thisiskylie

There and Back

We all needed a holiday, so we went to France for a week.  A villa in Brittany; lots of food; drinking rose in the sun; getting familiar with reading again; and watching Bella ran around and around and around.

Back

We have returned from our first family holiday in France.  I had hoped to post a short run-down of each day using my mobile (mostly so that I wouldn't forget what we did) but we were so remote we couldn't really get much reception.  Our farmhouse was huuuuge.  Felt kinda bizarre rattling around in it for the first few days, but we soon got into the hang of 'lazy morning cup of tea on the terrace -  wander around the local markets buying food for the day - coffee and light lunch at local bistro/cafe - afternoon sunbaking and swimming back at the farmhouse - lazy evening of fine wine and food' kind of days.  We didn't even have a TV, which we worried about at first, but quickly got used to.  I even managed to finish one book (albeit not a very good one)!

Sunday  Eurotunnel across to France, and looong drive down to the charente region to stay at a friends for the night.  Lovely BBQ out in their back garden.

Monday  More travelling down to our farmhouse, just outside Bordeaux.  Quick trip to local Intermarche to stock up on food.

Tuesday  Visit to Castillon, for lunch and to buy more supplies at LeClerc, including some smelly cheese and Bordeaux wines.

Wednesday  Coffee and lunch in Monsegur, followed by picturesque and leisurely stroll around the ramparts.

Thursday  Morning visit to local markets in Eymet.  Great market, lots of stalls and very busy.  Very pretty town.  Obligatory coffee and lunch at local cafe.  Ventured out in the evening for dinner at little restaurant in Monsegur.  We were the only customers, and the owners doted on Isabella and entertained her for most of the evening with the 'Cuckoo' game - the French version of peek-a-boo.

Friday Market day in Monsegur.  Small market, but have to purchase huuuuge loaf of chocolate brioche.

Saturday  Market day in La Reole.  Can't beat Eymet.  Bit smelly too.  And can't find anywhere to have coffee and bite to eat.  La Reole is a run-down, depressing town.  Did see the oldest town hall in France, built for Richard the Lionheart.  That kind of history still amazes me.

Sunday  Sunbaking, reading, swimming and eating!

Monday  Depart our farmhouse and head north to the coast, for a couple of nights at the beach.  End up in St-Jean-De-Mont, and spend an hour or two trying to find accommodation.  Pretty scarce unless you have a tent or caravan.  End up in the lovely Hotel de Foret.

Tuesday  Lazy morning eating and reading, then afternoon at the beach.  Unfortunately, St-Jean-De-Mont is a bit tacky and touristy - a bit of a neon extravaganza.  But we make the most of being on the beach and take the babe swimming in the ocean for the first time.  Gorgeous three course dinner at the local Logis restaurant - great regional food and relatively cheap.

Wednesday In the car, travelling back to London.  Highlight of the day is a great motorway services with a Pauls cafe!

Check out the photos from the trip here.

Back

Back from France, albeit a couple of days early.  Our lovely (ie painful) mortgage broker rang the second day we were there requesting further information, so we came back in order to keep things moving and not delay the completion dates for the house.

So, a quick rundown of our 'mini-break':

Thursday:  once out of the Eurotunnel, we hit the motorway with no clear destination except heading south east.  Stopped at a pretty village called St Quentin to grab a Croque Monsier for brunch, then motored towards Reim and Epernay (champagne country).  Not too keen to stop there yet as the pregnancy will seriously limit my ability to appreciate the tipple of the region as much as I would like.  Still, we did tour the Moet caves - I've never seen so much champagne before and now I know where I want to retire or be buried - and had a French salad for lunch.  French salads are just divine - great dressing, really good and diverse ingredients like lardons or chicken livers, plus little potato cubes and somehow it's all really tasty.  After lunch we drove the touristic route down towards Dijon, deciding to stop overnight in a Logis de France on the lakes near Troyes.  The Logis are a great chain - more of a restaurant with a little motel attached.  The food is superb and really good value.  We had a three course meal for twenty euro plus a great bottle of rose.  Room is pretty basic but good value too - a suite for about 80 euro.

Friday - morning call from the mortgage broker had us heading into Troyes to try to find a business centre or internet cafe in order to send some emails or faxes.  Alas, this being August in rural France, we didn't really have any chance, and consigned ourselves to coming back to the UK early.  So we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the beautiful medieval streets and alleyways around Troyes, buying pet gear and some excellent furniture, and having another yummy French salad.  Another night at the same Logis by the lakes, with another excellent three course meal.

Saturday - A beautiful day so we decided to while away the morning sunbaking on one of the beaches at Lac d'Orient.  With an assortment of picnic food such as ham and cheese croissants, tart au poire (apple flan) etc.  In the afternoon we hit the road to make some mileage towards Calais and the crossing tomorrow, with a slight detour to a LeClerc supermarket to stock up on some excellent French goodies (which is easy now that we have the Renault Scenic).  Ended up decamping overnight in a little village called Chalons-On-Champagne which is in, you guessed it, the champagne region.  In another Logis, which had great service but unfortunately was a severe throwback to the 80's like you wouldn't believe - yellow sofas, green bathtub, fish tank coffee tables, pure class.  The village was having a bit of a World Music festival that night right outside the hotel which actually kinda rocked, so we enjoyed that after another three course meal at the logis.

Sunday - heading back to the UK, with an afternoon Eurotunnel crossing, sadly.  Stopped in St Quentin again for some yummy Croque Monsieur.  This is a really pretty town and would be a good place for a quick one nighter in France should we ever want to do that.  Has a lovely square which had been filled with sand and converted to some beach side resort for kids with all sorts of games and playgrounds.  Back in the UK where it rained for us all the way home!

A few pictures soon.

Saturday - Chef Boutonne

Chef Boutonne

Friday - Chateau

Thursday - Arcachon

D2 - chateau route

Tuesday - Arcachon

Easter Monday - Cognac

Angeloume

Sunday - Nantes to Cognac

We wanted to head further south, into the sunshine, so, after wandering around Nantes unsuccessfully looking for an open cafe, we motored down towards Bordeaux. We also wanted to find somewhere quiet, peaceful, relaxing and charming (and maybe a bit romantic) to stay for a few days, and we ended up finding the Moulin de Domain Brun, which Frommers had promised to be 'the most luxurious accommodations around'. It was a lovely stone mill, very quiet, but maybe in need of a little refurbishment (the khaki green bath suite was very seventies).

In the afternoon we wandered down along the stream that runs through the mill, and up through some of the little settlements near the hotel. That evening we had dinner at the hotel. Since it was Easter Sunday, they had a special five-course menu - little vol-au-vents; foie gras; beautiful fresh fish (turbot) or milk-fed pork; praline ice cream; and a cheese board.

All beautiful, but I'm not sure how we made it back to our room. We (or our bellies) didn't have a very restful night.

Saturday - Deuville to Nantes

Didn't get going until the afternoon today, largely due to whiling away most of the morning in a outdoor cafe watching the Deuville glitterati pass by, with their breadsticks, little dogs, scooters and fur coats.

We also ambled through the local market and managed to purchase (thanks to A's schoolboy French) a dozen dried figs, some smelly cheese (all French cheese is tres stinky) and the ubiquitous bread stick.

This came in handy once we hit the road, as we stopped at a gorgeous village next to a pretty little stream overlooked by a huge chateau for an impromptu picnic. After scoffing down our fig-n-cheese sandwiches (also accompanied by some French pastries), we hit the road again and decided to stop that night in Nantes. I think it is pronounced like 'Naan', the Indian bread.

Anyway, Nantes was a bit of a challenge, as we hadn't planned to go there at all, so had no accommodation information or city maps. We somehow managed to find a sign for a tourist information office, so made our way into the center, parked and headed to the tourist office. Unfortunately, we couldn't actually find the tourist office, and wandered back and forth the square, past the cathedral, up and down the city streets, many times. This was a bit embarrassing because the next morning we went back to the square and immediately found the tourist office - we were in fact standing right next to it when we were in the middle of a 'where the hell is it'; 'I don't know I haven't been here before so how should I know' kinda conversation.

So, we found quite a funky hotel, cleaned up and heading out for dinner to a brasserie recommended by the hotel - La Cigale. It's such a gorgeous place that it's now a national monument to safeguard it's interior. The food was OK too, although the place was a bit touristy and crammed with people. There was a brilliant bar around the corner, I think called Havana, and again with the French and the dogs, as one guy drinking in there brought in his massive rottweiler type dog.