TWELVE MONTHS IN TWELVE DAYS

ON THE SEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS – THE MONTH OF JULY.

On 1st July we braved the cold wet weather and went to Clumber Park for a walk and to see the walled kitchen garden.  You would have thought it was the middle of March, not July.

After an awful drive down through France in torrential rain, we arrived chez nous to find the sun was out.  We spent the evening meeting up with friends and enjoying the music festival at Barrou – Les Barroudeurs.

 

 

 

 

 

I did quite a bit of baking and made, amongst others, a chocolate Guinness cake for Ken and Walt, and a pink birthday cake for Elizabeth.

Ken introduced us to Patricia at Domaine de la Renaudie, where we discovered that we enjoy winetasting even more than we thought.

Lots of local Bastille Day celebrations were cancelled due to the weather and ours was almost a washout – but the rain cleared up about 8pm and we soldiered on – in our scarves and anoraks.

But the weather wasn’t all bad.  On a lovely sunny day we visited Montpoupon with our friends Gail and Chris and treated ourselves to a posh lunch at the Auberge du Château.

And we had enough fine days to do quite a bit of tootling around on our motorcycles.

When we got back to the UK after our July holiday, Olympic fever had taken hold of the nation, and amazingly the weather was kind to us for most of the games.

Oh no, four years already !!

Last but not least, it was Lulu’s birthday in the middle of the month.

HAVE A GREAT NEW YEAR’S EVE !!

TWELVE MONTHS IN TWELVE DAYS

For the twelve days of Christmas I am looking back over the twelve months of 2012.

ON THE SIXTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS – THE MONTH OF JUNE

Thanks to the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations and the extra bank holiday, our May holiday carried on into the first week of June.

   

We went to the Fête des Confitures at Abilly and the Fête des Roses at Rivau.  We met up with fellow blogger Martine for a lovely lunch in Loches.

  As France geared up for the elections, England geared up for the Jubilee celebrations.  The weather did not play ball and it poured with rain.

Back in the UK I went to the Elton John concert which was outdoors on a cold Saturday night in early June.  Thankfully the rain stopped just in time for the concert.

TWELVE MONTHS IN TWELVE DAYS

For the twelve days of Christmas I am looking back over the twelve months of 2012.

ON THE FIFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS – THE MONTH OF MAY

In May we had plenty of rain.  The trees were coming nicely into leaf but the little brook became a ranging torrent.

In the third week we went to the orchid show at Chatsworth.  It was a nice sunny day but there was a cold breeze.  We wore our scarves and anoraks.

Six days later we were in France for our second visit of the year.  The sun shone for us again and we wore our summer clothes to go to the market in Loches.

We had a superb lunch at the Chapeau Rouge in Chinon, sitting in the square under the sunshades.

We had some perfect weather for motorcycling and one of our outings was to visit the château at Fougères-sur-Bièvre, where we had a lovely afternoon in the sunshine.

TWELVE MONTHS IN TWELVE DAYS

For the twelve days of Christmas I am looking back over the twelve months of 2012.

THE FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS - APRIL

On 3rd April we woke up to to snow.  There was 8-10 cm of it.  I had put my bag of grit and rock salt back in the shed the previous weekend, thinking I wouldn’t need them again.  After the incredibly warm weather in March, winter had returned with a vengeance.

Then only three days later, we were in our little French house, the sun was shining and there were flowers everywhere.  It was from the sublime to the ridiculous – or rather the other way round – and it was bliss.

During our first holiday of the year we spent a lot of time on the terrace in the sunshine, eating outdoors almost every day. 

And Lulu had a close encounter with an angry mother goat.  Which luckily was on the other side of a strong fence !!

TWELVE MONTHS IN TWELVE DAYS

For the twelve days of Christmas I am looking back over the twelve months of 2012.

ON THE THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS - MARCH

The countryside was beginning to look distinctly greener and spring-like.

In early March we went on a coach trip to London, had a lovely lunch and went to see a fabulous show. There and back again in the day.

On the 11th March it was as warm as it often gets on a good summer’s day in Derbyshire.  We made the most of it and had lunch outdoors on the patio.

I made the first batch of decent, edible scones I have ever made in my life and we ate them outside in the sunshine when Nick arrived home from work.

The weather was so good for most of March that it didn’t seem real and certainly didn’t seem right.  We enjoyed it but I remember thinking to myself……we’ll be paying for this later !!

TWELVE MONTHS IN TWELVE DAYS

For the twelve days of Christmas I am looking back over the twelve months of 2012.

ON THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS - FEBRUARY

It snowed.  Not as much as the previous year, but enough to make Lulu’s walks look rather different.

Luckily Lulu doesn’t seem to be too interested in sheep.  Chasing squirrels is more her thing.

The first daffodils began to poke up through the ground, a very happy sign that winter was bound to end, sooner or later.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS !

Happy Christmas, everyone, wherever you are.

Have a wonderful time !!

A GOOD FISH LUNCH

One of the things that we didn’t expect when we first spent Christmas and New Year in Le Grand-Pressigny is the popularity of fish, especially shellfish, at this time of year.  The huge party-sized platters of oysters, prawns and other shellfish looked beautiful as people carried them very carefully from the supermarket to their cars.

I was thinking about this the other day as I perused yet another dreary UK pub menu, predictably offering turkey with all the trimmings and Christmas pud !!  It reminded me of one of our favourite restaurants in the Loire which is a fish restaurant.

The Restaurant “Au Gardon Frit” at Pouzay is well worth a visit if you like your fish.  We had lunch there on one of the few nice sunny days during our October holiday.  It was a Monday, which is not traditionally a good day to eat out as many restaurants are closed and certainly not a good day for fish.

But we had eaten there a couple of times before, knew they would be open and knew the fish was good so off we went.  We were not disappointed.

 

The interior is not posh at all, rustic and homely in fact, but the food is very good and the service is excellent too.  In summer we have eaten outside in the courtyard, which is lovely and well shaded.

Each place is set with a rather scary selection of what looks like medieval surgical instruments!  When you see the huge plateaux de fruits de mer coming out of the kitchen it’s clear to see why you might need all of them.  We have yet to pluck up courage to try one for ourselves, not being entirely sure what might be what and indeed whether it is still alive.  One day perhaps !!

We opted for the 23€ menu which was much more conservative and perfectly delicious.  A fishy amuse bouche followed by a smoked salmon starter, and a hearty main course.

   We can never resist crème brulée when it is on the menu and this was served, naturally, on an oyster shaped plate !!

After coffee we strolled past the restaurant down to the river for a leg stretch and to admire the view of the Vienne, which was pretty full.  Little did we know it would be even fuller a week later – it rained and rained and rained for most of our two-week holiday.

So if you fancy treating yourself to a nice fishy lunch this Christmas, I would recommend the Au Gardon Frit.  Or at least, click on the link to their website here to experience the wonderful sound of seagulls and waves crashing over the rocks – this brought Lulu rushing to press her nose against the computer screen, eyes wide and ears up !!  I wonder if she thought it was cats ??

Have a good week !!

A PUZZLE FOR THE WEEKEND

We have done a higher than average amount of sight-seeing during our visits to Le Grand-Pressigny this year, including four châteaux.

Here are an exterior view and an interior view for each one.  Can you identify the châteaux and match up the right outsides with the right insides? 

In case you need any help, all the châteaux have appeared in posts earlier in the year – although possibly not these exact photos……I don’t want to make it too easy this time !!

Sunday 9th December:

Does this puzzle have you stumped or is everyone out doing their Christmas shopping ??!!

I have decided to give you a helping hand…….

Photo A:  Rivau

 

Photo B

  Photo C

 

Photo D

 

Photo E

 

Photo F: Montpoupon

 

Photo G: Villandry 

 

Photo H: Fougères-sur-Bièvre

Good luck !!

And bon weekend !!