Winter Sunshine

What a difference a few weeks makes.

When last I posted, we were shivering under a thick blanket of snow and wondering if winter would stretch on forever.

This weekend the sun came out and showed us that there is hope on the horizon for a glorious spring.

We decided to revisit the Chateau de Perigny.  A beautiful place near the town of Vouillé.  Approximately 20km from where we live.

Our last visit there had been to have dinner in the restaurant and as it was night time, we did not get to see the full charms of the Chateau, which is now a restaurant and hotel.

As you can see it is a lovely building overlooking a small valley. The outbuildings are used as the actual restaurant and accomodation, leaving the fabric of the Chateau untouched.

The meal was superb!  No photos as it was a bit too posh to be whipping out the camera to take snaps of the meal.... not that I have ever done that before....   For entree, I had a carpaccio of seafood and salicorn.  Wayne enjoyed mini croquettes of pigs feet.  We both ordered the wild boar with cranberries and quince paste for our main meal, and dessert was figs poached in spiced wine with fromage blanc for Wayne, and a crisp chocolate shell containing passionfruit mousse and a quenelle of mango sorbet for me.

The entrees and main course were sublime.  Roasted loin of wild boar with quince paste was a new taste pairing for both of us.  The boar was succulent and flavourful, and the quince paste brought out the savoury notes while adding a hint of sweetness and a tart finish. Toned down the richness of the boar and made it possible to enjoy every mouthful.  The sauteed wild mushrooms on the side were just a little bit of heaven to add to the whole dish.

Wayne loved his dessert.  I had wanted the figs, but they had orange in the poaching liquid... tant pis!  So I ordered the alternate dessert.  It was nice, and the presentation was gorgeous - but I found it too sweet for my palate.  I said to Wayne later that I probably should have had a cheese course instead of dessert and it would have been a perfect meal.  Oh well, always next time.

After a short walk around the Chateau grounds to take photos, we headed to the village of Sanxay.  All of the Poitou-Charentes is known for its Roman history and huge amount of ruins and remains.  Sanxay is the site of a large complex containing a theatre, thermal baths and temple. 

Whilst it was gloriously sunny, the temperature left a lot to be desired.... especially on the windswept slopes of the theatre.... We both wished we had taken our winter coats, instead of optimistically wearing spring weight jackets.  Not even gloves or hats had been thought of in our eagerness to go and make the most of the sun.

It was worth the effort of braving the cold though.  I would highly recommend a visit to this site if you are ever in the Poitou-Charentes.  Incredible ruins and well thought out plan for the visit.  No hard paths and obvious signage, but each person is given a guide book at the office which explains the site step by step and also gives information on the trees and plant life on the site.  A more personal approach.  You can read the hightlights, or go into more detail as you prefer.

Next weekend I embark on a new project, courtesy of our lovely neighbours.  Their father has vineyards and usually makes his own wine and pineau.  This year I too am going to learn how to do this, starting with the pruning of the vines and finishing - hopefully - with a nice table wine sometime next year.  I am looking forward to learning this skill and will ensure to keep you all updated as we accomplish each task.

Fun in the Sun

What more could you want?

Sun, sea and archaeology. A perfect mix.

The IfA conference was held in Southport this year. A place I had never visited before, but was curious to see.

It did not disappoint. A melange of tacky seaside carnival, a high street to rival any other, majestic Victorian architecture, and excellent restaurants. With an enormous statue of good old Vicky presiding over all.

She is always portrayed as old and grumpy, but her young married life was full of sex, lust and joie de vivre. Never fails to amuse me that this most prudish era was named after a girl who was "hot to trot" - although it must be added that this was only within the confines of marriage and she was totally faithful to her Albert.

Enough of that.

I will write a separate post on the food and restaurants, but let me say now that it was a good food trip. A brief teaser..... I did eat fish and chips and mushy peas. Obligatory really, but that will not be the highlight.

The weather was glorious and it was a joy to walk around exploring in brilliant sunshine.

Of course I shopped a little..... ok, a lot.

I went over with an A4 list of things I needed to buy for both of us. Managed to get all of the list barr one item. Pretty good going I thought. I was especially pleased with my cashmere cardigan reduced from 175pounds to 20 pounds. My Mum taught me well.

To business.

The speakers at the conference were great. The problem was deciding which ones to attend! I was disappointed that one of my favourite speakers was only given 20 minutes to talk. She is so entertaining and interesting that you go away wanting more. I did make a point of requesting a longer session next time though.

We attended a formal dinner on the first night. Met some really interesting people and had a delicious meal (warmed goat cheese with salad for entree, herb crusted rack of lamb with veg for plat and pavlova with strawberries for dessert). One of the best formal dinners I have attended.

The informal dinner and party the next night was not so good unfortunately. The meal was a bit disappointing and everyone seemed to disappear to the pub immediately after eating. So no dancing or mingling. Luckily I was at a table with good company and we sat and chatted for a while till the (really!) bad disco music drove us away.

Friday we had an excursion to the beach...... but you will have to watch this space for more on that!

Lastly, you would not believe the fabulous little shop I discovered just off Lord Street. It was a magical place of rocks, fossils and books. More and varied collections you have never seen before. I could quite happily have moved in and never left.

I spent probably about the better part of an hour chatting with the owner and admiring the wonderful selection on his shelves.

No, I did not buy any books. By this stage my suitcase was nearing dangerously overloaded.... sigh. Of course this just means that I have to visit another time to explore the titles on the 3 floors (yes 3 whole floors!!!!) of books.

Simply heaven.

Fly away with me.....

Well, just a quick post to say that I am off to an archaeology conference for the next week in England.

Not sure if I will be able to post on the run, so will leave you with this lovely picture of a magnolia tree that I spotted near Parc Monceau. Not only was the tree beautiful, but it was in front of a lovely brick and stone building. Just looked perfect together.

Have a good week.
A bit blurry, and too bright... but not bad for an iphone camera.