Blog Prequel

1st January1995 is where it all began long before we were ever users of the internet thanks to the gift of a Visitors’ Book from Mary Kate . It was sporadic at first as we didn’t always like to ask or simply forgot to ask people to write a few words but then it took on a life of its own especially after we moved to France. People became more imaginative with their entries and started to read who had said what since their last visit; I started to record the menus we’d had so that I didn’t offer the same thing to the same people and to decorate the entries wth wine bottle labels and other souvenirs of the event recorded. A small library of visitors’ books started to grow and inevitably, things evolved. More and more it was me that recorded not just visits but also other things that were happening in our life until the time came at the beginning of 2008 to let the dust accumulate on the books and hit the keyboard instead. Never having kept a diary before, I wasn’t sure that I could keep up a blog but apart from the occasional backlog, it’s still alive and although our audience isn’t large (not that it was ever meant to be), our “daily doings” are read by a few faithful friends and family who have said that they enjoy catching up with our news. Well, they would wouldn’t they? We enjoy reading it too, by the way! 

So, now for a digital version of all those entries nestling in the six now-redundant books that as time goes by will appear on this blog in pre 2008 date order and others' comments will be in script rather than print. It will be a laborious, long, slow process but here goes ...... 
Weather:
12°, Drizzle

Bonjour la Catalogne!

30.5.97

Our first visitors to OUR little corner. Papi for an apéro and Philippe on his return from Paris for a night cap.
After so long talking about it, ça y est, on est chez nous! (Christian)

27.5.97

Furniture arrived without any problem and the windy road to José's garage (a short term storage solution) was negotiated with held breath as our's was very large lorry taking up most of the available space. Fortunately, we only met one car which stopped while we squeezed by.
Celebrated settling in to our "petit coin" as "The Nest" is not yet finished..

25.5.97

After a tearful "goodbye" at the airport, Christian who had come back a week early and I arrived "chez nous" having had dinner with Frank in St Germain. Was really nice to have some new home cards waiting for us .
To clarify, our friends (a family of 4) from whom we have bought the house are still ensconced. Their solution for our absorbtion into the living space was to give us their bedroom. We soon found our own solution and took over a small "suite" consisting of a bedroom, shower room and  Philippe's study to convert into a sitting room. Best of all, there was a door to make it self contained! Meals, however were taken "en famille"

Goodbye to All That

25.5.97: FRANCE,  HERE WE COME!! (Gleaned from Our Travel Notes)

19.5.97 - 25.5.97: Decamped to the Cotswolds to say our last goodbyes

25th: Up and away from B'ham airport to pastures new

24th: Chez Chris and Rosie

23rd: Chez Jill and John

22nd Dinner and overnight with Dad

18.5.97: Overnight with Mary

17.5.97: Overnight with Jean

12.5.97 - 16.5.97: Back to Mary Kate's 

16th: Last night in Scotland with Mary Kate

15th: Lunch with Marlene at the University Staff Club. Overnight with Colin and Sheila

14th: Lunch with Ann K at 76, St Vincent Street

13th: Dinner with Ann and Ellen at Two Fat Ladies

12th: Lunch with Agnes in Edinburgh. Dinner with Sheila C. at Café Étoile

3.5.97 - 10.5.97: Staying with Jen in Yorkshire

3rd: Lunch at Harvey Nic's

28.4.97: Staying with Mary Kate
2nd: Dinner at Pierre Victoire with two of the train girls
1st: Lunch with Maureen at CCA. Dinner with Karen at Bombay Blues then a drink with Angie at the Pot Still
30th: Lunch with Jill at Jensen's, compliments of "Auntie "
29th: Dinner with suzanne. Mexican meal on Dumbarton Rd

26 - 27.4.97:

Overnights with Ann and Noel

24 - 25.4.97:

Overnights with Colin and Shiela

23.4.97

Last day in the wee"hoose". John, Simon H and Oliver up from the Midlands for all our worldly goods yesterday and then 4 weeks of hoping not to overstay my welcome with various friends and relatives. The next entry in this book will be when Christian and I are in "The Nest" having met up in Paris and travelled from Orly to Perpignan. Looking forward to our new life, different life, together.
Ovenight with Julie and Morgan

13.4.97
17h50 Time to go; wee bit sad but life is in front of us. The future is bright. (Christian)
A night in the Travel Inn picnic style before Christian's early start for Abu Dhabi en route to Burma.

12.4.97

Ruth and Christian are members of  the N mafia. we will miss them very much!! We look forward to visiting them in the very near future and long for their visit to Scotland . (Ann)

We will miss you. We have had very happy times together. We remember Bastille Day and Christmas Pantomimes. We look forward very much to visiting you in France. (Maureen and Angus)

11.4.97

A la nueva casa en Francia. espero que vive en Barcelona y visitara muchos veces. (Mary Kate)

We were late as usual - but we promise we'll be on time when we visit you in France. Can't believe the change that's happening - it's great and shows that life is always beginning, exciting and new. It's reassuring and exhilerating. Great night, great event and reason to meet and I'll talk about it for months and months - who knows where it will lead. (June)

Signed Willie

I love everybody! (Johnny)
 Me too! (Ruth)

Et moi (Mary Kate) 

One more time with all our friends. Maintenant je vais parler français et je vais vous dire combien je vais penser about you; je vais missed you a lot already. I am quite confused! (Christian)

PSHow could anyone not love someone like this?
PPS It's not hard to imagine that a good time was had by all!

10.4.97

Gordon and Ena as usual, provided an evening with lots of laughs, old memories and good food at the Cochrane Inn. http://www.cochraneinn.com/ Joined back at the house by Liz for a night cap and discussions about future visits.

8.4.97

A lovely surprise! Flowers from the research team.

7.4.97

It's already 7 years since we are in our wee house and if the walls were able to talk, they would say how much love and happiness was found here. (Christian)

6.4.97

What will we remember about Ruth and Christian???

Strawberries in Champagne (Morgan)

Generally educating my palate .... and ice cream - raisin from Bryson's Garage (Sheila)

Long lazy afternoons into evenings, sunny patios, saucisson, cheeses, pâtés, lamb with rosemary and flageolets, paella, champagne, wine, kir, liquers, gin etc, etc .... definitely "au revoir" and not "goodbye" .. bon voyage .... Julie xxx and Holly 

Friendship, good food, good wine and laughter. We'll miss you very quickly. Hope to see you sooner rather thn later. (Colin)

March 1997

27.3.97
Well, pourquoi pas? An extremely wet Thursday, the last round up the office, lunch at Café Rouge and signing the release papers. That in itself warrants a celebration.

10th - 24th
Two weeks for Christian and two weekends for me up in Peterhead. Being taken care of in Morven house made up for the town.
Home to a double celebration - sale of the house and voluntary redundancy. A pity that Colin and Sheila couldn't join Ann, Noel and ourselves.

 7.3.97

 Celebrated  out first decade together quietly enough. A meal at home with some Veuve Clicot (my favourite) and drinks chez Colin and Sheila.


5.3.97
Happy Birthday, Christian! Sunny drive to Aberfoyle for dinner at the "Braeval" (Nick Nairn's restaurant)

• Kir Cardinal (made with Beaujolais) and canapés

• Leek and watercress soup

• Halibut on a bed of tarragon ratatouille with deep fried parma ham

• Duck, pommes dauphinoise, celeriac purée, parsnip purée and spiced red cabbage

• Icelandic chocolate dessert with chocolate mousse, crème brulée with rhubarb

• Coffe and calvados.

Food was excellent as was the Victorian house B and B where we had a room with a view over Loch Ard..... and of course, our two Rennie MacIntosh flutes came with us for the apéritif.
C'était bon, c'était court! (Christian)

February 1997

16.2.97

The results of yesterday's baking spree were shared with Colin and Sheila after a wet and windy trip to Cost Co with Colin and Sheila. Such is domesticity!

December

18th Dec:
Christmas came early to chez nous - Christian home from Myanmar/Burma - champagne and presents. Well, there were too many to carry all the way to carry to France to open on the 25th.

Gleaned from Travel Notes

19th:
Dinner B & B with ann and Noel and then off o Otley to stay overnight with Jen.
21st:
Early start for the Dover Ferry. Lunch on board of smoked salmon and venison. It was a long drve to Christophe and Valérie's where we were joind for dinner of guinea fowl by Guillhaume and Valerie.
22nd:
apéro with Lydie and Bernard then lunch with the Malo family.
23rd:
Another early start. Difficult navigating around Paris, fog, rain, sun, police again but this time no speeding fine as we're non-resident! A never-again motorway meal. Arrived chez Josette and Jacky for 7pm to collect the key for our new home, Gisèle and Philippe unbeknown to us, having gone away for Christmas.
24th:
Not an auspicious start. Very cold inside and out. No cooker, couldn't light the fire. Shopping in Spain and early to bed to keep warm. Not feeling too good.

25th:
Lunch and a walk in Collioure. Quiet night. Champagne and incomprehensible (for me), innane tv.
26th:
Lunch in Céret, visit to José and Michelle (Philippe's sister and her man) then on to Amélie. Everything closed. Spartan meal at "home" but feeling a bit better.
27th:
José, who's going to do the renovations to the house, came to have a look around. Dinner of fish, chez José
28th:
Earlyish start. It's still very cold. Snow en route to Avignon.Lunch with Stéphane, Magali and her parents. overnight in Macon. Good hotel with good food but the restaurant was deadly.
29th:
Onto Paris. Good lunch in Courtenay in family restaurant. Freezing cold and kept ourselves busy walking around Pantin before Frank arrived home. dinner at the 'Poule au Pot'. Huge portions and an interesting and characterful place.
30th:
Shopping in Calais for proposed New Year party in the Cotswolds. One ferry was off so we had a long wait. Blizzards on the way up from Dover. stayed in B and B in the village with Colin and Sheila.

November

1st Nov:
Ça y'est! La maison est notre et we celebrate in Ayr in one of our favourite places. (Christian being bi-lingual).  Fouters, where else? On the menu: Warm pigeon breast salad and a medely of fish - timeless as always.

3rd Nov:
Nothing in particular to celebrate apart from Colin and Sheila round to share a large chicken and catch up on the news.

10th Nov:
A lazy day in the warm after a very frosty start from Glasgow where we stayed over with Alan and Maureen. finished Christian's long "recouperation" the way it started ..... why not, we're out of red wine!

24th Nov:
Colin's birthday dinner after a trip to the hospice fair. Not so glamorous as his trip to Chapeltoun House with Sheila but the menu was original - even a pudding.

September

6th Sept:
Bucks Fizz and peaches for Christian's first breakfast on his return from his last trip to Abu Dhabi, followed inevitabily by lunch at Fouters.

14th Sept:
Soirée Espagnol. Tapas and sangria, paella. Christian's masterpiece from the kitchen, figs and stilton etc shared with Colin, Sheila, Julie, Morgan and baby Holly.

19th - 22nd Sept:
Bob and Chris stayed with us on their way up to Aberdeen. We had to leave them early to take care of themselves as we were due to head off to France.

Like the river of time which runs on relentlessly through life, may our friendship deepen in the years to come. A great stay, your hospitality was beyond criticism as always. Thank you, love, Bob and Chris

Gleaned from Our Travel Notes

21st:
B ad B with Mary in B'ham.

22nd:
Crossed from Dover with Sea France and then a 3 hour drive to the "Cheval Blanc" (hotel of very fond memories) in Montmort. http://www.hotelrestaurantlechevalblanc.com/restaurant.php
Had an apéro in our room and then, as usual, an excellent meal

• Kir
• Foie Gras Salad
• Duo de salmon and monkfish
• Trou champenois
• Coq au vin for me, steak for Christian
• Passed on the cheese
• Sorbet champenois

23rd


29th Sept:Sheila et Colin sont venus pour fêter avec nous notre 5ème anniversaire de mariage.

30th Sept:
Day off for Sept weekend. Premature celebration for family status in Burma .... we're still holding our breath.
 

France Sept '96

Gleaned from Our Travel Notes

24th:
Shopping in Château Thierry. Crossing from Calais. Stayed over with Doreen before going on to Mum's and a trip to Benson's.

23rd:
Lunch in Sezanne after a late start. Then it was off to Martin-Charlot to buy champagne where we were made very welcome with coffee and then, of course, a tasting. Stocked up, had a siesta in a nearby wood and then onto Coparax to meet up with François.
We were made very welcome by Josette for dinner. (an English teacher). A really lively evening with planters' punch, rum, wine and champagne.
 22nd:
Crossed from Dover with Sea France and then a 3 hour drive to the "Cheval Blanc" (hotel of very fond memories) in Montmort. http://www.hotelrestaurantlechevalblanc.com/restaurant.php
Had an apéro in our room and then, as usual, an excellent meal

• Kir
• Foie Gras Salad
• Duo de salmon and monkfish
• Trou champenois
• Coq au vin for me, steak for Christian
• Passed on the cheese
• Sorbet champenois 

21st:
B and B with Mary in B'ham
19-20.9.96
Bob and Chris stayed with us on their way up to Aberdeen but we had to leave them early to take care of themselves as we were due to head off to France.
 
 

August

3rd Aug:
Once again forgot to ask our visitors to write in the book. Anyway, a Christian-cooked birthday meal (à la Delia) with Alan and Maureen was great.

4th Aug:
Champagne in the garden sunshine with Ann and Noel after an excellent meal at "Wildings" in Girvan is my kind of birthday present.

15th-19th Aug:
A weekend with Mary spent eating, drinking, talking and a little sunbathing. Colin and Sheila around for dinner.

23rd Aug:
A "train pals" night in the house. Chinese carryout, wine and plenty of chat.

25th Aug:
Surprise picnic by the Solway Firth à la Greque with Mary Kate and Johnny then home for supper and a bottle of wine.

France, here we come!

Just the two of us to celebrate the signing of the new house after a good lunch at Fouters - where else?

Vive la France!

Bastille Day '96 spent in the garden with Ann and Noël, Angus and Maureen, Mary Kate, Sheila and Colin, Julie, Morgan and wee Holly. Where will we be next year?
 

• Yet another year and still dropping clangers - will I ever be allowed to live it down - Ann and her "twin" brother Angus!! Ooops, sorry - lots of entertainment from this one. At least they won't forget me!! Love, Sheila.

• Had a lovely day. Thank you very much. Look forward to visiting you in France. Love, Maureen.
• Espero que uno dia te visitará en Frances por la fiesta de Bastille. Hasta luego, Mary Kate
• Had a great day with lots of good friends. Who knows where we will be next year and hope it will be celebrated together. we will certainly be in our thoughts. Ann

Chez Papa for Christmas

Will we ever forget an afternoon at the pantomine where there were remarks from the stage about visitors from France and teaching young and old afterwards how to play "Tell Harry". How we rolled about laughing .... the auld alliance is alive and well.

• Merci pour cet agréable séjour. nous avons pu aimer découvrir les fêtes de fin d'année en Écosse. Nous avons aussi été très heureux de rencontre des personnes très sympathiques. Merci pour tout, on reviendra ........! (Valérie)
• Merci beaucoup à tous les deux, ainsi qu'à vos amis pour ces merveilleuses soirées que nous avons passées. Je vous fais 10,000 gros bisous. (Guillaume ,une des pièces rapportées)

Tour de France '95

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

Mary to Stay

4.9.95

Thank you for a lovely weekend. Very relaxing - good talk, wine and food. Make sure that I can return the compliment soon. Love, Jean x

13.8.95:

Alison, having reached an age to fly up to stay with us came for a week which included days out and a trip to the Moscow State Circus.a real wee honey, she left us a thank you note with £2 in it to treat ourselves to a drink.

3.8.95:

An overnight all very "county" at Ladyburn. Normally, our haunt for Sunday lunch we splashed out for a wee treat.

18.7.95:
Birthday breakfast yesterday al fresco - champagne and strawberries, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, fresh assorted rolls, more champagne and coffee and that's just one meal. Had a really good time as usual, all meals same standard plus plenty to drink! As usual good company, don't want to go home! Hope I'm invited again soon, Mary xxx

21.5.95:
Well worth the wait. Wonderful food, wine, company, conversation and champagne. June

17.4.95:
Good food, excellent wines, wonderful accomodation and brilliant conversation. What more could one want?. Hope to come again soon - if invited. Love, Mary x

Weekend in Paris

Gleaned from Our Travel Notes

10.3.95:
Flight to Paris compliments of "Airmiles" to find Christian at the airport with Philippe's car. Champagne in the hotel and then an apéro with Frank and Laurence. Dinner of crêpes "Chez Jeannine".

11.3.95:
Breakfast with les enfants and then a sunny day out around Montmatre. Dinner with Frank, Laurence, Valérie and Guilhaume. Birthday presents for Papa.

12.3.95:
Breakfast down the road from the hotel. Plans to meet Christophe and Valérie off their plane from Tunisia didn't work out. Had a splendid lunch out in the country, taking our dessert and coffee out in the garden. Followed it up with a walk in the nearby country park. Christophe and Valérie finally arrived at our hotel bearing birthday gifts at midnight, their flight having been horribly delayed.

13.3.95:
Did some supermarket shopping for goodies to take home. Had lunch with Christian's colleague Jean-Marie at La Defense. Of course, while there, we had a visit to the office and then met up with Philippe to return the car keys. Return flight, laden with bottles went without a hitch apart from some rather smelly cheese odours wafting out from our cabin baggage!

It all starts here!

1st January1995 is where it all began thanks to the gift of a Visitors’ Book from Mary Kate long before we were ever users of the internet. It was sporadic at first as we didn’t always like to ask or simply forgot to ask people to write a few words but then it took on a life of its own especially after we moved to France. People became more imaginative with their entries and started to read who had said what since their last visit; I started to record the menus we’d had so that I didn’t offer the same thing to the same people and to decorate the entries wth wine bottle labels and other reminders of the event recorded. A small library of visitors’ books started to grow and inevitably, things evolved. More and more it was me that recorded not just visits but also other things that were happening in our life until the time came at the beginning of 2008 to let the dust accumulate on the books and hit the keyboard instead. Never having kept a diary before, I wasn’t sure that I could keep up a blog but apart from the occasional backlog, it’s still alive and although our audience isn’t large (not that it was ever meant to be), our “daily doings” are read by a few faithful friends and family who have said that they enjoy catching up with our news. Well, they would wouldn’t they? We enjoy reading it too, by the way!

So, now for a digital version of all those entries nestling in the six now-redundant books that as time goes by will appear on this blog in italics in chronological order. It will be a laborious, long, slow process but here goes ...... 

New Year 1995

Back at ours after to continue partying after celebrating Hogmanay in a local hotel.

• How on earth can I make amends for my faux pas in 1994 - can I have a clean sheet for 1995? Lots of love, Sheila. (Shame we can't remember what her faux pas was!)
• I don't think Sheila should have a clean sheet, do you? Happy New Year from the "baby, sometimes on the train girl", Julie xxx
• Have really enjoyed visiting you for the passage of '94 and the arrival of '95. Look forward to many other visits with yourselves and friends in the future, Colin
• All time is space, Johnny
• Having a lovely time. Lots of lovely people!! Ann
• A wonderful time and great time. Looking forward to 1995 and hope all yer wishes come true, Mary Kate
• Happy New Year, Morgan. That was easy!
• Hope '95 is a good year for you, love from Laura
• Happy New Year and all the best in the future, Lynn
• Don't forget us because we won't forget you. Maybe (?) we will be neighbours in France sometime, Bill
• A' the best for '95, June

The writing was shaky and sometimes illegible but it was Hogmanay and we hadn't stinted ourselves.