My French Fancy

  Slow- sloe- not very quick -quick -sloe!                             Coutdown- only 85 days to go! Lovely week- had my gorgeous daughter to stay which was fabulous although she does commandeer the study and the cat, plus I have to go to the Boulangerie every morning to get fresh pain au chocolat. I also have to confess that as she had the Monday off (bank holiday) we did not watch the funeral but went to a Spa instead- I am sure her Majesty would not have minded. Our lovely friend Irene came to stay for a long weekend- she baked apple turnovers for Tim, cooked a roast dinner and helped us to collect lots of sloes- top guest, please come back soon! Talking of Boulangeries - they really are something quite amazing. When I took my daughter into our local Marie Blachere she asked me why I had never taken her there before, it truly is wall to wall dough. I've seen people in Paris take a croissant into a ba...

                                " This week I've mostly been moving wood!" Weather update:  The weather has cooled down here and what a relief! Like everywhere we have had our hottest Summer ever, the stream dried up completely and the grass was a lovely shade of brown but we have enjoyed many gorgeous evenings sitting outside.  I mentioned the idea of having a swimming pool installed to Tim, something that we would never have considered before (we are in Normandy!). The idea did not go down well as having a Fosse installed was traumatic enough and the drive still looks like  a cross country car rally went through it.    We had a flash flood this week with big hailstones, water came in through the doors and Velux windows and the gutters could not cope with the amount of water that was coming off the roof. Fortunately, it did not last long and everywhere now smells clean and fresh. Th...

                       "Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy" -                                                              Benjamin Franklin        Now before you say anything,  I know that Chablis is not in Normandy and you know how much I love Normandy, but an offer of a 3-day trip to another region cannot be refused especially when it has wall-to-wall vineyards. Travelling around France France is the most visited country in the world, so accessibility is key. The autoroutes are normally quiet and a journey  always takes the time that it tells you on the Sat Nav. There are exceptions to this of course - friends were stuck on a motorway in the South-West for 8 hours last year due to flash flooding. They kne...