Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Wednesday 16 June 2010




We woke up to a very wet morning today, it is overcast and does not look like it will ever stop.


Paul took Brian to Angouleme railway station this morning, very early at 6am. We all managed to say goodbye to Brian before he left this morning and I think we will all miss him.



This morning Kate, Rhian and myself are cemeting the gaps in the ceiling in Apartment 4. Bob is painting shutters and Kathryne and Rachel are sawing wood.

The rain has continued all day and it's quite cold.







It poured down all day and night, but after dinner Paul put on a DVD in Gite 3 'Donnie Broscoe', he lit the fire as it was so cold and it was a really nice evening.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Tuesday 15 June 2010





Its a lovely sunny day here at La Giraudiere. I am in charge of the laundry today, will make lunch and write the blogg. Rhian and Kate are filling in the cracks in the plaster board with cement in apartment 4.



Kathryn and Rachel are answering Paul's emails for him. Its Brian's last day today, so he is not working. Bob is sanding down some shutters.







I just made lunch and now we are back to work.

Brian just took Sydney for a walk.

Kathryn and Rachel are sawing in the old house right now.



It's raining quite heavily now, just as we are finishing work.

It is also Brian's last day with us today, we will really miss him. He leaves early tomorrow morning for Chicago. He has really loved his stay here and wanted to stay longer.

Anyway, it rained all evening and night. Kate made a nice dinner and we just chatted and that was it.

Raymond called to see Paul and invited us all to a 'Randonnee Semi-Nocturne' on Saturday, which is a 6 mile walk around the area, this should be lovely if the weather is nice. It starts at 6.30pm and after the walk there is a menu of crudites, grillade, frites, fromage and desert at St Bernard's in Brossac.

Monday 14 June 2010

Today it was raining when we got up, but the day did get better. I think we all felt a little ill after yesterday's extravaganza in Chatignac and everybody was laughing at me all day because I fell asleep during the lunch on a certain Frenchman. Paul wanted to get me married off straight away, and as the Mayor was sitting on our table, he tried to arrange a quick marriage. I told him no, and the others but they did insist, Brian asked me 'is he going to be my Uncle'.

Bob, Kathyrne and Rachel went off to Bordeaux to visit some friends of Bob's. They had a long walk around the city, had a nice lunch and climbed 231 steps to the top of the clock tower. Bob said the view was fantastic.






In the afternoon, Rhian, Brian and myself went off to Augouleme, the medieval capital of Charentes for a trip out. It stopped raining and the sun came out, so it was really pleasant. We looked around the town, the impressive St Peter's Cathedral, some shops and stopped for coffee in a nice Bistro.




We came back to La Giraudiere and Paul took Kate, Brian, Rhian and myself out for dinner in Charentes.



We started off in 'L'espace Cafe' for aperitif, then went on to 'Petite en K' a small cafe for dinner, it was really good food and then to 'Bonne Humeur' for a digestif, which turned out to be a cognac. We really had a laugh as Paul was on top form telling us funny stories. It was a really great evening.




We came back at around 11pm and all of us were very, very tired.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Sunday 13 June 2010

Today is another beautiful day and we are going to the Societe de Chasse de Brossac, or the Hunt Festival, it is being held in the village hall at Chatignac. This is a pretty little village not far from Brossac.

There are 7 courses in this festival including: plateau de charactuerie, salade nicoise, grillades de sanglier, flegolets, salade, fromage, dessert, cafe et cognanc, vin en pitchet!! so we should all be pretty replete when we are done.



This photograph is before all the trouble started, when we were all fresh and the day was new.


Paul took us down there and we started off with an aperitif or two, then more wine, some food, sorbet soaked in cognac and we all got pretty drunk, especially me as I don't eat meat and only had bread and a bit of salad.



The others said the meat was really good. The hall was full with about 100 people, very noisy and very lively. We all went a bit mad but it really was great, great fun.



Bob said he tried his first pineau, and thought it was wonderful, as it had 'a real kick'.




Kathryne and Rachel were the only ones in all honesty that behaved themselves this day.

We left about 5.30pm and I went straight to bed.

Lidia and Jim set off to go to Spain for two weeks and then they will return back here.

The others stayed up a bit longer drinking beer and I think we all slept well.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Saturday 12 June 2010








We woke up to a lovely, sunny morning again at La Giraudiere and it's our day off. We are all looking forward to going out today.... Brian, Kate, myself and Rhian is driving. We set off at 9.00am to go to Royan, a seaside resort about an hour away. The weather was beautiful, sunny and hot. The market day was on in Royan when we arrived, so we had a good look around that, it was very good and huge.



We stopped for coffee at a cafe and then walked down to the beach.



There was also a big French Air Force Display on 'Le Reve d'lcare', and we had a look around that and it was very impressive. Royan was so pretty and we walked around and then we decided to stop and we had lunch outside in a bistro overlooking the sea, we had galettes again, which were very good and a beer.

We then decided to take a cruise boat around the shore; the boat trip was for 2 hours and we saw the Cordouan lighthouse, the Troglodyte caves, La pointe de Grave, Talmont and La Pointe du Suzak.





Kate and myself even had the opportunity to steer the boat, which was totally unexpected!






Then we went on to a really lovely little resort called 'St Palais Sur Le Mer', it was so nice. We stopped at a beachside bistro and had a drink, soaked in the atmosphere and drove back to La Giraudiere, arriving back at about 9.30pm.


Jim and Lidia also visited Royan today, they set off at 10am, they visited the French air show and visited the shops, had a nice lunch and drove back for the football.

Bob, Kathryne and Rachel went to Angouleme, they visited the museum, had lunch in a bistro near the rampart and then went for a long walk all around the town.

We all had a great day and came back to watch the football together, England v USA.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Friday 11 June 2010


Some of us are feeling a little delicate this morning, but everyone is okay. The weather is a bit over cast but it looks like the sun will get out later on in the morning. The sun is now out and it is a beatiful day. Jim and Brian have been working really hard, digging up a ditch outside the entrance. Lidia has been cutting the grass and Rhian has been weeding. Kate is busy with the advertising project and I am writing this blogg.



Bob, Kathryne and Rachel are not working today, as Paul always gives the first day off to recover from the journey. Bob is from North Carolina, Kathryne from Virginia and her cousin Rachel from Pennsylvania. Their journey was a long one, as they flew from Washington DC to Madrid, there they rented a car and the journey to La Giraudiere took them 9 hours in total, but this included one stop for a full meal and one stop for fuel and two pit-stops.  Bob told me they had a warm welcome, enjoyed the cheese and wine and had a good nights sleep, with no bugs coming in through the open window!!!

Today we didn't have a tea break as we normally do, as Paul is letting us go off to Chalais to take an extra French lesson, that is held on Friday's afternoons in one of the coffee shops. All of us are quite keen to learn more French, so it should be good.

We came back from 'Perroquet Vert' the small cafe in Chalais where we had our French lesson, about 5pm, and the weather was so hot and sunny. Paul made dinner and we all walked down to Brossac to play petanque. It was really good fun, but there were no people around and suspect the locals were watching France play in the World Cup.

Anyway, we had a chat and watched the sun go down and that was the end of our lovely day.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Thursday 10 June

Today, is a very wet morning, it was pouring down earlier, but now the sun is trying to come out. We all enjoyed last evening at Routier, it was a really good evening.

Today, as the ceiling is complete, things are a little quieter. Rhian is in the kitchen preparing chicken stock for homemade soup. Lidia is doing her secretarial work for Paul; answering emails etc. Jim is planning his next trip. Brian is checking out flights at the moment, so he can stay a bit longer. Kate is working on her lap top in Gite 3, on the advertising project for Paul.

The sun came out in the afternoon and it was a really beautiful day. We had our French lesson after lunch, which was very good and now we are going to promise each other to try to speak in French as much as possible.



Brian cooked the dinner and it was so nice. We had new arrivals Bob and his two grandaughters; Rachel and Katherine from USA.



After dinner, Jim, Lidia, Kate, Rhian, Brian and myself walked to the lake. It was such a nice walk as the countryside is really pretty.



We had a drink in the bistro there but as it was dark when we left, everything was pitch black. Fortunately, Rhian had a small torch and we could see!! otherwise I dont know what we would have done, as we wouldn't have been able to see anything at all.

We all slept well...

Wednesday 9th June 2010

Today is Wednesday 9 June, and after work finished yesterday at 5pm, I went for a long walk and really enjoyed that. Kate went jogging around the lake and Jim and Lidia cooked the dinner. It was very nice, they made meatballs and pasta, with Jim's mother's own recipe. We chatted for a while but everyone went to bed fairly early, before 10pm. Brian wanted to stay for an extra two weeks, but his airline cannot change his ticket, so unfortunately, he has to go home in 8 days time and we will all miss him.

This morning the weather is pretty much the same as yesterday, cloudy but not raining. Jim, Paul and Brian are busy in Apartment 4 fixing the ceiling. Just now Kate and Rhian are helping the guys to lift some boards up from the van to the ceiling.



After this I loaded up the van with Paul, as once a week we have to go to the recycling plant and take the bottles, recyclable stuff (paper, plastic) and general rubbish. Rubbish is not collected directly from La Giraudiere so this is the reason we take it. Anyway, the recycle plant was shut, so we dumped the bottles at the bottle bank, recycle bin and general rubbish bin just near to Brossac.



Jim, Paul and Brian worked really hard yesterday and finally fixed the plaster board to the ceiling in Apartment 8. Later on in the evening, we all went out to 'Routiers' a big, eatery near Barbezeux on route 10. The place was huge and there were lots of trucks parked outside. The menu was a fixed price and this included an entree, main course, dessert, cheese and wine, the choices were very good. Brian fancied a few snails see picture!

The tables were nicely set out and we certainly had good food. The wine was also very good. We had a few laughs as usual, especially as Paul had got some new glasses and we said he looked like Michael Caine!!





There was a shop in Routiers, which sold a variety of penknives and clothing. Paul found some huge jeans, that measured 72 inches!! There were also showers for the truckers etc in this huge facility. Not only truckers were there however, coach parties, couples etc and us.



Kate, Rhian, Brian and myself then had a couple of glasses of wine in Gite 3, listened to some music and went to bed. Another lovely day at La Giraudiere had come to an end!!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Adrienne arrives at La Giraudiere 1st June 2010



Just to say how I found La Giraudiere and it's working holiday in France and why I came here. I found out about it by doing an internet search. I came here as I wanted to get a taste of life in France before buying a property here. I also wanted to work some of the time, as I get bored on normal holidays. I am staying for four weeks and think in this time, I will learn much about life in France and hopefully improve my French language skills. Also it looked such a unique opportunity and an interesting project and it is!!!



Just to tell you about the travel details in case you come here and this might be helpful. I arrived at Bordeux Airport at 9.30am on Tuesday 1 June, I then went to Exit 7 at the aiport to get the 45 minute Jet shuttle bus to Gare St Jean Railway Station, this cost 7 euros. On arrival at the station, which is quite big, the ticket hall is down the esculator and there I bought a 13 euro one way TER train ticket to Angouleme, Charentes. The train stopped at a few places on route, and I got off at Chalais, the stop after Roche Chalais. That journey took 2hrs 30 minutes and Paul met me at Chalais station and brought me the half hour journey by car to La Giraudiere.



The nearest village to La Giraudiere is called Brossac Village and it is just under one mile away, it's a small, quiet, friendly little village. It has a few shops and a Bistro called St Bernard's. The walk down there is very pleasant. The air is so fresh here, the sky so blue and it is so picturesque and the stars are wonderful at night. There are all kinds of wildlife around; butterflies, deer, frogs, cuckoos and you can really hear them very clearly at night as there is no traffic or noise. The countryside is so pretty and the walks are really wonderful. Anyway, after only being here for 2 days, I can honestly say it is one of the loveliest places I have ever been to.



The group I am working with consists of Jim and Lidia, who are a married couple from Florida, then there is Brian, who is from Chicago, Rhian is a Welsh teacher and all have been so friendly, nice and great fun. Paul has even arranged for a French lesson every week for us and yesterday, I had my first. The teacher Linda was really excellent and I learnt so much, as we all did.





Jim and Brian are working on the ceiling of Apartment 4 at the house, Rhian is doing the housekeeping, although we are taking it in turns to cook dinner every night. I just saw Rhian and she had just finished clearing a drainpipe, I will post a photo of this!!! It was Lidia's turn to cook last night and she made a Cuban dish called Chicken Fricassef, which we ate outside and it was really good. Paul the owner of the house has asked me to write a daily blogg, take photographs of our progress and events and keep up to La Giraudiere's Facebook. Lidia did a really good job on cutting the grass and doing some weeding today. Her husband Jim or 'Indiana Jones' as we call him in that hat!!, also did some gardening.





The group are very easy to get along with and we are all helping each other and last night we all went to Brossac to St Bernard's Bistro for drinks, and this was really good fun. The locals all know Paul and he has introduced us to them. We walked back and even at night, it was pleasant. The frogs in the pond we passed were making so much noise!! I have forgotten to mention Paul's dog, Sydney, who is so cute and friendly and walks around checking on us all day long.



The gites are nice although we do not spend much time in them, we sit outside to eat our meals as the weather is so good at the moment. The gites are clean and the beds comfortable and there is plenty of good healthy food around, see photo. One really useful thing is that we can do laundry anytime here, its so quick to dry, we just hang it on the line. I would advise anybody coming here not to bring too many clothes as you won't need them.



Paul did mention that so far this year lots of people from around the globe have stayed here; even some schoolkids last week from Nottingham, UK. This weekend four more people will arrive to join us.



Its 3.30pm now, so time for our afternoon tea break, which Rhian has prepared. We stop for tea/coffee/biscuits around 10.30am and 3.00pm and have a chat. It is really hot today and is due to get hotter every day until after the weekend.





Its June 4 today and to recap on last night, we had our dinner outside again and Rhian had prepared for us a lovely fish pie, it was really delicious. Around 9pm, we went to The Lake, this is a very picturesque spot and a nice shortish walk from here. There is a lake, bistro and restaurant and so we had a few drinks, again very, very enjoyable. Its also possible to swim in the lake if you want to.

So tired, I went to bed at 10pm!



Today, it is Friday, 4 June and we just had breakfast. Jim and Lidia have set off for Barcelona, as they are going on a weekend trip. We had coffee break at 10.30, which Rhian made for us. Brian is working on the ceiling again, Rhian is drilling some screws in Apartment 4 with Paul as her tutor. The view from the balcony on Apartment 4 is really beautiful. We have just moved gites as four more people will join us over the weekend. We will have lunch a bit later today (1.30pm) and go to play petangue this afternoon with the locals.



Now it is Saturday 5 June, and we really had fun yesterday playing petangue. It was so nice to meet some of the local people who are Paul's friends, they offered us some beer and wine, which was really kind. After that we came back to La Giraudiere and as there were only 3 of us, Rhian made a buffet from the leftovers and it was so good. Paul asked us if we wanted to go into town to St Barnard's bar but we chose to stay and chat here. We had fun especially when Brian found a toad and introduced him to me!he told me that he had found the toad on his doorstep!



We are chilling out this morning; Brian has been telling me about all his travels and it was so interesting and inspiring, Rhian is reading at the moment and Paul is doing his accounts.



It was such a hot day yesterday (Saturday 5th June), however Brian and Rhian went for a walk to the lake and then down to Brossac to watch football with Paul. They had a few peach beers and came back. Then Kate joined us from London and we had dinner and then back down to town to introduce her to St Bernard's Bistro. We had a few drinks in there and then came back to La Giraudiere. There was a storm brewing up and we had thunder and lightening.



On Sunday 6th June, it was raining a little and Kate and I walked to Brossac to attend a service at Notre Dame church. There was a lot of people attending the service, but unfortunately, due to sampling a little too much red wine the evening before, both of us felt queasy so only stayed in the church for a few minutes. We went to St Bernard's for coffee to try to recover a little, and Brian and Rhian called in and asked us if we wanted to go for a ride to the village of Aubeterre, and have lunch there. It was about a half hour drive through the countryside, and so nice, we even saw some deer.





Aubeterre was a really pretty place and we went for lunch at 'Creperie de la Source' and had galettes, which were really delicious. There were so many bistros, it was difficult to choose. Then, we had a look around the church and the shops, and came back to La Giraudiere. We had just missed the Sunday morning market at Aubeterre, which by the remains of what we saw, would be very good.



Anyway, when we got back to La Giraudiere, we were all a bit tired, so we decided to have a pizza and movie night. So, at around 8pm we all went to Gite 1 and after looking through all Paul's DVD's we decided to watch 'Faceoff' the movie with Nicholas Cage and John Travolta. It was a really nice evening to round off a very nice day. However, there was a commotion in the middle of the night, when two butterflies came in my room through the open window! I screamed as if there was a murder going on and opened by door to get them out, the wind blew poor Kate's door open and she shouted 'are you okay', I even startled Rhian!! so I felt rather stupid to be so frightened of two very pretty butterflies..



Yesterday, Monday 7th June, another day off to enjoy, and the weather was beautiful. We had a nice leisurely breakfast and then at 9.30am, Rhian, Brian, Kate and myself drove to Chalais for the market day. Chalais is a nice town nearby, with a huge chateau, and also has the only drawbridge in France. It was a really interesting market with cheeses, wine, clothes, hats, shoes, livestock etc. Rhian and Brian tried all kinds of local delicasies including pinaeu, duck sausage, blueberry sausage, crepes, snails and cognac!



Kate and I, saw a cute little miniature goat sitting on a cart, he was so tame and seemed to really like people. The guy who was with him was selling tins of throat lozenges, but they were expensive 30 euros! but he said the profit went towards 'SOS' which he said was an organization that would support the goat!! we thought 30 euros was a little expensive so declined the purchase!! then, Kate and I, found a cafe and had coffee outside. We also discovered that they do French lessons there every Friday 1.30 - 3pm for 5 euros and this includes coffee and gateaux, so we will definitely come for that. Anyway, we headed back to La Giraudiere and had lunch. Later on, as the weather was so lovely, Brian and Rhian went for a long walk and Kate went for a long bike ride.



Jim and Lidia, arrived back from Barcelona, it was a good trip for them. They had hired a car and drove down there on Friday. It took 7 hours to get there and on their return they stopped off at a town midway, called Carcassonne, a midieval town that they found very well preserved and interesting. They had a nice dinner in Carcassonne, a bottle of wine and stayed over in a local hotel with a view of the city walls.



Anyway, Jim and Lidia were just in time for dinner, I had cooked roast chicken with Yorkshire puddings and we ate this outside last night. So another lovely day at La Giraudiere

Today is Tuesday 8 June and we are now back at work. This will be my first week here and I must say how much I have enjoyed it, the time has gone so quick and we have done so much. I would say that with this type of experience there are so many advantages; we are meeting the local people and socialising with them, we are shopping and asking for things in French in the local village, we are experiencing what life is really like here. Also, the people that are here are so interesting and so nice and its really good to hear their stories about travel and what they have done in life. A hotel type holiday would not be like this at all.

The weather is a bit dull and its raining a bit at the moment but we are happy!!. Jim, Brian and Paul are working in Apartment 4 on the ceiling again. Rhian is shopping and then will clean the fridges out. Lidia is helping Paul with some office work. Kate is working on some advertising for Paul and I am writing this blogg. Just had coffee and everyone is back to work. We stopped for lunch at 1pm and it was such a healthy one, see photo.