The cycle continues

Another laid back week has passed. On Saturday we visited the Marche where we followed the locals lead, buying a fresh croissant and a pain de raison from one of the many boulangeries, and taking it with us to the cafe to have with our coffee! We picked up the necessary veges, fruit and some Brebis cheese and then headed out to Beauvois - de Matha to visit Candice, a delightful English woman, who has an equally delightful young black pussycat called Wilson who needs looking after for a week in mid April. Sunday night we put the clocks forward which gave us an extra hour in bed, and I made the dreadful mistake of going to one of the 'chain style' bakeries for a baguette for lunch. It was abysmal at best, white, fluffy bread with no aeration, no chewy texture, and a crispy flaky crust which just went everywhere. Flashback to the average Aussie baguette. Lesson learned.

The laidback days are still productive, and there's always plenty to do. On the sunny days, there was gardening to be done and Tuesday afternoon was dedicated to lawnmowing. A good hour and a half of incidental exercise, rewarded with a large GnT. On the subject of exercise, I have been back on my regular exercise routine every morning and am even more grateful for the constant reminder to do at least 20 squats a day, as a loo stop in a pretty average bar in Matha, heralded the familiar porcellain toilet bowl with no toilet seat. I had forgotten about these, and subsequently I am now more diligent than ever with my squats exercises.

We had another trip to our favorite €2 shop, GIFI where I picked up the perfect gardening crocs (trademarked as Hipps in this case). I think you'll agree from the photos, they belong on my feet! We also picked up 'Wally' the whipper snipper as a useful addition to the gardening tools. There is a large drain across the street side of the house, and it was well overdue for a clean up so Roger whipped and snipped his way for the rest of the afternoon.

We have picked up a House sit in Sur Leveuge, near Limoge for 12 days from tomorrow, Good Friday and we've got a couple of black labs and sweet little pussy cat to look after. It's another expat British family who have lived in France for 20 years so we're looking forward to a change of scenery and some long walks in the local forest and farmlands, as the house is quite remote. More in the next blogg post.

On the subject of Easter, this is our first French experience and it's notably different. For a start, life goes on as normal on Good Friday - it is not a public holiday, except in the Alsace region (for historical reasons). We are surprised, considering the strong Catholic affiliations in France. Easter Sunday and Monday are the significant days, with a public holiday on the Monday. School holidays start in our region on Saturday and go for two weeks - they are staggered in zones across the country. But the most disappointing thing is that I cannot find a hot cross bun ANYWHERE. Many of you will know of my love of extra spicy, warm, fruity hot cross buns and some of you have even sampled my home made ones, but it's hardly justified to make them just for the two of us. Perhaps I'll make some when Emma Lou and Johhny arrive - without the crosses!
Note - there are still aisles of chocolate in the supermarkets, and plenty of croissants, pain de raison, and pain au chocolat to choose from. Oh well it is Easter 🐰Read more