Day eight in France - The Cleaning Fairies

Today we have been to Bordeaux and I have to say, what an amazing city.

Our journey was forced due to the illness of my friend, or as others may term it, my iPhone.  I had it fixed last month after a few intermittent issues that it had, and got it back in the last week of July, but when in Bergerac, it sort of died.  Well, that is what I thought at first, but the screen had gone.   It was able to receive calls, and texts, as well as messages on Twitter, but there was no way to use my screen.  I tried the normal advice on a forced reset, but with no message on the screen, and limited internet access here at La Batellerie (I have it for now), there was no way to get it working.  So this morning, we travelled to Bordeaux.  We thought, from searching forums, that the issue would be with a connection to the screen, but on getting it there, we found that this was not going to be the case.  They offered to repair it, and they did try a low cost repair, but alas, this was not possible.

On the bright side we got to see the city of Bordeaux.  I had not expected it to be so pretty and it was great to see some of its sights.  We did not get the chance to explore it as much as I would like, but it would be great to return in a few years time.  My daughter took loads of pictures and did a bit of shopping while my son was patient and spent time with my while his mother and sister had other bits of fun.

Anyway, we are back at La Batellerie and it was great to come back to find that the cleaning fairies had been in.  My wife always said that they did not exist, but I now know otherwise!

Day Seven in France - the Market

Today we went after breakfast to Issigeac, where there was a market being held.  It was different to the market in Sainte-Foy-la-Grande opposite the river from where we were staying and in some ways better.  We did spend more money there, including spending some Euro's on a game of Chinese Chequers.  After this, it was lunch in the town, which I loved (the choice of my wife meant her meal was not as good as mine), and then on the way home we bumped into a place where we could taste some wine.  As I was driving, I did not sample any of the wares, but we did buy.  It was a great place with great service and had catered for children to be entertained allowing adults to spend time appreciating wine!

Once home, the kids were knackered and although I had intended to take them onto the river bank beach, they were not really up to it, and instead we relaxed watching the Simpsons.  After dinner, playing another game of Chinese Chequers (my wife won the game today) it was a trip to the river back with my daughter to feed the fish the bread that we were not going to be able to eat.  Anyway, it is time for me to read to them.

Day five in France - All that Jazz

As we start to get ready for bed, we listen to the sounds of Jazz on the quay outside.

Today my daughter and I went to get breakfast only to find the food we had been sent out to get had sold out and I had forgotten to order the giant pan-au-chocolat that they also sell. Before this we had been watching a film together while her mother and brother caught up on much needed sleep.

Later it was a trip to the river beach where my wife and I watched the kids playing in the river and later make a sort of sandcastle. It was altered later when a boy found it unattended and destroyed part of it, but that is another tale.

Come dinner time I attempted to use the barbecue but failed miserably, the charcoal heating up for a short period of time before cooling. Fortunately my wife had food that mostly did not need to be cooked on the BBQ and instead we used the cooker in the cottage.

But, while we did not do much, the kids loved today.

Day four in France - films

Today has been one travelling about in the area.  We had a trip into town to find one of the least helpful Tourist Information centres that we have found and then after that, it was a journey to find another. Luckily our hosts had told us where they could be found and we then found one of the most helpful Tourist information centres ever.  The good thing about the tourist information centre was the museum above it, which while sparse was free and offered information on the basics of the Stone and Bronze Age, which I presume included local finds.

We were fortunate enough to be told more information to augment that which our hosts had given us both today and yesterday.  And armed with this information, due to the day being one with weather reminiscent of England (the stereotyped version) we traveled. We visited a chateau and tried some wine. The kids were great but we felt it would be too unfair on them to take them round looking at furniture when they were hungry so instead we went to a nearby restaurant were we had good food. I always love the idea of fried cheese but the Camembert with breadcrumbs today accompanied by a salad with raspberry vinegar was amazing.

Once back near our temporary home, it was a trip to a local patisserie to reward the children for their patience with a treat for them and a Cafe au lait for us.  At home while my wife slept, the children watched the end of Transformers 2 (as bad as all the other sequels) and then we watched Batman vs Superman which was a far better film.  Anyway they are in bed now, no doubt sleeping about superheroes and the argument we had over dinner as to if Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a superhero (or heroine) or not. For the record, she is one, and an awesome one at that.

And the picture is of a snail is one that we picked up somewhere along our travels today.