Planning a trip?

Well here's a thing, Lonely Planet (online) has a list of 31 Things to do in La Rochelle, quite a few to go yet...
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/france/southwestern-france/la-rochelle/things-to-do

It is a cool and damp start to the day and rain is promised for most of the day although it could get to 20/21c by mid afternoon. We lit a fire last night as it got relatively chilly. The big domestic chore this morning is cleaning the oven door so that we can (at least) see what's cooking in there. I  know, hold back the gasps of excitement and joy. Perhaps when the job is done we will celebrate by doing some baking and slow cooking a stew for tonight?
Sheila baked an apple tart a la Raymond Blanc's mother's recipe(did you follow that) last night - sorry no photo as it all went. So instead here is a photo of a homemade pork pie - homemade in Yorkshire by Jeanne Breen.
Cheers

Where were we today?

Answers on a postcard to the usual address.

Le Fureur de Vivre

In addition to Le Fureur de Vivre being the French title for the movie Rebel Without a Cause this is the name of the resto that is occupying the space behind the Harley Davidson dealer, near the Lagord rond point. It is open on Friday and Saturday nights so we decided to have dinner there last night.
They seem to have taken on all the furnishing and decor of the previous place that never seemed to be open last year, perhaps it is the same people. It is Hollywood themed with a big movie poster for Rebel. The room has about 60 covers and they have a season of live music, more or less every other Saturday until July 9th and then a gap until September! Maybe they don't open at all in August.
Anyway the food was rather poor even though it was a very limited menu that should have made it easy to be at least average. We noticed as we drove back that the Restaurant L'Aubrecay looked like it was open so perhaps they are having some evening openings as standard. Must stop and take a look.

The oil heater has gone.....

....and in its place is a cupboard and worktop, another step in making the "cusine americaine" more usable. The materials are all recycled from The Knoll so it has been a very "eco" project. This is probably the last time that this new cupboard will be seen with an empty worktop because the varnish has now dried and there is nothing to stop us filling it up with stuff. As commented earlier, we also brought the former kitchen sink with us and maybe that will be a project for the summer holidays? (Watch out Michael!)

This may be the last post of the day - shopping to do, quiche to make, tart to bake (perhaps even cup cakes), golf to play.

Wednesday saw day four of the ORMA Consulting Easter Golf Challenge

A glimpse at McKay's score card?????

Golf de la Pree is in pretty good condition and soaked up the heavy overnight rain without a problem. Parts of the course are already very hard underfoot and this might auger very trying conditions come the summer. We started around 3.00pm and this was a good time to play. The day had cooled a bit and the course was more or less empty. We followed a four but by the time they had lost another ball on the second hole and needed to have all four of them look for it, they waved us through. It was the 17th hole before we caught up with another group.

There has been a bit of a reversal in playing styles. Last year McKay was all about the 60 degree wedge / flop shot in the short game. This year he has have gone for the chip and run and Annika has taken over the lob wedge - needless to say with great aplomb and good effect.

It was a much better day on the course for McKay who only lost three balls this time. Annika maintained her form and after four rounds is well in to triple figures for the combined stableford, McKay has yet to reach 50.
The last round of the tournament is today so if McKay eagles all the holes and yer one gets zero the result will be more balanced but she will still be the leader.

ORMA Consulting Vineyard is established

Yesterday was also a day of doing a bit of tidying in the garden. Three plants that we inherited with the garden were killed of by a combination of the winter and a fair bit of neglect so we decided to replace them with grapevine.  The variety is Vigne vinifera Chasselas Dore and apparently it is grown as much for its magnificent foliage as for its sweet and juicy table grape. Well right, I will believe that when I see it.

Of course having planted them we have had to draft in the workforce to look after them.

The Big Day is On Us All

By which I mean a day to catch up on the last few days, so be prepared for a stream of postings. It won't be as intensive as the media reportage of events elsewhere but.....
Yesterday's trip out was to Ile D'Oleron. It is just about an hour's drive from No. 8 to parking up in Le Chateau-D'Oleron which is probably the islands main town. We had a very pleasant lunch in a wooden shack restaurant called Les Goelands and then spent the afternoon on the beach - yes a third day of being on the beach!!!!! I have put it down to the fact that I have spent so much time in bunkers on the golf course that sand is becoming a habit for me.
Here's a photo-collage (my new trick) notice the snap of the very difficult 12th hole at the local golf course.

A photo collage of our day on Il De Re

Day Three of the ORMA Consulting Easter Golf Challenge

Taking the sun on the beach on Saturday

Monday saw day three of holiday golf. We had a 10.40 tee-time and were surprised to see how quiet the course was. There were two groups of three and four in front of us but there was a long gap before anyone followed us on to the course. It made for a four hour pleasant stroll in the countryside, augmented by the the gentlest of golfing exercise. Annika continues to play well and even improve. We both agree that La Pree is quite challenging and you don't have to do much wrong to run up a big score on some of the holes. McKay's play was more consistent but still rubbish. The good thing about Stableford is that the worst score to report is zero and even McKay managed a few points!
Today (Tuesday) is Ile De Re day.

Sunday on the building site in Marsilly

For email readers - the last blog posting has two embedded videos which most email clients won't display so click on the link and go to the blog to see the videos.
Here are some snaps

One side of the new avenue, looking towards the carpark

The "other" side of the avenue, looking from the car park

More units that overlook a space that begins to feel like a town sqaure

Similar units on the opposite side of the square - grey blocks are the edge of the "superette"

The "Superette" site with 1000sq m shop and 1500 sq metre car park