The weather has turned spring-like which is good timing on its part. We had glorious sun during the week (see photos) but now it’s turned overcast with a few showers. Temps are still in the high teens so it’s still pleasant.
This weekend we are playing host to David White, aka Big D. He is working in Paris so took the train down on Friday night. I collected him from Angoulême train station and was surprised at how busy it was. Loads of commuters from Paris and elsewhere, all being picked-up from the station in the rain. It’s the closest I’ve come to driving in rush hour traffic in some time. We made it out of Angoulême and back home in good time and had a nice chicken dinner with wild rice and broccoli. Sharon had bought us some raspberry tartlets from the local boulangerie so we had those with cheese later on.
In addition to the delicious dinner, we were fortunate enough to have a visit from the green goddess. We had asked one of our local frenchies if he could find us any greenery and he finally came through with a bit after a couple weeks of searching. So it’s nice to have some again, even as we prepare for our stocking-up trip to the Netherlands.
Saturday morning, we had breakfast and then headed to Brantôme for a picture on the bridge. We were pleased to find the Hotel Coligny (aka Cute Waiter Restaurant) had re-opened for the season and his nibs was there serving. David agreed with our assessment that he’s nice to look at but wouldn’t necessarily stand out if there was anything else in the area worth leering at. Afterward, as we strolled through the town, we came across Jean-Michel and Patrique, two of our neighbours, having a drink so we joined them for one as well. On the way back, we stopped off at the glass blower’s shop where David did his part to help the local economy with his purchase of two glass lamps. Next we drove to Bourdeilles, the other pretty town just a bit further down the river where we strolled around and snapped a few pics.
That night, we had dinner at Les Jardins de Brantôme, the restaurant where we celebrated Will’s birthday a few weeks back. It was equally as good as the last time and our respective menus were: scallops, lamb and chocolate duo for Sharon; green salad, pork and brownie for Will and David; and mushrooms with salmon, duck and grandma’s rum cake for me. The waitress was a bit put out by Will and David’s request for a salad to start, perhaps she thought it an insult to the chef. She kept lapsing into english but we kept speaking french to her and then she would speak it back to us. We came home after a lovely 3-hour meal and had a drink / smoke and went to bed.
This morning, we had a light breakfast, showered and then drove to St. Jean de Côle where we had lunch. This was a 3-course affair at the main restaurant in town where we’ve also eaten with Mimi and Kevin (separately). Being Sunday, it was very busy with nearly every table full so it was a leisurely meal, in a pleasant french sort of way. Will and David had the warm goat’s cheese salad to start and I had the Perigourdian salad with duck breast and gizzard, eggs and tomato amongst other goodies. For the the main, Will had confit de canard and David and I had steak, all of which were served with potatoes dauphinoise, and pureed carrot and celery. This was followed by creme caramel for David, creme brulée for me and profiterôles for Will. After lunch we strolled through the village and then made our way home and enjoyed the garden for a while as the sky cleared up again.
I’ll take David to the train station shortly and then it’s home to pack and prepare for our trip to the Bene(-lux) countries tomorrow. We’re staying in Tilburg and will also be visiting Eindhoven, two mid-sized Dutch cities that we’ve not been to before. On Wed, we’ll drive to Bruges, via Antwerp for lunch, and spend one night there. We’ve been once before, in fact, it may have been Will’s and my first trip together, almost 7 years ago. We’d like to spend a few more days and see a few more places but even cheap rooms are €60 per night so we’re being frugal and keeping it a short trip.
Happy first day of Spring and enjoy the seasonal banner.