After a very long and seemingly longer drive in our blue tin can, we reached the idyllic French farmhouse in the Charentes region. Adrian thought only my cottage could be located in the middle of nowhere, but France also has some centrally located middle of nowheres. It didn't really matter where we were, as the kids were thrilled to have a pool. Funny enough, no pictures of the pool ever materialized.
Chez Besson
What is the French countryside without an outdoor summer kitchen, some stinky cheese and wine?
A big caveman fire with some meat - ok, zucchini - er- courgettes?
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| You know, we could smelt iron in this fire for after dinner fun. |
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| Waiting for the smelting operation, or at least dinner |
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Dinner was looking pretty good!
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| A. was more interested in the illicit beverages and has taken to bubbles quite keenly. |
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| Hey, what do you think happens if I pour this grease onto the fire? |
Day Trip!
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Checking out an ancient underground church. |
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| Look Mom! I'm a monkey! |
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| I might run away and join the circus. |
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| Good thing we had E before Adrian tried this. |
La Rochelle
The beautiful town of La Rochelle, where my Mother's ancestry originated.
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| Hey, we can't get there from here! |
Bordeaux
We took a day trip to Bordeaux and visited a couple of Chateaux. I could have spent an entire vacation in Bordeaux! I might just have to drum up some friends to go on a wine tour!
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| Châteaux Lestage & Château Fonréaud. |
We had a lovely tour and tastings at the Chateaux from Caroline Chanfreau-Philippon. Her wines are rich and balanced and even well priced for Bordeaux!
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| Authentic French friend along for the ride |
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| Lovely lunch companions at the lovely Bordeaux restaurant, Le Boule d'Or. Did I mention that we like to eat? Ah, why we keep going back to France.... |
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| Garden tour at Chateau Clarke |
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| Tasting room at Chateau Clarke |
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| The renowned Chateau Longoa Leoville-Barton |
The vineyards
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| The smell of oak and ageing wine was pretty heady. |
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| I wasn't spitting this tasting! |
Typical fishing huts line the banks of the Garrone. They kind of have a tropical Asian look to the stilts. Just need a few palm trees in the background. However, they're probably filled with crusty old men waiting for the river to freeze for some ice fishing like in Canada.
A quick stop in Rouen to check out the beautiful cathedral
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| Beautiful flower display in the pedestrian mall |
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| Family vacation picture. Well, its not us actually, because we somehow escaped the camera lens. But here's a picture of the Foremans. |
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| The holidays aren't over until E conks out |
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