We’ve spent the last few days hanging out with Gavin who arrived here on Thursday. We picked him up from Limoges around 1:30 (thanks Ryanair for making the daily flight a few hours later during the summer) and then headed back to our place for some lunch. We did a local walk later that day, had dinner and then switched on the telly to watch the election results. We stayed up until 2am and then called it a night since it was clear there wouldn’t be much significant news until the next day.
On Friday, we continued to monitor the election situation so didn’t get up to much during the day except for a trip to the bakery in Mareuil where we stocked up on bread and assorted pastries. We had an afternoon walk and then made dinner and watched a few episodes of Cleveland that Gavin had recorded for us. Saturday brought slightly better weather and we took advantage of it with a trip to Brantome. We had lunch in the cute waiter restaurant which was surprisingly empty, so much so that the proprietor commented on how slow it was compared to last year at this time. We then had a stroll around town before heading back to our place. Sharon joined us for dinner that night and we played some poker afterward. Will claimed the crown this time which I believe is the first time he’s taken first place. We went to bed around 2:30 after snacking on cheese and brownies that I made earlier in the day.
This weekend was the annual flower festival at St Jean de Cole. Will and I were there a year ago when we came out to look for places to live, except we only stayed a few minutes because it was raining and very crowded. This year, it was raining a little bit but that didn’t keep us away. We arrived and had a quick stroll through the festival before heading to the St Jean restaurant for lunch. This is the place we normally eat and it’s usually crowded for weekend lunch but due to the festival, it was packed to the gills. They were serving a five-course lunch consisting of soup, salad with foie gras and duck gizzard (local specialties), choice of duck breast or duck leg, cheese and choice of dessert. We were going to have confit de canard (duck leg) for dinner that evening so we all opted for the duck breast for lunch. We were there for more than two hours, had a bottle and a half of wine and trouble getting out of our chairs once we finished. We strolled back through the flower show before heading home and collapsing on the sofas, unable to move due to the massive meal. We did a local walk around 7pm and that helped digestion a bit, but not enough to attempt the confit de canard for dinner. Instead, we had salad and a bit of cheese, followed by brownies and then went to bed after watching Life of Brian.
Today, we took Gavin back to the airport and now we’re home, enjoying a bit of sun for the first time in days. Will has nearly finished his latest web project so he’s outside, lounging by the pool. I have work to do on my new technology project so that’s keeping me busy for the time being. My mom arrives on Friday and she’ll be with us for ten days so we’re also doing a bit of prep for her visit. Until the next entry….