Mon 11 to Sat 16 May 2026

Trenches and steel are all in and now we await the concrete, due next week. We took Emma Louise to a little restaurant in the nearby town of Migre to Restaurant Source du Moulin de Migre where Lady P and Flashy had been last visit. This is in the middle of nowhere but popular with visiting French and some locals. The chef is the son of the owners and is Paris trained. Their three course Prix Fixe menu was 17.50€. Not as good as last time but the coconut infused carrot soup with a soft poached egg floater was very nice. The confit of chicken with mushroom gnocchi was ok but the tart and crumble dessert offerings were awful. A nice drive in the country though.

Thursday was Ascension Thursday. This has remained a national holiday in France since the concordat agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, in 1801. And of course, our builders don’t work on that day and all take Friday as a sickie. So, we decided to go to Bordeaux for the night and have an early snack before putting EL on the flight back to Gatwick.

It rained most of the way down and all night it drizzled, but that didn’t stop us from checking into a nice BnB called Bordeaux Cosy. This came with a dedicated carpark in a garage and was two tram stops from downtown. Some Negronis and tapas at Frida Bar in the old town, then off to the airport to drop off EL. Arriving back at our digs at 9.00 pm, we decided to go for a nightcap around the corner at the Cooldown Bar.

We arrive to a horde of university students on the footpath. Blokes mostly. Some Goth sheilas with tats and piercings (some even visible). Inside we went. It is a cyber-gaming bar with keyboards and screens everywhere and no tables at which to sit and drink or snack. 

The barman gave Flashy a knowing smile but did make a good Negroni. Diving in the deep end and too tired to brave any more rain, we ordered a burger to share and sat on two stools by the door. We were wholly ignored by the crowd, who were somehow connected in teams to other places in the world, splatting baddies for points on video games. We were amused. Shared a good burger and chips. Satisfactorily supplied with booze and ready to walk back to our BnB in the still drizzling and cold rain.

Breakfast next morning was provided in the garden conservatory and we enjoyed excellent croissants and baguette, coffee, fruit, cheese, yoghurt and could have even had an omelette if we desired.

Next it was off to the gigantic shopping mall on the outskirts of town to get some clothes for the Chaine International Grand Chapitre in June. Partly successful, but I think we will come back to Bordeaux for a couple of nights again.

Apple tree stump. Gone!
Steel's in. Note the PPE they are all wearing.
Another story. We had to hire a truck to take some poles back to LPR. Stay tuned.
 very deep trenches for a single story kitchen. Maybe the French have memories of the trenches in TGW.
Now that's a great coconut infused carrot soup.
Something Moroccan Lady P ordered.
Confit chicken and gnocchi.
The birthday girl with her crap crumble dessert.
No blue singlet unfortunately!
Bordeaux tapas at Frida Bar.
Happy campers.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
 Saturday 14 March 2026 The US and Israel launched an attack on Iran on 28th February, throwing travel to Europe into disarray. The Australian Government issued a 'do not travel' notice and Emirates cancelled our Brisbane to Dubai and Paris flight. Iran retaliated by sending drones and missiles to all its neighbours, including Dubai airport. So, deciding that it was indeed a year of living dangerously, we managed to get a re-route via Melbourne to Dubai, which was on again off again, closed then open. Most missiles were shot down by the UAE but it only takes one. After two days in Buderim visiting Zena, who is now 98, we flew to Melbourne, surprised the grandkids for an hour or so after school, then the limo to Tullamarine and the Emirates A380 to Dubai. All went well and the Captain announced that we were on final to DBX. At 19,000' he announced that the airport was closed and we had to do circuits. It was during this time that we felt and heard the shooting down of two mi...
Read more
Image
Easter to 10 April 2026 Which it was. A good day Monday that is.  A good burger and salmon citronee at Alison’s restaurant by the lake; dogs fetching sticks from the lake; and catching up on emails. Tuesday was a quick trip into Limoges to visit Grande Fraish and Kiabi for some fruit, sardines, salmon and bread and  some cheap summer gear as it is now a bright, warm 26C at Les Vergnes. All   our neighbours (3 of them) are away and we are surrounded by paddocks full of green grass and yellow dandelions. With all the deciduous trees now starting to bring on leaves and blossom the place looks a little like NZ or even parts of the Kiewa valley. Wednesday was another walk up the hill to the dam for a session of stick catching and leaping about in the water.   That’s the dogs, not Flashy. Stripped off into shorts, catching the rays on the terrace, sipping on beers (0 alc) at 11’sh, we noticed a fox in the adjacent paddock. The binos picked him out perfectly at about ...
Read more
Image
  11 April 2026 Saturday. Off to Limoges today for some culture. The market was the planned stop and boy, was it good. The ‘Halles” was designed by Gustave Eiffel, so there was some steel in the design. Bricks and glass too. This was a very posh market. Some poncy interior designers must have been employed to display the fruit and veg and the extensive seafood and meats. But, best of all, was the central area of bars, providing liquid sustenance to patrons who may have purchased some oysters, smoked salmon or tapas (French style tartines mainly). However, there was also evidence of a multi cultural element, with Cambodian food and a scented Moroccan food stall. Not knowing that the market would offer so much and mindful of the absolute need for Lady P to have a coffee before 11 am, we had indulged in coffee and chocolate biscuit at a student café, so alas, Flashy was too full for 12 oysters and a glass of Chardy. Between the devil time of 12 to14 hundred when rural France goes ...
Read more