La Bloggerie

We love Christmas, but seem to have spent most of it in the car this time round.  Just a week after we set off from France we were back there again, this time driving through heavy rain for the majority of the journey. 

But business calls, and La Tannerie is full for the week aound New Year.  This is a first for us, but let’s hope it’s a sign of things to come in 2010.  There is no question there are more people enquiring about long term lets for the coming months, and the impression we get is that we might just be seeing the beginnings of a turn-around in the housing market.

Despite all the predictions of difficult driving conditions and further snow, this turned out to be one of the most straight forward drives up through France.  North of Le Mans it became clear that there had been snow, but at no point did it cause any problems.  We completed the 500 miles from Chalais to Calais comfortably within 9 hours.

The only hold-up was at the port at Calais where it took 90 minutes to get through Passport Control and to check-in, due no doubt to the vast amount of traffic being turned away from the Tunnel all deciding to take a ferry instead.

Radio traffic reports picked up from Radio 2 whilst waiting at Calais warned of huge delays around the M25 following more bad weather, but we sailed through and on into Essex as if nothing had happened.

A last minute decision meant that we did not risk the drive up through France.  We scoured the French TV channels and internet for advice as to what we might expect and everywhere was saying the weather in northern France was going to make driving extremely difficult.

The additional problems that were experienced over night in the Tunnel would also have added to the delays and queues at the port of Calais.  Add in the closure of the motorway between Boulogne and Calais, and industrial action by immigration officials, and suddenly a couple of days at home in front of the fire started to look a better bet.

So Monday it is.  We have not had any snow here in Chalais for several days, and even then it was only a light dusting, so it will be interesting to see how far north we get before we see our first proper covering.  Or were all the traffic reports just a ploy to keep holiday makers off the road?  We shall see.

With less than 24 hours to go before we drive off for Christmas in England, it’s looking likely to be a difficult weekend for travel.

Essex, our intended destination, ground to a halt under 6 inches of snow today, and one of our lodgers came to warn us that he had experienced delays and road closures all the way back down to Chalais last evening from Normandy – essentially our route in reverse.

So we set off tomorrow with fingers crossed, a hot flask and hopefully some different CDs on the player. The thought of sitting in a snow drift listening to the Beach Boys just seems a little surreal.

There we were, one minute, enjoying t-shirt weather in December, then suddenly it’s a maximum of minus 3 degrees and permafrost on the back lawn.

My only hope is that maybe a few good frosts will discourage our resident moles from destroying any more of the garden.  They seem to have got their teeth stuck in this autumn, if indeed they have teeth, and have produced some real mountains.

The problem is that since the entire garden is enclosed by streams I can’t see how they are ever going to leave.  So what do we do?

It has been suggested that a shotgun would be the local weapon of choice, but loosing off firearms alongside a school is a non-starter.  Poison is out since the dogs wouldn’t like it, and gas just seems to be a bit random given the vast area over which the little devils are digging.

So bring on the frost, and lots of it.

With a week still to go before we head back to England for Christmas, we are facing an altogether new threat. We have nearly run out of PG Tips tea bags.

As anyone who has stayed here will be aware, there is an awful lot of tea drunk at La Tannerie.  We import the stuff in huge catering bags and visitors keep us topped up.  But this will be the first time we have run out in five years.

So it looks like we shall either have to go and pay Intermarché’s inflated price or … Well that’s just it, what is the alternative to a nice cup of tea?

At one time replacing lightbulbs was just a hassle.  Occasionally it meant getting a chair or ladder to stand on, but as maintenance tasks go it’s not exactly rocket science.  Or at least it wasn’t until recently.

Trying to buy a lightbulb here in Chalais has become a real trial.  You always did have to be careful to get the correct size of screw cap.  E14 or E27?   Sounds like the food contents that used to drive our son into orbit.

And then there was the choice of how many Watts?  I used to take a very simplistic view.  If you want to be able to see, get a 100 Watt.  If it’s just for effect, go for a 60 Watt.  If only it were still that straight forward.

Normal lightbulbs are no more.  Where once there were any number of big, bright new bulbs that looked like lightbulbs, now we have contorted glass shapes that claim to be both 15 Watt and 75 Watt at the same time.  When you get them home you discover they are too tall to fit inside a normal lampshade, they take 10 minutes to reach full speed and leave a warmth of glow that is more associated with open-plan offices.  And 75 Watts is either too little or too much for any situation you can think of.

If I thought that this was just France being obscure I would be importing bulbs by the ton.  However, I get the impression the same situation probably holds true throughout Europe as well. 

 So as we head back into the Dark Ages we’re just glad that at least the Christmas lights in Chalais all seem to be working ok.  Even if they take 2 hours to warm up.

For the five years that we have been here the one restaurant that has been consistently excellent is the Relais du Chateau.  Sitting on top of the hill overlooking the town, the Chateau Talleyrand also has the best setting.

Jean-Louis, the Maitre d’, has to take the credit for building and maintaining the restaurant’s enviable reputation, so it came as a surprise earlier this year to learn that he had sold the business.  However, he seemed to be happy to continue in his role.  And then, only 9 months into the new ownership, Jean-Louis decided to leave.

That was only six weeks ago, but suddenly the rock-solid reputation is being questioned.  We have eaten twice there in that time and on both ocassions left with the impression that Jean-Louis’s presence and attention to detail were sorely missed and that the food was all just getting a bit too ‘clever.’

Now we hear of people cancelling their coveted Christmas bookings, something that would have been considered folly until now.

We have to hope that this is a temporary set-back and that the new team will soon settle down.  We need the chateau to be a highlight of our guests’ holidays as well as the first-choice for our own special nights out.

With no tea room this morning, it was our first chance in three years to walk around the market.  To be honest, it hasn’t really changed.  Many familiar stalls were still in the same positions selling the same old stuff.  True, there were many gaps, but this is November and the crowds who fill the three main streets during the summer months, making it difficult to walk anywhere purposefully, are no longer here.

Little money seemed to be changing hands and many stallholders were withdrawing behind their tables with a look of resignation.  Others, however, were resorting to more agressive techniques, and anyone who so much as paused alongside their stall was outflanked with military precision and drawn into haggling over the price of an item that they simply didn’t want.  I still don’t know how we managed not to buy that dress.

But anyone who thinks that a French market is there for commercial reasons has misunderstood a basic truth.  A market is a social occasion.  It’s a chance to catch up on the week’s gossip, to discuss politics and compare maladies. 

The French do not visit one another’s homes with the frequency that we did in the UK.  You simply don’t call in unannounced here in France. So the market is where it all happens.

We,  however, headed for Flore’s bar, deciding that a hot chocolate was really what we needed, and that, for a change, someone else could make it for us.