15.11 Day 60 . . . Aubigne House

So it would not be a holiday trip without us showing our guests our little Lezay market as it was Tuesday. We dragged Mr & Mrs Hollywood out of our place early doors and off we went in the torrential rain to Lezay with Mr H having a drive of the splendid hire car.
Surprising, we arrived safely and non-dented at Lezay and basically run (shuffled) from the car to the little cafe we often visit. The rain was bloody awful. We weren’t the only ones seeking cover in the cafe as it appeared the busiest we’d ever seen it.
The waitress came over to take our order, at which point Mr H - buoyed by his driving display, decided to go for gold and order his own drink . . . ‘Un café con lèche por favor’ belted bravely across the table. I was sure the waitress was about to burst into a fit of giggles but instead she simply replied ‘Oui’ and took the remaining orders. I was left speechless 😂
Most of the regular market stalls had failed to turn up due to the weather, but in a short break from the rain we did a quick tour of the stalls that were on site or within the indoor market. The indoor market allowed Mr H to practice more of his French vocabulary ordering a ‘Pomme Flan’, which again was met with jaw dropping understanding by the market worker. I think I will have a go at the language Mr H uses as it works every time.
Mrs H had a go as well ordering six pears, although she almost ordered 16 - but saved herself brilliantly.
The market was however such a damp squib we returned to the car and home with pears, pomme flan a cheese ballon cake and various other goodies safely secured.
We had an hour or so at home and grabbing lunch before heading out to view a house at Aubigne. There we met Peter the estate agent who showed us a lovely property with a stunning garden, in fact really three independent gardens and a further area of orchard that needed recovery from brambles on acid. The house was actually three houses all joined. The first was in a good state of repair with some interior work required. The middle second needed decidedly more work, more than we had expected. The third was a wreck - so much so it had its own resident bats . . . Yes bats!
The houses however were in a lovely setting with lovely grounds and Teresa just loved the church nearby, I however was less enthused about bells every hour at a distance of about 50 metres away. After a good period of time we left the property and made our way to Chef Boutonne.
At Chef we entered a bar we’ve not visited too many times and had a couple of drinks. Then we went to grab some supplies from the SuperU Express - we decided introduce Mr & Mrs H to confit duck.
Back home we had the duck and another batch of smashed potatoes, all washed down with a few wines, beers and pinau, before calling it a day.
Tomorrow is due to be better weather - fingers crossed.Read more