France June 2011

At the beginning of June it was time to go back to the South West of France again to stay at Maison de Pruniers. This time I went with James, Charles, Sarah and Nick. Again it was an opportunity for the boys to drive their cars so we caught the fast cat ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre and then drove over 600 miles along the auto routes to the house close to Moniestier.

For more pictures click here.

This year we were not so lucky with the weather as we have been in the past but we still managed to get out an about. We started the week by visiting a market in Duras where Charles suffered after eating some seriously strong cheese and Nick was ripped off by a market seller who chopped off an enormous chunk of cheese for him to buy. Sarah and I both bought ourselves a shopping basket each which seems to be what the locals use instead of plastic bags. That afternoon we drove to Chateau Monbazillac to taste some wine and replenish our stocks of their desert wine.

The next day we decided that considering it was our third visit to this house which is built on the grounds of a golf course that we must have a go at some golf. None of us thought we were good enough to play properly so we hired some clubs, some basket of balls and hit the driving range. It was good fun but just proved we were not good enough to play properly. I had to make several attempts before even hitting each ball and when I did who know what direction it would go in. I did get one to go more than 50m though which I was pleased with. Charles was our big hitter though making a distance of more than 300m. Though even he had no control of the direction.

One day we drove for an hour along winding country lanes to go for lunch at Sarahs uncles house. He retired out there in his early fifties a couple of months ago. His house was beautiful, a converted old farm house. They had added a tennis court, swimming pool, conservatory, summer house complete with bar and two areas where there family can stay when they visit. However it seemed her uncle was most proud of his wine cellar which was complete by a small table and seating area for tasting. Someone said when we got home that unless you see places like this then you have nothing to aspire to.

After leaving his house we wandered into the picturesque local town which was built on top of a big hill, from which we could see a huge house in the distance. That house turned out to be Chateau Biron which we wandered around later that afternoon. We were all slightly spooked by the torture chamber in the basement of the house until we found out it had been set up as a film set and was entirely props.

Sarah, Charles, Nick, Me, James.

We jointly decided that one day we would like to spend some time in Bordeaux. Charles has a friend who was a student there a few years ago and had recommended and area with some good bars and restaurants. We decided that we would get two rooms in a local cheap hotel so we could all enjoy some wine with dinner. The hotel for the five of us was cheaper than a taxi would have been. Before getting some food we went to see the fountain alongside the river which essentially is water over the pavements which reflects the ornate buildings behind it. There were lots of restaurants to choose from but we chose one that seems traditionally French. We all agree it was the best meal we had. Starting with a pate of choice, followed by either duck or pork with roasted potatoes, pureed swede and accompanying sauce and completed with profiteroles or crème brulee. Yummy! From there we wandered on and found a lovely wine bar with a difference. It had life size trees in the middle, overstuffed ornate French furniture and sold only wine. Just as well James had started to try some of the local wines and was managing to no longer pull strange faces.

On our way home from Bordeaux we made a stop at St Emillion for lunch. Unfortunately there were no wine tours that day but we had a wander and Charles and Nick bought some grape vines to bring home instead.

On Saturday we went into Ste Foy La Grande to the market. It was the biggest, busiest and best market I have been to in France. Lots of fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and other stalls with clothes and jewellery. I managed to buy a bag full of fresh cherries for next to nothing.

On the Sunday we got up early to make our way back to the ferry port. The funniest bit of the driving was getting through the tolls. As there were five of us there was always someone in a car on their own making it pretty difficult to reach to pay.