Summer fields

It’s sunflower season once again. I just so love seeing the fields of bright yellow faces against the striking blue sky. I can’t help but smile when I see them.

They are so gorgeous - summer in a field.

Stripped bare

We were super excited today as the man we had chosen to reupholster two ‘fauteuils’ (armchairs) we have, contacted us to say he was now ready for us to deliver the second chair.

We’d been to see him some weeks ago now. He works out of a small ‘atelier’ in Romilly Les Vaudes. We’d taken one of the chairs with us and discussed how we wanted them to be finished and chosen our fabric and fastenings, so that he could then send us a Devis (quote), which he did a few days later. But literally the day we were going to deliver the second chair he called us to say he was not well and he needed to delay us delivering the second chair.

Although the bibliothèque, where the chairs are going to go, is not finished yet, we had wanted to make sure we didn’t delay getting them completed too long. So it was great to hear this week that he was now ready to start on the second chair. When we arrived he showed us the carcass of the first chair. He’d stripped it bare of all its upholstery, ready for the woodwork to be prepared. The gold velour was the fabric underneath the existing grey covering.

We can’t wait to see them completed.

Platter

Our guests ordered a cheese and meat platter for dinner. I serve it with a simple green salad and baguette.

They found a nice shady spot in the garden where they enjoyed it with a rather nice bottle of red wine from Burgundy, which Brian had selected on one of our trips.

Delicious.

20 lengths

After breakfast Brian went up to the pool to open it and give it a clean. It takes him about 30 minutes to test the water and make sure everything is set and ready for the day. It’s not really a chore though with that view.

The day was warming up and I couldn’t resist getting in to do my 20 lengths.

Nipped out

On Sunday there was an excellent vide grenier at Essoyes. Our day was a little bit full though with the B&B, so we just nipped out for an hour. There were some wonderful collections of bric a brac, but this week we resisted. Oh, apart from a brass door knob, a glass stopper (for my collection) and a pretty little plate. But otherwise we didn’t buy anything!

Cuvée M

Earlier this week we had a fabulous tasting and visit at the cellars of Jean-Luc Carreau in Celles-sur-Ource.

He talked to us about the process of cleaning their fermentation tanks, something that is taken very seriously and performed with a lot of care. They have a coating within, similar to enamel, which Jean-Luc cleans by hand with just hot water. To do this he has to climb inside, and he surprised us when he demonstrated it by climbing through a rather small door!

Jean-Luc is passionate about his wines, with the whole family being involved in some way in their production.

He has released a limited production of a blanc de blanc, which has been matured in an oak barrel. His daughter, Meghan, has also been involved with this, and designed the beautifully delicate label. With its soft floral design it’s perfect to describe the wine inside.

We absolutely loved its flavours, which offer buttery, soft cream notes. It is only a small production, so we took our opportunity to buy 6 bottles. Definitely to be enjoyed on special occasions.

Summer storms

It’s not uncommon for our region to experience sudden and fierce thunderstorms. They rarely last very long, passing over and away in tens of minutes. There are little telltale signs that a storm is approaching, and this one woke us from our slumber in the morning with a sudden change in air pressure, and high winds causing our windows to bang open and closed. Minutes later the sky had blackened and the lightning began, followed by a short, sharp downfall. After just 20 minutes or so the sky brightened again, and the only evidence of the storm was a fresher feel to the air.

It looks and sounds a bit scary, but it’s a lovely, fresh beginning to the day.

Wheelie good

The house felt empty with our friends all gone, but it would soon be full of activity again as our guests were due around 6pm. We were all prepared for them, so we decided to head out to a vide grenier at Gyé-sur-Seine. I also wanted to pick up some bread for dinner on the way back, so we got up early and headed out.

I was glad we did, as we got some excellent finds; an old wooden wheel for €5, a wooden box for €3, and an enamel jug and enamel canister for €10 each. I want to use the canister to store toilet rolls in for the pool room.

A good little haul I think.

Crêpe, garden, pool

A simple supper at the Thieffrain Crêperie was just what we all fancied.

It was a beautifully warm evening so we sat with our friends in the delightful little garden in front of the bar and enjoyed our meal whilst chatting about our trip, trying not to remember the gorge experience, and planning what we should do for their last day before they head home. They very kindly offered to help out with some gardening. So we spent the next morning together getting the garden ready for our new arrivals in a couple of days time.

I’d never hoovered the steps before, but they looked excellent, so thank you Chris for giving me that idea.

After such a busy morning the afternoon was a lazy, and very enjoyable, few hours by the pool.

Gorgeous gorge

The morning we were leaving Annecy, Sara texted me to ask if we fancied visiting a gorge on the way home. It sounded like a great idea to have a little walk, before our four hour journey home, especially as there was a café, so a good place for a coffee stop. I need to admit at this point that she had sent me a link, which I had not viewed. Big mistake!

The gorge was only about 30 muinutes from Annecy, and on our way home. We descended the steps to the café area, had coffee, and then bought our tickets. I should probably have wondered at this point ‘What are we paying for?’, as you wouldn’t normally pay to walk along a gorge. The walk started very prettily with some stunning views of the river that had created it.

Only moments later though, I realised the walk was not along the bottom of the gorge, but halfway up it, and it was pretty deep.

It was, in fact, all the things I’m not great with: heights, walkways at height (that you can see through), height within a closed space, closed spaces.

I could hear the others behind me chatting and taking photos, with lots of ‘Oohs’ and ’Aahs’. Me, I just wanted to get round it all and back onto terra firma, but it seemed to take an age. There were parts of the supported walkway that narrowed around outcrops of rock with overhangs, these were particularly scary for me. All I could do was just keep going, but soon I realised people were coming back the way I’d just come. ‘Oh crikey’, I realised, I’m going to have to come back the same way!

At the finish I’d like to say it was lovely, and I’m sure it was, but for me, I was just happy to be back in the car and on our way again.

Lake Annecy

Lake Annecy is a sizeable lake nestled in the mountains on the edge of the alps. There is a road and bike trail that winds around its shoreline, and many walking routes that trail off up the slopes. But this holiday we wanted something a little more sedate, so we chose to tour the lake on one of the tourist boats.

It was a very pleasant 90 minute trip just motoring up the full length of the lake admiring some of the extraordinary residences that have been built on the shoreline, before returning back to the beautiful town of Annecy.

To provide some scale the lake is 14.6 km long (9.1 mi), and 3.2 km (2.0 mi) wide. It’s about 40 m (135 ft) deep.

It was the perfect place to relax with friends.

Sweeping blue

After our lovely evening in Beaune we headed over to Annecy, about a two and half hour drive. The route was extremely scenic, with the road wrapping itself around the southern mountains of the Jura, as they start to merge into the lower levels of the Alps. The mountains around Annecy feature on the Route des Grandes Alpes, which is often included in the Tour de France.

We had not planned anything more exhausting than mooching around Annecy absorbing the atmosphere, maybe taking a trip on the lake, and enjoying some good food and wine.

We arrived to a sweeping blue panorama. Blue sky, blue mountains and a glistening blue lake. It was simply gorgeous.

We also found some beautiful restaurant settings, where we enjoyed delicious meals and amazing views. It really inspired me to want to cook new, more challenging dishes, with flavour at the heart.

L’ecrit’vin

In the evening we’d booked a table at L’Ecrit’Vin, a very popular little restaurant close to the Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune. The terrasse is on both sides of the little cobbled road that circles the place, and the waiters and waitresses are cheery and efficient heading to and from the kitchen.

Our meal was delicious. Both Brian and I started with very typical Burgundian dishes. Brian had escargots and I had œufs meurettes, which unusually were cooked in white wine not the more traditional red wine. I actually preferred them this way, in the white wine and cream sauce. I then had poached chicken and Brian had a fillet of Charolais beef. Dessert was a pretty intense strawberry delight. Utterly delicious.

Hôtel-Dieu, Beaune

We had a few days free this week so we decided to take a little trip south with some friends, first we headed to Beaune. It really is a fabulous town and we delight in spending time there.

At the heart of Beaune is the hôtel-Dieu, a charitable hospital founded nearly 600 years ago by Nicolas Rolin and Guigone de Salins. Despite being so central it can easily go unnoticed as the entrance to it, across from the marketplace, is quite inconspicuous. However, on entering you are wowed by the architectural design and beauty of the building and its roof.

An audio tour is available, which takes you slowly through the rooms that were once set up by the nuns to nurse the poor and sick who couldn’t afford help elsewhere.

Today there is still a working hospital at the rear of the building, with a delightful little sensory garden offering shade and areas for contemplation.

I would very much recommend a trip to Beaune, and definitely a visit to this beautiful museum.

Fête de champagne - day two

We’d had a fantastic first day, and spent the evening remembering the highlights and enjoying a delicious dinner with some neighbours, who had also been at the event.

On day two we headed to Neuville-sur-Seine. The first producer we were visiting had decided to set himself up at the top of one of his vineyards. They had arranged a relay of minibuses to take people up to the venue. It all made for a fun start to the day.

The view was stunning, and the Champagne was pretty good as well.

We caught the mini bus back into Neuville where we still had three more Champagnes to try, of which we seemed to like the Clerambout most, so we settled ourselves in for an afternoon of music, sun and Champagne. It really is a fantastic event.

Day one of the champagne festival

The forecast was good and everyone was excited to start our day at this year’s Champagne festival, which was in the villages of Buxeuil, Neuville-sur-Seine, Courteron and Gye-sur-Seine.

For the two days of the festival there were 15 producers across the four villages that we were going to get the opportunity to taste.

We decided to start in Courteron where there was two producers, Fleury and Cottet-Debreuil. Fleury was a house we had been wanting to try for a little while, and as they were only going to be open on the Saturday of the festival we decided to head there first.

It was a very good start to our day, and one we will be revisiting.

Next we headed to the village of Buxeuil, where there were seven tastings to enjoy. The village was bubbling with a summer party atmosphere, with lots of music, dancing, food stalls and games.

It was one of the best festival first days we can remember.

Summer evening

On Friday evening we’d set up a long table in the garden as we were hosting a dinner for our friends that were visiting. Everyone was helping out; chopping up vegetables for salads, making desserts, hanging bunting, and setting up the barbecue.

Brian had a few bottles chilling to enjoy with some nibbles to get the evening started.

We love preparing, cooking and enjoying dinner, sharing good wine and spending time with friends. It’s a perfect summers evening, just delightful.

Weeding first!

Our friends arrived for the weekend, as it was the annual Champagne festival. It’s usually at the end of July, but because of the Olympics, which starts with the opening ceremony in Paris on Friday, it’s a week earlier.

Before they had chance to really enjoy themselves, they got into their wellies to help out cleaning the weeds from the river. It’s a messy, hot job, but many hands definitely make light work of it.

Good morning

It’s been a busy week for us, starting with some delightful guests who joined us for three nights and were able to enjoy some breakfasts in the garden, as the morning sun warmed the air. They took this wonderful photo of me, capturing me in my pinny. It’s so nice to see ourselves from our guests perspective.

On their second night another guest checked into the Jeroboam room and the five of us settled into the salon to enjoy a bottle of Blanc de blanc Champagne by Robert Grandpierre and some gougères for aperitif.

I served a table d’hôte dinner of coq au vin and puréed potatoes, followed by a board of local cheeses. Finally, for dessert, I served a roasted apricot tart with vanilla cream.

A big thank you to our recent guests for these photos.

Holes

Along the top of the side wall of our house are a series of holes in the stonework, and we are often asked about them.

The little, triangular spaces are home to a small population of house sparrows, that come and go throughout the summer. But why are the holes there?

We have been told by locals that the holes were allowed for certain types of houses, and that the holes would have been a status symbol for the owners.

An old postcard we purchased from a vide grenier also shows that our house once had a ‘pigeonnier’, or pigeon tower. Pigeonniers were also once a status symbol, and proof of wealth, power and authority. Keeping pigeons was a right restricted to royalty, clergy and nobility. The pigeonnier is no longer there, which is good for us, as it’s now where we enjoy sitting and having breakfast.