Browsed by
Month: October 2016

Sand and sails in Les Sables d’Olonne

Sand and sails in Les Sables d’Olonne

True to his word, His Lordship packed up the car the day after the last pieces of wood were thrown on the fire. To my delight, we turned westward and by mid-afternoon the sea was in sight! The Oldies settled on Les Sables d’Olonne for a stop-over. What a good choice! It is a breath of fresh air, in every sense. Finally a French town that does not look as if it has been abandoned for decades! ‘Les Sables’ is…

Read More Read More

Crème de la crème?

Crème de la crème?

Time and time again, I have to question France’s reputation as the culinary capital of the world. In my humble opinion, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Just look at the dairy products, for example. Fine, there is no doubting that French cheese is hard to beat in terms of quality and variety. But do you think that you could get decent milk or cream here? I find the fresh milk quite watery, and real whipping cream is…

Read More Read More

Day tripping

Day tripping

Brantôme, Dordogne and Marthon, Charente   All work and no play… even the Oldies realise that they have to take a break sometimes and we have gone on a few lovely outings in the area on our days off. One of the highlights was a trip to Brantôme, also known as the Venice of the Dordogne as it is almost entirely encircled by the river Dronne. This makes it very popular with canoeists. Oops! Better not mention canoeing. Her Ladyship…

Read More Read More

Angoulême – a city in pictures

Angoulême – a city in pictures

Our last visit to Angoulême was rather restricted due to the ramparts race, so we decided to go again and have a closer look at the town itself, without the danger of getting creamed by a vintage racing car. Apart from the ramparts race, Angoulême is famous for being the cartoon capital of the world, with its long-standing annual cartoon festival and its comic strip/cartoon murals which are dotted throughout the city. The French, both children and adults alike, are…

Read More Read More

French water torture

French water torture

I’ve heard that French plumbing has a reputation for being rather poor. From what I’ve seen recently, it’s not poor. It’s appalling! The house the dynamic duo are working on at the moment is the first one they renovated just after they arrived as total greenhorns in France. They could barely change a lightbulb when they came here, the big eejits, so they were a tad on the over-confident side when they took on a house that needed complete renovation…

Read More Read More