Friday August 5
I slept well last night. The bed and the room are very comfortable. I think I woke up around 7:30am but I am not sure because too many days have passed since this particular morning. I took my shower and dressed, and went downstairs for breakfast of bread and jam and coffee. Our routine has been awake, shower/dress, eat breakfast, take coffee into living room, check email and hang out.
Today Anne and I drove to a local olive oil manufacturer and retail store Huilerie de Bloit . It is located in Blot l'Eglise (sp?). We walked around the back room and watched the boy filling the bottles. The husband and wife are young, I think maybe in their 30s. They have a young son of maybe 9 or 10 helping to stock the retail shelves. They make 12 types of olive oil, and also sell local honey, and other local items. I asked if they could ship some bottles home, as there were small bottles I could give to my friends, but they do not know how, and it is too much of a hassle to do myself, and it would probably be expensive because of the weight. Anne bought some sesame and almond oil and truffle olive oil and local honey.
After we paid, we drove to a small store Alimentation Primeurs that is owned by Madame Georges, an older woman (70s I think) who sells all sorts of perishable and non-perishable food items, and a variety of other items like tools, seeds, cards. Anne explained I was from the USA and she managed to say in English "Have a look" and smiled. The store looks small from the street but it is very deep. We bought cigarettes, a cantaloupe, some sliced ham.
We had a nice lunch of ham, cantaloupe, grapes and bread and cheese. Some comte I think.
We returned to the country house in Vielleneuve and Didier was working in the garden. I walked around and watched them week and pick some gladiolas for the house. I put some dirty clothes in the laundry and then walked all around the house looking and taking pictures. A colleague/friend of Anne's who used to teach with her Camille (pronounced Camie) came to visit for two nights on her way to a holiday camp out with her family on her grandparents land near the ocean.
In the late afternoon Didier, Camille and Anne went to someplace to see if they could find mushrooms growing wild. It was on uneven ground so I decided to stay at the house and rest and work on my blog. I managed to do quite a good job of catching up that day while they were gone.
We had apero after they returned with wine cheese and bread. We talked and laughed. Didier was researching recipes for comte on the internet, and we tried to decide what we wanted for dinner that evening.
At 7:00 pm we all got in the car and went to a water mill "Moulin de Braynant"on the Sioule river. A local boulanger has a wood burning oven and two days a week at 8:00pm during the summer months he cooks the bread there and has it for people to buy. The same man has a small restaurant across the street, a kayak rental place, and the boulangerie in a nearby village. While we waited for the bread to be cooked, we went inside the water mill where the flour for the bread is ground. It was very interesting to see the process. After we got our bread we returned to the house. We bought some good bread for tonite and breakfast, and a couple of baguettes for fondue tonite.
We all went into the kitchen to begin the preparation for the fondue and salad for dinner. Anne and Camille did most of the work. We had fun being silly and eating a wonderful comte fondue in the middle of summer - it is usually a winter dish. It was yummy and melty and the perfect end to the day. There was nothing left.
After we talked with more wine, and finally to bed around midnight.
Today Anne and I drove to a local olive oil manufacturer and retail store Huilerie de Bloit . It is located in Blot l'Eglise (sp?). We walked around the back room and watched the boy filling the bottles. The husband and wife are young, I think maybe in their 30s. They have a young son of maybe 9 or 10 helping to stock the retail shelves. They make 12 types of olive oil, and also sell local honey, and other local items. I asked if they could ship some bottles home, as there were small bottles I could give to my friends, but they do not know how, and it is too much of a hassle to do myself, and it would probably be expensive because of the weight. Anne bought some sesame and almond oil and truffle olive oil and local honey.
After we paid, we drove to a small store Alimentation Primeurs that is owned by Madame Georges, an older woman (70s I think) who sells all sorts of perishable and non-perishable food items, and a variety of other items like tools, seeds, cards. Anne explained I was from the USA and she managed to say in English "Have a look" and smiled. The store looks small from the street but it is very deep. We bought cigarettes, a cantaloupe, some sliced ham.
We had a nice lunch of ham, cantaloupe, grapes and bread and cheese. Some comte I think.
We returned to the country house in Vielleneuve and Didier was working in the garden. I walked around and watched them week and pick some gladiolas for the house. I put some dirty clothes in the laundry and then walked all around the house looking and taking pictures. A colleague/friend of Anne's who used to teach with her Camille (pronounced Camie) came to visit for two nights on her way to a holiday camp out with her family on her grandparents land near the ocean.
In the late afternoon Didier, Camille and Anne went to someplace to see if they could find mushrooms growing wild. It was on uneven ground so I decided to stay at the house and rest and work on my blog. I managed to do quite a good job of catching up that day while they were gone.
We had apero after they returned with wine cheese and bread. We talked and laughed. Didier was researching recipes for comte on the internet, and we tried to decide what we wanted for dinner that evening.
At 7:00 pm we all got in the car and went to a water mill "Moulin de Braynant"on the Sioule river. A local boulanger has a wood burning oven and two days a week at 8:00pm during the summer months he cooks the bread there and has it for people to buy. The same man has a small restaurant across the street, a kayak rental place, and the boulangerie in a nearby village. While we waited for the bread to be cooked, we went inside the water mill where the flour for the bread is ground. It was very interesting to see the process. After we got our bread we returned to the house. We bought some good bread for tonite and breakfast, and a couple of baguettes for fondue tonite.
We all went into the kitchen to begin the preparation for the fondue and salad for dinner. Anne and Camille did most of the work. We had fun being silly and eating a wonderful comte fondue in the middle of summer - it is usually a winter dish. It was yummy and melty and the perfect end to the day. There was nothing left.
After we talked with more wine, and finally to bed around midnight.
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