Gleaned from our Travel Notes
4.10.95:Left after work to drive down to Mum's
5th:
Visits to Hilda (step grandmother), Jill, Dad and then on to have a look around Moreton.
6th:
Lunch in the White Swan in Stratford. http://white-swan-stratford.co.uk/ Night crossing from Portsmouth.
7th:
Breakfast in Honfleur then lunch with Christian's godmother. (Rabbit) Back to Christophe's for dinner en famille.
8th:
Met up with Didier, a long time colleague of Christian's for a walk followed by lunch at an Alsacien restaurant.
9th:
Lawyer and bank in the morning; lunch at Christophe's and on to Paris. Dinner of salmon en croute with Frank and Laurence.
10th:
Visit to La Defense. Very hot so just a salad lunch. dinner with Frank and Laurence. Fondue and champagne.
11th:
Lunch stop in Avallon for an indifferent coq au vin. Next stop, an overnight in Bollène in "Le Château de Rocher". Wooden floors, stand up bath, verdant setting and a good restaurant. http://www.lechateauderocher.com/ (They didn't have gîtes when we went all these years ago).
12th:
Visited Vaison de la Romaine which as its name would indicate has lots of Roman remains. Had lunch in a quiet bistro in the medieval quarter. Arrived chez stéphane in ime to do the shopping for the evening meal which included more champagne.
13th
Lunch stop chez Aimée but this time no Jean-Louis who was at work. From here, it was onto Philippe and Gisèle's. We're looking to buy a house so gazed in the windows of local estate agents and visited a house in the village that's up for sale. Huge and needing a lot and I do mean a lot of work.
14th:
Lunch in Argelès and we did a Scottish dinner.
15th:
A huge family lunch with both lamb and duck, homemade bread and champagne. Philippe took us for an apéro chez Valérie and then it was home for an early night.
16th:
Looked at some land next to Gaby and Chantal's but the thought of building was a bit daunting. apéro with Josette and Jacky.
17th:
Stayed an extra day to visit estate agents, went up to the "mas", the old farmhouse that Philippe is renovating and went foraging for mushrooms.
18th:
Drove through the Massif Central and stayed over in Massiac in a quiet Logis de France. Champagne again!
19th:
A misty morning to start today's journey ever northward. Stayed overnight (more champagne, of course) in the Moulin de Flagy (Chambre "Millet"). Lots of character in a picturesque village. http://www.aumoulin.fr/index.html
20th:
Had thought to visit Fontainbleu but it was closed! cut our losses and drove on to L'Oise where we met up with Christian's ex-wife's cousins and .... yes, more champagne.
21st:
Travelled through the countryside, stopping in Lyon-la-Fôret for lunch on the way to Christophe and Valérie's. http://www.grandcerf.fr/
Pascal, Sandrine and their wee one came for an apéro then it was dinner en famille with yet more champagne.
22nd:
Couscous lunch and strangely enough more champagne. Visit to the Malos' followed by a walk.
23rd:
Still sunny. Called in on Gilbert.
24th:
Arrived home