Hot Times in a French Village

When we arrived in the little village of Vermenton on Saturday, we had no idea what the place was like. We even got a little lost on the walk from the station to Le Moulinot, so that we found ourselves in the grounds of another mill house. To our horror that one was completely derelict. I know that sometimes photos can be flattering, but this was ridiculous.

Fortunately we realised our mistake and managed to locate the correct place. Now, after just two nights in our lodging, the place is really starting to feel familiar. We can navigate to the two most important places in the town (the supermarket and the even more important boulangerie), without getting lost at all.

We awoke to another perfectly clear morning. Although the night had been cool, the forecast was for a quite hot day, with a top temperature of nearly 30C. After breakfast, we walked back to the boulangerie for cakes and baguettes. We also noticed that the brasserie was open. That was reason for some excitement.

When we were staying in Caumont four years ago, a simple highlight of each day was an early morning walk, followed by a coffee and pain chocolate in the village square. We thought we could repeat this routine here.

Unfortunately the reception we received as we walked into the door of the brasserie was decidedly cool. Icy in fact. We struggled to order our drinks, but this only seemed to exasperate the proprietor. He scribbled down something on a piece of paper, then screwed it up and threw it aside in disgust.

When the drinks arrived, they were actually quite good, but the poor attitude of the owner had spoilt the moment. It was really quite an uncomfortable place to be, and we decided that we probably would not be returning there any time soon.

The remainder of the day was spent resting and exploring the walking paths near the mill house. This is an exceptionally beautiful location, although a lot of the infrastructure is in need of major repairs. Not far from the house is a complex of 24 petanque courts. Unfortunately, they were all in a very poor state of repair.

I guess the problem of maintenance in a country which must have hundreds of thousands of buildings and other structures over 200 years old, is never ending.Read more