Bourg - Day 28-29-30

09-28: My back pain has become progressively worse. Today I will be laying low for sure. We played cards, had a nice BLT using our heirloom tomatoes from the market yesterday for lunch. Stuart fixed the precooked ribs for dinner and I fixed the Romanesco. A very quiet day.

09-29: Today we are prepping a little bit for our departure on Oct. 1^st. The things we moved around need to be put back in place, cleaning out the fridge will be tomorrow, but laundry was today. It doesn’t seem like we have been here a month, even though some of the days dragged along a bit. We each got a lot done on computers, etc.

09-30: Today was spent packing and more. One has to look in all the little areas around the apartment to be sure nothing is left behind. I am struggling with some back pain. Stuart is very gracious to help do things that bother me. We ate the last of our leftovers from dinner day before yesterday. We really did our best to be sure we are not wasting food or throwing it away. We will leave a few things for our hosts to pick up later. By 8p we are having a huge thunder and lightening storm. The goal is to get to bed a bit early tonight so we can rise early and put the last of the things in our suitcases and leave the apartment as we found it. I love the sound of the thunder and rain is comforting when you are inside and nice and warm.

Bourg - Day 25-26-27

09-25: I did get my nails done this afternoon. The lady did a nice job. She spoke no English. I speak so little French it is useless. However, with Google translate and a few phases I wrote down, we managed just fine. After that I met Stuart at Le Boudoir and we shared a sandwich but had a huge sort of sundae to follow. It was breathtaking and also delicious. If you have ever had Afogato, it was like that only huge! We planned to eat at a new restaurant tonight but we were too full after that and just had some cheese and chips. Stuart went to the store today and got a few things. Our time is growing short here and we don’t need too much. We also did laundry and played cards, that was it.

09-26: We did the usual things today but tonight we went out for a nice dinner at Cuisine Dépendance. We were headed to a tapas place but it was closed. This seems to be the case in many places that we go. Anyway, the dinner we had was delicious. Fanny says it is considered the nicest place to eat in this area. Other than the hike back up the hill after dinner, it was a perfect evening! We heard music from the organ in the church today. Even though they don’t have regular services there, they will have a service there tomorrow. It is some mass from the Pope they are streaming in to the church.

09-27: Today is farmer’s market day in Bourg. This is one of the most exciting days of the week here. Not only is the market wonderful, but the whole vibe of the area seems lively and entertaining. Our first stop was the boulangerie for some sweets. We are meeting Fanny and Paul at the wine bar at 11a and we wanted to get something to share. While Stuart waited in line there, I went to the produce and took my place in line. Here you do not wander about and pick what you want. You wait in the queue and then one of the staff picks what you point to and give any amount you want, but you do not touch the produce. It is just a different way of doing things. After that I headed to the wine bar where Stuart was waiting. We picked bottle of wine with the owner’s help. It was something to go with the pastry. Soon Paul and Fanny arrived and we enjoyed all these treats together. Paul wanted to go to the boulangerie to get something else. It was a baguette hot from the over with chorizo chopped up inside. It was very good and actually too hot to eat at first, that’s how fresh it was. They also invited us to their home for lunch. I was not feeling good with my back but we went and it was nice to see 2 of their 3 children again. They have really grown up in 2 years since we have been here. Paul cooked an entire fillet of salmon on his flat-top grill and then sauteed rice on the same grill along with onion and garlic. Their daughter made a delicious Hollandaise sauce to go with it. It was one of the best I have ever tasted, the lemon in it was scrumptious. By late afternoon we finished and bid our friends farewell. We wonder if we will ever see them again … Perhaps. We played some cards. I took a brief nap after all the wine we had today! Later we ate our leftovers from last night for dinner. It was a lovely day.

Bourg - Day 22-23-24

09-22: Today is Stuart’s day to be under the weather. In the night he had a lot of heartburn or something. Hopefully, he will feel better today and sleep well tonight. We laid low most of the day. Of course there was laundry to do. I fixed a baked potato for lunch and grilled cheese sandwich for dinner. We are very low on groceries. Neither of us felt like going out, so we were accepting of what we had here. I worked on photos and the album. Stuart did laptop things for some of his clients. I’m so glad he is feeling better tonight.

09-23: Another quiet day. Stuart was going to go shopping but we still have enough here to eat well today. He fixed fried potatoes with an egg on top, orange slices, and toast. We played Phase 10 for a few hours. Tonight we had the last of the pork chops from the freezer and the Romanesco we got at the farmer’s market. We are really looking forward to some of the changes we have put in place on our itinerary. The only real changes are after staying in Avignon. After we leave there, we will take the train to Dijon and board another river cruise from Dijon to Arles. We will see a few new places we have not seen! This shortens our time near Perpignan but we will still have plenty of time to see my cousins if it fits their schedule.

09-24: Today I was going to get my nails done. However, I walked to the place, actually found it, but it was closed. Darn. The waitress serving us at Jéroboam told me about the place. I went online and booked an appointment online for tomorrow at 2:30p. Hopefully, that will work out. Tonight we went to Blaye for dinner with Fanny and Paul. They picked us up and took us to a lovely place. It is some sort of private restaurant; I didn’t really understand what they told us. It was something like friends of the owners come and it they bring someone; those people can come again. I guess there is no advertising. As I said, I am really not sure at all. It was a very nice evening. First, we went to a separate little bar area by a pond and waterfall. There we had a spritz and an amuse bouche with some sort of fish pate, I think it was salmon. After that we went to the restaurant itself and had both starters and main dishes followed by 2 different desserts to share. Stuart and I had the steak and it was very good, but there was so much food we could not finish it. Fanny said taking the leftovers is just not done (even though we have done it many times) so we left it. I wasn’t really sure what Fanny ordered, it looked like tartare and maybe it was. Paul had the pork. Anyway, we had a delightful evening thanks to their very good English, not our poor French! Even though we probably will not come back to this area, we appreciate them and will always feel they are our friends, not just hosts. Fanny felt asleep on the ride back to Bourg. Stuart offered that they come up for a digestive, but of course Fanny has an early morning, was already tired, and they declined. We made arrangements to meet them at the wine bar at 11a on Sunday. Our last Sunday market in Bourg.

Road Trip - Days 16-17-18-19-20-21

09-16: Road Trip! We got an early enough start to make it to our Citadel Gin Tour at 11:30a. The roads were narrow most of the way until we got to the toll version of the trip. We were a little unsure about the toll but what you do is take a ticket and then at the end of the toll you scan your ticket and it tells you how much to pay. One can pay with cash, so we did that and received change. Along the way today we had the narrow roads I mentioned, farm equipment and at least 2 dozen traffic circles. It is amazing how GPS can be so accurate in these smaller, remote areas. Alas, we found the Citadel Gin place, but now where do we enter? If we had not seen a delivery person to ask, we would still be looking. They had one of their own work trucks parked in front of the entrance sign. Finally, we made it in only to discover we had booked the tour in French. That part was okay. However, where it said online, we could have a picnic lunch there, was not okay. They only do that as a special order, of course, we did not know that. It was a lovely place inside and the people were nice enough… but we decided to on for lunch in Cognac. We didn’t really want to taste gin on an empty stomach. They did say we could come back at 2p for the tour in English but the tickets weren’t much and we just decided to skip it. We drove to the heart of the City of Cognac and found a nice place for lunch outside just by the city center. A burger satisfied our hunger, but now what? Who wants to be in Cognac and not taste Cognac? We quickly looked on Get Your Guide and found a tour at Remy Martin Cognac starting in 30 minutes. It was a 10-minute drive, so we hurried to our car and got there with time to spare. I bought that on my phone as Stuart drove to the destination. The tour was interesting, but honestly, I don’t care for Cognac. It is very strong. Our tastes include a cocktail that had Cognac in it but still was refreshing and tasty. The actual Cognac tasting was a bit much. This is the area where cognac is made, it can only be called Cognac if is from this area. After that, we drove to our “room for the night” and settled in there. It was a nice room and only €40 for the 1 night, so a good deal that Stuart found on Airbnb. Later on, we ventured out and actually found a Pizza Place! We enjoyed our choices and shared ice cream after the pizza. We went back to our room, played Phase 10 and off to bed.

09-17-19: The rest of the road trip was a bit of a flop. We got to La Rochelle and found Casa Papilles for lunch. It was pretty good but our med/rare steak was almost raw. The wine and the desserts were good! On we went toward our destination. We were under the impression it was a beautiful place out on Ile de Ré. This is an island at the Atlantic Ocean and off the coast from La Rochelle. So, we drove there and the drive was nice most of the time I think Stuart said there were at least another two dozen roundabouts or traffic circle whatever you want to call them, and a handful of crazy drivers. We got a bit off track when arriving to our hotel but we finally found it. There are bicycles everywhere! This area is quite flat with a lot of ponds that are salt marches. There are trees in a few campgrounds where they have been planted. They seem to have a little café place also. We ate at such a place our first night and it didn’t set well with me. This is the extent we found for places to eat. We did have more of a restaurant near us, just a 15-minute walk. We at there on our last night. Stuart ate there a few times but I was back in our room with a touch of the flu for the 2 full days we were there. 

09-20: Now we are headed to Angouleme, where we have 1 night booked. As we left and headed toward home, we drove to the sea wall and saw the ocean and took a few photos. The drive was uneventful. In fact, we stopped at a restaurant in Rochefort called Cap Nell for a late lunch, it was quite delicious. We found our room for the night; it was ok but a little challenging. The older places are refurbished the best they can, but steps of 3 different sizes at each doorway can make navigating at night interesting. There was that but the bed was the worst we have experienced; quite the valley in the middle that one much attempt to climb out of, and also work at not rolling down into that valley all night long. Of course, we survived and headed out the next morning for Bourg. 

 09-21: It was a short drive back just 1.5 hours. We arrived in Bourg in time for lunch somewhere. It is Monday so a lot of things are closed. We thought to check Restaurant de Jéroboam and to our surprise it was open. We have been wanting to eat here but online it says it is closed for lunch. The waitress said they are open everyday for lunch! We each got a different Fixe Prixe from the daily menu. Stuart was more adventurous than I, he had the octopus and I had the chicken. Both were good. We also had a starter, Stuart’s was a paper wrapped shrimp in bisque, mine was a pork patty with thin sliced zucchini on top. Dessert was called Baba Cognac and it was good but way too much Cognac. The dish had a bread-like, large muffin soaked in Cognac with a spurt of whipped cream on the side. It could have fueled the next rocket to the moon it was so strong. We had some nice wine with this meal as well. That meal saw us through the rest of the day. Back at the apartment we unpacked, played 5 Crowns, and caught up on laptop items.

Bourg - Day 14-15

09-14: Another quiet day. Under the weather as something I ate didn’t agree with me again. We are reconsidering our plans to stay here the full month. I did reach Cousin Rene today by phone. I was glad of that. I will email him when we will be near Perpignan since we are somewhat changing our plans. We played a lot of 5 Crowns today. A lot of things are closed today since the “big” Sunday market must make people want a day of rest on Monday. We did all the usual... We are somewhat bored here. Looking forward do our road trip.

09-15: We did laundry and packed for our road trip tomorrow. Stuart fixed a nice late breakfast and an early dinner. Tonight's dinner was a bit like a Chopped TV show. What do we have in the fridge? A half jar of pasta sauce, a handful of green beans, two pork chops, and radishes. Stuart did have use of our Very limited pantry. Now, from the pantry he used garlic, red onion, butter, cayenne, left over cheese, and leftover green olives. He did an excellent job! It was delicious. He did not get "Chopped"! We are looking forward to a change of scenery and something new for the road trip!  

Bourg - Day 10-11-12-13

09-10: Today we spent about 7-8 hours working on a Grand South America cruise starting in January 2027. Some good friends are going on the same cruise so that is exciting for all of us. We have several excursions booked together. They have been better about booking than we have so we really needed to catch up, and we did. A few of our stops have nothing to book. Several more have nothing that fits my ability or interest for either of us. Anyway, it was a big job but our calendar is current as of today. Yes, there will no doubt be changes. However, now the majority of decisions have been made and we don’t need to spend time on that during our 6 weeks at home. Instead, we can enjoy our time with family, our garden, and catching up on things at home. Stuart made some pretty large sandwiches, Croque Monsieur for our lunch. We ate half and ate the second half for dinner! Great games of Rummikub tonight as well.

09-11: Today we slept in after the late night of Rummikub. We researched and booked a little trip up to the La Rochelle area for next week. We will also stop in Cognac for one night. We had a very filling late lunch with chili baked potatoes. Some housekeeping, dishes and laundry, and the rest of the day I worked on the album. Stuart did a variety of things on his laptop too. I had a call from Steven, which was nice. 

09-12: Stuart walked to Carrefour today. It isn’t far but he doesn’t want to lose our perfect parking place so he didn’t want to move the car. He only got a few things. He did get a nice bottle of white wine, which we sampled with a bleu cheese toast for our happy hour. For dinner I made a potato dish today using Tartiflette - recette au reblochon cheese that we bought at the Blaye market. I added zucchini to give us more vegetables and also some minced ham. Fanny said put bacon in it but the bacon we have found this time has not been great. The ham worked and we didn’t need any salt because it is really salty. It was really good. It was sizzling as the Tartiflette - recette au reblochon cheese melted into a creamy delight. We put together a little trip up to La Rochelle and surrounding areas for next week.

09-13: Sunday is market day here in Bourg. We were really looking forward to the pizza truck they had here last week. NO – It was not here today! We do seem to have a hard time finding pizza! We got a few things at the market. The produce was beautiful. After that we stopped at a snack place and got a few things. As we walked along, we noticed the Thai restaurant was open so we had Thai food for our lunch. It was good. Now things are being packed up and it isn’t even 1p yet. Two food vendors are done for the day, good thing we ate at the Thai place. We wanted a pastry or 2 for our breakfast but at a quick glance the cabinet was empty. We went to walk along home but the proprietor called us back, it was French but with motions I was sure that’s what she wanted. Then we saw the small baguette with raisins, nuts, and apricot. We bought that and after we paid, she gave us a regular baguette. They really had very little left but that was such a nice gesture. The rest of the day was cards, I worked on photos, Stuart put more in place for our road trip next week.

Bourg - Day 6-7-8-9

09-06: Awoke terribly tired today. Stuart was up and Paul & Fanny had texted him from the Farmer’s Market downstairs. He went on to meet them and I stayed back. He had a nice time; they met at the wine bar right near the center square. About 1p we walked back to the market but everything was closed down. Snooze you lose on Sunday Market in Bourg. We stopped at Bourg Joie for a cold drink and split a plate of pasta (chicken parmesan) that was ok. I guess I need to get in gear next week if I want something from the pizza truck! The rest of the day was spent with me working on the album and reading the John Grisham book. Stuart did other things on his laptop. Some more Rummikub, a nice happy hour with our cheeses, and leftovers for dinner. A quiet but nice day.

09-07: I finished my book and worked on the album. Meals in with all our groceries. We’ve washed all our towels as they seem quite stiff and scratchy. However, that didn’t help. They are the same because of course; there is no dryer to fluff them. You can see we have little to think about if that is our biggest problem. Cheeses and baguette seem to be our go-to right now. Certainly NOT low carb with all the bread.

09-08: Stuart went to the bakery early for a Danish and baguette. After that he got groceries. I am trying, with little results, to keep my feet up to reduce the swelling. Rummikub, laundry, and BLT for lunch.

09-09: It got pretty cold in the night and we have few coverings that are not feathers (which make me itch and get a puffy face). Colder weather is predicted. We may need to ask Fanny for something that is not stuffed with feathers. Today we planned lunch and wine tasting nearby. We ran into the same issue for lunch and timing. We should have watched the clock more closely. Stuart did manage to find Les Goûters d'Alice open until 8p so we went there. It was very close. Most of the food was sweets and snacks but they also had a hamburger on the menu, that works! After that we drove directly to a local winery for wine tasting. Chateau de la Grave was the name of it. The photo below shows the majesty of the property. However, the wine tasting is near the back of what is obviously a working farm. We did not see inside the Chateau but I read it is a Bed and Breakfast as well. We met another couple wine tasting there when we arrived. They were from Holland. They specifically came to the area to stay in this Bed and Breakfast called Maison Groleau. It also serves all meals there if you wish. They raved about it as a destination, not just a place to stay. I will try to check that later. Back to the wine tasting. It was a very quaint and nice place. The woman serving us spoke very good English, not that it is necessary, but it helps us understand. We tried 6 different, tiny tastes for €10, per person. The most expensive wine on their list was €39. Most were under €20. It was a nice experience even if we didn’t care that much for the wine. We did buy 2 bottles, 1 to give to Paul and Fanny and 1 for us. After that we drove down to the river and walked around a little bit. It wasn’t much fun as they have a small carnival going on right now. One river boat was in and we saw a lot of them coming back from a tour. Back home and a few games of Rummikub, album work, dinner and that was the end of our day.

Bourg - Day 4 & 5

09-04: I’m feeling under the weather today didn't do much of anything. Perhaps too much food and drink last night with our friends. Stuart did all the household duties and any necessities. We have a similar trash and recycle system here in town. It is by the church, just a short walk from the apartment. So that was a good job done. Before we had to drive to the church in the teeny town of Mombrier to deposit trash. Stuart also fixed lunch, Croque Monsieur (I didn’t eat much) and for dinner it was shrimp risotto, which really hit the spot. We bought the fresh shrimp in the market yesterday. We played some games. I started reading a book, something I haven’t done in a long time, it is a luxury! They have several books in English here. This one is John Grisham the Widow. I think it will be good. Stuart has done a few things for travel clients. We are both really looking forward to Blaye tomorrow and the Farmer’s market.

09-05: We got up a bit earlier than usual to be ready for the Farmer’s market in Blaye. Stuart went down to the boulangerie patisserie that is just 2-3 doors from us and got a delightful pastry with raisins. Of course, he got a fresh warm baguette and a croissant as well. Now it’s off to the market. What fun! We got at least 4 types of cheese we were looking for and several produce items. Everything is so fresh and bright. They seem to have more clothing and sweets than they did 2 years ago, but it was still a wonderful stop. I was really happy to see some linens and purchased 3 hand towels for our kitchen at home. They are very good quality like the ones I hope to also find in Avignon. We stopped for a snack at Le Petit Port restaurant, as we did last time. It was a bit surprising how unfriendly the staff was. No one smiling, no service with a smile for sure. We had a tiny plate of 4 little items plus a drink and felt fortified to go on to our next stop. We went to a home goods store because we wanted a few things. We have 1 broken ice tray, so we bought a new one. We also got a grater, laundry soap, dish liquid, wash clothes (those are not provided in Europe), and a few other things we deemed necessary. It was a good day. We played more Rummikub, some reading, some photos arranging, and off to bed.

Bourg - Day 3

09-03: Today is a day of rest. Stuart made a nice breakfast for us. We went to dinner at Fanny & Paul’s home so we got to see our farmhouse from the outside anyway. Just a few things have changed. There is a table with benches instead of a table and chairs in front. They also added a lovely planter box as a sort of privacy shield. Things are much the same. Anyway, we had a lovely dinner with constant conversation thanks to their proficiency in English. We had pork “spider” that Paul grilled. It is some portion around the neck from my understanding. Accompanying that was roasted pepper, onion, and other vegetables. Everything was delicious. I forgot to mention that first we had breadsticks, a dip, salami, bread, cherry tomato, and Aperol Spritz. White wine followed that, then red wine with the dinner. After the entrée we had a cheese course followed by dessert, Gâteau Basque, with the Basque cross on top. All the while we ate outside enjoying the lovely weather. To the south we could see Venus as the sun went down. It was a lovely evening with friends.

Bourg - Day 2

09-02: We decided after doing laundry and settling in, we would like to eat lunch out before heading to the grocery store for supplies. We did quite a bit of research only to find out all restaurants but Bourg’Joie close about 1p and don’t open again until 6 or 7. We didn’t want to go shopping when we are hungry and we have no food (except crackers) so de l we started out for Bourg’Joie. To our surprise, just on the corner was a small café that was open. It is called Le Boudoir l’oeil ecoute. They have a small but tasty menu. It seems they specialize in sweets, pastry, ice cream, etc. However, they have a few salads and the standard croque monsieur, which is what we had. We couldn’t leave without trying the ice cream for me and a sweet crêpe for Stuart. Both delicious of course. Now we are off to Carrefour for our first supply of groceries. All the basics and a few other things. We are all set for at least a week. Tomorrow night we will go to the home of Fanny and Paul as we have been invited for dinner. That should be fun and at least we will see our little farm house then and what it looks like in September. I probably won’t post a blog daily as we don’t have many plans here. We do plan to relax. Stuart has things he needs to do on his laptop and I will spend my time working on albums. 

Paris to Bourg by TGV

09-01: Last night we got some disappointing news from our hosts Fanny and Paul. We will not be staying in the Mombrier cottage but in an apartment, they also host in Bourg. Now that might be good news to most people but we were so looking forward to the rustic countryside home. She booked us for the apartment and not the cottage, and now it cannot be changed. 

We bid farewell to Paris and boarded our train to Bordeaux. The trip was uneventful passing many fields of corn and other farming along the way. Small communities and even larger ones are seen from the track but further away. As usual we had a hard time finding the rental car area. Once we did, it took at least 30 minutes to secure the car, but I think a good portion of that was “chatting” about our destination in Bourg. Anyway, off to find the car and then the extended search on level 5 of that area. We finally secured the car and made our way to Bourg. Of course, that was after I navigated us back to the train station! Ugh. We drove into the heart of the small town and found the apartment immediately. Sadly, it is a narrow, winding stairway up to our 1^st floor apartment. Stuart hauled the suitcases up, what a blessing. It is a nice enough place, and we like this little town. We often drove the 10 minutes here from Mombrier to eat or for the Sunday market. There is a nice wine shop near us, but pricey. We will have plenty of opportunities to check out the restaurants here. Previously we only dined at Bourg’Joie, which was our favorite café-bar back in 2024. There were different servers last night for our dinner. We noticed the Italian restaurant, owned by a friend of Fanny’s was now a Kebab restaurant. That is disappointing as we enjoyed pizza there more than once! Anyway, we had each had a salad at Joie and enjoyed some wine. We took the very short walk back to the apartment, past the now-closed bakery, and began the unpacking process. After that, a bit of Rummikub and off to bed. Travel days can be exhausting. 

A bit blurry but a glimpse of the France along the way to Bordeaux.