Monday, April 30, 2007
Wednesday April 25 2007
Last Wednesday N’s sister Bobbie and her husband Guthrie came to stay with us, arriving at about 11.30 in the morning. Unlike the last two sets of guests, who had taken mid-morning Dover/Calais crossings arriving at LNL in the late afternoon, they had come on an overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Caen, easier to get to as they live in Plymouth. They brought us a bag of good west-country things to eat and drink; preserves (some home-made), Plymouth gin, cheese biscuits, chilli chocolate from a Devon chilli farm (?) and several others. The weather had got colder and cloudier over the last day or so, and I wasn’t sure if lunch in the garden was a viable proposition, but we moved the long table into the sunshine, and it was a great success, apart from the fact that the grass was rather bumpy nearer the house and we had to be careful not to fall backwards off our chairs.
After the restrictions in cuisine of the previous week, and the « family » meals of the week before, it was wonderful to be able to cook for adults who eat and enjoy everything! I hadn’t planned these menus in the same rigorous way as for the larger numbers last August (all courses worked out ahead for a week, and saved on the computer) but had three cards on which I had written down appropriate ideas in pencil, tearing each one up as the visitors left. When Bobbie and Guthrie arrived I was making apple cake - in which they were interested - and we had this warm at lunchtime after salade niçoise, which looked (and tasted) very successful in a large round white Italian salad bowl, with local cider which slid down very easily in the sunshine. Definitely worth repeating next time guests arrive for lunch in the garden. N thought it was strange to give cider to people who come had from Devon.
The rest of the day passed in viewing the house, outbuildings and vegetable garden, sitting in the garden, having tea (also in the garden) and dinner. On Thursday we went to Conches market again - a more leisurely visit this time! - and bought fish and flowers as before, Bobbie paying for the last two bunches from the same stall as last time, lovely mixed tulips and the last of the narcissus. We looked at the election posters outside Conches Mairie, and walked round the castle and up the main street again, buying bread and croissants at the boulangerie.
After lunch at home in the garden, we all went out for a walk in the afternoon, a shorter version of the one taken by Phil & Steve, only about two and a quarter hours, and very enjoyable. B & G also had walking shoes but assured us we would be all right without them (almost all the walking was on paths) and we went down the hill in the village, turning right at the bottom and following a path which connected to a little road joining the junction at La Vieille Lyre that we knew well, as we drive that way every time we come back from Bernay and from other places too. The sunshine was beautiful, warm without being too hot, and the skies brilliant blue over wide fields of bright yellow rape, and there were cows to look at and apple blossom in front of timbered farm buildings. I was surprised at how many wild flowers I saw and recognised, in English anyway. This really is an excellent time of year to visit Normandy, although autumn is arguably as good, with golden leaves and red apples. Cows and farm buildings are the same too, then! N & I enjoyed walking through LVL more slowly than usual, and looking at the church and Le Trou Normand again, and at all the houses we usually pass very quickly, and agreed it was definitely time we knew a little more about the area around where we live. We walked by a half-built construction between LVL and LNL which Guthrie (a retired civil engineer) told us was a new sewage plant; we hope this is good news as we currently have strange unexplained « drain » smells in the house at odd times, and have decided it is probably the smell of sewage creeping up our pipes rather than anything wrong on our property. At least that’s what we hope.
It was my turn for a day off on Friday when N took the guests to Giverny for the day. I stayed behind to catch up with washing, correspondence etc, wondering if I would be tempted to sit in the garden reading all day instead, but perhaps it was just as well that it was cloudy and windy, and the only time I spent in the garden was trying to eat lunch and finish my book (« Gli Indifferenti » by Alberto Moravia) which kept blowing about. I went along to the local butchers in search of veal paupiettes for Saturday dinner (neat little meat parcels tied up with string) and was told they needed to be ordered - not surprising as there must be a great deal of work involved, so placed an order for the next day, my name going down in the butchers’ book for the first time. Guthrie, who was an early riser, and could usually be found in the verandah with a mug of tea and a book by the time I arrived downstairs, had gone out early on Wednesday to get croissants; which he offered to do again on Saturday, and managed to collect the paupiettes from the butcher too. (I had written it all down for him in case of misunderstandings.) Later on we all successfully went on the train to Rouen again, via Bernay this time, as N had found (on the internet) a train leaving at 11.44; the distance to drive the same as to Serquigny, and G & B had offered to buy us lunch!
This was in a little restaurant on the side of the cathedral square, next to where we had lunched in the snow in February last year, all to do with chickens and eggs, which they managed somehow to work into every item on the menu. There was even a monthly dinner-for-two prize for the best answer to « Which came first, the chicken or the egg? » which we didn’t attempt, but I did leave them my favourite chicken quotation written on the paper place mat: The cock may crow, but it’s the hen that lays the eggs - Margaret Thatcher) plus the French translation.
The others all looked round the cathedral, which I didn’t think I needed to do again, so I went off in search of some of the same shops as before and more (including Maisons du Monde and a large Nouvelles Galeries) and when we all met up again we walked over to the Jeanne d’Arc square and old market - not far at all - which I remembered from my first visit, and was full of people sitting outside cafés in the sunshine. We joined in! After that there was just time to wander back to the station, fetching bread and cakes on the way and N eventually finding a newspaper, eager to read the last articles on the presidential candidates before the first round of the elections the next day.
The veal paupiettes - which I had partially cooked in the morning before we left - were excellent, in a mustard and white wine sauce (a recipe from the back of packet of supermarket ones I had bought before) served with rice and green beans. Not for the first - or last - time did Guthrie say « This is the business! » as he enjoyed them.
On Sunday morning B & G went for a longer walk, towards Neaufles Auvergny where Monsieur P the carpenter lives. We had lunch in garden again, including my favourite rhubarb pudding recipe made with the first rhubarb of the season, harvested that morning, and local farm cream. In the afternoon - after a suitably short rest - we all drove out to the Grange des Ongliers, an antiques and bric-a-brac barn where we had been once before. N hoped to find a larger gold-framed mirror than the one we currently have over the mantelpiece in the salon, (bought at the Marché aux Puces) and after carefully measuring the space available and several mirrors we found there, decided we had found one to fit, but that it wouldn’t go in the car while there were four passengers! So we thought we would leave it for the moment, but came away with some china instead - two each dinner plates, side plates and soup plates bordered in red, and decorated with Japanese-looking birds and the words: Luigi’s - Paris & Deauville. (N has since tried to find out who Luigi of Paris and Deauville is, but without success.) He also took a fancy to five white soup bowls with the word Gratinée printed on in black, presumably for grilling and serving onion soup. (We now have so many soup plates in this house - some belonging to my grandparents came with the delivery from my mother’s house - that we could eat soup every day for a week and use a different set each time.)
On the way home we visited Verneuil, another place we are unused to seeing in the sunshine, and showed our guests the principal architectural features, as everything else was closed. I also checked the Hotel du Saumon where we had stayed and had such a marvellous dinner when we first came to Normandy as N is always wondering whether or not they serve lunch. They do.
For dinner we had some of our first little lettuces, two red and two green, under smoked salmon, preceded by sorrel soup from the freezer and followed enthusiastically by yet more rhubarb pudding and cream. Dinner was early as a special request from N, so that we could watch the election results at 8 pm; Segolène Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy through to the second round in two weeks time, as could have been predicted some months ago!
Monday was Guthrie’s birthday; N gave him a silk tie he had bought in Milan, and he was let off buying croissants before breakfast (I had bought them on Sunday) and allowed a lie-in. He and I went to the village market in morning, while Bobbie was showing N pictures of some of their recent trips on his computer. In the afternoon we all visited the Château at Beaumesnil and its grounds, which they enjoyed very much. So did we, it was the third time we had been there - fourth if you count the Chopin/George Sand evening, and we like the thought of it being our « local » château. (I especially like one of the bedrooms, which has exactly the same window fastenings as our bedroom, with the same flaky old white paint. If it’s good enough for them, I think ….)
On the way home we visited Vive le Jardin, where our guests limited themselves to a few packets of seeds, and we somehow ended up buying white New Guinea Busy Lizzies for the outside windows of the verandah. (On our previous visit with Phil I asked his advice on what to put in the white troughs in the shade outside the grande pièce and he recommended geraniums; I chose white ones there and red for the bedroom balcony, and some lovely dark red petunias for the iron urns in front of the wine cellar.) N and I also bought more bird seed as the net on the fir tree was almost empty, and I chose another Venus fly-trap plant for the attic bedroom.
Unfortunately we were very delayed buying petrol at the filling station in Bernay, and got back too late for any tea - a pity as we had decided it was time to open the Italian cake I had bought at the station in Milan, and for which there didn’t seem to have been an appropriate occasion up to then. For the « gala » dinner in the evening we had Fondue Bourguignonne, preceded by a bottle of champagne which had been nestling in our fridge since last August, and followed by patîsseries from our local shop, so we didn’t really need cake at tea time too. We drank the champagne on the terrace and Bobbie and Guthrie « dressed » for dinner, he in his new tie, so N and I thought we’d better go and make the effort too. They really enjoyed the fondue - as did we - and it was nice that the birthday dinner fell on their last evening.
They left early on Tuesday morning, not to catch the boat straight away, but for a further week in Brittany, and then taking a ferry from Roscoff to Plymouth. (If we go to visit them later in the year, as has been suggested, we shall take this route too. I think N is waiting to see what they think of it.) After they had gone, I took the opportunity to go to go to L’Aigle market, as there hadn’t been time the week before.
The main reason I wanted to go was to look at a stall selling very stylish women’s clothes, in particular various matching cotton jackets and trousers such as I had noticed smart French women wearing last summer, and which I had decided to look for this season. I had tried some in C & A when they appeared earlier in the year, but wasn‘t tempted. I also wanted to take another load of things to the one charity shop in L’Aigle; this I did first and they were very pleased as before, then I made straight for the clothes stall.
I had wondered whether it was possible to try things on at market stall; there were in fact two little tent cubicles but I was allowed to use the van, although this involved coming of it to look in the mirror! The two men running the stall were extremely helpful, in fact more helpful than the staff in a lot of shops I’ve been in. What I had in mind had been blue denim with cropped trousers, but the latter were all the wrong length so I ended up - and am very pleased with - off-white with full length trousers. (Although I haven’t altered them yet, so we shall see.)
I had a good look round the market as I hadn’t been there for a few months; didn’t buy smoked haddock as we’d had a lot from Conches market recently, but got cheeses and strawberries. There were two new stalls I hadn’t seen before; a tempting one full of inexpensive white porcelain and one selling grandfather clocks. I don’t know how you were supposed to get these home, certainly not on the bus. I had a drink in my regular café, where I think I am now recognised, and read a local newspaper all about the elections.
Monday 30 April 2007
On Wednesday I did a lot of post-guest catching up, including a vast amount of washing, and beginning on what must be the largest pile of ironing I have ever had. (When I’d had time to iron, I’d concentrated in essentials, so there was a large back-log, some of it bedding from Saint-Denis, which I’m pleased to say is all done now.) N said he was very pleased to have the place to ourselves again; at first I missed all the outings and gala meals, but soon came round to appreciating cosy dinners for two at the little dining table, and just pottering. One of the things I found time to do was Rationalising the Cutlery, of which we seem to have even more than soup plates. In addition to all I brought from Cambridge, there is the Best Set of N’s, plus all the stuff from the Italian house - very copious and not very good quality. There was also a very tinny set N got free from somewhere, (brought here to use when we first moved in) which has since been passed on to my sister Issy; at least it was all brand new and matching! The Cambridge cutlery was not sorted before it left; it just came as it was in the drawer, packed by Abels. Last week I sorted and dusted it all, putting a lot of unnecessary stuff at the back of the sideboard and making it much easier to get at, choosing some of the better Italian knives to use as breakfast knives.
We decided we’d better make a short trip to the Gamm Vert garden centre at Conches for troughs for the new white Busy Lizzies as their roots were coming out of the pots, but were disappointed that we couldn’t find white plastic ones to match the trays we already have on the windowsills. Managed to find some off-white ones though, which just fitted, two to a tray, making eight troughs in all, on four trays at four windows, one plant to a trough, as they are quite large. I also chose little red Busy Lizzies for the other urn, to go with the white geraniums. Once we got back it took me some time to plant all these, while N was doing other gardening, but the effect is well worth it, especially as it’s the first things one sees on coming out of the garage.
The next day I found in the post box a card from M Urset, thanking us for the copy of the Lexique, and saying no luck again! (at not finding us in) and he was still hoping to invite us soon; presumably he left the card while we were out the afternoon before. It’s good to know we are not forgotten; The other interesting item in the box was an issue of the London Review of Books, courtesy of Nigel Palmer, who had asked if I would be interested in a free six months’ trial. I said I would, having seen it once in Cambridge thanks to Samin next door. I have since read it all, mostly while sitting in the sun in the garden, interesting articles as well as reviews, several about British politics. Fortunately just before this I had finally finished the Alberto Moravia novel, which I had very much enjoyed. This is the second of his I have easily read, understood and enjoyed in the last few months, and as I know there are at least a couple of dozen more, shall look forward to trying others. Before the LRB arrived I had just got back to the Life of George Sand; I am now about three-quarters of the way through and am only just getting to her adult life as a writer and her interesting acquaintances.
On Saturday morning N went out on his way to the shops - as he had decided it was his turn to cook dinner that evening - and came back straight away with a momentous piece of news: the house next door (the one with the barking dogs and loud neighbours) had a For Sale sign outside! I went to look; we thought at first it was M Urset’s office, which might have explained his presence in the neighbourhood, but it was a different branch. We mustn’t get too excited though, this isn’t Cambridge where houses can sell in a couple of days, and it could take months, if not for ever. Since the weather has been warm, the next-door dogs have been very much in evidence again, as last summer. N is already hoping we might have new neighbours who would be willing to feed a cat, so that we could have one. (N’s dinner was wonderful, perhaps because I’d been doing so much of the cooking recently - beetroot soup made from cooked beet frozen last summer; wiener schnitzel with pommes Anna, lemon and spinach; and strawberry tarts from the boulangerie.)
One morning last week when I was returning from the boulangerie I saw Monsieur P driving past in his car, and he waved in a very friendly fashion. N also met Monsieur A in the Quincaillerie, who said he would be in touch with us this week. Apart from the estimates for the garden wall and the painting of the façade of the house, N had contacted him about a maintenance contract for the new heating system, which is just a year old. Because of the very warm April weather, we must have saved a lot of fuel; we had already turned down the temperature level some time ago.
Our next guests are due next week, those for the string quartet arranged when we went to stay with Simone at Le Mans. There has been a slight change in arrangements however, as Maryse is now not able to come; I am sorry as I was looking forward to welcoming her here and getting to know her better. N’s other cellist friend Jean is coming instead though, but the transport arrangements are rather complicated, and it will now be Monday to Wednesday, instead of Monday and Tuesday. Brahms is on the programme, causing N to worry about practising.
We have also been planning for more guests further ahead; N’s friend Odile got in contact again, and we hope she will come in June, with or without her friend Thérèse. Meanwhile my friend Gill from Cambridge should be coming in early June. Before then we are due to go to the UK for a visit to several members of N’s family at the end of May, with a quick day trip to see some of mine in Ipswich.
On Saturday afternoon the warm sunny weather began to change and for the first time in five weeks, it actually rained! It was quite a novelty, and we went all round the house listening to it and watching it from different windows. N went out with an umbrella to see how much there was in the water butts; not a lot. Although the forecast was for more of the same plus lower temperatures, on Sunday morning it was hot and sunny again as we set out for Beaumont le Roger for a Foire à Tout, the first of this season. It was due to take place in the Bourg Dessus (town above) which turned out to be high above the part of the town we knew, up an incredibly steep hill next to the church. Once we had found it, it was much the same as other fairs, mostly private individuals trying to sell their junk, a few market and craft stalls, and hardly any bric-à-brac or antiques. I bought a ceramic pot for one of my fly-trap plants, a small oven-proof dish and a little sign saying « Cuisine » covered in tomatoes. N bought a very heavy small mirror, of which he hopes to gild the frame, and a couple of interesting bottles. It was very hot indeed as we left and walked the long way round down into the town again, getting to know a whole new residential area of Beaumont le Roger. We even saw a hotel we had seen on our first visit to Normandy, closed that day, which I don’t think I had realised was the same town when we got to know it later.
We had lunch in the garden and finished reading « The Diary of a Nobody » still surprised at the lovely weather as thunderstorms had been forecast. Later in the afternoon however, it felt very close and eventually there was a big storm with lightning, thunder and a good deal of rain. At least it seemed like a good deal, but there was still not much to see in the water butts. N has a theory that dry hot roofs absorb a lot of water. I kept thinking about all the stallholders at the Foire at Beaumont, which was due to last all day.
Before the rain N harvested a lot of rhubarb which was suddenly ready, and after consulting many recipes I decided to make rhubarb and strawberry jam, covering the rhubarb with sugar overnight and finishing it off this morning having bought strawberries at the market. It has a beautiful colour and smell, but not a very firm set.
N had planned to go back briefly to Saint-Denis next week, but decided to go for the day today as he was worried about his geraniums being left unattended for five weeks. He has gone on the train from Evreux, a new departure for him, and has since phoned to report safe arrival and that the geraniums are fine. (These are miracle geraniums, I think; they survived the heat wave of 2003, and last year.) Apart from the jam, I have done my exercise DVD this morning, and had a look at the new one, which I will try to do later on in the week. Just as on my last day on my own here, I had lunch in the garden in sun and wind. There has been another big thunderstorm this afternoon; we - and our April guests - have all been extremely lucky to have had fine, dry, and for the most part, very warm weather earlier this month.
Last Wednesday N’s sister Bobbie and her husband Guthrie came to stay with us, arriving at about 11.30 in the morning. Unlike the last two sets of guests, who had taken mid-morning Dover/Calais crossings arriving at LNL in the late afternoon, they had come on an overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Caen, easier to get to as they live in Plymouth. They brought us a bag of good west-country things to eat and drink; preserves (some home-made), Plymouth gin, cheese biscuits, chilli chocolate from a Devon chilli farm (?) and several others. The weather had got colder and cloudier over the last day or so, and I wasn’t sure if lunch in the garden was a viable proposition, but we moved the long table into the sunshine, and it was a great success, apart from the fact that the grass was rather bumpy nearer the house and we had to be careful not to fall backwards off our chairs.
After the restrictions in cuisine of the previous week, and the « family » meals of the week before, it was wonderful to be able to cook for adults who eat and enjoy everything! I hadn’t planned these menus in the same rigorous way as for the larger numbers last August (all courses worked out ahead for a week, and saved on the computer) but had three cards on which I had written down appropriate ideas in pencil, tearing each one up as the visitors left. When Bobbie and Guthrie arrived I was making apple cake - in which they were interested - and we had this warm at lunchtime after salade niçoise, which looked (and tasted) very successful in a large round white Italian salad bowl, with local cider which slid down very easily in the sunshine. Definitely worth repeating next time guests arrive for lunch in the garden. N thought it was strange to give cider to people who come had from Devon.
The rest of the day passed in viewing the house, outbuildings and vegetable garden, sitting in the garden, having tea (also in the garden) and dinner. On Thursday we went to Conches market again - a more leisurely visit this time! - and bought fish and flowers as before, Bobbie paying for the last two bunches from the same stall as last time, lovely mixed tulips and the last of the narcissus. We looked at the election posters outside Conches Mairie, and walked round the castle and up the main street again, buying bread and croissants at the boulangerie.
After lunch at home in the garden, we all went out for a walk in the afternoon, a shorter version of the one taken by Phil & Steve, only about two and a quarter hours, and very enjoyable. B & G also had walking shoes but assured us we would be all right without them (almost all the walking was on paths) and we went down the hill in the village, turning right at the bottom and following a path which connected to a little road joining the junction at La Vieille Lyre that we knew well, as we drive that way every time we come back from Bernay and from other places too. The sunshine was beautiful, warm without being too hot, and the skies brilliant blue over wide fields of bright yellow rape, and there were cows to look at and apple blossom in front of timbered farm buildings. I was surprised at how many wild flowers I saw and recognised, in English anyway. This really is an excellent time of year to visit Normandy, although autumn is arguably as good, with golden leaves and red apples. Cows and farm buildings are the same too, then! N & I enjoyed walking through LVL more slowly than usual, and looking at the church and Le Trou Normand again, and at all the houses we usually pass very quickly, and agreed it was definitely time we knew a little more about the area around where we live. We walked by a half-built construction between LVL and LNL which Guthrie (a retired civil engineer) told us was a new sewage plant; we hope this is good news as we currently have strange unexplained « drain » smells in the house at odd times, and have decided it is probably the smell of sewage creeping up our pipes rather than anything wrong on our property. At least that’s what we hope.
It was my turn for a day off on Friday when N took the guests to Giverny for the day. I stayed behind to catch up with washing, correspondence etc, wondering if I would be tempted to sit in the garden reading all day instead, but perhaps it was just as well that it was cloudy and windy, and the only time I spent in the garden was trying to eat lunch and finish my book (« Gli Indifferenti » by Alberto Moravia) which kept blowing about. I went along to the local butchers in search of veal paupiettes for Saturday dinner (neat little meat parcels tied up with string) and was told they needed to be ordered - not surprising as there must be a great deal of work involved, so placed an order for the next day, my name going down in the butchers’ book for the first time. Guthrie, who was an early riser, and could usually be found in the verandah with a mug of tea and a book by the time I arrived downstairs, had gone out early on Wednesday to get croissants; which he offered to do again on Saturday, and managed to collect the paupiettes from the butcher too. (I had written it all down for him in case of misunderstandings.) Later on we all successfully went on the train to Rouen again, via Bernay this time, as N had found (on the internet) a train leaving at 11.44; the distance to drive the same as to Serquigny, and G & B had offered to buy us lunch!
This was in a little restaurant on the side of the cathedral square, next to where we had lunched in the snow in February last year, all to do with chickens and eggs, which they managed somehow to work into every item on the menu. There was even a monthly dinner-for-two prize for the best answer to « Which came first, the chicken or the egg? » which we didn’t attempt, but I did leave them my favourite chicken quotation written on the paper place mat: The cock may crow, but it’s the hen that lays the eggs - Margaret Thatcher) plus the French translation.
The others all looked round the cathedral, which I didn’t think I needed to do again, so I went off in search of some of the same shops as before and more (including Maisons du Monde and a large Nouvelles Galeries) and when we all met up again we walked over to the Jeanne d’Arc square and old market - not far at all - which I remembered from my first visit, and was full of people sitting outside cafés in the sunshine. We joined in! After that there was just time to wander back to the station, fetching bread and cakes on the way and N eventually finding a newspaper, eager to read the last articles on the presidential candidates before the first round of the elections the next day.
The veal paupiettes - which I had partially cooked in the morning before we left - were excellent, in a mustard and white wine sauce (a recipe from the back of packet of supermarket ones I had bought before) served with rice and green beans. Not for the first - or last - time did Guthrie say « This is the business! » as he enjoyed them.
On Sunday morning B & G went for a longer walk, towards Neaufles Auvergny where Monsieur P the carpenter lives. We had lunch in garden again, including my favourite rhubarb pudding recipe made with the first rhubarb of the season, harvested that morning, and local farm cream. In the afternoon - after a suitably short rest - we all drove out to the Grange des Ongliers, an antiques and bric-a-brac barn where we had been once before. N hoped to find a larger gold-framed mirror than the one we currently have over the mantelpiece in the salon, (bought at the Marché aux Puces) and after carefully measuring the space available and several mirrors we found there, decided we had found one to fit, but that it wouldn’t go in the car while there were four passengers! So we thought we would leave it for the moment, but came away with some china instead - two each dinner plates, side plates and soup plates bordered in red, and decorated with Japanese-looking birds and the words: Luigi’s - Paris & Deauville. (N has since tried to find out who Luigi of Paris and Deauville is, but without success.) He also took a fancy to five white soup bowls with the word Gratinée printed on in black, presumably for grilling and serving onion soup. (We now have so many soup plates in this house - some belonging to my grandparents came with the delivery from my mother’s house - that we could eat soup every day for a week and use a different set each time.)
On the way home we visited Verneuil, another place we are unused to seeing in the sunshine, and showed our guests the principal architectural features, as everything else was closed. I also checked the Hotel du Saumon where we had stayed and had such a marvellous dinner when we first came to Normandy as N is always wondering whether or not they serve lunch. They do.
For dinner we had some of our first little lettuces, two red and two green, under smoked salmon, preceded by sorrel soup from the freezer and followed enthusiastically by yet more rhubarb pudding and cream. Dinner was early as a special request from N, so that we could watch the election results at 8 pm; Segolène Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy through to the second round in two weeks time, as could have been predicted some months ago!
Monday was Guthrie’s birthday; N gave him a silk tie he had bought in Milan, and he was let off buying croissants before breakfast (I had bought them on Sunday) and allowed a lie-in. He and I went to the village market in morning, while Bobbie was showing N pictures of some of their recent trips on his computer. In the afternoon we all visited the Château at Beaumesnil and its grounds, which they enjoyed very much. So did we, it was the third time we had been there - fourth if you count the Chopin/George Sand evening, and we like the thought of it being our « local » château. (I especially like one of the bedrooms, which has exactly the same window fastenings as our bedroom, with the same flaky old white paint. If it’s good enough for them, I think ….)
On the way home we visited Vive le Jardin, where our guests limited themselves to a few packets of seeds, and we somehow ended up buying white New Guinea Busy Lizzies for the outside windows of the verandah. (On our previous visit with Phil I asked his advice on what to put in the white troughs in the shade outside the grande pièce and he recommended geraniums; I chose white ones there and red for the bedroom balcony, and some lovely dark red petunias for the iron urns in front of the wine cellar.) N and I also bought more bird seed as the net on the fir tree was almost empty, and I chose another Venus fly-trap plant for the attic bedroom.
Unfortunately we were very delayed buying petrol at the filling station in Bernay, and got back too late for any tea - a pity as we had decided it was time to open the Italian cake I had bought at the station in Milan, and for which there didn’t seem to have been an appropriate occasion up to then. For the « gala » dinner in the evening we had Fondue Bourguignonne, preceded by a bottle of champagne which had been nestling in our fridge since last August, and followed by patîsseries from our local shop, so we didn’t really need cake at tea time too. We drank the champagne on the terrace and Bobbie and Guthrie « dressed » for dinner, he in his new tie, so N and I thought we’d better go and make the effort too. They really enjoyed the fondue - as did we - and it was nice that the birthday dinner fell on their last evening.
They left early on Tuesday morning, not to catch the boat straight away, but for a further week in Brittany, and then taking a ferry from Roscoff to Plymouth. (If we go to visit them later in the year, as has been suggested, we shall take this route too. I think N is waiting to see what they think of it.) After they had gone, I took the opportunity to go to go to L’Aigle market, as there hadn’t been time the week before.
The main reason I wanted to go was to look at a stall selling very stylish women’s clothes, in particular various matching cotton jackets and trousers such as I had noticed smart French women wearing last summer, and which I had decided to look for this season. I had tried some in C & A when they appeared earlier in the year, but wasn‘t tempted. I also wanted to take another load of things to the one charity shop in L’Aigle; this I did first and they were very pleased as before, then I made straight for the clothes stall.
I had wondered whether it was possible to try things on at market stall; there were in fact two little tent cubicles but I was allowed to use the van, although this involved coming of it to look in the mirror! The two men running the stall were extremely helpful, in fact more helpful than the staff in a lot of shops I’ve been in. What I had in mind had been blue denim with cropped trousers, but the latter were all the wrong length so I ended up - and am very pleased with - off-white with full length trousers. (Although I haven’t altered them yet, so we shall see.)
I had a good look round the market as I hadn’t been there for a few months; didn’t buy smoked haddock as we’d had a lot from Conches market recently, but got cheeses and strawberries. There were two new stalls I hadn’t seen before; a tempting one full of inexpensive white porcelain and one selling grandfather clocks. I don’t know how you were supposed to get these home, certainly not on the bus. I had a drink in my regular café, where I think I am now recognised, and read a local newspaper all about the elections.
Monday 30 April 2007
On Wednesday I did a lot of post-guest catching up, including a vast amount of washing, and beginning on what must be the largest pile of ironing I have ever had. (When I’d had time to iron, I’d concentrated in essentials, so there was a large back-log, some of it bedding from Saint-Denis, which I’m pleased to say is all done now.) N said he was very pleased to have the place to ourselves again; at first I missed all the outings and gala meals, but soon came round to appreciating cosy dinners for two at the little dining table, and just pottering. One of the things I found time to do was Rationalising the Cutlery, of which we seem to have even more than soup plates. In addition to all I brought from Cambridge, there is the Best Set of N’s, plus all the stuff from the Italian house - very copious and not very good quality. There was also a very tinny set N got free from somewhere, (brought here to use when we first moved in) which has since been passed on to my sister Issy; at least it was all brand new and matching! The Cambridge cutlery was not sorted before it left; it just came as it was in the drawer, packed by Abels. Last week I sorted and dusted it all, putting a lot of unnecessary stuff at the back of the sideboard and making it much easier to get at, choosing some of the better Italian knives to use as breakfast knives.
We decided we’d better make a short trip to the Gamm Vert garden centre at Conches for troughs for the new white Busy Lizzies as their roots were coming out of the pots, but were disappointed that we couldn’t find white plastic ones to match the trays we already have on the windowsills. Managed to find some off-white ones though, which just fitted, two to a tray, making eight troughs in all, on four trays at four windows, one plant to a trough, as they are quite large. I also chose little red Busy Lizzies for the other urn, to go with the white geraniums. Once we got back it took me some time to plant all these, while N was doing other gardening, but the effect is well worth it, especially as it’s the first things one sees on coming out of the garage.
The next day I found in the post box a card from M Urset, thanking us for the copy of the Lexique, and saying no luck again! (at not finding us in) and he was still hoping to invite us soon; presumably he left the card while we were out the afternoon before. It’s good to know we are not forgotten; The other interesting item in the box was an issue of the London Review of Books, courtesy of Nigel Palmer, who had asked if I would be interested in a free six months’ trial. I said I would, having seen it once in Cambridge thanks to Samin next door. I have since read it all, mostly while sitting in the sun in the garden, interesting articles as well as reviews, several about British politics. Fortunately just before this I had finally finished the Alberto Moravia novel, which I had very much enjoyed. This is the second of his I have easily read, understood and enjoyed in the last few months, and as I know there are at least a couple of dozen more, shall look forward to trying others. Before the LRB arrived I had just got back to the Life of George Sand; I am now about three-quarters of the way through and am only just getting to her adult life as a writer and her interesting acquaintances.
On Saturday morning N went out on his way to the shops - as he had decided it was his turn to cook dinner that evening - and came back straight away with a momentous piece of news: the house next door (the one with the barking dogs and loud neighbours) had a For Sale sign outside! I went to look; we thought at first it was M Urset’s office, which might have explained his presence in the neighbourhood, but it was a different branch. We mustn’t get too excited though, this isn’t Cambridge where houses can sell in a couple of days, and it could take months, if not for ever. Since the weather has been warm, the next-door dogs have been very much in evidence again, as last summer. N is already hoping we might have new neighbours who would be willing to feed a cat, so that we could have one. (N’s dinner was wonderful, perhaps because I’d been doing so much of the cooking recently - beetroot soup made from cooked beet frozen last summer; wiener schnitzel with pommes Anna, lemon and spinach; and strawberry tarts from the boulangerie.)
One morning last week when I was returning from the boulangerie I saw Monsieur P driving past in his car, and he waved in a very friendly fashion. N also met Monsieur A in the Quincaillerie, who said he would be in touch with us this week. Apart from the estimates for the garden wall and the painting of the façade of the house, N had contacted him about a maintenance contract for the new heating system, which is just a year old. Because of the very warm April weather, we must have saved a lot of fuel; we had already turned down the temperature level some time ago.
Our next guests are due next week, those for the string quartet arranged when we went to stay with Simone at Le Mans. There has been a slight change in arrangements however, as Maryse is now not able to come; I am sorry as I was looking forward to welcoming her here and getting to know her better. N’s other cellist friend Jean is coming instead though, but the transport arrangements are rather complicated, and it will now be Monday to Wednesday, instead of Monday and Tuesday. Brahms is on the programme, causing N to worry about practising.
We have also been planning for more guests further ahead; N’s friend Odile got in contact again, and we hope she will come in June, with or without her friend Thérèse. Meanwhile my friend Gill from Cambridge should be coming in early June. Before then we are due to go to the UK for a visit to several members of N’s family at the end of May, with a quick day trip to see some of mine in Ipswich.
On Saturday afternoon the warm sunny weather began to change and for the first time in five weeks, it actually rained! It was quite a novelty, and we went all round the house listening to it and watching it from different windows. N went out with an umbrella to see how much there was in the water butts; not a lot. Although the forecast was for more of the same plus lower temperatures, on Sunday morning it was hot and sunny again as we set out for Beaumont le Roger for a Foire à Tout, the first of this season. It was due to take place in the Bourg Dessus (town above) which turned out to be high above the part of the town we knew, up an incredibly steep hill next to the church. Once we had found it, it was much the same as other fairs, mostly private individuals trying to sell their junk, a few market and craft stalls, and hardly any bric-à-brac or antiques. I bought a ceramic pot for one of my fly-trap plants, a small oven-proof dish and a little sign saying « Cuisine » covered in tomatoes. N bought a very heavy small mirror, of which he hopes to gild the frame, and a couple of interesting bottles. It was very hot indeed as we left and walked the long way round down into the town again, getting to know a whole new residential area of Beaumont le Roger. We even saw a hotel we had seen on our first visit to Normandy, closed that day, which I don’t think I had realised was the same town when we got to know it later.
We had lunch in the garden and finished reading « The Diary of a Nobody » still surprised at the lovely weather as thunderstorms had been forecast. Later in the afternoon however, it felt very close and eventually there was a big storm with lightning, thunder and a good deal of rain. At least it seemed like a good deal, but there was still not much to see in the water butts. N has a theory that dry hot roofs absorb a lot of water. I kept thinking about all the stallholders at the Foire at Beaumont, which was due to last all day.
Before the rain N harvested a lot of rhubarb which was suddenly ready, and after consulting many recipes I decided to make rhubarb and strawberry jam, covering the rhubarb with sugar overnight and finishing it off this morning having bought strawberries at the market. It has a beautiful colour and smell, but not a very firm set.
N had planned to go back briefly to Saint-Denis next week, but decided to go for the day today as he was worried about his geraniums being left unattended for five weeks. He has gone on the train from Evreux, a new departure for him, and has since phoned to report safe arrival and that the geraniums are fine. (These are miracle geraniums, I think; they survived the heat wave of 2003, and last year.) Apart from the jam, I have done my exercise DVD this morning, and had a look at the new one, which I will try to do later on in the week. Just as on my last day on my own here, I had lunch in the garden in sun and wind. There has been another big thunderstorm this afternoon; we - and our April guests - have all been extremely lucky to have had fine, dry, and for the most part, very warm weather earlier this month.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Saturday 7 April 2007
The first of our three sets of guests - ex neighbours and friends from Ainsworth Street in Cambridge, (and ex-cat Albertine’s new guardians), Zoë, Samin, Ayesha (aged 3) and Tariq (aged 1) arrived on schedule at about 5 pm on Monday afternoon, in such warm sunshine that the little white garden table and chairs had to be got out immediately! Apart from tea, the main requirement was fresh air and playing outside, so the plastic toys which we had found here when we first arrived - and which Charlotte had enjoyed last summer - came in very useful again. We were also pleased to hear that the travel instructions we had sent were very good and easy to follow.
I had made up a little bed for Ayesha in the ironing room, with the small mattress on the floor, and the others slept in the Italian room, Tariq in his travel cot. The children ate early, mostly before the rest of us. I had planned dinners I thought they might like (poule au pot, lasagne, fish pie) and sometimes they ate what was left over for lunch the next day.
We visited Vive le Jardin, spending a long time in the pet department where there were rabbits, fish, gerbils, hamsters and birds, and outdoors exotic chickens, llamas, and goats - we had only ever visited this part once before. Zoë and Samin - keen gardeners - enjoyed the rest of the garden centre, and bought packets of seeds to take home. I was pleased that they were able to see the garden centre cat, an Albertine look-alike; Samin said he wanted her to open her eyes so that he could see just how like Albertine she looked, but she stayed resolutely asleep, having discovered a sofa in the furnishing department - usually she is near the till and the outside door. In the pet - or animal - department, N and I bought some nuts for wild birds, as with the lighter and warmer mornings we have been enjoying watching birds on the balcony outside the bedroom, and thought this might give us - and them - more to look at. Mostly they are being eaten by bluetits, plus the occasional sparrow.
Another day we went to Bricomarché & Intermarché at Conches, the specially enjoyed the supermarket and bought things to take home, including local cider. At Bricomarché N got a piece of plywood cut for the boiler room door; the end of which I had to have resting on the top of my head in the car all the way home.
The highlight of the week was a picnic at our favourite site in the ruined priory at Beaumont le Roger, where we had taken the family last summer. It was windy but fortunately sheltered by the hill, and as before there was plenty of room to run around and play safely. Afterwards we went to the nearby playground again.
Another very important event was the taking of bicycle tyres and inner tubes - very kindly brought by Zoë and Samin from Cambridge in the car - to the bicycle repair shop in the village. I think the bicycle lady was a little surprised at us all arriving in the shop plus bicycle and push-chair, but the children were spellbound by the cage of canaries up on the ceiling, and I explained that the tyres and tubes had been brought from the UK, said I wasn’t in a hurry for the bike, and would call back again after Easter.
On Thursday morning we went to Conches market - only the second time we had ever been there, and there seemed to be a lot more of it than before; either we had arrived later the first time or it was increasing in size with the spring. We walked all round and went to the marvellous fish stall and bought smoked haddock, and olives next door, and found lovely red tulips for three euros on little table that must have just been someone’s garden produce. Zoë wanted cheeses to take back and we had a very nice time at a stall where the proprietress had waved to the children; after having explained which were local Norman cheeses and which would keep well until next week she cut two strips of Emmental and gave them to Ayesha and Tariq who were surprised but pleased!
They left very early on Friday morning; after the sunny weather it was a bit of a shock to be up and out of doors before 8 am for the first time in a few weeks - it was cold and misty. After finally getting them and all their pieces of equipment, picnics and purchases in the car and waving them off, we had a quiet and civilised breakfast, and slowly began a long day clearing up. In fact what had appeared to be two days before the next set of guests was in fact almost four; most of Friday and Monday in addition to Saturday and Sunday.
We decided we had enough time to repair and paint the boiler room door; I began it but N finished it when I ran out of time due to other housekeeping pressures. It was laid out on the terrace, the handle was removed and the new piece of plywood stuck on all round - the main reason for this was the covering up of the dents made by the previous house-owners’ keys digging into it from the outside door. I then laid on and stuck the strips of wood to form the « panels », and painted the undercoat which took some time as the plywood was so thirsty. We were both pleased with the effect - it looks as though it had always been a panelled door! - especially as I had first seen this panelling kit in Castorama several years ago while visiting, had been intrigued by it ever since, and had finally found somewhere it could be used. N then added the top coat, which looked good despite a few flies landing on it, and we hung it back on its hinges, a great improvement. N thinks it should have a third coat, but I can see that might not be for a long time. He has devised a clever block of wood on the floor as door stop, preventing the outside door from swinging back and digging in keys again and making more dents.
Our « weekend off » was also Easter weekend - and somewhat belatedly we realised it was time for a joint of lamb for Sunday lunch, and a treacle tart - special request from N. It was an unusual tart as I ran out of golden syrup half way through and used black treacle instead. The lamb we picked up in Bernay on a visit to the supermarket while stocking up before the next visitors, and having decided it was time to look at other things in the town, an antiques fair in the Abbatiale, an eleventh-century chapel in the centre. It was all extremely interesting to look at, but we didn’t buy anything - mostly very expensive and I kept remembering that on Monday I would have a delivery of family objects from my mother’s house in Felixstowe and would have quite enough to do deciding where these were all to go, without buying anything extra!
Monday 16 April 2007
The next set of guests - my brother Steve and brother-in-law Phil - arrived on Easter Monday late in the afternoon. They too were pleased with our travel instructions, apart from suggesting a couple of minor additions. We were relaxing on our garden chairs when they arrived so we all stayed out in the sun and had tea, Steve already very pleased that the weather was better than during his first visit here last spring.
After tea they began unloading the small cupboard, and other family heirlooms including pictures, a gold framed mirror, china, a framed tapestry and picture, large blue Venetian glass vase and a small straight-backed wooden chair, to name but a few. They also brought a Scrabble set which had originally belonged to my grandparents, and after dinner we opened its box (I hadn’t looked inside when I was packing it up in Felixstowe) and discovered various scores from games played long ago, and a book called « How to Win at Scrabble », and the four of us then played two games. Both N and I were very out of practice (must read the book) so they won one game apiece, using words N found very modern. He had brought both chess and draughts from Saint-Denis, and during the week the three of them played chess several times, some matches lasting long into the night. None of them had played for a long time, and they all enjoyed it. The Scrabble, chess, draughts and my set of French Monopoly now live in the newly-brought cupboard, which lives in the grande pièce just inside the door on the left, behind the dining table. It has a useful drawer where I have put the Best Cutlery (a set by Guy Degrenne, also brought by N from Saint-Denis, last summer.)
The next day the weather was even better, and they helped us get out the long garden table and chairs from their winter quarters in the Box Office, and I fetched the long tablecloth patterned with cherries and we had the first outdoor lunch of the season, about three weeks earlier than last year. Temperatures rose even higher as the week went on and all lunches and teas were taken in the garden. Cooking was a challenge I enjoyed - in addition to a vegetarian diet, Phil was eating no dairy produce or Soya, and so many meals were planned around fruit and veg, pulses, goat’s cheese and green tea, and he brought many food items of his own. Steve slept in the attic guest room (as he been in the Italian room last time) and so Phil was in the Italian room on the first floor, not ideal for a light sleeper. He said did we know what time our rubbish was collected? We didn’t; at a quarter to four in the morning, apparently. He also maintained that the first two notes struck by the local church clock each quarter hour were the same two which begin The Promenade of Mussorgsky’s « Pictures at an Exhibition. » Quite obvious when you know, really!
The afternoon of their first day we left Steve sleeping in the garden and took Phil to the garden centre at Vive le Jardin; as a landscape garden designer he was very interested in all there was to see, as we had suspected. He helped N choose replacement fruit bushes, and me to buy a Venus fly-trap plant. We have a recurrent problem with flies - both alive and dead - in the two sunny front guest rooms, and had begun to consider fly sprays or paper (neither very guest friendly) but a plant seemed like the ideal organic solution. Some cost as much as 56 euros, (and were very large and ugly) but we settled for a small one for 4.95. N also ordered two more water butts, having devised a cunning system to link the two extra to the one between the woodshed and the atelier by means of plastic pipes. I could see this was a good idea in principle - both our existing butts are now empty as it hasn’t rained for weeks, and if we had had this system earlier in the spring we might have still had some rainwater to use. There is also the question of saving money on my large water bill, not to mention « saving the planet », but I wished they could have gone somewhere less obvious.
We asked S & P whether they would like to visit Monet’s house and garden at Giverny; they were both very enthusiastic so we set off there for the day on Wednesday. Much of the journey is the same as our route back to Saint-Denis, and took about an hour and 15 minutes, helped by the satellite navigation, which intrigued our guests. They said on satellite navigation screens in Britain there would never be the blank spaces we see here on our screen in the middle of the countryside, as everywhere there is so much more built up.
N and I had been to Giverny once before about three years ago in September, but it’s definitely a place that needs visiting at different times of the year. We arrived in time for lunch, in the garden of a nearby hotel in lovely sunshine; strange to be eating outside in such temperatures while there were still daffodils in flower. (I thought this in our garden, too.) We all ate very well; Phil was able to have salad and sorbet. While investigating the Ladies Room upstairs afterwards I noted the beautiful staircase, the sort I would have once thought « really French » and realised it was very similar to the wooden staircase here at La Neuve-Lyre.
After lunch we went into Monet’s garden and started looking at the flowers and trees. I was surprised that it all meant so much more to me now I know so much more about flowers and gardens and own such a large and wonderful one! There were swathes of beautifully coloured tulips and pansies, tulips and the last of the daffodils, colourful azaleas and magnolias. We looked at the water garden and the water lily bridge, took lots of photos and then visited the house, which I remembered well from before; Monet’s yellow dining room and blue kitchen, studio with much original furniture, and large bedroom with beautiful views. There was even a black cat on the terrace! (Don’t think she was there last time.)
We went on to visit a museum of paintings by American artists who had settled at Giverny, where we also had tea and bought postcards, before returning home.
I took S & P to see local shops which included going to collect my bicycle, all ready with newly fitted and pumped up tyres. Later on in the week I went for a short ride as far as the bottle bank (although I could only cope with about half the amount of bottles waiting) and the back via the post office. I posted two packages containing copies of the Lexique to go to our house agent M Urset and also to the Cambridge estate agent who had sold Ainsworth Street for me, asking them to pass on details to any interested colleagues.
We also talked to S & P - and to all our visitors - about the impending French presidential elections, and showed them the posters of all twelve candidates outside our local Mairie, and in front of the Mairie in every commune we visited. Although I was in France during the presidential election in 1974 when Giscard d’Estaing beat Mitterrand, I have been learning even more this time, and observing further differences between French and British elections. Not only are governmental and presidential elections very different, but the fact that French elections are on a Sunday means that the hours for voting are much shorter (as nobody is at work, and can come at any time) everybody votes at the Mairie (no temporary polling stations as in Britain) no posters in the windows of houses (just the standard ones at the Mairie) and fewer local political meetings, but larger rallies and lots and lots of TV coverage, which we have been watching with interest. There was also a TV item asking what English residents in France thought of it all; in most cases not much apparently as very few seemed to understand enough French to follow it, apart from a businessman married to a French woman, and another woman who thought twelve candidates was far too many.
On Thursday Phil & Steve set off for a walk, complete with boots, maps, a picnic and a large-scale local map we lent them. This they enjoyed tremendously; said the map and signposting were much clearer than in Britain, and covered about 10 miles in all, across La Neuve-Lyre, then along the river past La Vieille Lyre as far as Champignolles and back again, their only complaint being that there was no round route so they had to double back the same way, and that there was no café at which to have a break. We were pleased to learn of this extra local attraction, and something else we could suggest to visitors. While they were out we enjoyed catching up at home, and I got a load of washing out on the line, and prepared dinner early.
The three of us had another day out on Friday, when N stayed behind for a day off. After various researches on the Internet, we found trains to and from Rouen from the station at Serquigny, a little town about half an hour’s drive away. It all worked extremely well, apart from the fact that the only trains were at 8.10 (a little early, but presumably for commuters) and at 13.46, too late for lunch in Rouen, and requiring an early snack lunch at home before leaving. There were plenty of trains to choose from for coming home.
I felt I’d had rather a love/hate relationship with Rouen since moving to Normandy; we had hoped at one time that it would be our nearest « big town » and one we could visit often for shopping, culture and so on, but we had found our only trip in the car difficult, and there is no direct train line. On this visit that all began to change however, the first thing was the weather - I had never seen Rouen in warm sunshine before; when we visited in February last year it had snowed and the first time we had stayed there it was in torrential rain.
It was very nice to arrive by train - the most brilliantly coloured and designed modern train I had ever seen anywhere - and walk down the main street (called la rue Jeanne d’Arc - what else?) from the imposing station building, comparable with those of Lille and Milan, I thought. It was a lot less far to the cathedral and the Horloge (large old clock) district than it seemed from the map. We stopped in the cathedral square for a drink (in a café surrounded by English people) and then took some time visiting the cathedral; I seem to have visited a large number of cathedrals over the last year, and thought of Milan, Worcester, Barcelona, Aix la Chapelle and Cologne, to name but a few.
I left them to look at the Jeanne d’Arc Square and the old market and went off to do some shopping; after spending a few a weeks in LNL and away from Paris there were several cosmetics which needed replacing. I remembered a small Printemps store from our last visit when we were trying to buy lighting, but also found branches of all my favourite French chain stores, and managed to visit just a few of them. When we met up again we sat for a time having drinks and sandwiches in another café in a side street, listening to a couple of very good street musicians and just watching the world go by. I enjoyed looking at what the women were wearing, something else there is only limited scope for in LNL. And over the last few days everybody had got out their summer clothes; me included.
On Saturday morning the water butts were delivered and installed as promised, except that the lids had been forgotten; these were promised for Sunday evening when apparently the driver had a dinner date in LNL. After a lazy morning we went to Bernay for supermarket shopping, S & P spent a long time choosing things to take home and looking at others. We just stocked up on basics which were running out; it seemed too early to begin thinking about food for guests due to arrive on Wednesday morning. We did choose some nice smoked haddock for Steve however, who had been impressed by the fish market in Rouen, and Phil made himself a goat’s cheese omelette for dinner, and we all shared vegetables.
They took themselves out for a last short walk on Sunday morning, only a couple of hours in the opposite direction, down the hill and left instead of right. (where apparently there are some very good blackberry bushes…) We had a lovely long last lunch in the garden, before they left at about 4.00 in the afternoon, our regular Sunday reading, still « The Diary of a Nobody » working just as well out of doors as in front of the fire, and it was good to share it with them.
We were quite sorry to see them go, as we had got used to having them around in the house and garden. In the evening we kept the woodshed door open, listening for the delivery of the water butt lids, which eventually arrived at about 7.30. I asked the driver if many householders had this many, and he said no, we were definitely the water butt champions in our area. On Monday morning - apart from a great deal of washing of tablecloths, napkins, towels and bedding - I caught up with my exercise DVD and colouring my hair, both of which had been put off while we were so busy. I had been hoping to visit L’Aigle market on Tuesday, but realised there was just not going to be enough time, by the time I had hoovered, changed beds and we had gone back to the supermarket for more supplies. N said later he thought that adjacent groups of visitors with only two or three days between them was too much; I was used to changes of guests in less than 48 hours at Ainsworth Street, but have to admit that everything is on a larger scale here; more beds, more house to hoover and tidy, supermarket further away, and so on. But I do so enjoy entertaining people here!
The first of our three sets of guests - ex neighbours and friends from Ainsworth Street in Cambridge, (and ex-cat Albertine’s new guardians), Zoë, Samin, Ayesha (aged 3) and Tariq (aged 1) arrived on schedule at about 5 pm on Monday afternoon, in such warm sunshine that the little white garden table and chairs had to be got out immediately! Apart from tea, the main requirement was fresh air and playing outside, so the plastic toys which we had found here when we first arrived - and which Charlotte had enjoyed last summer - came in very useful again. We were also pleased to hear that the travel instructions we had sent were very good and easy to follow.
I had made up a little bed for Ayesha in the ironing room, with the small mattress on the floor, and the others slept in the Italian room, Tariq in his travel cot. The children ate early, mostly before the rest of us. I had planned dinners I thought they might like (poule au pot, lasagne, fish pie) and sometimes they ate what was left over for lunch the next day.
We visited Vive le Jardin, spending a long time in the pet department where there were rabbits, fish, gerbils, hamsters and birds, and outdoors exotic chickens, llamas, and goats - we had only ever visited this part once before. Zoë and Samin - keen gardeners - enjoyed the rest of the garden centre, and bought packets of seeds to take home. I was pleased that they were able to see the garden centre cat, an Albertine look-alike; Samin said he wanted her to open her eyes so that he could see just how like Albertine she looked, but she stayed resolutely asleep, having discovered a sofa in the furnishing department - usually she is near the till and the outside door. In the pet - or animal - department, N and I bought some nuts for wild birds, as with the lighter and warmer mornings we have been enjoying watching birds on the balcony outside the bedroom, and thought this might give us - and them - more to look at. Mostly they are being eaten by bluetits, plus the occasional sparrow.
Another day we went to Bricomarché & Intermarché at Conches, the specially enjoyed the supermarket and bought things to take home, including local cider. At Bricomarché N got a piece of plywood cut for the boiler room door; the end of which I had to have resting on the top of my head in the car all the way home.
The highlight of the week was a picnic at our favourite site in the ruined priory at Beaumont le Roger, where we had taken the family last summer. It was windy but fortunately sheltered by the hill, and as before there was plenty of room to run around and play safely. Afterwards we went to the nearby playground again.
Another very important event was the taking of bicycle tyres and inner tubes - very kindly brought by Zoë and Samin from Cambridge in the car - to the bicycle repair shop in the village. I think the bicycle lady was a little surprised at us all arriving in the shop plus bicycle and push-chair, but the children were spellbound by the cage of canaries up on the ceiling, and I explained that the tyres and tubes had been brought from the UK, said I wasn’t in a hurry for the bike, and would call back again after Easter.
On Thursday morning we went to Conches market - only the second time we had ever been there, and there seemed to be a lot more of it than before; either we had arrived later the first time or it was increasing in size with the spring. We walked all round and went to the marvellous fish stall and bought smoked haddock, and olives next door, and found lovely red tulips for three euros on little table that must have just been someone’s garden produce. Zoë wanted cheeses to take back and we had a very nice time at a stall where the proprietress had waved to the children; after having explained which were local Norman cheeses and which would keep well until next week she cut two strips of Emmental and gave them to Ayesha and Tariq who were surprised but pleased!
They left very early on Friday morning; after the sunny weather it was a bit of a shock to be up and out of doors before 8 am for the first time in a few weeks - it was cold and misty. After finally getting them and all their pieces of equipment, picnics and purchases in the car and waving them off, we had a quiet and civilised breakfast, and slowly began a long day clearing up. In fact what had appeared to be two days before the next set of guests was in fact almost four; most of Friday and Monday in addition to Saturday and Sunday.
We decided we had enough time to repair and paint the boiler room door; I began it but N finished it when I ran out of time due to other housekeeping pressures. It was laid out on the terrace, the handle was removed and the new piece of plywood stuck on all round - the main reason for this was the covering up of the dents made by the previous house-owners’ keys digging into it from the outside door. I then laid on and stuck the strips of wood to form the « panels », and painted the undercoat which took some time as the plywood was so thirsty. We were both pleased with the effect - it looks as though it had always been a panelled door! - especially as I had first seen this panelling kit in Castorama several years ago while visiting, had been intrigued by it ever since, and had finally found somewhere it could be used. N then added the top coat, which looked good despite a few flies landing on it, and we hung it back on its hinges, a great improvement. N thinks it should have a third coat, but I can see that might not be for a long time. He has devised a clever block of wood on the floor as door stop, preventing the outside door from swinging back and digging in keys again and making more dents.
Our « weekend off » was also Easter weekend - and somewhat belatedly we realised it was time for a joint of lamb for Sunday lunch, and a treacle tart - special request from N. It was an unusual tart as I ran out of golden syrup half way through and used black treacle instead. The lamb we picked up in Bernay on a visit to the supermarket while stocking up before the next visitors, and having decided it was time to look at other things in the town, an antiques fair in the Abbatiale, an eleventh-century chapel in the centre. It was all extremely interesting to look at, but we didn’t buy anything - mostly very expensive and I kept remembering that on Monday I would have a delivery of family objects from my mother’s house in Felixstowe and would have quite enough to do deciding where these were all to go, without buying anything extra!
Monday 16 April 2007
The next set of guests - my brother Steve and brother-in-law Phil - arrived on Easter Monday late in the afternoon. They too were pleased with our travel instructions, apart from suggesting a couple of minor additions. We were relaxing on our garden chairs when they arrived so we all stayed out in the sun and had tea, Steve already very pleased that the weather was better than during his first visit here last spring.
After tea they began unloading the small cupboard, and other family heirlooms including pictures, a gold framed mirror, china, a framed tapestry and picture, large blue Venetian glass vase and a small straight-backed wooden chair, to name but a few. They also brought a Scrabble set which had originally belonged to my grandparents, and after dinner we opened its box (I hadn’t looked inside when I was packing it up in Felixstowe) and discovered various scores from games played long ago, and a book called « How to Win at Scrabble », and the four of us then played two games. Both N and I were very out of practice (must read the book) so they won one game apiece, using words N found very modern. He had brought both chess and draughts from Saint-Denis, and during the week the three of them played chess several times, some matches lasting long into the night. None of them had played for a long time, and they all enjoyed it. The Scrabble, chess, draughts and my set of French Monopoly now live in the newly-brought cupboard, which lives in the grande pièce just inside the door on the left, behind the dining table. It has a useful drawer where I have put the Best Cutlery (a set by Guy Degrenne, also brought by N from Saint-Denis, last summer.)
The next day the weather was even better, and they helped us get out the long garden table and chairs from their winter quarters in the Box Office, and I fetched the long tablecloth patterned with cherries and we had the first outdoor lunch of the season, about three weeks earlier than last year. Temperatures rose even higher as the week went on and all lunches and teas were taken in the garden. Cooking was a challenge I enjoyed - in addition to a vegetarian diet, Phil was eating no dairy produce or Soya, and so many meals were planned around fruit and veg, pulses, goat’s cheese and green tea, and he brought many food items of his own. Steve slept in the attic guest room (as he been in the Italian room last time) and so Phil was in the Italian room on the first floor, not ideal for a light sleeper. He said did we know what time our rubbish was collected? We didn’t; at a quarter to four in the morning, apparently. He also maintained that the first two notes struck by the local church clock each quarter hour were the same two which begin The Promenade of Mussorgsky’s « Pictures at an Exhibition. » Quite obvious when you know, really!
The afternoon of their first day we left Steve sleeping in the garden and took Phil to the garden centre at Vive le Jardin; as a landscape garden designer he was very interested in all there was to see, as we had suspected. He helped N choose replacement fruit bushes, and me to buy a Venus fly-trap plant. We have a recurrent problem with flies - both alive and dead - in the two sunny front guest rooms, and had begun to consider fly sprays or paper (neither very guest friendly) but a plant seemed like the ideal organic solution. Some cost as much as 56 euros, (and were very large and ugly) but we settled for a small one for 4.95. N also ordered two more water butts, having devised a cunning system to link the two extra to the one between the woodshed and the atelier by means of plastic pipes. I could see this was a good idea in principle - both our existing butts are now empty as it hasn’t rained for weeks, and if we had had this system earlier in the spring we might have still had some rainwater to use. There is also the question of saving money on my large water bill, not to mention « saving the planet », but I wished they could have gone somewhere less obvious.
We asked S & P whether they would like to visit Monet’s house and garden at Giverny; they were both very enthusiastic so we set off there for the day on Wednesday. Much of the journey is the same as our route back to Saint-Denis, and took about an hour and 15 minutes, helped by the satellite navigation, which intrigued our guests. They said on satellite navigation screens in Britain there would never be the blank spaces we see here on our screen in the middle of the countryside, as everywhere there is so much more built up.
N and I had been to Giverny once before about three years ago in September, but it’s definitely a place that needs visiting at different times of the year. We arrived in time for lunch, in the garden of a nearby hotel in lovely sunshine; strange to be eating outside in such temperatures while there were still daffodils in flower. (I thought this in our garden, too.) We all ate very well; Phil was able to have salad and sorbet. While investigating the Ladies Room upstairs afterwards I noted the beautiful staircase, the sort I would have once thought « really French » and realised it was very similar to the wooden staircase here at La Neuve-Lyre.
After lunch we went into Monet’s garden and started looking at the flowers and trees. I was surprised that it all meant so much more to me now I know so much more about flowers and gardens and own such a large and wonderful one! There were swathes of beautifully coloured tulips and pansies, tulips and the last of the daffodils, colourful azaleas and magnolias. We looked at the water garden and the water lily bridge, took lots of photos and then visited the house, which I remembered well from before; Monet’s yellow dining room and blue kitchen, studio with much original furniture, and large bedroom with beautiful views. There was even a black cat on the terrace! (Don’t think she was there last time.)
We went on to visit a museum of paintings by American artists who had settled at Giverny, where we also had tea and bought postcards, before returning home.
I took S & P to see local shops which included going to collect my bicycle, all ready with newly fitted and pumped up tyres. Later on in the week I went for a short ride as far as the bottle bank (although I could only cope with about half the amount of bottles waiting) and the back via the post office. I posted two packages containing copies of the Lexique to go to our house agent M Urset and also to the Cambridge estate agent who had sold Ainsworth Street for me, asking them to pass on details to any interested colleagues.
We also talked to S & P - and to all our visitors - about the impending French presidential elections, and showed them the posters of all twelve candidates outside our local Mairie, and in front of the Mairie in every commune we visited. Although I was in France during the presidential election in 1974 when Giscard d’Estaing beat Mitterrand, I have been learning even more this time, and observing further differences between French and British elections. Not only are governmental and presidential elections very different, but the fact that French elections are on a Sunday means that the hours for voting are much shorter (as nobody is at work, and can come at any time) everybody votes at the Mairie (no temporary polling stations as in Britain) no posters in the windows of houses (just the standard ones at the Mairie) and fewer local political meetings, but larger rallies and lots and lots of TV coverage, which we have been watching with interest. There was also a TV item asking what English residents in France thought of it all; in most cases not much apparently as very few seemed to understand enough French to follow it, apart from a businessman married to a French woman, and another woman who thought twelve candidates was far too many.
On Thursday Phil & Steve set off for a walk, complete with boots, maps, a picnic and a large-scale local map we lent them. This they enjoyed tremendously; said the map and signposting were much clearer than in Britain, and covered about 10 miles in all, across La Neuve-Lyre, then along the river past La Vieille Lyre as far as Champignolles and back again, their only complaint being that there was no round route so they had to double back the same way, and that there was no café at which to have a break. We were pleased to learn of this extra local attraction, and something else we could suggest to visitors. While they were out we enjoyed catching up at home, and I got a load of washing out on the line, and prepared dinner early.
The three of us had another day out on Friday, when N stayed behind for a day off. After various researches on the Internet, we found trains to and from Rouen from the station at Serquigny, a little town about half an hour’s drive away. It all worked extremely well, apart from the fact that the only trains were at 8.10 (a little early, but presumably for commuters) and at 13.46, too late for lunch in Rouen, and requiring an early snack lunch at home before leaving. There were plenty of trains to choose from for coming home.
I felt I’d had rather a love/hate relationship with Rouen since moving to Normandy; we had hoped at one time that it would be our nearest « big town » and one we could visit often for shopping, culture and so on, but we had found our only trip in the car difficult, and there is no direct train line. On this visit that all began to change however, the first thing was the weather - I had never seen Rouen in warm sunshine before; when we visited in February last year it had snowed and the first time we had stayed there it was in torrential rain.
It was very nice to arrive by train - the most brilliantly coloured and designed modern train I had ever seen anywhere - and walk down the main street (called la rue Jeanne d’Arc - what else?) from the imposing station building, comparable with those of Lille and Milan, I thought. It was a lot less far to the cathedral and the Horloge (large old clock) district than it seemed from the map. We stopped in the cathedral square for a drink (in a café surrounded by English people) and then took some time visiting the cathedral; I seem to have visited a large number of cathedrals over the last year, and thought of Milan, Worcester, Barcelona, Aix la Chapelle and Cologne, to name but a few.
I left them to look at the Jeanne d’Arc Square and the old market and went off to do some shopping; after spending a few a weeks in LNL and away from Paris there were several cosmetics which needed replacing. I remembered a small Printemps store from our last visit when we were trying to buy lighting, but also found branches of all my favourite French chain stores, and managed to visit just a few of them. When we met up again we sat for a time having drinks and sandwiches in another café in a side street, listening to a couple of very good street musicians and just watching the world go by. I enjoyed looking at what the women were wearing, something else there is only limited scope for in LNL. And over the last few days everybody had got out their summer clothes; me included.
On Saturday morning the water butts were delivered and installed as promised, except that the lids had been forgotten; these were promised for Sunday evening when apparently the driver had a dinner date in LNL. After a lazy morning we went to Bernay for supermarket shopping, S & P spent a long time choosing things to take home and looking at others. We just stocked up on basics which were running out; it seemed too early to begin thinking about food for guests due to arrive on Wednesday morning. We did choose some nice smoked haddock for Steve however, who had been impressed by the fish market in Rouen, and Phil made himself a goat’s cheese omelette for dinner, and we all shared vegetables.
They took themselves out for a last short walk on Sunday morning, only a couple of hours in the opposite direction, down the hill and left instead of right. (where apparently there are some very good blackberry bushes…) We had a lovely long last lunch in the garden, before they left at about 4.00 in the afternoon, our regular Sunday reading, still « The Diary of a Nobody » working just as well out of doors as in front of the fire, and it was good to share it with them.
We were quite sorry to see them go, as we had got used to having them around in the house and garden. In the evening we kept the woodshed door open, listening for the delivery of the water butt lids, which eventually arrived at about 7.30. I asked the driver if many householders had this many, and he said no, we were definitely the water butt champions in our area. On Monday morning - apart from a great deal of washing of tablecloths, napkins, towels and bedding - I caught up with my exercise DVD and colouring my hair, both of which had been put off while we were so busy. I had been hoping to visit L’Aigle market on Tuesday, but realised there was just not going to be enough time, by the time I had hoovered, changed beds and we had gone back to the supermarket for more supplies. N said later he thought that adjacent groups of visitors with only two or three days between them was too much; I was used to changes of guests in less than 48 hours at Ainsworth Street, but have to admit that everything is on a larger scale here; more beds, more house to hoover and tidy, supermarket further away, and so on. But I do so enjoy entertaining people here!
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Saturday M arch 31 2007
After arriving back from Milan on Friday last week we had just two and a half days in Paris before driving back to Normandy. N played a lot of his Tchaikovsky piano music; the arrangements of pieces from Swan Lake and The Nutcracker were especially good. On Saturday afternoon I went into Paris in the pouring rain to get a new colour cartridge for my computer printer (expensive but necessary) and to Bouchara where I spent a lot of time queuing up to pay for some haberdashery to help with the proposed white cushion cover. My most cumbersome purchase was a thin telescopic brush with ostrich feathers at the top - I had seen one of these before and thought it would be just the thing for cobwebs on high ceilings at LNL, then decided it was rather extravagant. When I saw them again though, I thought that there are going to be cobwebs at LNL for years, always difficult to reach and this was really the only way of coping with them. It was not easy getting the brush home in the metro (plus wet umbrella) without injuring anybody, but I did it, and am pleased to say that I have now used it and it’s worth every euro. It must be over 2 metres high, and when holding it upright I feel a little like a walk-on part in Anthony and Cleopatra. Could come in useful if we ever play charades here.
We left Saint-Denis in the middle of Sunday morning, and stopped at the Hotel de l’Ouest at Evreux for Sunday lunch, the first time in a long time but very enjoyable as always. This meant that when we arrived we could concentrate on unpacking and looking at the garden without having to think what to eat. Things in the garden weren’t as far on as N had hoped, but I was pleased with the daffodils in the urns, and we both thought the verandah looked very good. More daffodils were out in the garden, and also a bed of grape hyacinths.
There was a note in the post box saying there was a parcel to collect - as we had hoped - and on Monday morning we went to the Post Office to fetch it, ten sample copies of our newly published Lexique! We took five each, and haven’t really thought what to do with them yet, apart from leaving one ostentatiously on the coffee table in the salon. It was very good to see both our names on the cover, a real collaboration.
Also on Monday morning N bought lettuce plants at the market, and has planted them down the side of the vegetable garden, so they are easy to harvest.
After lunch we had problems with our TV set; no stations and a message saying there was an « anomaly » and giving us a number to ring. N said this was my responsibility, and my heart sank as such phone calls always seem to involve jargon, but after lots of recorded messages I spoke to a technician who told me various things to click on the remote control. This done I reported back; it was a problem with our satellite dish, the technician said. We thought we would have to call out our TV Installer, but N said he would try something else first - went outside and clipped the top of the very high bush in front of the dish - and all was fine! This explains why we have sometimes had the message before and then no problems at all a few minutes afterwards. Later on in the afternoon I had another Victory Over Jargon, and managed to get successfully into this Blog; after various jargon-explained access problems while at Saint-Denis.
I have now made the white cushion cover. As hoped, I found some white-on-white embroidery in an oval shape at the top of a sheet which I cut out and sewed into the middle of the round cover (made out of the rest of the sheet) plus the ribbon and binding bought at Bouchara. It is a little larger than required, but a vast improvement on the pink and green chintz.
We are both noting definite improvements in the refined water; not only the drinking water but the hot water too. There were too many soap suds in the washing machine, so I cut the dose down to one tablet; the dishwasher is still cleaning everything beautifully so I switched to a lower programme, and I also found I needed far less shampoo. Tea without milk is a lovely clear orange, instead of dirty brown with scum. All this is just as the original sales engineer promised us! For a long time after our rejection of his offer I suspected he kept ringing us; there were calls with no messages from a mobile number, and then one day while I was laying the verandah floor he rang trying to sell us a « special offer » . He was amazed when I said when I said we had had a purifier installed by a local firm, said there couldn’t be such a thing; I said it was the company who dealt with our heating and plumbing, and he was so completely lost for words he rang off!
I have tried out my new skipping rope along with the exercise DVD; it works OK in the grande pièce (doesn’t hit anything) but I am not yet able to skip for a minute without getting out of breath. Will keep practising! Also realised I have another new exercise DVD from Madeleine that I haven’t looked at yet.
I took some of N’s things to the maison de la presse to be sent for dry cleaning; the man said I should fetch them on Friday or Saturday as after that « it might not be them.» I wondered if there was to be some new collection system, so asked when I went to collect and was told that from Sunday the shop would be under new management! I think the couple must be retiring, so wished them well. Still no sign of anybody new at the traiteur, but I shouldn’t think the village can do without the maison de la presse.
On Wednesday we went out for the day, via Bernay towards Rouen with the aim of finalising the route our guests should take between the channel ports and La Neuve-Lyre. We went the usual way through Bernay and then joined the new A28 motorway; I took notes so that we could make a definitive set of travel instructions, both for guests in the next few weeks and at any time afterwards.
Having got round Rouen, and seen just the top of the cathedral from the motorway, we went on to Jumièges, where I had never been before, but where N assured me I should see the prettiest and probably largest ruined abbey in France. I think he was still a little annoyed that the former abbey of La Vieille Lyre had vanished completely, whereas at Jumièges there were ruins covering a large area, and the outlines of the chapel and other rooms and buildings were all still to be seen.
We arrived at about lunchtime, noted that the abbey was closed between 1.00 and 2.30, looked round the village and noticed a large restaurant closed, a smaller café closed down completely, leaving only a bar offering croque monsieur. Fortunately we caught sight of a sign to Auberge du Bac (Ferry Boat Inn) a few hundred metes down the road, got back into the car and found a wonderful timbered building, a little like an English village pub, looking over the river Seine together with a fine view of the ferry, which took cars across the river in a couple of minutes.
Lunch was excellent - salade niçoise followed by poultry in a good sauce and a very good red Sancerre. The weather was excellent too, sunny and almost warm enough to sit outside. We mused on the word bac, meaning ferry; there were various jokes about taking the ferry back, and N said if here were in charge he would have a whole fleet of boats naming them Johann Sebastian, Carl Philip Emmauel and so on ……..
We drove back and visited the abbey, very picturesque with two very tall towers filled with birds flying in and out and patches of yellow wallflowers growing high above the ground. There were remains of beautiful arches, and even a few very late frescoes; like the Ursulines and many others, it had ceased to be an abbey at the time of the Revolution and had been sold simply for the stones, then recovered and what was left restored some time in the nineteenth century.
There was a very good book shop - much better than the one in the Milan museums. N resisted several books on gardens, but we bought postcards and a book on Normandy desserts (not surprisingly many of them involving apples, cream and calvados.) I also bought a book on the chronology of French kings, something I have never been very clear about. It seems to be written for primary schoolchildren, but is nice and clear which is the main thing!
When we went back to the car it was very hot inside, in fact the dashboard thermometer showed 25 degrees (it had been 8 as we left the garage that morning) It continued in the early 20’s as we waited for the ferry - we had arrived just at afternoon tea break time; N looked at the river and I read about French kings. The crossing took only a few minutes and we drove off on the other side of the Seine, comparing it to the Rhine as we did so; a similar width but without the fairy-tale castles. I also thought about Flaubert’s « L’Education Sentimentale » where the hero meets the woman he will fall in love with, while taking a boat down the Seine from Normandy to Paris.
Going back through Bernay we stopped at the supermarket and began to stock up for three week’s worth of guests; potatoes, milk, toilet rolls plus ingredients for advance baking and desserts. I made a start on the advance cooking on Thursday.
Yesterday (Friday morning) N drew back the bedroom curtains and said there was a surprise - snow all over the garden. In the same week as Wednesday’s warm sunshine this really was a surprise. It didn’t melt until early afternoon and N worried about all the new seeds and plants, and I was glad I had done lots of washing earlier in the week. The weather is cold again today, but better is promised for tomorrow and Monday, arrival day of the first guests.
We have been wondering when our resident swallows would return to their nest(s) in the garage; N said perhaps we should clean up the nests ready for them, I didn’t think they’d appreciate that, so he said should we to hang out a banner welcoming them, but we weren’t sure which language to write it in. On Friday he thought he saw a bird flying into the garage, and today when we came back from Bernay yet again, (more supermarket and garden centre) I noticed fresh droppings on the garage floor beneath the nest, so think they have arrived.
Does one swallow make a summer??
After arriving back from Milan on Friday last week we had just two and a half days in Paris before driving back to Normandy. N played a lot of his Tchaikovsky piano music; the arrangements of pieces from Swan Lake and The Nutcracker were especially good. On Saturday afternoon I went into Paris in the pouring rain to get a new colour cartridge for my computer printer (expensive but necessary) and to Bouchara where I spent a lot of time queuing up to pay for some haberdashery to help with the proposed white cushion cover. My most cumbersome purchase was a thin telescopic brush with ostrich feathers at the top - I had seen one of these before and thought it would be just the thing for cobwebs on high ceilings at LNL, then decided it was rather extravagant. When I saw them again though, I thought that there are going to be cobwebs at LNL for years, always difficult to reach and this was really the only way of coping with them. It was not easy getting the brush home in the metro (plus wet umbrella) without injuring anybody, but I did it, and am pleased to say that I have now used it and it’s worth every euro. It must be over 2 metres high, and when holding it upright I feel a little like a walk-on part in Anthony and Cleopatra. Could come in useful if we ever play charades here.
We left Saint-Denis in the middle of Sunday morning, and stopped at the Hotel de l’Ouest at Evreux for Sunday lunch, the first time in a long time but very enjoyable as always. This meant that when we arrived we could concentrate on unpacking and looking at the garden without having to think what to eat. Things in the garden weren’t as far on as N had hoped, but I was pleased with the daffodils in the urns, and we both thought the verandah looked very good. More daffodils were out in the garden, and also a bed of grape hyacinths.
There was a note in the post box saying there was a parcel to collect - as we had hoped - and on Monday morning we went to the Post Office to fetch it, ten sample copies of our newly published Lexique! We took five each, and haven’t really thought what to do with them yet, apart from leaving one ostentatiously on the coffee table in the salon. It was very good to see both our names on the cover, a real collaboration.
Also on Monday morning N bought lettuce plants at the market, and has planted them down the side of the vegetable garden, so they are easy to harvest.
After lunch we had problems with our TV set; no stations and a message saying there was an « anomaly » and giving us a number to ring. N said this was my responsibility, and my heart sank as such phone calls always seem to involve jargon, but after lots of recorded messages I spoke to a technician who told me various things to click on the remote control. This done I reported back; it was a problem with our satellite dish, the technician said. We thought we would have to call out our TV Installer, but N said he would try something else first - went outside and clipped the top of the very high bush in front of the dish - and all was fine! This explains why we have sometimes had the message before and then no problems at all a few minutes afterwards. Later on in the afternoon I had another Victory Over Jargon, and managed to get successfully into this Blog; after various jargon-explained access problems while at Saint-Denis.
I have now made the white cushion cover. As hoped, I found some white-on-white embroidery in an oval shape at the top of a sheet which I cut out and sewed into the middle of the round cover (made out of the rest of the sheet) plus the ribbon and binding bought at Bouchara. It is a little larger than required, but a vast improvement on the pink and green chintz.
We are both noting definite improvements in the refined water; not only the drinking water but the hot water too. There were too many soap suds in the washing machine, so I cut the dose down to one tablet; the dishwasher is still cleaning everything beautifully so I switched to a lower programme, and I also found I needed far less shampoo. Tea without milk is a lovely clear orange, instead of dirty brown with scum. All this is just as the original sales engineer promised us! For a long time after our rejection of his offer I suspected he kept ringing us; there were calls with no messages from a mobile number, and then one day while I was laying the verandah floor he rang trying to sell us a « special offer » . He was amazed when I said when I said we had had a purifier installed by a local firm, said there couldn’t be such a thing; I said it was the company who dealt with our heating and plumbing, and he was so completely lost for words he rang off!
I have tried out my new skipping rope along with the exercise DVD; it works OK in the grande pièce (doesn’t hit anything) but I am not yet able to skip for a minute without getting out of breath. Will keep practising! Also realised I have another new exercise DVD from Madeleine that I haven’t looked at yet.
I took some of N’s things to the maison de la presse to be sent for dry cleaning; the man said I should fetch them on Friday or Saturday as after that « it might not be them.» I wondered if there was to be some new collection system, so asked when I went to collect and was told that from Sunday the shop would be under new management! I think the couple must be retiring, so wished them well. Still no sign of anybody new at the traiteur, but I shouldn’t think the village can do without the maison de la presse.
On Wednesday we went out for the day, via Bernay towards Rouen with the aim of finalising the route our guests should take between the channel ports and La Neuve-Lyre. We went the usual way through Bernay and then joined the new A28 motorway; I took notes so that we could make a definitive set of travel instructions, both for guests in the next few weeks and at any time afterwards.
Having got round Rouen, and seen just the top of the cathedral from the motorway, we went on to Jumièges, where I had never been before, but where N assured me I should see the prettiest and probably largest ruined abbey in France. I think he was still a little annoyed that the former abbey of La Vieille Lyre had vanished completely, whereas at Jumièges there were ruins covering a large area, and the outlines of the chapel and other rooms and buildings were all still to be seen.
We arrived at about lunchtime, noted that the abbey was closed between 1.00 and 2.30, looked round the village and noticed a large restaurant closed, a smaller café closed down completely, leaving only a bar offering croque monsieur. Fortunately we caught sight of a sign to Auberge du Bac (Ferry Boat Inn) a few hundred metes down the road, got back into the car and found a wonderful timbered building, a little like an English village pub, looking over the river Seine together with a fine view of the ferry, which took cars across the river in a couple of minutes.
Lunch was excellent - salade niçoise followed by poultry in a good sauce and a very good red Sancerre. The weather was excellent too, sunny and almost warm enough to sit outside. We mused on the word bac, meaning ferry; there were various jokes about taking the ferry back, and N said if here were in charge he would have a whole fleet of boats naming them Johann Sebastian, Carl Philip Emmauel and so on ……..
We drove back and visited the abbey, very picturesque with two very tall towers filled with birds flying in and out and patches of yellow wallflowers growing high above the ground. There were remains of beautiful arches, and even a few very late frescoes; like the Ursulines and many others, it had ceased to be an abbey at the time of the Revolution and had been sold simply for the stones, then recovered and what was left restored some time in the nineteenth century.
There was a very good book shop - much better than the one in the Milan museums. N resisted several books on gardens, but we bought postcards and a book on Normandy desserts (not surprisingly many of them involving apples, cream and calvados.) I also bought a book on the chronology of French kings, something I have never been very clear about. It seems to be written for primary schoolchildren, but is nice and clear which is the main thing!
When we went back to the car it was very hot inside, in fact the dashboard thermometer showed 25 degrees (it had been 8 as we left the garage that morning) It continued in the early 20’s as we waited for the ferry - we had arrived just at afternoon tea break time; N looked at the river and I read about French kings. The crossing took only a few minutes and we drove off on the other side of the Seine, comparing it to the Rhine as we did so; a similar width but without the fairy-tale castles. I also thought about Flaubert’s « L’Education Sentimentale » where the hero meets the woman he will fall in love with, while taking a boat down the Seine from Normandy to Paris.
Going back through Bernay we stopped at the supermarket and began to stock up for three week’s worth of guests; potatoes, milk, toilet rolls plus ingredients for advance baking and desserts. I made a start on the advance cooking on Thursday.
Yesterday (Friday morning) N drew back the bedroom curtains and said there was a surprise - snow all over the garden. In the same week as Wednesday’s warm sunshine this really was a surprise. It didn’t melt until early afternoon and N worried about all the new seeds and plants, and I was glad I had done lots of washing earlier in the week. The weather is cold again today, but better is promised for tomorrow and Monday, arrival day of the first guests.
We have been wondering when our resident swallows would return to their nest(s) in the garage; N said perhaps we should clean up the nests ready for them, I didn’t think they’d appreciate that, so he said should we to hang out a banner welcoming them, but we weren’t sure which language to write it in. On Friday he thought he saw a bird flying into the garage, and today when we came back from Bernay yet again, (more supermarket and garden centre) I noticed fresh droppings on the garage floor beneath the nest, so think they have arrived.
Does one swallow make a summer??
