Market Day again!!! I did not even hear the vendors setting up which is amazing because they are usually very loud. When we finally got up, we decided it was the day for eclairs for breakfast. With a banana, of course! The box the eclairs came in was beautiful! You can tell how delicious they were just by looking at them, oui?
After breakfast we walked through the market just drooling over the cheese and the gorgeous vegetables. There are fewer vendors for sure but their products are wonderful.
In an early post, I mentioned two new shops that had opened in Saint Aignan. Saturday we were able to visit the new shop on the square -- Maitre Savonitta. I failed to get a picture of the front of the store but I will tomorrow and post it. It is a pretty store, brightly lit and chock full of French soaps, lotions, decor, etc. Of course we had to pick out some French soaps to take home. Boy was that a difficult decision!
It tickled us because Douglas had just told us that when it's lunchtime, look out because the shop owners quickly close their stores to have lunch. We were leisurely shopping and picking out a few things and the owner came over and showed me her watch to let me know she was closing in five minutes! Of course we are used to salespeople staying open as long as anyone is willing to shop and spend money. We wrapped up our shopping quickly so she would not miss her lunch!
I'm sure the store is quiet now most of the time because of the time of year, but I bet it will be bustling in the summer tourist season.
Many of the people we know gather at Aux Cepages after the Saturday market but we forgot so we missed out on the boisterous conversations that are part of the gathering. On her way home for lunch, Claire stopped by our house and we shared a glass of wine and got caught up on the local news. Douglas had gone on home ahead of her to prepare lunch and after waiting for about two hours for her to come home, he came over to collect her. Of course he had to have a glass of wine too! I think they had lunch at about 4:30 pm.
We were invited to Christina and Claude's for dinner and promptly at 7:00 pm Claude came by to walk us to his house. How polite is that? Their home is very, very pretty and full of beautiful furniture. When we arrived we had Christina's special sangria and it was delicious. She had set out many hors d'ouevres and I would have been happy with just that to eat and drink.
She then served this beautiful salad. There were three kinds of salad on the plate with a perfect avocado in the middle. The dressing was fresh and light. They served a great red wine with this course but they served David white wine because they know he prefers it. They could not be more accommodating!
Both Claude and Christina love to sing so while Christina finished preparing dinner, Claude sang a few songs for us. The she joined us and sang a few songs too.
Christina prepared a wonderful chicken and noodles dish for me, Claude and herself. It was out of this world!
David got his own special meal because he is a vegetarian. It was tortellini in a bechamel and gruyere cheese sauce -- what could be better than that???
The main course was followed by a small drink of Calvados in a gorgeous crystal goblet.
Next was the cheese course. Claude served a very special red wine with this course. It was a gift from Christina on their anniversary! You can see that David was very happy and content.
Finally they tried to serve us the ice cream we brought for dessert but there was no way we could eat another bite. Or drink another drop.
After a little more conversation we said good night and rolled downhill to our house. Thankfully it is a very short walk.
We were up early on Friday and really had no plans. This is when we really enjoy being at La Boulangerie! We relaxed in our pajamas drinking coffee and iced tea and talking about Saint Aignan for a few hours. This is just such a comfortable home! For breakfast we had toast and a banana. Contrary to Rachael's belief, we do not eat pastries EVERY morning; just MOST mornings! We are in France people!!! What do you expect?
We love to walk up to the chateau when we are here. It is beautiful and I'm itching to get inside and tour it! I wonder if it is ever open to the public? On the walk back home we stopped at the bakery for a baguette. David was carrying it in his hand but our friend, Carine, stopped him to tell him he should carry it like a Frenchman -- tucked under his arm. He practiced and here is the correct way to carry a baguette!
I'm sorry to say this was a pretty uneventful day. A few friends stopped by. Veronique visited for awhile and she is fun to talk to. David went over to Douglas's to pick up some wine that Douglas bought for us at the market and he ended up staying over there for over an hour just chatting with Douglas. It's amazing how easy it is to eat up the hours!
We stayed in Friday night and had snacks for dinner. And a chocolate bar. And wine. A very, very good evening indeed!
After a good night's sleep we got up and David went to the bakery for a baguette and breakfast pastries. He had pain au amande (again) and I had a chocolate croissant. We planned to walk to the Super U today to take our recycles to the bins and to buy some ice cream to take to dinner on Saturday night at Christina and Claude's.
On the way we ran into Carine. With much difficulty I talked her into having her picture taken.
It was a cold, clear, sunny day so the walk was very enjoyable! It was nice to unload the recyclables which might have included a wine bottle or two!
We went inside the store to buy ice cream and look what we found -- Ben and Jerry's! We did not buy that to take to dinner, tho, we bought a French brand. We bought salted caramel and vanilla bean.
That evening we were invited to Aux Cepages to celebrate the owner's (Michelle's) birthday. We went over at 6:00 and Christina and Claude and Veronique were there. You should have seen how many bouquets of flowers she received. I would guess over 25!!! Michelle was all dressed up and her dress had a large photo-picture of Marilyn Monroe on it! Her hair was up in a very complicated do and it looked very cool. I wanted to take a picture of her but she was very busy.
Around 7:00 David and I walked over to Delices d'Asie for Chinese food. We ate there a few times last time we were here and the food is very good. The restaurant is owned by Julie and her fiance whose name I don't know. He is the chef. They remembered us and since Julie speaks a little English, we had a nice visit. I ordered the special which was crispy chicken and it was VERY good! Julie remembered that David is a vegetarian so she said the chef would make something good for him and David said it was delicious!
We weren't planning on ordering dessert but Julie brought us some anyway. It was so good. Like fried cake around ice cream. The ice cream tasted like pineapple sherbet. We were happy she brought us some anyway!
About 9:00 we walked home and settled in to watch TV and there was a knock on the door. Claire and Douglas stopped by on their way home from a history class about the Bronze Age. We opened a bottle of wine and Claire declared she was starving so luckily we had crackers and cheese and salami and a little ham. It wasn't much but she seemed perfectly content with our offerings! The conversation flowed and we laughed and carried on. One bottle of wine was so good we opened another bottle and drank that too. Truly one of the most enjoyable nights we've had this trip. I think the spontaneous get togethers can be the most fun! When we finished the second bottle of wine we didn't have anymore so they went home. It was around 12:30 a.m. and I think we were all ready for bed then.
First I must apologize for the delay in posts -- my computer just decided to quit working for no apparent reason! I was finally able to get it to work again so I will catch up on my blog now. Desole!
We woke up early today . . . excited for the day ahead! David made us a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs with cheese and toasted baguette. We still cannot get used to the eggs not being refrigerated!!! He used the eggs we bought at the organic market and they were really good.
We met our new friend, Veronique, for coffee and we had a nice visit. She speaks excellent English and is so patient with our poor French. She was once married to a Croatian man and lived in Croatia for many years. They are divorced and she has been back in Saint Aignan for 20 years. She worked for the town government but is now semi- retired and is a reflexologist. Her son lives in Paris and her daughter lives in Biarritz. She is good friends with Nathalie, the La Boulangerie house manager. She is very interesting and told us many things about the history of Saint Aignan and a little bit about the local politics. We had a very enjoyable time.
In the afternoon we had plans to go with Phillipe, Claire and Douglas to visit Montpoupon, a small chateau not too far from here in a pretty town called Cere-La-Ronde. We have met Phillipe a few times when he has been with Douglas and Claire. It was sad, tho, that it was a very, very cold, rainy day for our adventure!!! But we bundled up and went anyway.
It is very beautiful and the setting it is in is breath taking. Again, not the best weather for pictures.
Families have inhabited the chateau since 1460. A family still resided there until about 5 years ago! It was somewhat of a fancy hunting lodge. They sport hunted with dogs and hunted for animals including wolves, wild boar, rabbits and other small creatures. You can see by the displays that it was very formal hunting with regulation apparel and when the women hunted, they rode side-saddle.
The first area we visited was the small chapel and library.
I'm not sure why this dress was on display but I think Rachael should have worn it at her recent wedding!
We then crossed the courtyard and entered the main home. Isn't the tile floor lovely?
The formal dining room was completely furnished with original pieces. The second picture shows the gorgeous stenciling on the beams.
On the second floor there was a different tile. There weren't very many informative plaques so I don't know how old these tiles are but I love them.
The pictures below are obviously the bedrooms. It is amazing how much of the original furniture is still in this small chateau!
The pictures below are of the room that was kept for the King. I read that every house had to have a room prepared for the King always. I guess you never knew when the King would drop by for a sleepover!
More gorgeous stenciled ceiling beams.
The bedrooms were quite large and had many personal pieces displayed.
This was denoted as the lady's room.
The kitchen was in another building. Look at this massive cook stove! The day we were there, the kitchen was being thoroughly cleaned. Every surface was being scrubbed and polished including many, many copper pots. Also the wood surfaces were being cleaned with linseed oil. The attendant said they do it once per year.
David noticed this print and immediately said it was the Chick-fil-A cow imploring the French people to eat more chicken!!!
The wine cellar was also in a separate building. The display showed a grape press and wine barrels and a corking machine -- all of the tools of the wine trade.
This chateau/museum is a work in progress. There are many buildings that are being prepared with displays. One building is only hunting art. Beautiful paintings of hunting dogs and hunting experiences. There is also a stable display with life-size horses in the stalls and a tack room set up. There was a building of only the garb of hunters displayed. Hundreds of coats and lots of very cool boots. We could have spent many more hours there but because the weather was so miserable, we cut our visit a little short.
We returned home for a short rest and then met up with Claire and Douglas again for dinner. We invited them to Le 8 because they had not been there yet and because they have been feeding us so many meals! Le 8 is a very, hip, cool, trendy bar and restaurant up past the cinema on the main street.
We had asked a few of the local residents about it and most said that it was OK but too expensive. Many thought it was good for lunch but not for dinner.
Here are some pictures of the interior. Claire thinks it is too stark but anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE black and white decor so I want to live there!!!
We all loved this wall hanging.
For a starter, Claire and Douglas ordered beef carpaccio and Claire declared it was the best she had ever eaten! I'm sorry I don't have a picture of it. For our main courses, David had a vegetarian burger that was made with pesto and he said it was delicious!
I had a regular burger that was perfectly flavored and very savory. Douglas had what he called plain old steak and frites and Claire had tuna tartare. She said her dish was only OK.
And, of course, we had to sample dessert. What kind of a restaurant critic would I be if I didn't???
Douglas was too full for dessert but David ordered a sort of bread pudding with salted caramel ice cream. Claire and I had a chocolate something which was a cross between the most delicious fudge ever and a gateau. The desserts were spectacular!!!
We noticed the salt and pepper shakers were hippopotamuses and they were very cute. I was commenting on them and looked over at Douglas and about spit my wine out!
It was an absolutely fabulous evening!!!
