Sunday morning was a dull grey affair, with the sun only just breaking through at lunchtime. We were resigned to an afternoon in the cinema (“17 Again” with Zac Effron – in French!…Whoopee!) until we got the call from Kevin - “We’re on Ile de Re and it’s sunny!”
So, never ones to pass up the opportunity for an afternoon on the beach, we threw some things in a bag and scooted off to our favourite island.
The closer we got to La Rochelle, the cloudier it became.
By the time we reached the bridge to the island, it was pouring down. Pedestrians and cyclists alike were taking shelter under trees and cafe parasols.
A call to Kevin established that where they were, in St Martin de Re, was indeed sunny and dry – obviously a small patch of sunshine in the midst of a sky full of black clouds. So we headed for the town with the beautiful harbour, where we would find the fabled ice cream shop, subject of many a “you have to try this…” conversation with the Dixies.
And for a while, once united with the folks from La Rochelle, we were indeed in a little bubble of sunshine. We ordered huge ice creams from the famous shop, which were delicious as promised. Some said I obviously have a big mouth, as mine was the only ice cream to not melt and run all down my hand. I prefer to think that it was my superior ice-cream-licking skills that prevented me from losing any of my white chocolate and “crumble” flavoured heaven from my italian-style cornet.
I allowed myself a little smugness 
Sadly, our ice-cream-fuelled frivolity was not to last much longer as the wind whipped up and the clouds surrounded us. So, we jumped in the cars and headed off in the direction of the last remaining patch of blue sky towards Les Portes en Re.
Once there we took a stroll along the beach, a stone/shingle combination with lots of seaweed, that Sylvie had great fun popping underfoot. Kevin, ever the hunter-gatherer, decided he was going to attempt to catch some fish, so we split up with Molly and I laughing at accompanying Kevin, and the others exploring the beach-side forest.
Unsurprisingly the fish were outwitting Kevin once again, though it wasn’t his fault, or course But it was a very pleasant day, with the small patch of blue sky having expanded into a vast cloudless swathe of blue as far as the eye could see.
As the sun started to dip we headed back to the cars, not taking with us anything vaguely resembling a fish (unless you count the rubber “bait” in Kevin’s fishing box-of-tricks….), but certainly taking some happy memories of another great day out.
With the summer setting in, we look forward to many more such days. This is why we love it here and why we will always will.
Great weather, beautiful places, special friends and happy times.
Who could want anything more?
Don’t worry dear readers, I haven’t forgotten you, oh no! This week I have been a busy business bee out on a sales “kick-off” at the Longleat Center Parcs. I won’t bore you with the details, but basically this involved lots of presentations, a very tiring cylcle-based exercise and 2 evenings of food, drink and gambling (with pretend money!). Needless to say, I would have much rather been at home with Lisa and the kids than surrounded by sales guys, but it was okay. At least I discovered that Longleat Center parcs is not a place I would ever go for fun, as the entire place is set on a huge hill. And I mean huge! After spending 5 hours cycling round the park, including some of the steepest hills I have seen in ages, I have to say I never want to sit on a bike again! The kids would have hated it, as it was impossible to get anywhere without having to tackle some sort of nightmarish incline. Great exercise, but fun?…not at all.
Anyway, that was my week. Meanwhile, Lisa wasn’t having much fun either, as everything seemed to be going wrong at home.
First off, the washing line broke. The washing line that was full of nice clean washing. And of course it fell to the ground and blew around in the mud for a while, ensuring that everything needed rewashing! And how typical of it to happen the moment I am out of the house. The nail upon which the line was hooked had probably been secured in the wall for the last 50 years. Yet on this day it chose to ping out of the wall like a cork from a bottle, as if it had only been stuck there with blu-tack five minutes ago. Not a good start for Lisa.
Then, on Friday morning, the car wouldn’t start. My lovely little Renault Clio “Chippy” (no idea why it’s called that, but it is…) which has served us so well over the last year and has always started first time was as dead as Roland the rat [who?]. As our main car was parked at Nantes airport where I had left it for the week, this was, to say the least, rather inconvenient. Luckily we have some great friends who stepped in to save the day. Peter answered the cry for help and came round to pick the girls up and take them to college, while Nathalie picked up Joe, ensuring that everyone got to school on time. Pete then continued in his role of hero-of-the-day by coming back to fix the car. As it turned out, the problem was just a loose connection on the battery – thank goodness! We had visions of a big trip to the garage, followed by a big bill at the end of it, but luckily Pete saved the day and Lisa was mobile once more.
What made things more tricky was the stormy weather front that was sitting over western France, and in particular, our house. All week the house has been lashed by high winds and torrential rain, getting so bad that one day even the trampoline blew away! This is the trampoline that normally takes 3 of us to move it in order to cut the grass, but the wind clearly managed to get hold of it and Lisa found it upside-down on top of one of the pear trees, bent and broken. And today poor Rosie woke to find a puddle of water in her room – the rain has clearly found a way in through the roof and had been running down her wall (only plasterboard, so now rather soggy) and forming a large pool on her floor. Argh! We mopped up the water and, once the hurricane had died down outside, I went up on the ladder to see if I could identify the source of the leak. Sadly, I couldn’t spot any big holes that might lead to such a problem, so we just have to keep our fingers crossed for now that the worst of the rain is over for now.
So, on balance, not the greatest of weeks, but Lisa did paint the kitchen before I came home, and a rather splendid job she did too! Photos will follow!
Oh, and guess who’s out of oil once again…?
