Le Menu - French cuisine and wine
After our day out in La Rochelle, back “home” we enjoyed aperos, followed by garlic bread and homemade pizzas in the outdoor pizza oven. As the night progressed there was lots of chat, laughter, looking at old photos and there may have been lots of wine and even a digestif.
J made us the best pizzas in his pizza oven and we enjoyed dessert from the local boulangerie with a magnificent sunset. Chris and K chatting below.
Market day in France is always an exciting experience. This time we were able to visit the Tuesday morning market in nearby Lezay with K to choose food for a particular dinner.
We visited the fish stall and purchased sardines and prawns to BBQ. The fishmonger (le poissonnier) was a funny guy. When Chris asked if it was ok if he took photos, meaning of his product, he posed and beamed.
Le poissonnier
Next stall, le boucher for sausages.
We stopped to be sausages from le boucher
Finally, we chose some fresh ingredients to create a salad. We found a lovely dress for our granddaughter and purchased a crêpe pan so that Chris could impress J & K with his crêpe making skills.
The amazing displays of fresh fruit and vegetables are always enticing
Afterwards we shopped at the local supermarket, Intermarché for a few more purchases. We were amazed to see the local pizza vending machine near the carpark. France never ceases to amaze.
Pizza from a machine!
Back at home, our long lunch consisted of charcuterie, cheese, olives, rillettes de canard and wine, bien sur. We left J to continue working and we enjoyed their extensive garden, admiring the pretty and interesting features. Later he made us strawberry pĩna coladas by the pool. It’s a hard life.
We finished the day with a drive into the countryside for dinner in a very tiny village of Blanzay at restaurant Les Drôles, about 30 minutes away.
We ate on the terrace. Monsieur is the chef and madame is the sommelier and they juggle their restaurant alongside a young family. Bravo! The two of them provided us with the most amazing food and wine experience. Check out the photo of their menu chalkboard at the beginning of the post and see if you can match to our meals below.
The rain held off until our drive home. But then the most magnificent orange and crimson sunset exploded across the sky. This was followed by rows and rows of lights on the giant windmills across the landscape guiding us home. We were enjoying the spectacle too much that we didn’t take photos.
Our final day with our family – Chris made crêpes (I didn’t manage to take any photos, whoops). We enjoyed a lazy day in garden with the sound of birdsong and bees buzzing in the lavender. By now I had seen the red squirrel about 5 times but he was always too quick for me to capture in a photo.
Chilling by the pool
I caught up on my journalling and drawing while Chris took lots of photos. We spent time in the pool and sipping more pĩna coladas, thanks J.
J at the BBQ preparing all the food we purchased at the market. K prepared the salads and everything was delicious.
We slipped into the evening, BBQing, talking and wine flowing. A lemon meringue from the local boulangerie for dessert and some more digestifs to complete a wonderful day.
One last beautiful evening
Our visit was so perfect and we were very sad to leave the following day. I haven’t decided where we will travel to in the next blogpost but for now, Bonne nuit et à bietôt.
Bonne nuit
