Another Year Older

Timeline: April 2013. April is always a happy time, as the bride and moi celebrate another fabulous year together and this year, we're 36 years old. Not bad considering we married in our early 20s, teehe.

After a happy week in the UK, I returned to prepare for my sister and brother in law and the bride's return, just a few days later, the car loaded with yet more gite paraphernalia and curry sauces. Roger and I also had birthdays during the week, so we set about working during the day and socialising after the sun started to dip. The sun however was working overtime and daily temperature soared into the 30s, a fact recorded photographically on sis's Facebook page.

The barn roof was completed this week and we had a BBQ to mark the occasion with nine of us around the big outdoor table and six smaller people playing hide and seek around the grounds, but they were all found when the ice cream was brought out.

Roger fitted two new outside lights for the occasion and I got a new lawn mower in the pre-summer sales in readiness for our swiftly approaching new lawns. I'm under strict instructions from our head gardener, not to use it without her express permission and in the meantime, I'm figuring out how to make it go faster.

Emma and Andre, two new stable mates at La Clos de la Rose

We also took a drive up to Normandy one day to collect our old Citroen, following a thorough going over by a friend of ours, who is also a specialist on these cars. It was good not to be the oldest of our group any more, as Andre Citroen has a few years on me. The three hour return trip was a joy, as I hadn't driven the Traction since July 2011 and had almost forgotten how delightful this 63 year slice of history was to live with. It was the bride who insisted we buy it 15 years ago when she first saw it one cold December afternoon near Oxford, despite the owner not being able to start the engine, not even on the second visit, but he was an excellent purchase and has brought us more new friends and happy times in France than we could have ever imagined all those years ago.

One of many excellent front doors in La Rochelle

At the end of the week we took ourselves off to the coast and to visit beautiful La Rochelle, a first for me and the bride, but an old haunt of Roger's who knew his way around and we soon parked up and were walking through fine architectural streetscapes down to the old port and the many fish restaurants. After lunch, I concerned myself with the naval heritage and marvelled at the state of preservation of the port and defences to keep out  mainly the English. We will return!

The old port

That's all for now, but I'll be posting an update very soon, so don't be a stranger.

A bientôt,

LC