23/08/07

After having such a big day yesterday we were going to have a relatively quite one today. Blandine gave me a tour of the little farm which consisted of the old barn/living quarters where we slept, another barn still used as a barn and the cottage. The place had been owned by Blandines Grandparents since the 60’s and her Granddad had put up a lot of his own touches to it like stair case to the attic (now the tv room) with alternating steps, a hole in the wall from the kitchen to the living room to pass food through and very colourful wallpaper. They have the same dish washer as we do at our place although their break maker was very different – it was an old style thing built into the wall next to the chimney – the sort that you need a wooden shovel to get the bread out with. After we ate some baguette and home made jam we drove into Tours ( a nearby town of 200 000 people), sampled some great cheese – Rockafort was my favourite – a really strong blue cheese and walked around the streets until we got caught in a shower. So we ran to Blandine’s sisters place to see her new eight day old baby. We chilled here into the evening with Blandines parents and then went out to dinner in a typically French restaurant in a small town. We had plenty of time to order, but I was having trouble and made a snap decision right at the end eventually getting pâté for an entrée, salmon for the main, cheese selection, then tart for dessert. It was all very lovely although I struggled with the mind games with the pâté. I normally wouldn’t ever get salmon at a restaurant but there was no pasta or schnitzel option , so I guess I got to try some proper French cuisine.