OLD STUFF

 

This is a selection of stuff from recent brocantes.

Some of it is old, some not so old.

On the day of our own village brocante the weather was terrible so there were not many stall holders.  This was good news for the lady holding a "vide maison" where people could browse indoors so she had a steady stream of customers.  She said this set of playing card stainless steel dishes had been a wedding present.  Guessing her age I would say they were probably from the 1970's.  I bought them as a gift for some friends who occasionally hold card tournaments.

She also said her house was for sale, or would be once she had cleared out all the stuff (there was a lot of it).  I gave her my number as it could be exactly the kind of small house we're looking for.

This pretty set of espresso cups came from the brocante at Neuilly-le-Brignon.  When I got them home two of them were chipped so I swapped them for some I had already.  It was still a bargain for 2€.

This unusual chandelier came from the brocante restaurant in Pleumartin, the one where everything is for sale, including the dishes you eat off and the chairs and tables you sit at.

It took me a while to find some candles slim enough to fit in it.

This pretty dish is probably fairly modern but it's proved very handy for serving bread or a few biscuits.  A bargain at 1€. 

I got these Pyrex cups from the vide grenier at Le Grand-Pressigny, perfect to supplement my collection of small cups to serve chocolate mousse or lemon posset.  They remind me of the glass cups and saucers that were used to serve coffee in the coffee shops that were all the rage when I was a teenager in the 1960's.

This pretty green plant pot holder looked as though it had never been used.  In fact the price label was still on the bottom of it.  Although the price was not legible I bet it cost a lot more than the 1€ I paid for it.  The pineapple plant is a recent purchase from Ikea.

A GOOD LUNCH AT A NEW PLACE

We recently, on the spur of the moment, visited L'Ascenseur in St Savin for lunch.  It had been recommended by several people but, being nearly an hour's drive away, we somehow never made it until now.  You can see its website here.

It was worth the wait and worth the journey!  People don't take pictures of their lunch so much nowadays but this meal was so good I just had to.  The ambience is relaxed and the service excellent and unfussy.  

A salad starter for him.

A calamari starter for me.

We both had the chicken main course.

Followed by a delicious cheese course which included a small glass of port.

A fruit meringue for dessert for him.

A chocolate concoction for me.

Finally, a very good coffee.

We thoroughly enjoyed it and will be going back soon.

St Savin is also a great  place to visit, a UNESCO world heritage site with a fabulous abbey, lovely walks and a charming old town with numerous other eateries.

 Apparently, St Savin was the birth place in 1827 of the man who invented the first hydraulic elevator, Félix Léon Edoux, which is how the restaurant gets its name. 

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

The weather is perking up again after a few cold days.  Our daffodils have more or less finished but the tulips are in full bloom.  I'm sure we used to have more tulips than we do now but presumably some of the bulbs have either rotted away or been eaten.  The aubretia is fabulous as always and lives up to expectations.

The bathroom is almost finished.  "Finishing off" always takes much longer than you expect and especially so when none of the walls are either straight or level.  Putting up shelves is a complicated task, cutting them to fit and fixing them to wonky walls!  The expectation is that it will be finished by the end of this week.

The clematis that was a gift from a friend four months ago is still flowering and looking gorgeous on the kitchen windowsill.  We struggle with indoor plants as the rooms downstairs are all fairly dark due to the small windows yet the only two windowsills we have can get too hot in the warmer months.  This plant has survived well beyond our expectations.

At the weekend we went to an "Irish evening" where we were not quite sure what to expect.  French onion soup followed by fish and chips with a slightly Irish twist was a first for us but very good all the same! The proprietor said she was nervous about serving fish and chips to a table of English people and hoped they would meet expectations.  They did!  We were the only non French people there but the fish in batter, although not as good as you would get from the local British chippy, were the best we’ve had so far in France.  I find it odd that the French clearly love fish and chips (around here anyway) but they don't really know how to cook them!

After that we went back to the village to watch the France versus England rugby match in the bar.  You would be surprised to hear that I have an interest in rugby and you would not be wrong!  However, Nick wanted to see the second half of the match so I was happy to indulge him.  Watching a France versus England match in a bar in France where supporters from both nations are present is a full on experience!  Nick didn't expect England to win the match but even I could see that it was an exciting finish and to lose by just one point seems tragic.  There were shouts of "we was robbed" from the English!

 We have had a bit of excitement chez nous.  A new neighbour moved into the house behind us last autumn and we didn't quite know what to expect.  When we went to say hello and introduce ourselves he seemed nice enough.  Mostly he is only there at the weekends with his dog who is called "Ganja".  

Early yesterday morning a van and a car turned up, followed quickly by the Maire and then two gendarmes.  The neighbour wasn't there so they soon left.  We have a number of theories about what was going on.

Last but not least, we are on tenterhooks again as we are expecting the imminent arrival of the SMS message summoning us to attend the Préfecture to collect our residence cards.  The interval between the email and the message last time was nine working days.  Today is the ninth day.

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN

February may well be the shortest month in the year but in many ways it often seems like the longest.  The weather this February has been just as bad, if not worse than last year and we are more than ready for some sunshine.

However, the entertainment machine doesn't stop just because the weather is awful and although February was not quite as busy as January we certainly had some fun.

On 14th February, St. Valentine's Day, we hosted a ladies night.

Finding somewhere to eat on Valentine's Day where you are not surrounded by tables for two with couples gazing dreamily into each other's eyes, subdued lighting so that you can't see what you're eating (never mind read the menu), flowers on the table that bring on your allergies and cringeworthy soppy music, can be tricky if not impossible.  Not to mention the silly prices.

So, we invited some of our single friends round for an evening of friendship, food and fun.  We did a retro 1970's  menu and a quiz (with prizes) on the subject of Valentine, love, hearts and roses.  It was great fun and could easily become an annual event.

Only a few days later we went to a Chinese New Year event.  It's the year of the horse and dressing up was (as usual) encouraged.

Nick dressed up as a jockey.  All we needed was a pair of long johns to complete the outfit.

I dressed up as a stable hand.  All props model's own (although Nick's best green wellies).

We are however, somewhat on tenterhooks.  This time last year we were fast becoming nervous wrecks as our applications to renew our cartes de séjour went pear shaped.  You can read all about that here.

We applied much earlier this time, fourteen weeks before expiry date in fact.  The very earliest you can apply is sixteen weeks before the cards expire - which is in two weeks from now.

Yesterday, twelve weeks after we applied, we received our "prolongations".  These are the documents that extend the period of the visas by three months - three months that the Prefecture gives itself to consider the application.  The good thing about the document is that it restores our right to live in France and, importantly, to return to France after a visit back home to England, for three months beyond the period of the visa.  (Something we never had to even think about when Britain was in the EU.)

You have to wonder why bother to apply almost four months before if nothing is going to be done until they have almost expired anyway!

The prolongations came with, as anticipated, some questions.  This time they were straightforward, easy to answer and carried no threat of refusal.  However, in the coming three months there's time for all that but we're trying to be positive.

To celebrate the step forward we went for lunch at one of our favourite restaurants, Le George in Loches.  The "menu du jour" there is always delicious, only a couple of euros more than the mediocre menus served at a number of other places, and the ambience and service are excellent.

We were conscious that this is where we were last year when the phone call came from the lady at France Services telling us we had to sort the problem out quickly or we could be deported.

This year, we do feel somehow more relaxed.  Fingers crossed that this time it goes smoothly, that we get our "décision favourable" and cards sooner, and that we don't have quite so many sleepless nights worrying about what we would do if the Prefecture said "non".

(They have no grounds on which to say "non" but the computer programme dealing with applications last year thought otherwise.  Let’s hope they have fixed that.)

SEVENTY FIVE NEXT !!

Another birthday has passed and in my birthday week we ate at some of our favourite restaurants.  The troglodyte pizzeria in Loches had had another makeover for Christmas.

On my actual birthday we went to the déchèterie!  What a treat!

We had to go because we had a lot of gardening and other rubbish to dispose of and opportunities were limited.  However, I did find a nice birthday gift on the "help yourself" table - four lovely dessert bowls, perfect for trifle or ice cream.

In the evening we had a delicious meal in the hotel in the village.  Its restaurant is called "L'Auberge".

The village looked very festive as we walked back to the car.

Later in the week we sampled the Christmas menu at Brody's.

The smoked sausage was very good.

I made a pumpkin and mincemeat cake in my forest Bundt tin for my birthday.

It was delicious!

 On a beautiful sunny day we went to the Christmas market at Bossée-sur-Claise which was great fun.

One of the food stalls was serving tartiflette so we had another good lunch!

In our art class we painted Christmas robins.

After we had deposited Yvonne in the cattery on the eve of our return to the UK for Christmas, there was a gorgeous sunset.  Such things make leaving France hard to do.   Hugo comes with us as he travels really well.  Yvonne does not travel well at all.

Soon after we arrived we continued the eating out and met up with friends who spend the summers in our part France for a get together and Christmas lunch.  It was great to catch up.

We went somewhere we had never been before, even having spent most of my life living in Derbyshire.

The Church Inn at Chelmorton.  Highly recommended.

After that, things went rather downhill.

The weather turned very damp and grey and we both succumbed to nasty colds.

All other festivities have been cancelled and we simply hope to be well enough to travel back to France on the 27th.  I am keen to fetch Yvonne from the cattery as soon as we can.

This was not the Christmas we had planned or hoped for.

Finally, in case you’re wondering, I have just turned seventy four.  It was my dad who would have said "I'll be seventy five next".  After every birthday he would add a year on, saying what he would be next, not what he was now.  It was his kind of joke.  Until the day he met his lady friend and then he started to say "we don't talk about our age" with a cheeky grin.  

It turned out that he had not been entirely honest with her and had knocked a few years off!  

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS 

AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL !!