A few days after my last post, Danny & I went camping in our VW Camper for the first time since the interior was gutted and refurbished. It's amazing to think this was the first time in over 3 years that we have been camping in it. Taking all three dogs would have been a nightmare so we sent Finn and Liam off to the kennels and we took Bertie with us. He loved it and was an angel all weekend! The event was an "Expat Rally" held at a campsite only about 15 kilometres away from us but it seemed like the ideal one to test out the camper, meet some new people and not be too far from home in case of problems. The campsite is called Puy Rond Camping and you can see for yourselves what it's like if you click here. Suffice to say, it was a fantastic site with hot water, showers, washing up facilities, a washing machine and as you will see on the website, a swimming pool! This was the first time they've held the rally but they are thinking of doing it again next year. There were 6 or 7 others in our group but they all had modern caravans or motor homes (oh and one had a trailer tent). I have to confess that as nice a weekend as it was, it doesn't come close to the good times we used to have at the VW camping weekends we went to in the UK! Unfortunately, we didn't take many photos but just so you can see how cosy the camper is, here's a pic of Danny and Bertie enjoying the new bed!
We got back from camping with a few days to prepare for my brother Tony and his wife Alyth's visit. For various reasons, they have not been able to come before now so it was wonderful for me finally to have them here and spoil them for a few days. Alyth loves animals and as you can see from this first batch of photos, they love her back! She threatened to steal at least one of my cats but she didn't get away with it!
Since we "discovered" the beautiful village of Coulon, in the Marais Poitevin, we are making sure we take our visitors there! Tony and Alyth were no exceptions as you can see in these next photos! I've included a couple of the river that Tony took, simply because they are much better than the ones I took last time I was there!
As Tony is such a good photographer, I'm also going to include a couple of the photos he took of the cows and calves in the field beyond our garden. One of the things I simply love about living here is that these beautiful animals live so close to us. They seem to love humans and often wander right up to the fence. No matter how stressful life gets, I find that a walk in the garden and watching the cows as they munch away at the grass in the field, will give me a wonderful sense of well-being and peace.
On Friday, I went off for my usual French lesson followed by a session at the physiotherapist in the village of L'Absie. While all that was going on, Tony, Alyth and Danny had a wander round the village and then enjoyed some tea and homemade cake in the lovely coffee shop there. Here are just a few of the pictures he took....
(The last photo is the place where I have my French lesson!)
Most of this year's visitors enjoyed two other things which I have featured in earlier blogs; they have all loved our swing seat and all enjoyed a meal at the Vue du Chateau restaurant! Tony and Alyth were again no exceptions!
Tony and Alyth went back home on Saturday, leaving me feeling very sad. But it was lovely having them here and I hope that it won't be too long before they come again.
And finally, just to update you as to the kitchen installation! By coincidence, Les had his daughter here during the same week that Tony and Alyth were here so we decided to have a week off from doing the kitchen. Work resumes tomorrow after Danny and I made yet another trip to IKEA today for some extra "bits". I'm going to save the pictures for now but I can tell you that more than half of the new units are in, together with the new oven and hob. And it's all looking FAB!!!
We have more visitors arriving on Wednesday so I expect to have more to tell you next week! Till then, à bientôt!
Lovely Roz!
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