Happy 29th Birthday Sweetie! We’re having a very relaxing day at home today after celebrating the last two nights. All chores have been postponed until tomorrow in commemoration of this auspicious day.
This week has been low-key. Weather has been spring-like with showers on and off and temps in the low teens (50’s F). We’ve scoped out an area for our veggie garden and have purchased a bunch of seeds and various tools. Will and I started digging up the patch but it was tough going due to lots of rocks just under the surface. We’re going to get a bunch of soil and garden in raised beds so we’ll continue working on that in the coming weeks.
We’ve gotten back to our normal routine since the trip to Spain. I went swimming four times and Will worked out at least as much. He also learned a number of new songs on the guitar so he’s felling chuffed about that. We played “fetch the car” again with Sharon on Friday. Her original car was with a mechanic friend of hers at his garage. He had a Citroen C5 2002 diesel estate that he agreed to trade for Sharon’s Merc. The car she bought last week was being tempramental so she gave it to her friend David who knows a bit about cars and was in need of a new run-around. So on Friday, Will and I took Sharon and Oscar to Riberac for her to pick up her new car. It’s a perfect blend of the old two – it’s big enough for Oscar but a diesel that will get excellent fuel-efficiency.
On Friday evening, we decided to try our local bar in Mareuil which is our nearest town, about 5K down the road. It’s owned by a gay couple so although it’s not a gay bar per se, we weren’t the only gays in the village that night. Actually, the bartender/owner was as “camp as Christmas” (to borrow a phrase from Andrew). There was an older couple at the end of the bar who took a shine to young Will. We had a few drinks and went back to our place. Sharon has some friends staying with her at the moment. They are Richard and Bridgit and recently moved to the area from Nottingham. They bought a place a few miles down the road and are having work done on it that renders it uninhabitable. Anyway, they came around and the five of us played poker until about 1:30am. Richard snatched victory from Will in the final rounds.
Saturday day was uneventful. I swam and played poker and Will mostly played guitar. In the evening, we went out to dinner with Sharon at Les Jardins de Brantôme, a restaurant that we’d yet to try. It’s a bit pricier than our usual haunts but was more than worth it. We all agreed that it was the best meal we’d had anywhere in the area. Sharon and I had the same menu, which was scallops with chorizo in a thyme infused sauce. This was followed by roast lamb in a garlic sauce with mashed potatoes. It was to die for. Will started with a vegetable medley served with slices of dried duck breast. His main was shredded duck breast in a hoisin-esque sauce, also with mashed. Next, we all had cheese, accompanied with a salad with walnut oil. There were two cheeses: Rocamadour, a goats cheese; the other is called Trappe d’Echourgnac which is made with cow’s milk infused with walnut. We loved the second one, which is apparently made by nuns somewhere in the Dordogne. Who knew nuns could make such delicious cheese? For dessert, Will had Chocolate Duo, a mousse and a few small pieces of dense cake. I had a pear which was infused with something that I can’t remember the french word for but was delicious. Sharon had the tarte tatin which was good, but not great.
Besides having great food, we really liked the feel of the place. There are about 10 four-person tables in the restaurant and it’s decor is simple but elegant. It also has a terrace for al-fresco dining in the warmer months. Will and I were pleased to see a young gay couple having dinner there as we walked in. That made two separate gay-sightings in one weekend after months of thinking we were the only ones. There were also a few families with children eating there. The waitress was lovely and spoke English to us the whole night. We were impressed that at the end of the evening, the chef came out and talked to all the patrons. He’s a young-ish guy (40) and is quite attractive. He worked in the UK for a few months in the 90’s so spoke fairly good English. He owns the restaurant and has developed a following, mostly from the local community. We will definitely be going back although going more than once a month would blow the food budget.
Ok, time to get back to relaxing.