Ever since moving into our new place, a question that had been on our minds, and undoubtedly on yours too, is who our first visitors would be. For a long time, the front runner in this much-discussed category was my cousin Michele, her husband and their two young boys who live in Paris. This would have been their first trip to these parts and they had planned to spend a few days with us, exploring the Dordogne. Alas, this visit never materialised since Michele started a new job and was unable to take the time off. This catapulted Gavin into the lead, since he had already booked Easter weekend. But in a last minute upset, he was pipped to the post by Will’s parents, Anne and Andrew, who joined us for a long weekend. There is some controversy over whether this is the second time they earned this distinction since they helped us move down here from London but there is no doubt about them being the first ones at Port 80.
They arrived on Thursday afternoon and I collected them from Limoges while Will was at the eye doctor in a town along the way. We arrived back to ours around 5pm where we chilled in the garden, enjoying the beautiful weather that was still in full swing. After a few drinks, Will and I made lasagne and that was dinner, along with bread, cheese and carrot cake cookies. We spent the evening drinking wine and catching up and generally enjoying ourselves.
The weather on Friday was just perfect: cloudless skies, a light breeze and high temps of 28C (81F). Since they didn’t see much of Brantome on their last visit, we decided to head there Friday morning. The market was in full swing when we arrived and we came away with some tomato plants, some herbs that Anne got for us and a piece of stinky cheese. We followed up with lunch at the cute waiter restaurant, which was newly reopened for the season. We had lunch by the riverside and were happy to be served by the eponymous man himself who seemed pleased to see us. Afterward, we strolled through town and then came home by way of the grocery store. We spent the afternoon relaxing outdoors and then planted our new purchases after it cooled down a bit.
That evening, the men had confit de canard served with goats cheese mashed and broccoli and Anne had a mixed salad. This was followed by cheese and for dessert, patisserie from our local bakery including a raspberry tarlet, millefeuille and milhacoise. The latter is a specialty of the bakery’s and Sharon has been encouraging us to try it for some time. It’s a marzipan base with almond filling, all covered with powdered sugar and sliced almonds. It’s extremely good but our favourite is still the millefeuille (layers of puff pastry and custard, topped with frosting). We wrapped up the evening with wine and cards and then crashed after our long, laborious day.
Saturday brought more of the same, but without the trip to Brantome. The weather was an exact replica of the previous day, meaning we spent much of it outdoors. This included more gardening, a walk around Mazeroux and its environs plus lots of time sitting in the garden, reading and relaxing. Dinner that evening was a fish pie, a culinary first for me. It comprised cod, spinach, shallots and fennel in a cream and broth sauce, covered with mashed potatoes and even Will, not a great lover of fish, seemed to enjoy it. This was followed by bread, cheese and patisserie and a game of Trivial Pursuit which Andrew and I won, although only just.
The weather turned on Sunday and became more seasonal with overcast skies, a bit of rain in the morning and temps in the high teens. Our first activity of the day was a trip to Saint Pardoux, a nearby town that was having its annual vide grenier (meaning loft-emptying, like a carboot or garage sale). Although we’ve made great strides towards a fully furnished house, we’re still in need of shelves and bedside tables. Although there wasn’t much there in those categories, we came away with a wooden bookshelf that’s now in the mezzanine and replete with half of our fiction. This means we’re down to only a few more boxes of books and some CDs before we’re box-free.
We also went for a walk and played some Scrabble but the other big activity that day was toilet repair. The plumber Lucien knows showed up earlier in the week and agreed with Lucien’s assessment that the problem was calcium in the pipes. He left us with a bottle of strong acid that is meant to dissolve the build-up but we were reluctant to use it since we have a septic tank for which acid is a big no-no. On a side note, the plumber didn’t charge us for the call or the cleaner; yet another bonus of having Lucien as a neighbour. Anyway, Andrew didn’t agree with this assessment but figured that it would be easy enough to remove the toilet and have a look around. So he and I did that and sure enough, there was loads of calcium build-up in the U-bend, much the same as cholesterol causes arterial blockage. Armed with only a screwdriver and metal fork, he removed the layers of calcium, reinstalled the toilet and so far, the problem appears to be gone.
We feasted on left-overs that evening, polished off the remaining cheese and ended with fresh patisserie from our local bakery. They were out of our favourites so we made do with coffee eclairs, a strawberry tartlet and piece of strawberry shortcake. We ran out of wine that evening which was just as well since we had an early start the next day. We took our guests back to Limoges on Monday morning and dropped them at the airport, a few pounds heavier than when they arrived. It was really great to see them and to pass such a lovely time with our first visitors.