L’année de vie dangereuse

Saturday 12 to Wednesday 16 September 2026 Our wild grapes that cover the laundry have deep purple berries and a plan is hatched to pick them, despite the wasps, hornets, bees and yellow jackets that buzz about. Four huge stock pots are filled to overflowing and the plan is to make grape and pear chutney and some grape juice that can be mixed with something alcoholic to make cocktails. Never a dull moment here at LPR. We collect pears from our pear tree, bay leaf from our bay tree and with a mix of spices, onion, garlic and ginger, the boiling, mashing, straining and reducing produces 700 mls of sticky sweet juice that make three jars of delicious black grape chutney. There is also about 1.5 litres of grape juice, ready for a slight reduction to cordial consistency and then it can be bottled and grace our little bar. The hot weather has returned to mid-30s and Flashy is back in the pool. It’s a refreshing 23c. I think he is well insulated. Just so he won’t become bored and si...

Monday 7 - Friday 11 September 2026 Monday and Tuesday were admin days and Wednesday we drove our 'rouge pompier' coloured lease Peugeot 308 to Bordeaux to replace it with a new 180 day lease Peugeot 2008. The former is a fire engine red, sporty 5-door just like we had in 2024. Unfortunately, despite all the bells and whistles, it’s very low to the ground and uncomfortable to get in and out of. Our new 2008 is still a 5-door but narrower and shorter and much higher off the ground.   Bliss for us! Lady P was hoping for a rouge, bleu ciel irise, or a nice orange colour as we had seen about the traps. Guess what? We go a cuirasse grise – bloody ubiquitous battleship grey! Anyway, we returned to our Bordeaux Cosy BnB for the night and enjoyed a tram ride into the old town, a couple of pre dinner drinks and dinner at Freda. Great tapas and nice wine. Next morning our BnB provided a cooked breakfast, then off home via Royan, a seaside town near La Rochelle, where we had oysters...

Sunday 6 September 2026 Two days of chainsawing and the fallen trees are now firewood. Weather is still hot here. So, to set the scene a bit before I tell you about our soiree last night. LPR is a group of eight houses surrounded by paddocks. Every few kilometres, there is another little village, some a little bigger and some a little smaller. These dot the landscape all the way, 10 kms up the road to St Jean D’Angeley, which is quite a large town. Driving or walking around these little villages, you see almost no one, as the French love to hide behind two metre high concrete walls and closed shutters. We see lots of very big tractors and harvesters though. The occasional hare, deer, pheasant and quail as well. Lady P spots a hand painted sign propped up against a farmer’s fence announcing a soiree with gourmet food and music, at Les Courances (this, a tiny collection of houses and cow sheds, two kms up the hill from us). Well, it’s a Saturday night, worth a look. We wander up ...

3 September 2026 We arrived home to find that a mini tornado, the one that in 10 minutes brought 120 kph winds, rain and hail to Fouras (on the near coast), had passed through LPR. A big tree branch missed the Palais de Bois by inches, well centimetres at least. And another branch almost took out the country clothesline (a bit of rope between two trees but artistically propped with a forked stick). Leaves everywhere but thankfully no damage. After a slow start, we got the pool uncovered, shock chlorinated and vacuumed. Temperatures are again rising to the 30’s by the afternoon and all the witches and warlocks are predicting a big El Nino and a late heatwave. You watch, there will be floods and plagues of frogs by November. Now back with good comms, I have been amused reading my mate the Major’s blog. He’s got his mojo back, inspiring reader’s comments on old chestnuts and seeming to have had a pretty good road trip. Close call. We think the heat is killing the hedge. More chain...

31 August to 3 September 2026 Bonifacio has a stunning marina and an old town perched atop a cliff and well fortified with a citadel. Our hotel, le Royal is in the centre of the old town at the crossroad of two main, bustling and very touristy streets. It’s been nice to wander around, sampling some of the ubiquitous pizza, local beer and a new drink for the season – a Campari and soda. We saw some very ,very large and   expensive motor yachts, from Italy, Panama and the Caribbean and the sailing yacht, Scorpione of London (formerly known as Pink Gin ). It is a massive, high-performance 46.22-metre (151'8") luxury sail yacht. A crew of seven and eight guests, it is privately owned. The expression ‘grotty yachtie’ actually applies to those who work on sail. They just don't have the panache of staff on motor yachts. Monday 31 August.  The ferry back to Toulon was the same as the way over. Same staff too. We boarded at 9 pm and grabbed a seat at the front, pointy en...

After 14 days of lousy connectivity, finally in Bonifacio, we have Royal Hotel wifi. Somephotosnext post. Fri 14 – Tue 18 August 2026 Alyssa and Jenny arrive for a few days and it’s a series of breakfast on the terrace, lunch under the trees, swims in the pool as the days remain hot, and long evening dinners with bottles of Sancerre wine, specially kept for the occasion. A very relaxing few days needed by all. Heading to Corsica Wed 19 – Fri 21 August 2026 Lady P has planned ten days in Corsica at a beach side apartment as a treat for her birthday. And of course, the builders are all on summer break. It is an 800+km road trip followed by an overnight 12 hr car ferry ride. Since we’re not 30 somethings with three grizzling kids anymore, we decide to break up the drive and stay overnight in Narbonne, a beautiful, old Roman town beside the Canal du Midi. The only downside was the small but nicely done bed sit. A great location with an easy walk to the canal and bars and a ‘truly loc...

  Monday to Thursday 10 – 13 August 2026 Looks like the heat wave is back. A very Albury like summer here. Hot to very hot 38C and dry as a chip. Thank God for cold beer, spicy gin and a clean pool. A little trip to Taillebourg, 28 k’s due south on the banks of la Charente, was our Wednesday outing. Unlike a lot of other rivers running very low in France – and other parts of Europe, the Charente at Taillebourg is flowing. People are even swimming. They didn’t appear to have a rash or open sores either. Here there are two guinguettes (a pop-up or open air restaurant) on the riverbank, serving local seafood, burgers, salad and platters from a blackboard menu, open mainly in the summer. They also have cold beer on tap and a small selection of wine. A delightful beef burger and chips to share, with a pint of draft beer and a glass of red, was just the thing to do, sitting in the shade of the riverbank trees, watching the world go by. On the subject of burgers, there is not a ...