village with my mummy Karen . On the way back we saw COWS .They were very funny
Love Freya 🖤🤍🙂😀🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄👩🌾👨🌾🍔🥩🧀🥛🍼
Sunday, 18 August 2019
The cows (by Freya)
village with my mummy Karen . On the way back we saw COWS .They were very funny
Love Freya 🖤🤍🙂😀🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄👩🌾👨🌾🍔🥩🧀🥛🍼
French wine in France
Drinking wine in France is a bit overwhelming. We have been here for almost a month, but yesterday was the first time I went to a wine shop to buy wine. Not that we haven't been drinking wine, it's just that the selection of wines in the supermarkets is fantastic - aisles and aisles of French wine, ranging from a few Euro to 20 Euro, very few above that price. When shopping, I'd seem to spend most of my time staring at all of these wines, like a kid in a sweet shop, paralyzed by choice. We have had sumptuous Sancerres, beautiful Cote de Beaunes and jolly amazing St Josephs.
However, that logical part of me was voicing away inside, saying that I should have a system to all this wine buying and drinking. So, I decided to pick a region of France, and focus on buying wine from there. As Bordeaux is a large region, and generally represented on wine lists in restaurants around the world, that seemed like a good place to start. A quick Google and I'd found a wine shop in Malestroit, a town 10 minutes away, so off I went!
It's great to talk to someone who is passionate about the topic. In this case, the topic was wine, and the owner of the shop was a great help. I walked in, and said that I didn't know much French, to which he replied he didn't have much English. A can of Kilkenny on one of his shelves gave me the opportunity to identify myself as Irish, and then we were happily off chatting about wine, with no apparent language difficulty at all. Bordeaux is largely divided into two regions: the left bank, which generally produces wines with Cabernet Sauvignon as the main grape, and the right bank, in which Merlot tends to be the dominant grape. So, he advised I start with one from each bank. He said 2012 was a good year, and I was soon happily on my may home with a Medoc from the left bank and a St Emilion from the right bank. When leaving the shop, I noticed a row of large industrial vats along the side wall. Upon asking, I learned that they were (of course!) full of wine. Red, white and rosé table wine for everyday use. I guess the locals show up with their barrel and get it filled for the week!
Drinking wine is serious business, not simply a case of glugging as much back as you can before waking with your eyelids glued together the next afternoon. So, Karen and I did a side-by-side comparison of the wines, looking at the wine, smelling the wine, and even drinking the wine. We compared thoughts and notes, and although both wines seemed to taste better the more we had, we agreed that the winner of this, our first wine tasting in France, was the Médoc.
Life is good!
However, that logical part of me was voicing away inside, saying that I should have a system to all this wine buying and drinking. So, I decided to pick a region of France, and focus on buying wine from there. As Bordeaux is a large region, and generally represented on wine lists in restaurants around the world, that seemed like a good place to start. A quick Google and I'd found a wine shop in Malestroit, a town 10 minutes away, so off I went!
It's great to talk to someone who is passionate about the topic. In this case, the topic was wine, and the owner of the shop was a great help. I walked in, and said that I didn't know much French, to which he replied he didn't have much English. A can of Kilkenny on one of his shelves gave me the opportunity to identify myself as Irish, and then we were happily off chatting about wine, with no apparent language difficulty at all. Bordeaux is largely divided into two regions: the left bank, which generally produces wines with Cabernet Sauvignon as the main grape, and the right bank, in which Merlot tends to be the dominant grape. So, he advised I start with one from each bank. He said 2012 was a good year, and I was soon happily on my may home with a Medoc from the left bank and a St Emilion from the right bank. When leaving the shop, I noticed a row of large industrial vats along the side wall. Upon asking, I learned that they were (of course!) full of wine. Red, white and rosé table wine for everyday use. I guess the locals show up with their barrel and get it filled for the week!
Drinking wine is serious business, not simply a case of glugging as much back as you can before waking with your eyelids glued together the next afternoon. So, Karen and I did a side-by-side comparison of the wines, looking at the wine, smelling the wine, and even drinking the wine. We compared thoughts and notes, and although both wines seemed to taste better the more we had, we agreed that the winner of this, our first wine tasting in France, was the Médoc.
Life is good!
Sunday, 11 August 2019
Bags and Bins
Another week here, and I'm beginning to get used to things. I no longer have to chant "drive on the right" repeatedly to myself every time I'm in the car. Ploermel, the local town, is twinned with Cobh in Ireland. The Marie flies the Irish flag beside the French flag - very welcoming of them! The church has a war memorial monument outside, and standing proudly at the top is the Gallic Rooster that Johnny told us about.
We didn't go to a market this week, but I'm noticing nice differences about the supermarkets. They have compostable bags for the loose fruit and veg, and they have tubes full of different things - nuts, muesli, dried fruit. You measure out what you want into a paper bag, and weigh it to get a price/barcode. Nice ideas, both, for cutting down on packaging.
The bins are different here too. There are communal recycling spots - at the side of the road, like our smaller bottle banks - and you bring your glass, paper, card and plastics there for recycling, free of charge. There are other roadside containers which you put your general rubbish/black bins into, so no-one has the black/brown/green wheelie bins like we have in Ireland. I guess this makes it easier to collect rubbish and recycling, the truck doesn't need to go to every house, but wonder how it is paid for.
We had a nice dinner in the hotel in Ploermel during the week. They girls were on their best behaviour, excited to be in a 'fancy' restaurant. We all had a great evening, and the plan is go to further afield next time - Vannes, a nearby city on the coast - has three Michelin 1-star restaurants. We must try one!
We didn't go to a market this week, but I'm noticing nice differences about the supermarkets. They have compostable bags for the loose fruit and veg, and they have tubes full of different things - nuts, muesli, dried fruit. You measure out what you want into a paper bag, and weigh it to get a price/barcode. Nice ideas, both, for cutting down on packaging.
The bins are different here too. There are communal recycling spots - at the side of the road, like our smaller bottle banks - and you bring your glass, paper, card and plastics there for recycling, free of charge. There are other roadside containers which you put your general rubbish/black bins into, so no-one has the black/brown/green wheelie bins like we have in Ireland. I guess this makes it easier to collect rubbish and recycling, the truck doesn't need to go to every house, but wonder how it is paid for.
We had a nice dinner in the hotel in Ploermel during the week. They girls were on their best behaviour, excited to be in a 'fancy' restaurant. We all had a great evening, and the plan is go to further afield next time - Vannes, a nearby city on the coast - has three Michelin 1-star restaurants. We must try one!
Settling In
Quiet country living continues.
We have settled into a routine of working, eating, exercising and relaxing. It's all wonderful.
Here are some pictures of the house.
The entrance, complete with obligatory hortensias:
Outside in the garden, the table where we eat al fresco with a view of the main house beyond:
The sitting room:
Saoirse has found a favourite sunny spot:
Rowan at her desk:
Our bedroom upstairs with the little table by the window where Conor works:
Freya in the girls' bedroom:
Conor cooking:
During the week, we spent some time in a bookshop and came away with the best French cookbook ever!
Tout va bien!
We have settled into a routine of working, eating, exercising and relaxing. It's all wonderful.
Here are some pictures of the house.
The entrance, complete with obligatory hortensias:
Outside in the garden, the table where we eat al fresco with a view of the main house beyond:
The sitting room:
Saoirse has found a favourite sunny spot:
Rowan at her desk:
Our bedroom upstairs with the little table by the window where Conor works:
Freya in the girls' bedroom:
Conor cooking:
During the week, we spent some time in a bookshop and came away with the best French cookbook ever!
Tout va bien!
Ploërmel (by Rowan)
One day we decided to go to a place called Ploërmel.
We went quite early so every were was quiet. The streets were long and narrow with cute houses.
We went quite early so every were was quiet. The streets were long and narrow with cute houses.
We walked for a wile and then we explored a church with high ceilings and candles.
After a while we decided to go somewhere for breakfast.We looked, and we looked but everywhere was closed!😢.
When we found some where that actually sold food and was open,were all pretty grumpy.😣 Luckily a few pastries and some hot chocolate cheered us up! The owner of the restaurant's dog kept coming over and sniffing our feet.We asked and his name was Ourso.
After that we booked a seat in a fancy restaurant for tomorrow night, got Daddy some sunglasses and went home.
Rowan.😄😄😄🤣🤣🤣😁😁😁💗💗💗😜😜😜
Mummy Makeup (by Freya)
Dear everybody,
On Saturday I (Freya) told my Mummy that I was feeling tired .
She told me told me that I could do her make-up . At the end she looked pretty .
LOVE FREYA XOXOXO
Sunday, 4 August 2019
Bucolic Bliss
There have been times over the past few years when Conor and I have toyed with the idea of moving to the country. Well now we're here and actually doing it, and it is beautiful. Le Roc St Andre is in the heart of provincial France. Think of Van Gogh's haystacks with Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony playing in the background, and you'll have an idea of the surrounding landscapes. Small roads cut through the countryside linking village to village, and we drive past fields with neatly rolled hay bales, oak trees and hedgerows skirting the edges. Farmhouses and village houses in old stone crawling with roses, geraniums sprouting from terracotta pots, bushes of blowsy hydrangeas (or hortensias, as they are called in France) in blues and purples nestling close to the walls. Sleepy villages that are impossibly pretty, we find ourselves murmuring Wow so often that we are wearing the word out.
The river Oust runs near our house. It links up with the canal that runs from Nantes to Brest. It also runs past the beautiful town of Josselin, famed for its medieval castle. A fifteen minute drive from our house, we visited on Friday, and were so impressed that we went back again on Saturday.
The river runs right past the castle. A family still occupies those splendid towers.
Josselin is built on a hill sloping up from the river. It's full of lovely narrow streets lined with shops, restaurants and houses with windows and shutters in pretty colours, flowers adding to the colour of the scene.
Some of us wanted to rethink our wardrobe choices.
There's a bustling market on Saturdays, and we spent most of that time at the cheese stall.
At the heart of the town is the church complete with protruding gargoyles.
The sun shone down and all was well.
Tout va bien!!
The river Oust runs near our house. It links up with the canal that runs from Nantes to Brest. It also runs past the beautiful town of Josselin, famed for its medieval castle. A fifteen minute drive from our house, we visited on Friday, and were so impressed that we went back again on Saturday.
The river runs right past the castle. A family still occupies those splendid towers.
Josselin is built on a hill sloping up from the river. It's full of lovely narrow streets lined with shops, restaurants and houses with windows and shutters in pretty colours, flowers adding to the colour of the scene.
Some of us wanted to rethink our wardrobe choices.
There's a bustling market on Saturdays, and we spent most of that time at the cheese stall.
At the heart of the town is the church complete with protruding gargoyles.
The sun shone down and all was well.
Tout va bien!!
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