Posts

Image
18-25 October 2026 Life has quietened down as the weather gets cooler and sunup is now not until 8.30 am. The builders, despite assurances that they will be here and more than a couple of days of good weather, are absent. So, we amuse ourselves with reading and admin stuff, cooking confit de canard and roast pork. The pork here is excellent and reasonably priced. Not so the lamb which I noticed was 25 € a kg. Our previously bustling and crowded local market, is now noticeably quieter as the winter approaches. Well, the weather is a bit like the French students – volatile to say the least. Massive storms and floods to the north and south at the moment. 75kph wind gusts blowing down our paddock too, but the rain is intermittent and our ‘little rivers’ are still not flowing. We haven’t been at LPR as late in the year as this before and the late autumn weather is not so pleasant. It’s also hunting season here and Sunday is the day when the locals wander along the road verges with ...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
  15-18 October 2026 A 4.30 am Uber to Victoria Station; the Gatwick Express and An Easy Jet departure with only about 20 pax on board, was a seamless departure from London. However, La Rochelle was under low cloud and we did a ‘go-round’ at about 1000’ then circled over the airport at 4,000’ for 90 minutes and just before the fuel would dictate a diversion to Bordeaux, the cloud lifted 80’ and the pilot could see the runway and she put it down nicely. Very preliminary immigration clearance and we picked up the car from the inexpensive, secure parking and headed back to LPR. The weather is changing again with cold mornings and sunny high teens in the afternoon. Some frantic running around for two days, meetings with carpenter and painter and much finishing jobs are due to happen next week. Unfortunately, that’s when Emma Lou won’t be here, as we drive her down to Bordeaux Friday night for her return to the UK. The weekend brought more sunny afternoon weather and we moved out ...
2 comments
Read more
Tue 6 October – 14 October 2026 Still nice weather in Stockbridge but that won’t last. And it didn’t. Cold and wet by Wednesday. Thursday was another cold and wet day. This required a warm up indoors and Flashy chose the Three Cups Pub at the top end of Stockbridge High St, for a mid day red wine. It was Australian! Time for a pub feed and dinner at the ‘Peat Spade’ was excellent. Beef pie and fish and chips, a couple of drinks and $200 later we were finished. The pound remains strong. You just double it for an Australian dollar, but even so, 100 quid for a pub feed is expensive. Maybe not in Sorrento? Sunday and Monday we are with Alyssa in London and a good old roast lamb dinner cooked by Flashy was a lot better than the very ordinary Sunday roast at the Albion Hotel with Mykala, Alyssa and friends. Not cheap either. Monday night Alyssa, Flashy and Lady P went to see ‘Hay Fever’ a Noel Coward comedy at the Wyndham theatre, with Christine Baranski & Richard E. Grant play...
1 comment
Read more
Image
28 September – 5 October 2026 Sunday in Paris was another glorious day with our local restaurant street, Rue Daguerre absolutely bustling as it was the monthly Vide Greniere - flea market, probably more like an upper class garage sale in Australia. After a quick look around, we headed north to Parc Montsouris. The park was a hive of activity with different groups of fitness activities. Having skipped dinner last night, we had a delicious burger and chips at the local café and walked back to our apartment. Home on the TGV and an early night back at LPR. The rest of the week was getting ready for our trip to the UK to dog sit for Laura Jane in Stockbridge and then to London to see Alyssa. The Sunday flight from La Rochelle on Easy Jet was an easy 1.20 hr flight. However, in passing through French passport control at La Rochelle, Lady P was fingerprinted and photographed, much like the rest of the Brits heading home. She was asked when she last arrived in France (as if that mattere...
1 comment
Read more
Image
Monday 21 to Wed 23 September 2026 Great weather continues but no sign of the builders. Discussions turn to when they might finish and if they will get caught by late rain. The only bright spot is that Willy is a bit of a weather whisperer, so we will see. Thursday 24 to Sunday 27 September 2026 This is our trip to Paris for a few days, using our residual Home Exchange points. It’s a very easy drive to Gare Surgeres, park the car in the new car park, and 2.5 hrs on the TGV to Paris Gare Montparnasss. Then a little walk to our very charming garden apartment in the 14 em Arr, close to the resting lion at the catacombs. We have three full days in Paris, essentially to catch up with friends from Australia (la Chaine) and NZ (a couple of Karitane nurse friends of Lady P). The highlight was the Saturday lunch at Restaurant Guy Savoy, overlooking the Seine on the Left Bank. Bailli of the Great Barrier Reef Bailliage, Anne Pleash and Bailli Honoraire, Flashy himself, had agreed to have ...
1 comment
Read more
Image
Sunday 20 September 2026 Today, being a perfect late summer day and Patrimone Day in France, where many museums and chateau are open to the public for free, Lady P decided we should visit Chateau Mornay. Twenty minutes out east of here. So, off we went, through the paddocks and little villages to emerge at a fair dinkum chateau. Not many people about but lots of volunteer guides in 18 th century costumes and a nice little marquis (of the tent variety), serving lunch. Three courses of soup, bacon and beans and crepe for dessert for 15 € . Chateau Mornay was built between 1594 and 1630 on the foundations of an older 13th-century feudal castle. It is surrounded by a wide moat, featuring an imperial entrance tower with a ribbed porch, an old drawbridge, and the 14th-century Thistle Tower. Apparently, Cardinal Richelieu spent a night here, and the painter Nicolas Poussin stayed on the grounds during his youth. It’s a bit like an “Ernest Hemingway, slept/drank/stayed/died here, bar”...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
Thursday 17 – Friday 18 September 2026 After a day off to ease tired joints, Flashy is ‘encouraged’ back on the chainsaw to cut up the felled trees. And a jolly good job he did too. Friday marked six months since we arrived in Paris, so a trip to Leclerc super store (always a fun outing) and a nice lunch in St Jean D’Angeley was in order. Le Scorlion Restaurant is tucked away near the (unfinished) Royal Abbey in the old town and is regarded as one of St J’s better restaurants. We took lunch on the covered terrace, in a fairly full restaurant. Excellent staff and of course, most spoke faultless English. They offer two menu de jour – three courses with four choices in the entrée, main and desserts for 24€ and 32€. Not much difference so we chose the former. Our choices were cold cauliflower soup with tandoori espuma and tuna rillettes with guacamole and basil oil; a perfectly medium cooked steak with mashed potato and jus and carpaccio beef tataki with spiced sweet potato and bee...
2 comments
Read more