What a great week away with Mr H in France, joined by our lovely chums Nicky & Jules, Pam and Jude and Sophie in Ile de Re.
Firstly a couple of nights on the way down, H’s special treat of a trip to Henri Bourgois in Sancerre for another chance to wreck the car suspension with a lot of wooden cases wine boxes. Leaving no room for Scrumpy in the back, delighted to be promoted to Mummy’s lap in the front of the car.
Night 2 was in La Rochelle, the gateway to Ile de Re, with a rather lovely fruits de mer stop on the way down. Busy, bustling, full of sailing boats, bars, fooderies and people watching opportunities. Oh and a cocktail or two, obvs.
And then on to the main pad – we’d rented a big French shabby chic pad bang in the centre of St Martin de Re, all of 30 seconds walk from the market, harbour and the famous – and well tested by us – ice creamery, La Martinique.
Best idea ever was hiring bikes for the week for all 7 of us, especially my electric velo that allowed me to be the upfront pace setter for the first time in my life, rather than red faced and sweaty at the back, always fearful that the peloton will set off again at pace, the second I finally catch up with them. This is definitely the bike of the future for me…
Spent 5 fab days together, cycling to the ‘dog friendly beach’ that the Tourist Info lady ‘yes I have a dog myself’ directed us to, only to discover large ‘Chiens Interdit’ signs and that we were, in fact, now on the only nudist beach of the island, being stared back at by naked French men, bronzed todgers waggling in the wind.
We ignored it all, and, emboldened by the sight of a couple of other dogs at the waterline, Scrumpy and Finn had a ball in the surf, luckily not one previously attached to any sunbathing hommes…
Scrumpy rapidly ditched her specially ordered back of bike dog carrier for the relative security of the Hannibal wine van, having howled like she was being beaten all the way there and back in her carrier on Day 1 – lucky that Finn needed a major wagon to cart him back and forth.
So we all ate and drank and chatted, and ate and drank some more, using the many miles in the bike saddles as a good excuse for trying all the local delights. Baguette, ham, pastries and truffle cheese for breakfast, lovely French salad, frites, plats du jour and rose for lunch, interspersed with stops at the rickety seashore shacks for huitres and island wine. And dinners back in the house, firing up the bbq, creating a mountain of fruits de mer and sending the smell of sardines down the shared passageway while trying to stop giant Finn leaping out the opened kitchen window in pursuit of small french dogs as a canine snack…
Relaxing, funny, a great chance to catch up more fully than London life sometimes allows.
And definitely helped by perfect September weather. Currently sitting on the Brittany ferry from St Malo to Portsmouth, loads of space, brilliant sun trap on the 10th deck, a weirdly good value nice lunch and even a trip to the onboard cinema to watch Yesterday. Slightly odd when you forget briefly that you are on a boat, and realise that the cinema is rocking from side to side…
Home tonight and off to Bangalore first thing Monday (boo) to run a 2 day Kantar workshop. Poor H starts his 2 months of weekdaily radiotherapy on Wed, so it’s back down to earth with a bump for both of us. Still, a really nice break, merci to everyone for making it so memorable x