I can see the light

In our kitchen Brian adapted some old wooden units to use as our kitchen cupboards. It was always our plan to have some kind of illumination on them for the work surface below, but although we had plenty of plugs fitted when we did the kitchen we didn’t put any lights under the cupboards.

So last week we bought a couple of Hue light strips, which we can control via a Bluetooth controller, or via an app on our phones. These light strips can be stuck in place quite easily, so should be straight forward. The only challenge though is that I don’t want the light strip to be visible when I’m sitting at the kitchen table, which means adding some kind of beading to the base of the cupboard.

This cupboard is made of mahogany, a wood that you cannot easily buy nowadays, in fact, I’m not sure you can buy it anymore. So Brian has bought some oak beading and is trying to stain that to match, he will then use that to hide the lighting strips. It’s one of those seemingly small jobs that actually needs lots of patience.

Escape to rural France

We are often asked ‘What do you get to watch on TV?’. The answer is generally that we admit to no longer owning a TV, which isn’t exactly true, we do have our old one that we brought from the UK, but we have never set it up here.

In the summer we spend most of our evenings enjoying our time outside, but in the winter we do like to sit down in the evening after dinner to watch something before bed. Netflix and Prime are great sources for box sets or movies, and we watch them on the iPad or laptop. Our French Prime enables us to watch French shows with English subtitles or even French subtitles if we are not too tired. This is great for our language learning.

We also watch a number of shows on ‘YouTube’, it has some great content creators. ‘Chateau diaries’ was a spin off from escape to the chateau, and a few others have since come from that.

The vlog on YouTube we now love to catch most days is ‘Escape to rural France’. It’s filmed, edited and starred in by one man, Dan, who pretty much is single handedly rebuilding his newly acquired chateau that was damaged by fire around 50 years ago, and has been left to decay since.

It’s quite incredible and very inspirational, however not something we would ever take on!

It’s in the post

The day started quietly with a delicious milky coffee, made by Brian, and a couple of slices each of the fruit and nut bread I’d bought at the market yesterday. I’d lightly toasted it, and we enjoyed it simply with butter. However I felt it was lacking a little sweetness, so I sprinkled a tiny bit of sugar on the top, which Brian thought was a great idea.

The plan was to try and finish off making our Christmas cards today. Brian’s design this year has proven to be a particularly difficult one to execute, I think he’d completely forgotten how difficult it is to do this particular process. So we still have quite a bit of work to do on them before we can get them in the post.

Before dinner

The evening temperatures are starting to drop now across central France, in fact we have some snow flurries forecast for later this week. It will be wonderful to have snow in December, let’s hope we get some, but not too much though.

We tend to light the fire in the salon, around 5.30pm, it warms the room up nicely before we sit down at the end of our day for a little pre dinner drink. Sometimes that may just be a cup of tea, but normally a g&t or Brian may have a beer, but of course a glass of Champagne when it feels right. We normally take some time, half an hour or so, to practice some French, or catch up on the days news, or I may look at my blog for the day. It’s nice just to sit quietly, warm up and reflect on the day, before we enjoy our dinner

Thanksgiving

At the market today, as well as visiting my usual vegetable stall where I can always find some beautiful fresh produce, I discovered a new bread stall. It’s actually a producer that I’ve followed on Instagram @claire.et.hugo for a few years now. They first got my attention as they used to own a red, double decker bus which they traveled the region in, as a pop up street food seller. It seemed such a great idea, but somehow we never got to visit it before they then opened a restaurant with a bakery on the side in Troyes. We have yet to visit it. But today they had a stall at the Bar-sur-Seine market, and it was absolutely brilliant.

We bought an Apple tart, (eaten already) a gorgeous baguette, very tasty with a great crust, and some fruit and nut bread, which was sold by its weight. I’m really looking forward to breakfast.

I admit that I didn’t think I’d bought much at the market, but Brian said the bag had got very heavy, and when we returned home and put it all out I have to say that there did seem to be quite a lot, a veritable feast. As we are Brits we don’t really celebrate thanksgiving, but we wish a happy thanksgiving to everyone that does. I do however remember celebrating harvest festival at school, and I felt my table of produce was definitely worth celebrating.

Into the blue

We woke to gorgeous blue skies this morning, it was a little cool but a good day for doing some jobs in the garden. Brian was already out there once I’d wrapped myself up and headed out. He was staring at the sky saying ‘I can hear them, but I cannot see them’. I could hear the familiar chatter of the cranes, who had returned for their winter sojourn.

‘Just there’ I said, pointing into the blue.

Really high in the sky you could just see the cranes flying overhead. They always bring a smile to me when I see them, I think it’s because they have chosen the area we live in to migrate to, so delightful.

One of the garden jobs was to plant some tulip bulbs I’d bought. However, the ground is very hard and quite claggy, due to the rain, so it was pretty hard going.

I knew roughly where I wanted to put them, so together we soon had them planted. We then tidied up the ground around them, ready for, fingers crossed, when they start sprouting in the spring.

Le Cellier

We tried out a new restaurant for us this week when we met up with some friends in Bar-sur-Aube for dinner. Le Cellier restaurant is situated in the restored cellar once used by the monks of the Abbey at Clairvaux. The restaurant was very comfortable, with a stylish, modern setting, with nicely spaced tables and a very friendly atmosphere.

The menu had plenty of choices, including plat du jour. I chose the beef, a slow cooked piece of brisket in a rich red wine sauce, it was delicious. Brian wanted to try their beef burger, which he said was a very generous dish, and just what he fancied.

The ceiling to the restaurant was spectacular. They had restored the vaults and retained the beautiful inscriptions left by the winegrowers in the 1930s. I’d like to learn more about its history, I need to do a bit of research I think, and hopefully I can share more in a future blog.

Settling in

It seems to have been a bit of a whirlwind week since arriving home, but we’ve got ourselves settled back in, cleaned the house, caught up on the laundry, prepared the guest rooms, cleaned and stocked the fridge, booked the chimney sweep to come, and started on the mountain of ironing. We are now very much back into our rather flexible daily routine.

Taking time out of any type of routine or schedule helps free the mind and brings renewed energy. With the changing of seasons I always find it’s a great time to plan what’s next. Brian is planning his next projects, he will be starting the library after Christmas, but he has a few little jobs he’d like to do before then. I have some things I’d like to do, more planning on the garden, and getting ready for some potential winter jobs in the garden, although it’s not possible to do too much. We need to review our jobs list and prioritise what’s important.

It was such a gorgeous day, with a beautiful blue sky, so we took time out to walk up to the point de vue, just before the sun was ready to set.

The stillness of the village is delightful in the warm autumn sun. The log fires are starting to be lit for the evening and we can spy the puffs of smoke drifting out of the chimney stack’s, all different in their design and look.

What a beautiful place we live in.

Hoorah!

A few weeks ago, just before we traveled to the UK, the application for my ‘actual’ Carte Vitale* card arrived. They were requesting my photograph, and proof of identity, to make the card. They only give you 2 weeks to return it, and the letter was dated 11 days earlier, so I knew I had to do it before we traveled. It was a bit of a scramble to get the form completed, with the proof, before we left, but we really didn’t want to do anything to jeopardise it. So we completed the night before travel, diligently checked it over, and posted it from Calais just before getting on the shuttle.

Last Friday Brian’s form arrived, so not to dally we completed it and went and posted it this morning.

When we got home, Brian emptied the post box and amazingly my card has arrived - hoorah!. What a wonderful start to the week.

I’ve waited over 3 years for this, fingers crossed Brian doesn’t have to wait too much longer either.

*Carte Vitale card allows you access to the French health system.

A Nouveau evening

The third Thursday in November brings the release of this years Beaujolais Nouveau, a wine I am really quite getting to enjoy, but maybe it’s the wonderful atmosphere in which we drink it.

This year was no exception, as our friends Lee-Anne and Christophe invited us to their soirée. They had organised fresh oysters to be delivered straight from Brittany.

The evening was designed so that everyone brought a dish for a different course and, of course, a bottle of the Beaujolais nouveau. We started with some tasty Comté cheese gougeres, then the glorious oysters, which everyone seemed to enjoy a lot. For me, I enjoyed the deliciously fresh prawns with a crisp white Beaujolais.

Christophe then used his meat slicer to cut some cold meats. It was such a great idea to slice them fresh, so tasty. I’d taken a selection of cheese, which went well with the meats.

For dessert we had French apple tart, yummy.

It really was a delightful evening.

La Facoterie

We had a few errands we needed to run in Troyes, so we were up early to drive the 30 minutes there. It’s an easy drive, but we wanted to be early so that we could get our jobs done and make time for a little look around the shops.

I wanted to go to one of my favourite shops ‘La facoterie’, as the lady that owns it had let us know that she had some new items in, which we may be interested in.

She makes some amazing little sculptures and some very imaginative pottery mugs, plates, bowls and jewellery, which we both love. It was great to see a vast selection of items.

We’ve bought a few pieces over the last few years and just love them, everything is so unique and has such character.

Home sweet home

Our journey home was smooth, and we managed to catch an earlier shuttle so were soon whizzing along the A26 south, towards Viviers-sur-Artaut. I was looking forward to sleeping in our own bed tonight, and waking up to a deliciously hot cup of Earl grey tea.

We were in no hurry to get up, and it proved to be quite a slow morning unpacking and putting things away. I was enjoying just pottering about and getting things organised, taking in the familiar aroma of the house. It’s funny the things you miss when you’re away.

Before I started on the laundry we got to enjoy some hot buttered crumpets I’d brought home and some local chia toast, a comforting start to the day, with a quick dip into my copy of the ‘delicious’ magazine.

It’s lovely going away but it’s wonderful coming home.

Down south

Our trip back south was not entirely smooth. It started with an early advice from Trainline telling us our train was cancelled, and to get the next available one. It meant our relaxed journey with seats already booked was not to be, instead it was full of bad advice and difficult conversations, and we only just managed to get seats for the longest part of the journey, despite having first class tickets, but when we finally arrived in Kent we spent another wonderful evening with friends.

The following day, we traveled to Norfolk to see my dad. He was well, and we had a good few days together discussing all kinds of things we needed to catch up on. We had quite the chin-wag, as they say.

We even got to fit in a shopping trip to the beautiful city of Norwich. A city I have fond memories of, whilst at college there.

Our next stop was London, where we had planned to meet up with all of Brian’s family to celebrate his mum’s 90th birthday.

We checked in to a premier inn hotel near Westferry, not far from Canary Wharf. An excellent position for us to visit Hilda, and an excellent view of Canary Wharf to boot.

We took the opportunity of being in London to nip into the West End for drinks with a friend and dinner at Dishoom, a deliciously yummy Indian restaurant just off of Chinatown.

After a long and exciting day we slept very well on the 23rd floor of our hotel.

The next day was party day, and I managed to capture us all on our way out for a celebratory dinner at the Morgan Arms. After a couple of glasses of champagne each we all definitely had the giggles.

It was such a joyous time.

Scottish hospitality

Don’t you just love sharing meals and drinks with friends and family, it is such a joyful thing to do. Our time spent in Scotland was full of such happy moments, and our bellies were full of gorgeous food and drink.

Being close to the coast was a real bonus for me. I adore mussels, and these Scottish mussels were served in a delicious cream, wine and herb sauce that was so full of flavour.

Every meal was a delight, whether it was eating freshly caught and cooked fish with chips, delicate Scottish smoked salmon or 24 hour braised brisket. We also got to enjoy some locally caught haggis 😉

What a wonderful time was had.

Stormy weather

We chugged our way north on the Caledonian sleeper, waking occasionally to the sound of the train passing through junctions and stations.

We woke properly around 6am, ready for our free fruit juice to be delivered with an oat cookie. The sun had risen, and we had marvellous clear views across to the Cairngorn national park.

Our friends live not far from Stonehaven, the station that we had requested to be dropped off at, and it was not long before we were pulling into the little station and disembarking the train. It was so great to see our friends after such a long time, and after a few hugs on the platform we made our way to their waiting car and made the short trip to their house in Muchalls.

Although we hadn’t visited their house before, it felt very familiar, warm and inviting. From the kitchen window they have beautiful views overlooking the local farmland, and fortunately we had just a glimpse of blue sky to set the scene beautifully.

Not all our days were dry though, after all we were in Scotland. But we didn’t let that stop us, and over our stay we ventured out to see some of the spectacular local Scottish countryside and towns. One little fishing village nearby was Gourdan, where we enjoyed a very tasty fish and chip lunch at the local pub.

The castle of Dunnator is also close by, and when we saw it for real we understood why it has been used for some big name movies, like hamlet, Frankenstein, Brave and Mary Queen of Scots. The day we visited it was very wet and gloomy, which actually showed the old ruin off to its best.

We will definitely be looking to return in hopefully warmer and not so stormy weather, but our time was well spent catching up with some very dear friends.

All aboard

We were up very early this morning as we are heading across the channel and all the way up to Scotland to visit some friends. I hadn’t slept particularly well, obviously thinking about the journey. Our plan is to drive to Kent, then catch the train into London to catch the overnight sleeper train ‘the Caledonian Sleeper’ to Stonehaven. All very exciting.

We arrived at Euston, where our train began its journey, in plenty of time. It was quite surreal, as for many years we had both commuted to London for work, but now we felt like outsiders looking in, watching people going about their own London lives. People were rushing for trains, meeting up with friends, munching on rushed snacks to fill a hole left by a long day. Oh, I remember it well. In between the people watching we were keeping an eye on our train status on the board. Ooh, ready to go.

We grabbed our bags and went to find the platform.

There were plenty of staff to help us board and find our compartment. Which was very compact I must say, but clean and comfortable. We settled ourselves in before heading towards the restaurant car.

We ambled down the train carriage towards the club restaurant, and were soon enjoying an early taste of Scotland - Haggis neeps and tatties, all surprisingly tasty for a train meal.

We were now feeling well and truly on our journey.

We decided it was time to head to bed. Getting into the bunks was all a bit tricky, and although I’d had great intentions to take the top bunk, it was not to be. Settled and comfy we were both soon drifting off to sleep.

Night all.

Chocolate Moelleux cake

You may have realised by now that I do love a bit of chocolate, and I find chocolate desserts to be particularly delicious. This soft and squidgy moelleux cake is one of those particularly yummy desserts I love, and for anyone with a gluten allergy, hoorah, it’s also gluten free.

Here are the ingredients and method:

200g of dark chocolate (70% cocoa).

I use the nestlé brand, but any good quality dark chocolate is good. Break it into small pieces. It helps the chocolate melt quicker.

Add 200g unsalted butter.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a bain mairie, and once melted let it cool for about 10 minutes.

Separate 6 eggs.

Whisk 100g of castor sugar with the egg yolks. They will go a much lighter colour and a bit fluffy.

You can now pour the melted butter and chocolate into the egg yolks, slowly, continuing to whisk. Then whisk in one tablespoon of cornflour and a good pinch of salt.

Work quickly to whisk your 6 egg whites with another 100g of sugar, these need to reach soft peaks. Once done, they can be folded into the chocolate with a metal spoon. I normally fold half into the chocolate, then fold the chocolate back into the remaining half of egg whites.

Once all this is folded together pour into a prepared cake tin. I used a 9” spring form tin, which I’d buttered, dusted with cocoa powder and lined with a piece of baking parchment.

Bake in a 180°c fan oven for 30-35 mins. It will be soft to the touch when you take it out, and will deflate as it cools. I served mine with a simple, cold crème fraiche.

You can keep it in the fridge for a few days, if it lasts that long.

You can ring my bell

The bell outside our gate was looking a little loose on its screws. It’s a sweet little bell, although we can’t always hear it from inside the house unless it’s rung quite loudly, and I guess it doesn’t get rung loudly if it’s in danger of falling off!

So Brian unscrewed the top two screws that weren’t doing their job properly anymore, and replaced the worn rawl plugs. Two nice new screws later and the bell is all ready for visitors again.

It's not all Champagne...

As winter approaches there are some jobs that are a bit less glamorous than others that need doing. One of those is to close off the outside water. It’s one of those cold, wet jobs, that needs a good cup of coffee to look forward to at the end.

It was a drizzly day, so I was quite cheered when Brian said he didn’t need my help this year, as he could remember what needed to happen and what order it needed to happen in.

It all starts with the water in the pool room, which comes from the well at the bottom of the hill, pushed up there by a pump in the well room. It also serves some taps in the garden, which we use to water many of our plants. Anyway, Brian starts the job by turning off the pump and then going up to the pool to open all the taps and drain the pipes up there. Having done that he then comes back down the hill and opens the lower taps, letting the water held in the underground pipe that runs up the hill drain away. This takes a bit of time, as it’s a fair distance up the hill and the pipe holds a lot of water. Once the taps stop running it’s time to drain the pump.

A couple of years ago we forgot to empty the old pump we had, and the water froze inside, cracking the shell, and forcing us to replace it. So we really understand the importance of draining the pump correctly. Once that’s done the job is finished, and all the taps are left open to stop potential damage later in the year .

Just one quick job after that, which is to close off the flow to the outside tap from the mains. This is hidden under a metal plate in the driveway, and surrounded by cobwebs. It certainly keeps him fit doing this job.

All done now, despite the rain making it a bit harder than it should have been. Well, it can’t be all Champagne all the time!

Our famous chocolatier

Beautiful chocolates are a much prized delicacy in France, where the look of the chocolate, and its packaging, are almost as important as its taste. They are given as gifts to friends, family and loved ones.

This love of chocolate is not lost on us, and we were quite excited when we recently discovered that a very famous chocolatier, Alexandre Gyé-Jacquot, had taken up residence in our part of the Aube in Champagne. He is famous as the previous chef of production at Maison Caffet, a highly celebrated confectionery, where he spent 36 years learning and perfecting his skills.

Our area has truly embraced him, and his chocolates have quickly became the centre of all the displays in the best little food and wine shops. Today, we visited a favourite one of ours, ‘L’Instant Gourmet’ in Bar-sur-Seine, where they have commissioned a beautiful chocolate sculpture from M. Gyé-Jacquot celebrating one of their other great loves and produce, freshly roasted coffee beans.

It is a truly amazing piece of work, and did its job also, as we couldn’t resist coming away with a box.