Category: France

Some Delicious Lunches, and an Unwanted House Guest

We’ve been to a restaurant just outside Ruffec a few times now – it’s an old water mill that’s been nicely redone into a lovely restaurant that has really excellent food.

There’s a little white resident dog that wanders around – very cute but could use a bath.

After the first restaurant visit we popped up to the nearby town of Civray – it was a very important town for the resistance in WWII. Since it was just past Remembrance Day there were still some beautiful flowers around the base of the war memorial.

The town also has a very old church that goes back to the 1100’s. As usual I went in for a look while Colin and Max stayed outside.

There seemed to be many different styles of decorations, some of which were quite lovely, but overall the effect was a bit of a mish-mash.

We made a couple of visits up to the charity shop in Sauze-Vaussais – mostly for jigsaw puzzles and books, although they also have hundreds of DVDs and CDs. It’s almost all Brits that volunteer there and shop there, and as it’s a charity for animals dogs are welcome. Max always gets fussed over where ever we go.

Max still loves going to the campground for his daily run-around – he ventures off on his own and runs back and forth to us from time to time as we walk too slowly for him.

The rain every few days has kept everything nice and green…

…and the town has put up their Christmas decorations.

The Penalty Bar has had two very nice lunches – the second one was my favourite as it started with Coquille St Jacques, followed by whole baby chicken, then a lovely cheese plate and dessert. I accepted a shot of cognac but Colin had to partake of it for me – he also had my dessert. The lunch was followed by karaoke – Edith has quite a good voice but the other folks that got up and sang left a bit to be desired. One lady was somewhat ‘entertaining’ as I think she had a more than a bit of wine with lunch, but she looked like she was having fun.

The local cycle club is celebrating its 130th year and had a really interesting display in the town library.

We did have one little bit of ‘excitement’ with a small visitor. Colin noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye one evening – it was a mouse! As we didn’t want to kill it we went to the garden centre the next morning and got a ‘live trap’ that we set with some of our precious cheddar. It was a very crafty little thing, however, and three times managed to get the cheese out without triggering the flap. We were finally successful in the end by baiting it with a couple of half-open hazelnuts.

Colin let him out under a bush next to the parking area in front of the house – I hope he finds a warm dry place for the winter, as long as it isn’t back in the house!

We left for Spain on Dec 24th and had two quite long days of driving, although the traffic wasn’t bad and there was no ‘border’ check entering Spain. We arrived at the house on Christmas afternoon and it was so warm on the back terrace that I ended up in shorts and flip-flops – although it is not always so nice. It does get quite cold at night, although not yet below zero. I’m still getting lettuce, chard and collard greens from the garden and look forward to planting more than just the one raised bed in the spring.

Logrono for Rioja, Rouillac for Sausage

Colin had some more appointments in France so he and I headed back up in early/mid October. We stopped in Logrono as usual to pick up a few cases of Rioja.

As we were staying overnight in the large camper parking area just north of the river we took the opportunity of going across the pedestrian bridge and walking around the ‘old town’ a bit.

We stopped at a bar in one of the main squares and had a drink, then moved along to another one.

We were actually hoping to find a nice tapas bar but perhaps were on the wrong street.

In any case we had another drink, then Colin got a frozen yogurt cup from one of the many yogurt shops.

We kept seeing folks passing us carrying guitars, etc – they were buskers as that seems to be a big thing here. Also we were approached by a couple of beggars – also seems to be big here.

Logrono is an important stop along the Camino so there are lots of statues and signs along the way.

After a fairly quiet night we were on our way early in the morning, passing by Bordeaux with no problem, and arriving back in Mansle in the early evening.

After reading for the last couple of months about all the rain and crappy weather in Mansle we seem to have timed our return right as we’ve had relatively nice weather. We even got out for some bike riding which felt very good – it’s hunting season here so I did use a high-viz vest.

We spent one Sunday going to the monthly market in Rouillac – it’s a huge one and was very well attended. I actually made a purchase – some new black track pants.

On our way out of the market area we stopped and got some fresh beef sausage – excellent for lunch with new potatoes and peas.

The following weekend we returned to the same area and went to the Roman ruins ‘Les Bouchauds’…

…which has a large amphitheatre and sanctuary, and is still an active archaeological dig site.

The amphitheatre is built into a hillside and there are fabulous views from the top.

The bike ride we went on a couple of days after Nov 1 – All Saints Day in France – all of the local cemeteries had loads of new fresh flowers, mainly chrysanthemums.

As we went through the village of Monpaple on the way home that same day we heard a loud noise – it was a flock of cranes above us heading south for the winter.

Cabin Fever, Then Green Light!

The town’s ‘beautification’ project is starting to show – some of the bushes are blooming and look just lovely.

The river has risen and flooded again as the rain just keeps coming and going. The date of opening for the campground keeps changing – usually it is May 15 but with all the rain it’s been delayed – the most recent news is July 1…I guess we’ll see.

As we were both starting to get cabin fever we took a little trip to the coast for a couple of days, heading to the Ile D’Oleron (just south of Rochefort), which is accessible via a bridge.

We found a lovely place to camp that was about 100 meters from the ocean – almost all of the other campervans had dogs, and most of them also had bikes.

The island has many great walking and cycling trails.

At the north end of the island is the lighthouse.

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We went to the town of Boyardville for lunch and you could not get fresher seafood – I bet the mussels were harvested that morning.

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We spent another quiet night at the aire, then left for home around noon, taking the coastal road almost all the way to the bridge.

Colin had two very good appointments – one with his cardiologist and the other with his oncologist. So now we finally have the green light to get out of town again!

Flooding in France, Lack of Water in Spain

The town of Mansle is doing lots of ‘beautification’ work – putting in planters and some lovely cobbled sidewalks, etc.

It’s a bit of a pain while the work is being done but should look great when it’s finished.

The nearly constant rain has caused the local rivers to flood and the Charente is no exception.

We can’t take Max down to the campground for his run anymore as it, as well as the hippodrome next door are completely under water.

Colin goes out each Wednesday afternoon driving the ‘pickup’ car for the local cycling club and I’ve developed a habit of popping down the the kebab shop for a donair and fries to eat while he’s gone.

Max is ok when he’s with me but he does look for Colin.

They’ve completed pruning back the trees around the square – it’s amazing that in a few months they’ll be shading the whole place again.

The trip back down to Spain was good – a bit of rain on the way but not too tough. Getting back to the house was great – and the weather was so much better than it had been for weeks in Mansle.

There’s still a lot to do in the garden – getting water at first was a bit of a pain, but once the local orchardists and farmers started using it again we had no problem.

The pellet burner was great – having it on for a couple of hours a day gets the radiators heated and the whole house gets warmer.

We haven’t been out on our bikes at all, and both Colin and I were struck down with covid (we think). He got sick several days before me and we both lost almost two weeks being unable to do anything.

Max has settled in very well – he just needs at little more exercise to work off some of his energy. He’s a very well behaved fellow with an extremely gentle disposition – I think Colin lucked out with him.

A Lunch, A Sportif and Another Lunch, and…The Ballet (Go Ukraine!!!)

On Saturday there was a meal at the bar that we really enjoyed. It started with a salad that had pieces of meat in it – when I asked the english fellow that was sitting next to me what it was he said some fancy french name. When I asked again – no, what is it? – he revealed that it was chicken gizzards. I was a bit concerned that it would be like liver or kidney but it wasn’t at all – it was actually pretty tasty and reminded me a bit of pork. I ate most of it, although did have a bit of help from both Colin and Mo.

The main course was duck leg served with creamy mashed potatoes and truffle – it was absolutely delicious, and probably the best meal I’ve had at the bar. I couldn’t manage the cheese course or the dessert, although they both looked equally good. We’ve met the english fellow before and he’s quite nice – he has a big old dog that’s blind and very well behaved, even when food is around.

The next day we attended two events. The first was a sportif sponsored by the local cycling club – there were four different routes depending on how far each rider wanted to go. We helped out at the food stop that was setup at the ‘lake’ near Luxe – we made sure all of the various food plates were re-stocked as groups arrived and devoured things.

After the last riders had left we helped pack up and take things back to the hippodrome, which was the location for the start and end of the four routes. About an hour later all of the helpers regrouped for a lovely lunch of roast pork and a potato and cheese dish, along with a nice green salad and the usual crusty french bread.

The second event was very enjoyable as well but a bit more serious. We’d gotten tickets to the Kiev ballet and the place was packed – I estimate there were probably 700 or 800 people there.

It was a fund-raiser for the ballet company as they’re basically trapped and unable to return to Ukraine because of mad-dog Putin and his insane illegal invasion and attempted genocide.

They started out with a demonstration of basic warm-ups and exercises, then got into the real show – and it was thrilling.

They did a lot of different numbers, and at the end got a rousing standing ovation.

We really, really enjoyed the evening, and it seemed everyone else did as well.

We packed lightly and got away again on Wednesday morning, crossing from France to Italy through the tunnel and reaching Susa in late afternoon.

We’d booked a B&B and it was a nice little family-run affair with boys playing basketball in the courtyard and grandma and grandpa tending the backyard garden.

After settling in we went for a short walk – some nice little ponies next door and a couple of donkeys next to them.

Also back the other direction some very nice looking goats.

After breakfast at a decent time the next morning – including the best coffee we’d had in months – we were on our way again by about 8:00. We made pretty good time for the first couple of hours, then started noticing how heavy the traffic was becoming. We almost came to a standstill at some points, even though there were virtually no semi-trucks on the road.

We finally googled and found out that it’s a holiday in Italy and folks seemed to all be off to the Adriatic coast for a four-day weekend – bad timing! Luckily as soon as we turned south towards Perugia the traffic died completely – barely any, although lots of road construction.

We arrived in Papiano early evening, stopping at the bar for a quick drink and to say Hi to Antonio.

Saliente to Mansle

Removal of the skanky jacuzzi contraption made the terrace look a lot better.

And it’s lovely to have a garden that is well planted and laid out.

Leaving the house on a Sunday was a bit sad – we’d just started to get used to being there, but at least we’ll be back fairly soon.

We drove generally east and up the coast before turning inland just past Valencia. Originally intending to stop around Zaragoza we ended up finding an aire well short of that in the town of Teruel. The aire wasn’t too bad – right across from a guarda-civil station and next to a skateboard park. Lots of activity and noise until a certain time, then remarkably quiet.

As usual when going a long distance we passed through lots of beautiful countryside and saw many sites of interest – although also as usual we didn’t stop except to let the dogs out now and then.

We originally planned a three-day trip but the second day’s drive went so well that we made it to the border and decided to keep going all the way to Mansle – stopping of course for a few things from the cheap shops right on the Spanish side of the border.

We hit the Hope Charity shop for more books and jigsaw puzzles, and the next day had a lovely fish-and-chip lunch with Tony and Joyce. The owners of the restaurant have several dogs, and are caring for several others that were rescued from Ukraine – I believe they have 9 now!

We have, of course, visited the bar a few times and it’s so nice to see Edith and Sylvain again, as well as many of the other regulars.

There’s a fund-raising ballet in town tomorrow for Ukraine, and their flag is flying along the side of the church right across from the bar.

Snoopy is doing well – getting a little bit plump from all of the treats they give to all of the doggies. Mo and Henry like going to the bar at least as much as we do!

Walking home the other afternoon after coffee I noticed a door-knocker on one of the houses.

I’m not sure how many times I’ve walked along the street and never noticed but interesting door-knockers are everywhere…

The hands are actually a bit creepy – reminded me of Thing in the Addams Family.

We’ve had some rain but also some lovely days and the spring blossoms are beautiful.

The birds in the neighbourhood are ravenous – we’re not sure how many fat-balls they’ve eaten, and the seeds in the blue ball feeder go down super quick. I guess the birds are feeding their little ones right now so need all the extra food they can get.

The Giro d’Italia is on right now and for the first time in six years we’re not going to see any stages live so we’re compensating as best we can by watching GCN-plus on tv (via Colin’s phone). Hopefully next year…

Back to Italy!

We got on the way from Mansle at a decent time in the morning, heading east through pouring rain. The sky cleared a bit from time to time but it was generally a grey day.

We arrived in Chambery after a fairly long drive and checked into the hotel before taking the dogs for a short walk. They are such good little travellers, and we make sure we stop regularly so they can have a little walk (ie: pee).

Since we’re in the car this time the seats in the back are down and Henry has his bed behind my seat so he can see Colin because then he doesn’t bark. We tried putting Mo in the back also but she didn’t look comfortable perched on her blanket atop some luggage so she now lays on my lap on the blanket with her harness clipped to my seatbelt.

The next morning we continued east – it was still a bit grey out but not as much rain.

Passing through Bramans Val Cenis I finally realized we’d been through this pass before – albeit from the other direction – when we saw one of the Hannibal statues.

I’m not sure it’s been proven that Hannibal took this route over and through the Alps but it’s certainly possible.

We stopped just before noon at a cafe at the top of the pass – it was fiercely windy and had actually started snowing!

The proprietor of the cafe was a very old lady – when she spoke it sounded like every second word was Italian, although when I tried to converse with her she said in French that she didn’t speak it.

A few miles down the road we stopped again so I could take some photos – Lac du Mont-Cenis was looking spectacular with a bit of mist rising and whitecaps from the wind making the water look extra dark. The place is half-way between Paris and Rome.

Only a few miles later and we were in Italy – again, just as passing from Spain to France, there was no border stop or covid check. We only knew we were in Italy by the road signs and potholes.

A few miles outside Susa we saw a large message on the side of a mountain – ‘TAV = MAFIE’.

I googled it later to find out what it meant – there is/was a lot of opposition to the plans to build a long tunnel to accommodate a new high speed rail line. Apparently there’s a lot of mafia infiltration in the construction industry, as well as many corrupt politicians – well, it is Italy!

We checked into a nice hotel in the village of Fornaci, not too far from Bergamo – we’re spending a few days on a little vacation before the race on Saturday. The hotel has a nice restaurant and we enjoyed a lovely, although quite late dinner.

The next day we took a drive to re-con the race route, planning to pick a spot somewhere on the last climb of the day – the Passo di Ganda.

As we followed the route up through Orezzo, over the top and down into Selvino we remarked more than once how fortunate it was that we were in the BMW rather than the campervan. The road was extremely narrow in spots and very winding and it’s possible the campervan wouldn’t have been able to negotiate parts of it.

Since we hadn’t passed many likely spots to park on race day we decided to watch from somewhere in the town of Selvino. Another consideration was access to a cafe – and toilets, which is one of many perks of having a campervan that weren’t available in a car.

The drive down to Nembro was interesting, including twenty hairpin turns, each with a sign showing the name of an Italian cyclist. Also included was the usual last-minute road works on the race route.

The next day we took a lovely drive up to the north end of Lago d’Iseo and down the east side, stopping along the way in the town of Marone.

It’s a nice little place, and being right on the lake it has lovely views, as well as some interesting architecture.

We left Marone and continued south along the lake to the town of Iseo, where we stopped for lunch.

Iseo is a beautiful place – we’ve used the campground more than once before, including on my first trip four years ago.

Returning to the hotel we were both so full from our excellent lunch that we didn’t bother with dinner, planning to get up nice and early so we could get to Selvino before the roads were closed in the morning.

Mellowing in Mansle

Since our return from Spain things have been pretty quiet for us and we haven’t done a whole lot, with a few exceptions.

First, and quite important – we went to a clinic so Colin could get his ‘vaccine passport’ and I could arrange for my second shot. They weren’t sure what to do with me – they don’t vaccinate ‘tourists’ but we managed to convey that I wasn’t really just a tourist, and they really wanted to help me so they gave in.

The very nice lady doctor (that spoke pretty good english) told me that since my first shot was about four months ago it was too old and I’d have to get two more from them. Disappointing as it would mean delaying our return to Italy, but I made an appointment for the first one two days from then.

When we arrived for my appointment the first thing the same doctor said was ‘why don’t we do an antibody test just in case – if you have antibodies then we may only have to give you one shot’. They took a bit of blood from a finger prick, then gave me a shot. While I waited my 15 minutes the test result came in and I did have enough antibodies – they presented me with a vaccine certificate!! They still didn’t know what to do about billing me so just let me go.

The first thing we did when we got back to Mansle was go to the bar, but Edith had to break the news to me that I had to wait a week before I was ‘legal’ – oh well, back home we went.

The second, and very enjoyable thing was that we had Tony and Joyce over for dinner. It was a lovely evening so we sat outside for the appetizers before coming inside for the main meal. There was good wine, and excellent conversation, and the food seemed to go over well – an extremely nice evening.

We had lunch one day near Luxe at the ‘lake’ – they’d stocked it with 300 kilos of live trout and there were dozens of fishermen and women sitting in the rain along the shore.

One old fellow caught two good sized ones while we ate.

We had several nice bike rides, with the last one being over 40 km – we stopped in Aigre for lunch then managed to make it home before the rain hit.

Colin took the campervan to the place he bought it from in Ruffec to get all of the small things sorted out – we’re going to Italy in the car so won’t be needing the campervan again for a while.

I’ve learned to make a proper pie crust and have made a couple of very tasty quiches – next up steak and mushroom pie.

There’s been a couple of very important races that we watched on tv this year rather than being there. First the world championships in Belgium, which would have been awesome to see live – a thrilling race won for the second year in a row by Julian Alaphilippe.

The second one two days ago was Paris-Roubaix, which normally takes place in April, and is the first time it’s been held since we saw it live in 2019. This year it was rain and mud all the way, and was won with a thrilling sprint to the finish by three riders – the winner by a few inches was Italian Sonny Colbrelli.

Having missed both of those races we’re really looking forward to going to the last big one of the year – il Lombardia – on our way back to Papiano.

Finally Spain!

I forgot to mention the adorable hedgehog we saw in Ruffec on our way to the lab for my swab test. We were going down the main road thru town and saw something shuffling across the road – it was a small hedgehog! We were very worried that it might get run over so Colin quickly pulled to the side to stop the traffic, but everyone else also seemed aware of it and the little fellow made it safely across. It was very nice to see that we weren’t the only ones that cared about a little animal.

The men’s time trial at the Olympics was awesome – much more exciting than time trials usually are. Primoz Roglic won the gold and Tom Dumoulin got the silver – so happy for both of them. Hugo Houle came a very respectable 11th.

I made an excellent lasagna (if I do say so myself!) for our final dinner in France, although the pasta making machine is a bit different from the one I have in Papiano and the one I have back home. In any case it turned out pretty good and was well received.

Much to my relief we got the results of my swab test back before we left the house and were able to download and print it – I passed! Or maybe I failed – in any case it was ‘negative’ which is good!

We got away at the decent time of 9:15 and were cruising – until we reached Bordeaux. I know it’s always a bit of a pain getting past the city, even on the ring-road but it’s still frustrating. It took us at least an hour to get by before we were once again cruising south.

We reached one of our favourite campgrounds mid-afternoon – just north of the village of Souraide, near the Spanish border. We’ve stayed here at least three times before but for the first time noticed the ‘no dogs’ sign at the entrance – he let us in anyway.

Waking before seven the next morning we had a nice cup of tea – or two – before heading on to Spain. There’s a border crossing about 20 km away thru a small town that’s mostly duty-free shops just across on the Spanish side.

We kept waiting to hit the ‘border police’ that would ask for our vaccine certificates or test results, but there was no one. I got my brain poked for nothing!

We stopped for some groceries along the way – I’d forgotten to pack the potatoes, onions and frozen salmon before leaving so we did need to replenish some staples. We arrived near our destination right around noon and pulled into a large gravelled area where we stopped and had a light lunch.

Since we’d been here before we knew we weren’t yet at the summit of the climb so after eating we drove just a little further where we found the spot we’d watched the race from three years ago (where I got bowled over by the barrier because of the wind from the cars).

It’s a small pullout on gravel with room for about 3 campervans, right on the edge of the hill, with horses grazing below and the ocean in the near distance. When I was walking Mo she stayed pretty close to me – the vultures above us were hunting in threes and she’d be a plump little meal for them.

Some of the riders taking part in tomorrow’s race were doing a re-con of the route.

While Colin and the doggies had a little lie-down I took a walk along the side of the hill that the horses are grazing on.

The views are fantastic!

The horses remind me a bit of the ones we saw at the horse fair in San Emiliano two years ago – very beautiful.

As evening fell the sun coming thru the clouds over the ocean was quite stunning.

We had a lovely dinner of salmon, mashed potatoes and green beans – such is ‘wild camping’ for us!

Dinner Out, and Brain Piercing

On Friday evening we went out for dinner – we had an outside table and it was lovely – luckily almost the whole area was covered by large umbrellas as it rained off and on almost the whole time.

I made a very nice choice – duck breast with goat cheese sauce and roast potatoes. It was just delicious and I didn’t even have anything leftover for breakfast – highly unusual!

The next afternoon we went and had a very nice visit with Colin’s friend Jane. She has a beautiful house a short walk away right on the river and we had a lovely time sitting outside overlooking the large garden and swimming pool.

The neighbour’s cat likes to spend time here – a very cute calico.

Another bike ride on Sunday took us over 41 km in all, including a stop in Aigre for a fairly good cafe creme.

We also popped in for a quick visit with Joyce in Fontenille – Tony was out at the time. It had just started to rain when we arrived and during our short visit it just poured out.

Luckily there was a break and we made a run for it, arriving home without getting drenched.

We’ve started getting organized for our next trip, including me getting another covid test swab. I thought – ok, I’ve had one before, this shouldn’t be anything different – wrong!! I had to stand in the parking lot of the lab/testing place and the swab that approached me was huge. I went to take out my nose stud and the doctor kind of laughed and said ‘no – not necessary’. What I think he was really thinking was ‘no – it doesn’t matter at all – we’re going way further in than that’!

It was awful! I tried to pull away a bit but couldn’t. I had read a couple of months ago that people described the ‘swabs’ as almost piercing their brains, but after the one I had before I left Canada I thought they were exaggerating, but now I don’t think they were. I’ve never had anything that far up my nose in my life – it was horrible, but I did survive, and I better pass the test!