My aunt Mimi arrived on Friday. When we were young, she was called Tante Mimi since she was too young to be anyone’s aunt when my older brother Ben was born. She flew to Paris from Baltimore and then got the train to Angouleme where we collected her in the afternoon after doing a big shop at the Carrefour. She was a bit tired after all the travel but managed to stay with us until nearly 11 that night. We got home and had lunch (no, not the Port 80 sandwich but leftover veggie enchiladas from the previous night) and then showed her around the place. Later on, we had dinner of roast chicken, leek and parmesean mashed and white asparagus, followed by cheese on walnut bread from the supermarket which was surprisingly tasty.
This was the weekend of the Floralie at St Jean de Cole where we went last year with Gavin. We had planned to go with Sharon but she was feeling under the weather so we went on our own. We started the day with a trip to the boulangerie and got some croissants for brekkie and bread for lunch. We had Port 80 sandwiches and then headed to the flower show. It was threatening rain but it never materialised (dommage for the garden) and it wasn’t too crowded which was nice. The chateau in the middle of town is open to the public only during the show and inside, they had a nice arrangement of more exotic flowers such as orchids, lillies and many others whose names I forget. We ran into Nat and Jill and chatted briefly so hopefully things are back to normal with them. They have yet another court date in a week and they’re still stressed about the whole situation, understandably.
Most of the vendors were selling flowers (duh) and there were many varieties of roses as well as herbs, veggies etc. We bought some artichoke tapenade and sundried tomatoes from a cheeky-chappy of the french variety, making jokes and flirting with the ladies. Will and I came away with a wicker plant stand that has four round shelves as well as Kim, a cactus to go along with Kath. She actually looks a lot like Sideshow Bob so we’re going to call her Sideshow Kim. That night we picked up Sharon and had dinner at the Moulin Vieux (aka the Bad Boys restaurant), just down the road from our old place. The eponymous boys were actually off that night, auditioning for summer work so the maitre’d (and normally the instructor) did all the tables himself. The food was lovely as usual and we were the first to arrive and nearly the last to go. The fromage gets a special mention this time too. Sharon got some sort of cow’s milk cheese that was like a very aged camembert. It was yellow and stinking and I wouldn’t go out of my way to try it again. This is notable only in that it’s the first cheese I’ve tried that I didn’t like. I asked the waiter to choose three for me and one was a blue cheese, but with the consistency of aged parmesean. It was splendid.
Sunday we took it easy and didn’t leave the house except for a walk in the afternoon. We had some fruit for brekkie since we were stuffed from the previous night. Lunch was salad that featured lettuce from Lucien plus rocket (arugala) and herbs from our garden, served with the foodstuffs purchased yesterday along with cheese. It was meant to be a small lunch but that didn’t pan out. We did a fair bit of gardening and are grateful to Mimi for the help and advice. She dead-headed the roses and advised on repotting seedlings which included tomatoes and green herbs. Dinner that evening was fish pie, the same one we made when Will’s folks were here. I made some alterations and it came out much better this time: less watery, more herbs and leeks instead of spinach which paired nicely with the leek and parm mashed that went on top. And of course, more salad but I think we skipped the cheese that night.
On Monday, we did a day trip to St Emilion in the Bordeaux area, just over the Dordogne border, taking under 2 hours to get there. We stopped at our local boulangerie to grab some croissants for the road and to ensure that we were eating every few hours. We arrived and spent an hour walking around town which has been declared a UNESCO world heritage site. It’s a lovely little place, on a hill overlooking the countryside and the streets and buildings are all stone. It has a few churches and watch towers but mostly, it’s restaurants and shops that mainly sell wine. We had lunch at a place that we remembered from Trip Advisor and it didn’t disappoint. Will had a beautiful confit de canard, Mimi had mystery fish that turned out to be hake and I had beef. The wine was a St Emilion and was fairly spectactular. Only I had dessert, chocolate panna cotta which I always thought must be bread related but is actually like a dense pudding. We then strolled around a bit more and did some shopping. Mimi bought some macaroons that seem to be a specialty there, an assortment to give to the Beaufils and a smaller one for us. We each wanted a poster of the Bordeaux region and popped into a wine shop where Mimi bought one for herself and one for us. The man asked if we’d like to taste some wine and although we had originally resolved not to, ended up sampling quite a few. We purchased two bottles, one St Emilion and one Cotes de Castillion and I’ll only say that we’re putting them away for a few years and drinking them on a special occasion.
We also wanted to see a winery, Mimi especially, so using the guide given out at the tourist office, selected one that met our criteria (no entry fee and wine for under €10 a bottle). We found it and the wife called in her husband who was out working in the vines. He was probably in his 60’s, short with a sunburnt nose. First he explained about his vineyard, the composition and how he tends to it. It’s just him and one guy he employs and they have 3.5 hectares (8 acres) of vines that have been passed down from his grandfather. I should mention that the region itself is pretty impressive to drive through. Once you get off the motorway, it’s grape vines as far as the eye can see, only interrupted by a building here or there. Anyway, he then took us to the wine-making room and explained about the tanks and the fermentation process. Only then did he lead us to another room where all the bottles and barrels were stored and invite us to taste. He was out of the ’05 but had ’07 and ’08 and we bought three of each. The ’07 was better but he assured us that the ’08 would be just as good in a year. They cost around €9 per bottle which is more than we’d normally spend but we’ll tuck it away and enjoy it in the coming years.
It took about 2 hours to get home and we arrived around 7pm. That morning before we left, Lucien stopped by with two heads of lettuce and a big box of strawberries from his garden. So we used a lettuce for the salad, served with similar accompaniments as the last time, followed by fresh strawberries and macaroons for dessert. On Tuesday, we started with croissants and also got some walnut bread to have later. We headed to Brantome for lunch and ate at the cute waiter restaurant which was doing a roaring trade. We managed to get a riverside table which is always a treat. Mimi had salad and cassoulet, Will had a croque madame and I had the daily menu of salad, beef steak and a red berry panna cotta (must be in season). It was delicious as usual. Afterward, we strolled around town, said hello to Jean Mi in his shop and actually went in to a few of the more touristy shops for the first time. Dinner that night was similar to the others except for the treat of the walnut bread from our local which went well with everything. Mimi’s train was at 11 so I drove her to Angouleme this morning. It was a great visit and she gets the distinction of being the first family member on my side to see the place.
A brief report on the garden and the weather. Still no rain, despite a few false alarms. We may get some in the next few days but I’m not holding my breath. It’s continued to be hot with temps in the mid-20’s (high 70’s) and the cats are enjoying spending most of the day outdoors. The garden seems to be holding its own although we’ve stopped watering it at Lucien’s instruction. The day we returned from Bordeaux, he and Mauricette were having their evening constitutional and invited us to accompany them to the village to see his set-up down there, since I had asked about it at dinner the other night. They have a big old barn and behind it is a small but very organised garden. He has rows of lettuce, all doing well, berries, melons, tomatoes as well as some flowers. I’m amazed his has come on so much already but he’s been doing this for many years so I guess that emotion is misplaced. We then walked back to their place where they showed us their main plot, about 5 times the size of ours. Mimi commented that they have almost every vegetable you can think of growing there, along with herbs, fruit and flowers. So by comparison, we have our work cut out for us.