The sun came out and the kids decided to do some body-boarding…

We built sandcastles…

…and knocked them down again

And we ate a picnic with our beach buddies as we watched the sun go down.

What could be better…?

So, never ones to pass up the opportunity for an afternoon on the beach, we threw some things in a bag and scooted off to our favourite island.

The closer we got to La Rochelle, the cloudier it became.

By the time we reached the bridge to the island, it was pouring down. Pedestrians and cyclists alike were taking shelter under trees and cafe parasols.

A call to Kevin established that where they were, in St Martin de Re, was indeed sunny and dry – obviously a small patch of sunshine in the midst of a sky full of  black clouds. So we headed for the town with the beautiful harbour, where we would find the fabled ice cream shop, subject of many a “you have to try this…” conversation with the Dixies.

And for a while, once united with the folks from La Rochelle, we were indeed in a little bubble of sunshine. We ordered huge ice creams from the famous shop, which were delicious as promised. Some said I obviously have a big mouth, as mine was the only ice cream to not melt and run all down my hand. I prefer to think that it was my superior ice-cream-licking skills that prevented me from losing any of my white chocolate and “crumble” flavoured heaven from my italian-style cornet.

I allowed myself a little smugness

Sadly, our ice-cream-fuelled frivolity was not to last much longer as the wind whipped up and the clouds surrounded us. So, we jumped in the cars and headed off in the direction of the last remaining patch of blue sky towards Les Portes en Re.

Once there we took a stroll along the beach, a stone/shingle combination with lots of seaweed, that Sylvie had great fun popping underfoot. Kevin, ever the hunter-gatherer, decided he was going to attempt to catch some fish, so we split up with Molly and I laughing at accompanying Kevin, and the others exploring the beach-side forest.

Unsurprisingly the fish were outwitting Kevin once again, though it wasn’t his fault, or course   But it was a very pleasant day, with the small patch of blue sky having expanded into a vast cloudless swathe of blue as far as the eye could see.

As the sun started to dip we headed back to the cars, not taking with us anything vaguely resembling a fish (unless you count the rubber “bait” in Kevin’s fishing box-of-tricks….), but certainly taking some happy memories of another great day out.

With the summer setting in, we look forward to many more such days. This is why we love it here and why we will always will.

Great weather, beautiful places, special friends and happy times.

Who could want anything more?

More fun with friends and families

Last weekend was another throroughly enjoyable one.

Saturday was spent entertaining some friends who have a holiday home near Cognac. It was a beautiful day so we erected our big old makeshift table alongside the normal one to make a long surface for Lisa to fill with a wonderful French-style feast.  When we discovered the old wooden door we envisaged it being used as a table for such an occasion and it was nice to finally make the most of it.

We had a really excellent day with great company, lovely food and brilliant Vendéen sunshine.

Then on Sunday we took my parents, who were staying for the week, across to Ile de Re for the first time. As chance would have it the Dixies were also entertaining parents at the time and we ended up meeting them on the beach and having a great day together. The respective grandparents got on just as well as the parents and children do, which was really good to see. The kids were especially impressed with Kevin’s dad, who showed great creative flair in building a landspeeder and a pony out of sand. Very impressive and far more than Kevin or I could be bothered to do could hope to achieve

Our favourite felines…

Charlie and Lola continue to entertain us. In the last week or so they have been exploring the great outdoors, having finally had their injections (thus leaving us another €100 worse off!). They are thoroughly enjoying themselves chasing around the garden, climbing the trees and hiding under the cars. We do really need to get a cat-flap though. The days are still pretty sunny but the autumn winds are getting chillier and having the door open half the day is making the house feel like an ice-box! I feel a trip to the pet shop coming on.

A room with a view

This week I decided to rearrange my “office” (I like to call it that but really its nothing quite so grand). Some friends very kindly gave us a corner desk that they no longer needed and very nice it is too. However, this has meant that I have spent the last 6 months facing the corner of the room, which is not particuarly interesting or inspiring and made me feel rather like a naughty schoolboy! So now I have taken command of the room by rearranging things so my desk looks out of the window and I have the whole room in front of me. A much nicer arrangement which allows me the chance to appreciate the fine view out of the window and down the lane to the lake.

The only downside is that now I look rather like a receptionist. Not physically of course, but the arrangement of the desk is such that Lisa feels like she has come to make an appointment when she comes in the room!

Preparing for Paella

Tomorrow night is paella night – a big social event in the village organised by the school. Everyone will gather in the salle polyvalente for paella (or chicken if you prefer) and a disco afterwards. This marks quite an occasion for us as it was on the eve of the paella night last year that we first came over to see the house with the kids. We met Marion, our estate agent, the morning after and it sounds like it was a pretty wild affair. This will be 2 new firsts for us – our first French disco and our first taste of paella.  Fear not, I will be posting a full account of the evening in due course!

Get in touch

Finally, you may have noticed I have added a “Contact Us” tab to the top of the site. Here you will find details of the various ways in which you can get in touch with us. Feel free to connect with us using any of these methods and say bonjour!

The location: Île de Ré. The company: perfect. The weather: beautiful.

The children played all day with buckets, spades, body-boards and lightsabers.

We relaxed, chatted and just soaked up up the sun as it continued to bake the west coast of France.

We introduced the Dixies to the game of Kubb [website].

And,  most excitingly, our resident hunter-gatherer prised us some oysters off the rocks and both Lisa and I ate one for the first time ever!

The verdict? Not actually as bad as we had anticipated. And these were lacking in any lemon juice, or white wine to wash them down. I think we were both rather chuffed that we had managed to crack another culinary fear.

Now, as for snails and frogs legs, that is definitely a different matter…

See the full set of photos from the day [here]