Women Supporting Women

Yesterday the rain was torrential, today, it's just pouring. Passed the day quietly enough with Maggie coming to trim my fringe (now isn't that a piece of interesting information) and Rowena coming for a cuppa when we were able to compare the vagaries of family life.
In the evening we went to an presentation and photographic exhibition of the visit to the Congo with the aim of trying to interest more sponsors for the girls' education project.
At the end of it all, we went back to Juste and Joséphine's for a late supper and tasty it was too.

Rain Stopped Play

Tonight we should have been enjoying roast chestnuts and a selection of soup with our neighbours out in the street however the torrential rain, thunder and lightening have put paid to what would have been a great get-together. Still, in comparison to what the Thais are suffering, it's just a drop in the ocean, so to speak.

Soupa Soirée

Jean-Jacques, Juste and Joséphine came around for an apéritif dinatoire this evening which gave me a chance to try out Jaimie Oliver's recipe for Spicy Parsnip Soup which was just delicious. You can find it at:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetarian-recipes/spicy-parsnip-soup
Not that our guests actually knew what parsnips were. Give it a go, it's great sustaining autumnal food.

Lost: One Waist

4½kg since January, is just not on! I don't suppose that anyone following this blog will be surprised. We both need to do something so there will be a lot of soup on the menu from now on!

Home Sweet Home

Despite all the good times we had while we were away, it's great to be home. Had a good night's sleep and was up in time to see the Maratrail runners come through tye village. In fact we were still in the square when Kelvin and Irene arrived. Took them up into the mountains for a bit of sightseeing, though this was difficult with all the fog Coffee chez Conxita, then lunch when 3 out of the 4 of us had duck. Back down in the village the sun was shining so as there were still people on the terrace at the bar, we had a coffee before they had to leave for the coast.

Catalan Soil

It was a cold start with -1° but by the time that we arrived on home ground it was 20°. Decided to have lunch by the supermarket so that we could do some shopping before getting home. To our surprise we found Thérèse and Joan having a meal so of course we joined them.
Unpacking took quite sometime what with the wine, shopping, bread machine , oh yes, a present from Jill, and then made a pot of soup in an effort to start thinking of a healthier diet.

French Soil

It's good to be back on terra firma and pointing the car towards the south. Stopped off in Artenay at the same good value restaurant that we ate in last time. Made it to our farmhouse B&b around 5pm and were greeted by a nice couple who made us very welcome. Ate a good homecooked meal with them in front of an open fire and had an early night.

Call of the Sea

23h sailing so there was a whole day infront of us to fill. a bit of last minute shopping, lunch with Mum and dinner with Jill, John, Melanie, Paul, Dan and Alison. The journey to Portsmouth went without mishap and apart from a cacophanie of snorers on the boat, so was the crossing.

Mum's Treat

After having had a walk around the local antique centre, we went back to the garden centre where Mum treated us to lunch in their new restaurant. Good food and pleasant staff. The Christmas decorations were in competing with those for Halloween and I couldn't resist this photo. See, there is a child in there ... somewhere.
Although the day had started sunny, a heavy downpour arrived as we were leaving but had cleared up by the time we arrived at the health centre for Mum's appointment with the nurse. Took Mum home and then stopped off to say "cheerio" to Chris and Rosie as we're heading for home tomorrow.

Trailing the Shops

Spent the whole day shopping in Stratford and had lunch at the newly opened "Jimmy Spice's" which is part of a chain of restaurants serving Indian, Asian, Italian, traditional food. I have to say that I was not expecting great thing, well, it was a buffet for £7 but it was very good. It wasn't all consumerism, we did have a walk down to the new theatre.

Another Lunch Out

Today we were back on duty and took Mum out for lunch. This time we ate well, were served by a charming young man who spoke a little French and weren't ripped off in the process. Continued on tp the Garden Centre where Mum and I had a cup of tea while Christian snoozed in the car. His equivalent of a garden shed!

Catching up with Friends

Another sunny day as we made a relatively early start over to see John and Jean for a coffee. It's over a year since we were last together so there was plenty to talk about. From their house we drove to "The Granville Arms " to meet up with Karen who we hadn't seen for about 2 years. Sadly the food didn't live up to our expectations but it was convenient for the motorway and enabled us to do some catching up. The car is Karen's but I must say that it suits Christian too!

Generation Game

As usual, my outfit wasn't quite complete so luckily there was time to go down to the town and hunt out a new top.
All went well with the baptism, little Isla was as good as gold, not crying once. There were eats and drinks for the guests afterwards and a whole series of photos to be taken. Here you can see the 4 generations.
Later on close family went back to Jill and John's and drank the baby's and her parents' health and tried to wade a way through the mountain of sandwiches that were left. Amazingly it was warm enough to sit out in the back garden for a while.
It was lovely to see the pleasure that this wee one has brought to the family. The first of many?

Rise in Temperature

Both the weather and the atmosphere was warmer so the day passed pleasantly enough. Mary met up with us in Stratford for a not very exciting lunch and we made a quick trip to the solicitor's to talk about making our wills. Dinner was a much better affair as we'd been invited down to Chris and Rosie's. Sam was home for the weekend so we were able to hear first hand about his new job. Straight out of Uni and he was offered a job at interview. The lad's obviously good at what he does and it's a real pleasure to see his enthusiasm.

Channel Crossing

Yesterday's afternoon crossing was fine even though we warned of rough seas and found paper bags readily available. Arrived at Jill's just at midnight which for our body clocks was 1 0'clock, so the only thing to do was to head for bed as soon as politeness would allow.
Today started well with a spell in the dog house! Mother was expecting us to be over as soon as we were up so wasn't happy when I told her that it would be after lunch. We prefered to get unpacked, take it easy and have lunch at The Bell where as usual we ate very well.
The atmosphere was a bit frosty so it was lucky that we were occupied with taking her into the medical centre for her flu jab and then up to Jill's fora cuppa. Had a steak dinner and left once she got into her favourite soaps breathing a sigh of relief as we said "see you tomorrow"! .

Two more Lunches

No let up in the bad weather and no let up in the over eating. Monday we had lunch at cousin Janine's along with Lydie, Bernard and Janine's new "friend", Jacques and then on Tuesday at Christiane and Léon's. Then on Tuesday evening, it was finally our turn to cook. Kept it simple: pasta and smoked salmon sauce but it always goes down well.

Let Them Eat Cake

It's still wet and windy. Is it any wonder that despite the good food, I had no desire to live in Normandy when we moved to France.
Walked around a local market on Saturday morning but didn't find anything of interest to buy. Had a coffee in a café where inevitably, the tv was showing the England v France rugby match. England lost and I kept my voice down even though I wasn't supporting them!
After lunch we set off again and went over to Guillaume and Valérie's for the night. Frank, Stéphanie and the kids came over for tea and we all tucked into homemade cake. The one made by Maureen was particularly good.
The next day we stayed for lunch and enjoyed more cake and wondered how the first round of the Primaries to choose the Socialist Party Presidential candidate would go. Interestingly the vote was open to anyone eligable who was prepared to pay 1€ towards administrative costs and sign up to the party's principles not just card carrying members.

Wild and Windy

Our first port of call this morning was to go and see Gilbert. Le Havre isn't the easiest town to negotiate at the moment as a tramway is being built and bringing traffic chaos. Despite the ghastly weatherwe decided to have lunch over looking the sea in a restaurant called the "Bellevedere" which had originally been a project centre when a small oil storage plant was being built. This photo is of the best view; look the other way and you'll see the tanks. The restaurant had pretentions to be up market with artistic presentation and a hovering Maitre D but it was over priced for what it was.

Back in the Car

Another trip to the physio this morning for François while the rest of us went for a walk on the seafront at Arromanches. Found three or four good sized pebbles for Mum's collection and went home for a gin fizz and lunch. Then, the time came for us to get back in the car and move on to Christophe's. Spent the evening quietly in front of a fire watching the "King's Speech".

Nothing Better!

Seafood is on the menu for this evening so we all went off to Courcelles to buy dinner. Weather chilly and dull. After lunch Christian dealt with the lobster and crab before we went for another stroll by the sea, this time at Port le Bassin. Once back home, François cracked open a couple of bottles of champagne and then we set about a meal worthy of a tv show!

A Stroll on the Beach

While Christian went with François to the physio's, JoJo and I hit the shops in Bayeux. I managed to put the plastic to good use. Two tops and a skirt for me and a shirt for Christian. In the late afternoon we went for a walk along the nearby beach. Just look how the weather has changes.

A Lucky Escape

It took us about 3 hours to drive to Vire where we were due to have lunch with Christian's Godmother but when we arrived, not having heard Christian say 3rd, she thought we were due to come the previous Monday. Not batting an eyelid, she went to the freezer and brought out a frozen cooked chicken to defrost/heat in the oven! We hastily assured her that it would be quicker if we went to buy a bit of steak.
It really was quite funny; she explained when we hadn't arrived, for some reason, she'd assumed we were coming on the Saturday .... I knew that it was a day that ended with an 'i', she said! If your French is no great shakes, only Sunday doesn't end with an 'i'!
After lunch we continued North for another hour and arrived chez François and JoJo's. Inevitabily, François made his wicked rum punch and JoJo made my favourite meal of scallops.

Raising a Glass

Hit the road at 9am and drove along with the sun shining on the autumn leaves. Given the fine weather (30°), Christian couldn't talk me out of doing a picnic. I'm sure that he would have prefered going to a restaurant. We were booked into a B&B which was also a vineyard producing muscadet. Before the evening meal we visited the "chai" where the wine making took place and of course sampled some very good stuff. Each course came with a different wine and we were so pleased by what we'd tasted that we bought 12 bottles to bring home.

Packing it all In

We're off for three weeks tomorrow and today was a busy one. Had to go up to the village hall first to tidy up after last night and then there was a quick trip to the market. Didn't need to buy anything but it provided an opportunity to have an apéritif in the bar with Jean and Françoise. Did the packing in the afternoon.
In the evening there was an apéritif in the museum in honour of a well-know cellist who was presiding over a flamenco concert in the village later on. The concert was given by a group from Barcelona and it was just fabulous. We're so lucky to have such interesting things happening in the village.