life, by me

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 | Posted by Hazel

Seafood has never really been my thing, it sounds slimy and so I've basically just avoided it. However, I have decided to try and branch out and to try some new things so where better to start than Cancale, with a bowl of mussels (moule au chorizo).  We had a freak boiling hot day last week, were at the coast, and I was feeling brave.  They were actually very nice, not quite what I was expecting.  But here's to the beginning of my seafood trying life...woo hoo.

Moule au Chorizo et frites

Cancale

The decorating is now complete...well, our portion of it anyway.  We completed another 2 rooms this week, wallpaper stripping both, and painting one.  The small room is to become an en suite in the near future.  The bedrooms in the gite (holiday house) have all had a freshen up during our stay.  The house is currently a B&B although the Beverley's are hoping to sell it soon and move back to the UK.  Hopefully our efforts will help them to get a swift sale!  This is where we have been working/living the past 6 weeks -  www.domainelesloges.com

Small room before

Small room after

Large room mid-stripping

Me doing some painting

Large room after we painted it

We thought it would be rude if we didn't sample some Calvados (apple brandy) whilst in Normandy where they make it, so on our last day in Normandy we went in search of some.  We found a small producer about 20 minutes away.  It was a small farm, where we were met by the owner when we arrived.  She showed us in to the tasting room and promptly whipped us up some Pear and Apple Cider, Pommeau and Calvados tasters.  The ciders were nice, the Calvados was a little too strong for my liking.  Anyhow, she then just stared at us, so we figured that was our que to make a purchase...luckily for us the cider's were €3 a bottle, so we got a couple of those.  At least we can check that off our list now...!

Local apple and pear cider - our €3 purchases

Jon cooked us another lovely 4 course dinner on our final night at La Plissonnais and we said our farewells.  We have enjoyed our time in Normandy and are now looking forward to some new adventures down South.

The Beverleys - Christine, Jon, Peter and Henry (the dog) with Alex too

Henry after a hard day

On Saturday we got up early and set off South.  It was an 8 hour drive, which we did via the Loire Valley, an area located along the Loire River in central France, scattered with vineyards and Chateaus.  We stopped in Saumur for lunch and then continued.  The Chateaus are all very impressive, this was our view during our picnic.

Saumur Chateau

Migrating birds we saw on our road trip across the Loire Valley

We arrived at our destination in Burgundy in the evening.  We are here for a week, cat and house sitting for Glenis and Ron.  The house is in a small village, close to a town called Cluny.  It is very cute, and has a different landscape to that where we have been in Normandy.  The fields of corn have been swapped for vineyards, and the splodgy cows  have changed to white fluffy ones.

We had a lovely meal with Glenis and Ron, another 4 courser (the French traditionally have a cheese course between the main meal and dessert) and got acquainted with the cats, Pepper and Spice.

Our new home in Burgundy

We have now been here a couple of days, and explored a couple of local towns, Cluny and Macon.  Cluny is a nice little place, surrounded by lots of small villages, one of which is where we are staying for the week.

Autumn has arrived in Burgundy

Cluny

Macon is a larger town, where we also enjoyed a little walk around.  We have a week here before we head South again to our next destination, La Chambre.  Although quite cold, the weather here has been amazing so far.  Lots more exploring to be done whilst we are here.

Macon

Macon

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Monday, October 22, 2012 | Posted by Hazel

Having seen lots of sweetcorn growing in the fields surrounding the area we live, we had assumed it would be on sale everywhere for our consumption.  However, not having seen any in the shops, we were told recently that the French don't really eat corn on the cob, but use it for silage to feed the cows.  Just thought I'd add that little fact in for you.

So a bit more decorating has been completed.  We have now finished the 3rd bedroom that we were painting, it's another pink one.

Single pink bedroom (2)

The sun managed to stay out long enough for us to complete the herb garden!  It was hard work, but feels like an achievement now it is finished, and now there is a very large herb garden, waiting for its herbs!

Alex demonstrating the gardens size

Our little teletubby land we created with the turf

After all our hard work, we took a day off and headed North to Bayeux, famous for its tapestry.  We had a little look at the famous piece of cloth, and learnt about the Battle of Hastings.  I can't say the tapestry was the most exciting thing I have ever seen, but it's quite impressive that it has survived 1000 years and has an interesting story to go with it.  (Apparently it's not actually a tapestry though, it is an 'embroidered cloth' - little unknown fact.)

A picture of a picture of the Bayeux tapestry (wasn't allowed a pic of the real thing)

Whilst in Bayeux we had a little look around the rather picturesque village.  Bayeux has a lot more going for it than the tapestry.  We didn't have as much time as we would have liked to explore it, but it had lots of cute little streets, a big Cathedral and lots of 'salon de the' (tea shops).

Bayeux Cathedral

A French Creperie

Bayeux

Close to Bayeux are what are known as the D-Day beaches, the beaches where armies from America, Britain and Canada landed in France on the 6th June 1944. The landings took place along a 50 mile stretch of the Normandy coast, split in to 5 different beaches.  We visited 2 of them.  The first we visited was 'Gold Beach' which was where the British 50th Division landed.  Here you can see remains of 'Mulberry Harbour', a portable, temporary harbour which was developed by the British during World War 2 to enable them to get things on to shore as quickly as possible.  It was assembled 3 days after D-Day, and remained in use for 8 months.

Remains of Mulberry B on Gold Beach

Gold Beach - Mulberry B remains in the distance

Mulberry B remains - Gold Beach We also visited Omaha beach, a few miles along the coast.  This was the beach where the American soldiers invaded.  This was said to be the bloodiest battle of the day, with the highest number of casualties.  In 2004, on the 60th Anniversary of D-Day, an art installation was put on to the beach to commemorate all the lives that were lost in 1944.

Art Installation on Omaha Beach

I can't claim to know much about World War 2, but I do feel as though I have a learnt a lot more about it by visiting these beaches, along with the Cemetery we visited last week at St. James.

Peter and Christine returned this week, they are Jon's parents, and the owners of the house. They have been away for 6 weeks staying in the UK, but are now back for the winter in France.

I have been away in the UK this weekend for a wedding whilst Alex stayed in Normandy; where she has done a bit more decorating, chilled out and had Sunday lunch with the Beverley's. 

We now have a week left in our current location before we head South to Burgundy.

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Sunday, October 14, 2012 | Posted by Hazel

Another week at La Plissonnais for me, and a quick trip back to the UK for Alex...that is what the last week has meant to us.

Last Saturday we had a nice evening at Jon's, where we met Phil (his brother) and Peter (a friend from the village).  Enjoyed a 3 course meal and some English chat.

Alex flew home for a few days to go and see Radiohead in London, whilst I guarded the fort over here.  Sadly the weather has been rather soggy this week, but that hasn't stopped us from getting out and about a bit and doing some more of the decorating. 

This week I have noticed an abundance of ugly looking cows, anyone know what variety this is?  I feel a bit sorry for it.

Whilst waiting for Alex's plane to land, I took a trip to St. Malo, a coastal town which lies just beneath Jersey.  I had a great time exploring.  I even got to practise my French when a French couple asked me for directions to their hotel, which I was able to give them.  I gave myself a pat on the back for my attempts (until I later saw them again wandering round with a map still looking decidedly lost...).

Decorating has stepped up a gear this week...we have completed two rooms now, and almost finished the third.

The finished 'pink' room (1)

The finished 'white' room

We have also been out and collected some logs to keep the Beverley's warm for the winter.

Alex was proud with our efforts...

Yesterday the rain held off for the afternoon so we headed out to Saint James to visit the Brittany American cemetery and memorial.  There are 4410 American soldiers buried here, each marked with a white grave stone.  The stars symbolise that the soldier was a Jew, and the crosses symbolise all other religions.  The site became a temporary military cemetery in August 1944 when it was liberated by the Americans and evolved in to a permanent military cemetery after World War 2, when France granted the use of the site for free.  It was really quiet and peaceful with no-one else about, and quite moving as you read about the battles, and what had led the soldiers to this point during the war.

Last night Jon came round to watch X Factor with us...turns out he is a closet fan, and he even said he enjoyed our food.  Bonus.

During the last week we have lined up our next assignment, which is house/cat sitting in Burgundy for a week - wine country apparently.  Looking forward to exploring another region of France, although there is still quite a lot we want to do whilst we are here! 

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Saturday, October 06, 2012 | Posted by Hazel

Wow it's been a busy week...from Paris to Mont St-Michel, we have been touring the French must haves of Northern France.

We spent a weekend in Paris, where I was very excited to set my eyes upon the Eiffel Tower.  I think I had imagined it to be in a slightly more remote location/have more space around the base of it (I don't know why), but it was still pretty big, and I spent a while trying to perfect a shot...this is what I ended up with...

Saw all the other Paris highlights, such as the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and Notre-Dame (which, by the way, I found out is not the previous home of Quasimodo...yes, I was a little disappointed to find out this fact).

Arc de Triomphe

Musee du Louvre

Notre Dame

One of my favourite things we found in Paris was the 'Pont des Arts' - a bridge which crosses the River Seine.  It was covered in padlocks, with peoples names marker penned on to them, some people had gone the extra mile and had their padlocks engraved.  Apparently this has become a recent tradition by romantic tourists, who attach a padlock and throw the key in to the river as a romantic gesture.

The bridge of many locks...Paris

One of Alex's friends from Uni, Christian, is French and lives in Paris so we arranged to meet up with him and his wife Marie in the evening.  We went to their real life French flat in Paris and hung out with them and their 2 year old Manech.  A good time was had by all...luckily for us they both speak excellent English, so we didn't have to test our sketchy French out on them.

Marie, Christian and Alex

Other highlights of Paris include rollerblading policemen and a French reggae music festival.  Oh, and of course the cuisine.  We ate copious amounts of crepes and tried out some French macarons...I'd never had one before and so we went to 'Pierre Herme', one of the most prestigious macaron makers in France for my first trial.  I don't regret it all.  They were amazing.

Now back in Normandy, we have spent this week doing some more decorating...the two bedrooms we have been working on are almost complete and have all had a few coats of paint, we have a white room and a pink room.

Our gardening skills have also been tested as we continue to dig out a herb patch.  It's pretty back breaking, so we have been doing it little by little, and this is our progress so far...it's looking good...

Yesterday we visited Mont St-Michel - one of the top sights to see in France, apparently (according to my new France guide book).  It's not far from here.  I thought it was just a church on an island that you looked at from afar, so imagine my surprise when I discovered you could go on to the island and there were shops and all sorts on there, mental.  We even made a trip in to a post office to buy some stamps (timbre) to overhear a French conversation with someone whose bank card had been swallowed by the ATM...whatever next.  21st Century.

Mont St-Michel (from a distance)

On Mont St-Michel, little windy, cobbledy streets

Mont St-Michel (up close and personal)

We have made some new friends with the cows, which got moved to a nearby field this week (which is pretty much our garden) and have been practising our European photo poses (we have witnessed some crazy ones).  We have a couple more weeks in Normandy before we move south.

That's a cow, and that's our little house in the background (the small one).

Just a casual lean shot

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