Lunch at Chateau Carbonneau

Our friends , Cliona and Tony, came to stay with us for the weekend and we enjoyed a delightful lunch at our favourite local chateau.  Tony posted on his blog with all his great photos, so I've decided to share it with you as he did such a good job.

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Bon week-end mes amis

Chateau Rigaud and our first outdoor lunch of this unusual year

 

Now that restaurants and bars are permitted to open their outdoor areas, we were desperate to enjoy a lunch in the sunshine with friends. Lots of places have extended their outdoor eating areas or even installed new ones where they had none to make the most of the restrictions in place for covid.

Chateau Rigaud is usually only open as a wedding venue and what a beautiful place for a wedding this is. But, not being able to operate as usual with all that has happened in the past year, they have decided to open a “pop up” restaurant on their terrace. We were very lucky to be their first guests.

With a limited menu and excellent local wines, we enjoyed finally being out with friends enjoying a gorgeous sunny day in the garden.

After lunch, our hostess offered us a guided tour of the grounds, including the potager where they grow everything for their kitchen. A full time gardener certainly can create and maintain a beautiful setting.

The start of another wonderful summer for us.

Bon dégustation mes amis 

We celebrate spring

 

It's been a while since the last blog post. It's been very quiet here with nowhere to go and nothing new as everything has been cancelled. Not sure if we are celebrating the arrival of spring, or that we are emerging from confinement here. We have been in lockdown three times in the past sixteen months. We have had little opportunity to see friends or even share a coffee at the market. We have been very careful to avoid groups especially in enclosed spaces and are still wearing our masks. Our outings have consisted of food shopping or visits to the garden centre. The garden has had a lot of attention over the last month since the weather started to improve.

But that all gets a little easier this month. So far, the ten kilometre limit has been lifted and we can now travel anywhere in the country. Next week, bars and restaurants with outside areas will re-open and the curfew will be 9pm, instead of the 7pm we have been living with. Next month we expect  even more loosening of restrictions as the summer weather arrives – and probably with it the tourists.

We are looking forward to overnight stays with friends further afield and catching up with others over lunch on a restaurant terrace.

And Lily is enjoying playing in the garden again

Vive le printemps

Saint Valentin

 

St Valentine’s Day in France. We don't usually celebrate this, but, with the coronavirus restrictions meaning that we haven't been able to dine out for months, we decided to take the opportunity to try the special Valentine's Day take away menu from our favourite local restaurant, L’Ardoise.

There were four courses on offer all well packaged and with instructions in french, of course.  We started with an amuse-bouche of smoked trout with a curry crème and pecan crumble. 

Then a tartare of coquille St Jacques ( scallops) with a dressing of walnut oil and lime with dried duck and black truffle. 

The main was a grenadin de veau ( a thick fillet of veal) with smoked marrow and a black garlic sauce , braised endive, a biscuit of carrot and cumin, and a square of polenta with mushrooms.

And to finish, and share, an amazing pillow filled with wonderful flavours and topped with a heart full of strawberry ganache.

It was easy to prepare and serve and delicious washed down with champagne. 

Takeaway taken to a whole new level.

bons voeux à tous

Quelle horreur !

 

The boat is usually in the river, not on the quayside

The riverside restaurant

We’ve had a lot of rain recently and the Dordogne river is high, but we thought all would be well when the rain stops.

Little did we know……………

If the river rises any higher...

The flooding of the riverside path has undermined this whole section of stone retaining wall . Other residents in the street have been advised to move their cars to a safer place in case the rest of the wall also disappears into the river.

View from the other side of the river

 

This is on our side of the river but on the other side of the bridge, for those who know our place.

The station wagon belongs to our friend Steffi. She was about to go out shopping but was delayed by a phone call when this happened. I’m suggesting she should buy herself a lotto ticket today.

Riverside houses on this street..... that is usually a pathway

Across the river in Sainte Foy la Grande.......the water level is still creeping up

Hoping that the road doesn't also crumble
or getting them out will be tricky

 

We await further developments.

Bonne journée mes amis