What is la Place de Nantilly really like?

Monday morning and the promised showers have commenced, accompanied by a bit of thunder and lightening. Here in the house the temprature has dropped to 23c so we will have to break out the jumpers any minute now. It is supposed to to clear up for this afternoon, hope so we plan an excursion to Ile de Re with Michael and Ann on their last full day here.
And oh yes, Place de Nantilly amounts to a small car park at a road junction with a bus stop and a post box. Not quite the grand (sub)urban space that the label "Place conjures up in my head. The snaps below are of Place de Nantilly. If you visit the blog itself you will find a new page with snaps of the shops in Marsilly's very own shopping centre.

The Place as a car park

The Place as a road junction

I can't believe that I am listening to Chris Evans on the radio from Carfest

So the main event of Wednesday was a game of golf at out local course. There has been yet another price increase so a round of golf now cost €65 - blimey perhaps that's the reason there is only one 18 hole course within a 40km radius of us. Out tee time was 10.00am and that may have proved to be too late a start as by the time we finished it was 32c and we were very hot and rather tired.  We played the front nine in the company of Robesrt and Justine, once again a pleasurable, cross cultural  expereince. I do have to mention that Sheila made four pars, we think the first time she has achieved that in a signal round.

Thursday was a sort of rest and recuperation day but none the less had a mid morning deaprturw for a trip to the Point and beach at L'Aiguillon sur Mer, on the opposite site of the bay from Marsilly. It is a gentle drive north and then west and then south. Once you are at the Point then Point Clement (Esnandes) is barely a mile away across the bay. We had taken a picnic in the cool box and so after viewing the bay we tracked back to the beach and spent th next three hours enjoying the beach, the sea, the picnic and the cooling sea breeze. (And if I can't believe I an listening to Chris Evans - I can't believe I spent three hours on a beach and enjoyed it!)

Two big events on Friday. First was our second round of golf, this time with am 8.00am tee time. This proved to be a good move as we finished the round before the day got to its hottest and was a much more pleasurable and less tiring expereince from the weather conditons point of view. But his was accompanied by the worst 18 holes that Peter has ever played and means he may have to buy some new balls!

The second event was dinner in LaRochelle at La Cuisine de Jules - an excellent dinner - hige thank you to Michael and Ann who paid.

Tuesday wanderings, part two

The sky suggested that there were more showers to come, especially as we looked northwards, so we meandered a little further towards the southern end of Fouras where we found a handy parking place with a view of the bay. In that view we spotted an island that we'd not noticed before and with the help of a map we identified it as Ile Madame and that we were in fact looking at the estuary of the Charente. The Ile was on the "other" side and was the last land as the estuary became the sea. The map also indicated that there was a road to Ile Madame which was submerged for part of each day - this seemed intriguing enough to make us decide to investigate.
The bay at this point is known as the Pertuis (Passage) D'Antioche, which is mighty interesting in itself. (The "passage" is the sea route between Ile D'Oleron and Ile de Re and an historically significant access to La Rochelle in the north and Rochefort in the south.)

The road to Ile Madame is the first junction once you are over the Charente bridge and is helpfully signposted to Port des Barques which is the principle commune at the mouth of the estuary. There is a handy car park where the road / causeway leaves the mainland and heads to the Ile. It is possible to take a car across but it also presents the possibility of a 6km round trip walk. There were showers around so we decided to mark it down for an excursion on another day.

Day over? Well we thought so as we plotted our route back, deciding not to just double back on ourselves we tracked along the little roads to St Froult and Moeze. At a junction in Moeze Sheila spotted a weather worn sign for the Citadelle de Brouage so we decided to follow it. As one km followed another we nearly gave up but then the we turned a bend and there it was - an apparently intact fortress town.

The photo's are all from Brouage including a couple of picture of the inside of a bar, that turns out to be a brocante as well - oddly it felt like an old style country bar in Ireland. The whole town clearly lives for tourists and I bet returning to it in winter may well find it completely closed up. A real little gem of a place, we are likely to return.

Tuesday wanderings, part one

The day began with a reasonably early departure for Fouras. There was a mixed weather forecast, with showers expected, so we aimed to keep our options open. We had packed for the beach with a picnic but ready to make a dash to avoid any showers.

We parked up in the car park near Fort Vaubin where we struggled to find a space as half the space was given over to a market. We strolled along the promenade, observing how windy it was on the beach. Our promenade took around the church and onto the main street, that was all a bustle with locals and tourists hustling to take adbvantage of the shops and market before the lunchtime close down. We plonked ourselves down opposite the Bar Le Maritime for a coffee and to watch the world go by.

We returned to the car having decided to head for Fouras's "second" beach, a little south of the main area, where we thought there would be les wind - and that was the case. I guess we had a good hour on the beach and had just finished the picnic lunch when the rain headed our way. Being prepared for such an eventuality we made it back to the car before the downpour. And this is when the real adventure of the day began.

All the thunderstorm do is add variety to the days and nights

There has been some cycling, a visit to the golf range (but not a round of golf as yet), some cooking at home and the obligatory moules at Viviers. All in all a good start to the holiday.

Thursday was very warm and occasioned us to enjoy the peace and quiet of 8 Rue de Nantilly. Peace and quiet only broken by the yapping of next door's dog(s). If ti persists one of us may have to learn the french for "Please keep your fecking dog quiet!" For dinner we did chicken on the bbq that had been marinated in lime  and coconut milk. Verdict was positive.

Friday gave us a chance to pop into La Rochelle for the first time and it was a bit of an eye opener as the traffic was immense. It was so bad that we set off on a back-road detour that included two cul-de-sacs and three wrong turns, but we reckon we still reached the car park in Place Verdun quicker that plodding through the traffic. The four of us came together for the trip to Viviers and

Saturday's big adventure was to cycle to the Intermarche in Nieul ( and back), complete with shopping basket on the front of Peter's bike. This was the longest ride attempted so far and we manged it quite nicely so this has given us a bit of confidence to stretch our bike-ride-horizon.
We also hit about 80 balls each at the range - sobering to think that this is not enough "hits" to get us around 18 holes of golf.

This morning we headed off to Les Minimes to see what yatching/marina action there was. Just before reaching the port du pleasance we spotted and pulled in to a small car park that was adjacent to the cliff top walk. S0 instead of drving to Minimes and walking back along the clifftop to did it in reverse. That is not to say we walked backwards but rather we walked towards Minimes and not away from it.

We had thought to play golf today but during a cycle to Point Clement, Esnandes we expereienced the "sea-breeze" and realised that it would have a material effect on playing golf as the course is on the clifftop. So right after posting this message we are off to practise a bit more on the range and practise our putting

Holiday update postcard

Les Gnomes de Nantilly welcome the new arrival

Good morning from Nantilly

So this week has been a time of arrivals and settling in. First of all, Ann and Michael arrived on Tuesday afternoon, follwing their marathon journey from Bradford on Monday morning, for the evening ferry to St Malo. Barely 24 hours later and Peter and Sheila also landed having taken the Tuesday evening St Malo ferry. And it seems that P&S had a stoway on board - a rather beefy, cheeky and lazy gnome who sits on a toadstool and refuses to budge. It is hard to tell what impact he's had on the incumbents but mutterings have been heard about having a wash and brush up and even "new wardrobes".

Yesterday's weather was glorious, a bit of a breeze and not too warm. Today promises to be the same with some rain showers this morning and a real prospect of thunder and lightening this evening.

Small domestic crisis - we seem to have lost the plug for the bath so a trip to LeRoy Merlin is on the cards.

Monday morning and the rain comes....

Having heard the rain through the night it was a pleasant surprise to wake to a bright sunny morning - however it did not last long as the rain returned and there is a threat of thunderstorms. So we are likely to tootle about the house doing a bit of preparation for our return tomorrow and look for a break in the weather this afternoon.

Yesterday was a decent enough day but a little short on sunshine. The highlight of the day was a trip out to Port des Minimes where we could see the work being done to expand the complex from 3,600 berths to 4,800. We then took a walk along the cliff top towards the south and got a bit of fresh air in our lungs and a bit of exercise for our legs.

Saturday was a trip out to visit the town of Cognac. It is about 60 miles from Nantilly, so very accessible and yet we had not been there before. Checking the weather it seemed like a good idea to head south for a better, warmer day. That part of the plan was not realised as we could tell no difference in the weather to that we had left behind.  Obviously we arrived just as all the shops closed for the three hour lunch break which they still do even though it was Saturday. On top of that, it not yet being "the season", the visits to the Cognac houses were also closed for lunch. Cognac has a handsome centre, with the main shopping streets now pedestrianised, making for pleasant strolling. On a sunny day in the summer it may well be worth a revisit but it does amount to a three hour round trip and Saints, Royan and Rochefort are closer and probably have as much to offer.

New gardeners seem to be taking over the backyard

Friends of 8 rue de Nantilly have responded to the observation that les gnomes have gone missing by sending in photos as evidence of them being seen at the address. The first snap seems to show then hard at work on the sage bush. This was very encouraging as the pruning back of this plant is on the do list for our holiday and a task we have been postponing.

However on checking, first thing this morning, the sage bush is un-pruned and les gnomes nowhere to be seen.

The second photo also locates them in the backyard and hanging around the remains of the other sage bush. This is the bush that was severely hit by the frosty weather of 2011 and was hard pruned to see if it had any life left in it. Again I checked for signs of les gnomes - nothing but there is a bit of life showing on the bush. Hmmm I wonder if there is a connection?

I can't believe it is Friday and we have been here a full week.We will have to make full use of our last four full days.

With the prospect of sunshine we headed for Ile de Re

WE had heard a rumour that the gnomes had good for an Easter Weekend break and had not returned so we thought we had better go in search.....

But wherever we visited there was no trace, we will have to call in the Gendarmerie.

Last August seems a long time ago

The Thursday night ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo was it's usual busy self with lots of family and school groups creating a great buzz. Although delayed in departing it was an on time disembarkation in France that meant we had cleared the Border Control and were free of the port by 08.50 on Friday morning.
We made good time on surprisingly busy roads and were sat down at the kitchen table of No 8 rue de Nantilly by 12.30.

We weren't 100% sure of what business would be open over the Easter Weekend so we did some basic menu planning and made sure that we had sufficient supplies should we want to stay put. This took us to our local shopping district and our first discovery of the trip. Our lovely "new" Ecofrais supermarche from last year has undergone a re-branding; it is now a "U Express". Ecofrais and U Express are all part of the same brand family (Hyper U, Super U, etc) that was adopted by Co-op Atlantique when it moved away from the "Carrefour" association last year. Ecofrais boasted about its "local, sustainable, organic" qualities. U Express - hard to say??? I'd hazard a guess at "convenience" coupled with own brands - but the problem with the idea of convenience is that they have carried over the customer service style of Ecofrais of never having anyone at the checkout until a queue of four has built and someone goes looking for an assistant.

Also in the centre is a new shop selling nice, but mostly pointless, stuff to adorn one's house. As the picture shows it has taken the unit between Toto Pizza and the Florist. What is just out of the picture is that the two units to the right of the florist are also being fitted out. Perhaps by summer we will know what they will be.

The second discovery of the trip is that house building is popping up in every conceivable corner of Marsilly. It clearly has become a place for the local Charentais to live when they need to be handy for La Rochelle but don't want to pay the higher prices in the Communes closer to la ville.

On Saturday we made a point of going in to La Rochelle and today we wandered out ot visit Fouras and Chatelaillion-Plage just to remind ourselves what lovely spots they are. Typically, we have not yet adjusted to the rhythm of life here so were bowled up just after the markets had closed and during the lunchtime closure of everything, except places serving lunch. By the time we thought about lunch (in ChP) - the out of season lunch places had all closed. Still we wont't fade away.