Al's Blog from the Bog

The weather is fabulous this morning, not a cloud to be seen in the sky, but then it’s bound to be like that on the day we return home, isn’t it?

Pack the car, close up the house and we’re off on the first leg, to Bordeaux airport. The road is smooth and clear and we make great time, at least until the Bordeaux ring-road, where we experience our first traffic jam – a lorry seems to have started coming to pieces! Still, we arrive at the airport about 3 hours before our flight.

It’s a small airport so there’s not much to do: coffee and a sandwich and read a while.

The flight is a touch late but smooth and as comfortable as it can be, and we arrive in Dublin to find that, although it’s nearly 10C cooler than Bordeaux, it is sunny! Dublin airport’s new (ish) Terminal 2 does its best to suck any joy out of us, though: a long walk, immigration officers obviously instructed that it is not an appropriate venue for the fable “100,000 welcomes”, and we have to walk to Terminal 1 to get the car park shuttle!

We find the car without too much difficulty and it starts without a grumble so we are soon on our way. Traffic is much lighter than we feared so we find ourselves at the M4 services before too long, where we tuck into a big pile of Burger King beef – it’s been years since we last had a BK meal; we’ve actually been looking forward to it. Fill up with coffee, and we’re off again.

It’s still a long slog across Ireland, despite the road improvements, and the weather turns a bit wet. I really don’t enjoy driving at night in the rain. We arrive back in Currane at about 11:30pm, nearly 14 hours after leaving Pons; not bad for traveling between worlds.

It’s nice to be back to the home comforts, but we’ll miss the delights of France. It’s been a lovely break and we certainly feel refreshed and reinvigorated. Huge thanks to Harry & Kate for sharing their house with us, and to Annie & Bert for looking after ours while we were away.

holiday, miscellaneous france, holiday, pons

Last day of our holiday, we’ll be travelling tomorrow. Today is basically cleanup day. Harry & Kate have been so generous in allowing us to use their house, so we must try to leave it in at least as good condition as we found it.

Not that we are *that* messy (I hope)! So in between bouts of cleaning, hoovering, dusting and putting away, there is still time for more reading, and of course some eating!

We need to finish up what we’ve bought, so it’s foie gras for breakfast (!), bread and cheese for lunch and brandard (salt cod and potato) cakes for dinner. It’s a hard life.

Early to bed so we can get up early (ish) to finish packing and chores. Trying not to be sad that we are leaving this wonderful place.

holiday, miscellaneous france, holiday, pons

It’s the penultimate full day of our holiday. I’ve tried not to think about it, but isn’t it always the same, the second half of a holiday becomes a countdown? So, we’ll make sure we really enjoy what’s left, which for us means some serious R&R.

There’s no rugby today so we’re having a lie-in. It’s a marvellous feeling to wake up, turn over and go back to sleep, wake up again, turn over and go back to sleep again (repeat several times).

Except that we’re sleeping with the window open and it’s dustbin day. The lorry comes round at 7:15. And the property next door appears to be undergoing renovation, starting with a spot of gutting on the top floor: the sound of splitting wood and the crashes as the waste material is ejected from an upper window. Still, a lie-in is good.

Except that – maybe it’s my age – I end up feeling terrible if I have too much sleep. Tired, sluggish, slight headache. Oh well.

Breakfast is toasted French bread and marmalade in the courtyard. The day is overcast, humid and warm so there may be showers later, but it’s lovely to be able to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air.

Then kick back and get down to some more reading.

A short walk around town to stretch the legs before lunch: boudin noir (black pudding) with salad and baguette. Which reminds me, I forgot to mention the Toulouse sausages we had for lunch yesterday. French offal products don’t disappoint!

Sunny spells, some showers and more Norwegian detectives in the afternoon (Jo Nesbo is my holiday read), plus a quick trip to the shops for tonight’s quiche, to be accompanied by salad and pavé de campagne (bread), with fruit tart to finish.

I hadn’t meant these holiday blogs to be all about food, though it has turned out that way. I make no apology though; the food here is just so good and we love eating so it was inevitable I suppose!

Is it a coincidence that a new series had started on the telly this evening, Little England, about Brits who have moved to France? Not a great programme, but is someone trying to send us a message? Well, you never know…

holiday, miscellaneous france, holiday, pons

A lazy weekend. Up early on Saturday to plonk myself in front of the telly for some rugby, which leads on nicely to the F1 qualifying from Monza.

And that is most of the day gone. A quick trip to the supermarket for milk, tomatoes and foie gras (oh yeah!), then reading in the sun.

Market roast chicken, salad and bread is the conclusion of a simple food day, which has also featured cheese and pâté. No sign of my gallstones getting unruly; interesting, considering the holiday diet.

More of the same on Sunday, with rugby then F1 GP then F1 Forum (BBC). The early mornings are taking their toll, however, so I nap for a couple of hours before dinner.

Foie Gras as a starter, then mackerel, my favourite fish – they have decent size examples here. Fruit tart from the baker for dessert. I’ve stopped using adjectives, it’s all superb.

holiday, miscellaneous france, holiday, pons

Hot, hot, hot!

It’s overcast and humid to start, though I hardly notice as it’s also the start of the Rugby World Cup and practice for the F1 Italian GP. Not much will happen over the next few days!

By the time the sport has finished the sky has cleared and the sun is strong – what a scorcher! Far too hot to even think about doing anything, so we’ll just have to lie in the sun and read.

Today is John & Brigid’s 50th Wedding Anniversary, so tonight we’re eating at the Auberge Pontoise, conveniently located just a few yards down the road.

The Auberge is interesting. Slightly anachronistic and showing signs of wear; unusual sculptures, framed facsimiles of old travel posters and large wicker chairs. A calm and unhurried atmosphere.

Jane & I choose the Duo of Foie Gras to start: a terrine and a sublime pâté; J&B choose salmon. The mains are white fish for J&B, beef for Jane (a skewer, overcooked, dry) but I get lucky with a perfect confit of duck and rabbit. Desserts are pineapple tarte tatin for Jane & Brigid, millefeuille with rice pudding instead of cream for John, and chocolate cake for me. Except it’s not chocolate cake, it’s a superb chocolate fondant. Really superb.

Another day, another full stomach!

holiday, miscellaneous france, holiday, pons