Eight thirty am. Clear blue sky though the water on the garden furniture tells me it rained overnight. Did in Lincoln too. I listened in on the sound of it on the greenhouse roof. I’m sat out by the pool having breakfasted royally on two halves of grapefruit. We decided last night that we would head out early for a market which is about a 20 min drive away. Only Hannah and THG have been spotted thus far so the 9am departure is looking at risk. Could be wrong. Won’t have to wait long to find out.
On this day 38 year ago THG and I woke up excitedly in separate locations. It was our wedding day. Actually I was not fully compos mentis having been drinking Stella with my Uncle Mick until about 2am. Hey ho. Adrenaline saw me through. That and a walk in the rain. The gods were smiling that day though and the actual wedding celebrations took place in brilliant sunshine. Four great kids later with a grandchild on the way I think we can look back with some satisfaction as to how it has gone.
The word on the street is that folk are showering so 9am might be a goer. I’m told that this market is the biggest one in the region. No idea what that means but will find out soon enough. We will be back home for the afternoon as we have a couple of chefs coming to save us having to prepare dinner.
Didn’t end up going to the source of the Charentes yesterday as the mood amongst those left at the farm was to chill out. Instead Tom and I took the recycling into Cussac. Paper, plastic and glass. It was only after I’d done the paper and started on the plastic that I discovered that orange juice cartons are considered to be plastic. Ah well. A shrug of the Gallic shoulder. Cooked pommes sarladaises to go with the spatchcock chicken, ribs and sausages done by Tom on the bbq. My fave spud recipe. I think I did a reasonable job of it but maybe not quite Michelin standard, or even the local caff.
We are about halfway through our trip. The location for this middle week has been fab. There is bugger all around us really (we did the place where Richard The Lionheart died on our first full day here) but the farmhouse is very secluded with nothing but the sound of cows and birds and we have a large pool to ourselves. Cussac itself is a 20 – 30 min walk, dependent on your speed or a 3 minute drive. There are two hairdressers, a bar tabac and an Intermarché. I probably missed one or two shops but basically there isn’t much here. The Intermarché is handy enough. You have to drive 5 mins to another village to get artisanal breads.
Maybe I should think about getting my hair cut. Which place to choose? Decisions decisions. Might wait until I get to La Rochelle or even Concarneau. It’s not like when we were in Seville and I had a short back and sides done by a barber of Seville.
Anyway. Gotta go. Everyone is up and ready apaz. Ciao bebes.