. I was surprised that the starter came served on white sandwich bread and Will confirmed that it tasted equally as bad as it looked. I had a starter of shrimp and scallops that were ok and steak frites for a main which was tasty. Mom had pate to start and salmon for a main. The desserts were all lovely so overall, it wasn’t a bad experience.
We took a leisurely stroll back to the hotel where we left Mom and headed out for the bars. We found two bars that we visited on our last trip and not much was happening in either place. The first was a standard video bar with a younger crowd and the second place had more of a neighbourhood feel to it, mixed men and women and generally, an older crowd. The third place was a lot livelier and we ended up staying there until it closed at 2. The owners are from Bristol and took over the bar a couple of years ago, although they’ve lived in France for ten years. They are both very friendly and chatty and that seems to rub off on the clients who were also very gregarious. It helped that they keep a couple bottles of flavoured vodka behind the bar and freely hand out shots now and again. In addition to the owners, we chatted with a few locals, one French, one American and an Argentinian who all spoke great French. We were invited to carry on to a local disco but declined since we had a relatively start the next day. We’re going back in August when Gavin visits so perhaps we’ll give it a try then.
We got up on Saturday, slightly groggy and then checked out of the hotel and headed to St Emilion, about an hour’s drive. We strolled around town for an hour, taking pictures despite the cloudy day. Unlike our last visit with Aunt Mimi, we managed not to buy any wine in the myriad of shops and found a place for lunch. This place, Logis de la Cadene, more than made up for the mediocre meal from the previous night. We didn’t reserve so sat inside, just next to the door so that was fine. I had a salmon starter and another steak for the main. Will and Mom had goat’s cheese in a filo pastry to start, followed by a chicken skewer for Will and salmon for Mom. Mom and I each had an amazing dessert despite the fact that we were all too full. We had a lovely bottle of St Emilion with our meal, despite the fact that it was the cheapest bottle at €35. The service was amazing, especially the woman in charge who is one of the most cheerful servers I’ve ever encountered.
On our way home, we stopped off in Castillion, just down the road, where we bought a case of wine from our usual chateau. We were served by the usual gentleman who is 83 but still in fine form. We hopped on the autoroute and were home in under two hours. I had mowed the back garden before we left, but it started raining midway through so did the front garden when we arrived home. We managed to have a bit of cheese and salad for dinner, despite still being full from lunch and played some cards and Scrabble.
The weather turned really nice on Sunday, too warm for my taste, and we spent a lot of the day outdoors. Mom and I did some weeding in the veggie plot and she thinned out the carrots and also tidied up the front. I must say that the front garden is looking really good after all the hard work Mom did while here. We had a bbq that night and ate dinner outside, just like on her first night here. I’m glad that the weather during her visit turned out better than expected.
In garden news, I’ve definitely gotten rid of the moles in the back garden, but there is still one in the front and he’s being very difficult. It’s not helped that it’s rained almost non-stop the past few days, making it hard to lay traps. It’s a bit brighter today and the rain is meant to hold off now so perhaps I’ll have better luck in the next few days. Also, the corn has finally started to come up so if we ever get some sun, perhaps it will do alright.
I took Mom to the train in Angouleme on Monday afternoon before doing a few errands on the way home. We had a really lovely visit and she certainly earned her keep with her gardening work and baking. She made a few batches of cookies before she left – some for us and some to take to the new neighbours, although that second batch seems to have combined with the first so I’ll have to make some myself to take down. We got a brief report from the Beaufils who told us that they are a retired couple from Nimes (south coast) and they will be living here full time. When they told us, they commented that they found it odd for city people to pick up and move to the countryside, which they know little about. Of course, this applies equally to us so I’m sure they were saying the same things to their friends when we arrived.
We’ve done very little this since Monday except for a bit of work. We’re working on a new design for our sites home page and I’ve had a few bits of client work. We also made contact with Vortex, our local transport company who had gone quiet but it turns out they’ve just been busy so we will go in to meet them in a couple of weeks. It’s been quiet on the social front too, but that should change. Our friends Andrew and Tony who live near Valencia, Spain are on their way on Sunday to spend a few days here. I sure hope the weather improves before then but perhaps they’re sick of warm, sunny days or else they’re homesick for English summer weather.