Republic Ramblings: January 2011

Tuesday, 4 January 2011

Monday was Il De Re - for a quick wintery visit

M&A left late morning to travel up to the ferry port for their return. Part of the leisurely preparation for their departure was to source some engine oil for their Mini. As luck would have it the local (Marsilly) Renualt dealer was open and able to supply, althoug it was a hefty 30euro for a 2 litre bottle.Once they were on the road we tootled off to Il De Re with our cheif stopping point being St Martin

Even in the cold of winter, but with a little bit of sunshine, it presents a delightful picture.
A couple of the dock side bars and cafes were open and indeed the one we thought we might get a snack in, was absolutely packed with people enjoying their lunches that filled the place with a tantalising aroma. However we did not fancy the idea of sitting outside.

This little spot provided for a warm seat inside and a very strong coffee and a sandwich that found the spot, as one might say.

We heard later that M&As journey to the port was "eventful" in that they needed to get a new tyre - two in fact. They needed one new tyre to replace one that had shown a bit of a fault earlier in the week. But this model of Mini has run-flat tyres and you have to replace them two at a time it seems. Sounds like a wease developed by the tyre industry boyos.

On Sunday we went to a rugby match

A scrum very close to us

The local team Stade La Rochelle were hosting Stade Francais and we bought a couple of tickets online so as to add a new expereince to our french sojourn. SOR has been to many a rugby match but Peter had never (ever) been to one. Indeed he has only (ever) watched rugby on the telly when SOR was so engaged an he couldn't be bothered leaving the room!


Lots of standing around!

The only tickets we could get were "ground" tickets that basically meant we were standing on the level ground behind one of the goal posts. The match did not start until 4.30pm and so it was getting bit gloomy for the very old digtal camera we keep here in Nantilly to take any sort of a photo.

As best as we could see it was quite an exciting game and there was a great atmosphere with very vocal local supporters chanting "Ici, ici, c'est La Rochelle" but quite why I just don't know. The final score was 26- 26 so a bit of a disappointment for La Rochelle as they were the only team to have the lead at anytime in the match, but then again La Rochelle are bottom of the league so I suppose some points would have been very welcome to them.

Sunday, 2 January 2011

There is every sign that the new shops for Marsilly will become a reality..

Les sapeurs-pompiers

So the fire brigade story goes like this....
M&A arrive back at 8 Rue de Nantilly to discover a very strong smell of smoke and quickly locate it as coming from the garage. Bravely Michael dons the guise of un pompier and opens the rear door to the garage to be met by billowing dense smoke with the heavy characterisitc of kippers. Driven back by the smoke, tears already streaming down his face he has to retire to the backyard. After a fwe minutes the smoke has settles and Michael once more makes a foray and this time returns with a smoldering bucket. The bucket that contained the ash and embers cleared form the fireplace that morning by the fire-lackey!
Depositing the bucket in the backyard they duse it with water and leave it to damp down. The garage smells like a kipper factory and they leave the door open to help reduce the odour. A couple of days on and their is still a disitinct aroma of kippers about the garage and everyhting in it!
The fire lackey has been sent on a retraining programme.

On our trip out to Marans we also had a short stroll in a pleasnat village called Courcon that had a striking church; worth a closer look on a warmer day.