Guests

I waited around all afternoon for my new clients and then two lots turned up when I was only expecting the one.

The clients I was expecting had said they would be arriving by car between 3-5pm. At five I sent them a text asking what time they thought they might arrive and at 6.30pm they turned up, having been on the beach all day and still oblivious to my text or that they had compromised my afternoon.

I guess it goes with the territory and at least I gave the kitchen a much needed thorough clean - so there was a silver lining.

At 7.30pm the doorbell rang again. It was my Australian client - the one supposed to arrive tomorrow - just the twenty four hours early then. To say that I was taken a little bit off guard would be an understatement, especially as I was in the final throws of dinner preparation for yesterday's arrivals who would be coming through the door for their four course gourmet dinner with wines in less than 30 minutes.

Fortunately for him, his suite was a) empty - the only night in June that it was - and b) mostly prepped - I had changed the bed but hadn't cleaned or hoovered but thankfully the previous guests had only been in for one night and had been very tidy. Anyway, he was in no position to complain because I know he was a day early and he was lucky to have a room at all.

So I brushed over the confusion for the time being and gave him some clean towels and settled him into the suite. I couldn't really spend much time with him with dinner guests due and I knew that somehow his itinerary was different from the booking I had taken from his travel agent back in Australia - we could sort it out in the morning. When he said that the car hire company weren't expecting him either - well, there you go. Maybe he went the long way round across the international date line or maybe he's just not with it - who knows.

Being the professional that I am (Debrah would say OCD) the dinner was all ready to go and his arrival was but a mere blip on the proceedings. My dinner guests were unaware of the drama and I even remembered to put the candle on the top of his hot chocolate fondant to mark his 30th birthday, which it was.

In some ways, they reminded me of Debrah and I when we first got together - young affluent couple, high pressured jobs, grabbing a weekend away, constantly bickering ...
She's a cushion buyer - she's bound to have a futility attack at some point.

So dinner went well and all the washing up is done. I was up at 6.30am this morning for guests that had an early start so it feels like a long day. I think if I didn't have to get up early I would probably wake up anyway - I don't think I have been in bed beyond 7.30am any day for the past 20 days since I came back from London, which means I just can't do late nights out at all - I ducked out early from La Fête de la Musique last night for that very reason.

It may be the early mornings or the busy schedule or the years catching up or that going out just isn't really fun without Debrah here. It's 20 days since I last saw her and it will be another 10 before I do - that's just too long and I'm feeling every day of it.

I am so looking forward to our week away at the beginning of July.

Busy Busy

I said I was ready for action and it's a good job that I was - it has been pretty full on all weekend with guests in and out, room changes and two dinners to host.

New guests, on honeymoon from Canada, arrived on Friday, sleeping in my bedroom - grrrrrr - stop it and think of the money. "That bed was so comfortable", they said and "what a fantastic shower", they added. I know that - it's my bed and my shower. Let it go, Peter.

They left on Saturday and new guests arrived from Scotland to replace them. None of them get that this is a one man business not a five star hotel.

Leaving guests - "we will definitely be back from the market and away before noon (check-out deadline) and I know you have a lunch appointment". They returned at 12.45 to hand back their key.

Arriving guests - check-in time is four but arranged to meet them here between two-thirty and three because they were tired and wanted to settle in. They got back from lunch at four.

They think it's five star because I give them five star service of course - it's frustrating when that stuff happens but it goes with the territory - they all left/arrived happy and grateful and I bit my tongue and just got on with it.

Saturday evening meant dinner with Thursday's arrivals from Bolton, who were just the most enthusiastic guests I have had here for weeks. Three breakfasts Sunday morning followed by a room change and an airport drop-off and then dinner on Sunday for the other four guests followed by two breakfasts this morning and another room change, airport drop-off and two new sets of arrivals. Blimey what a weekend.

So, many early mornings and late nights but I have managed some middle of the day me-time in the fabulous sunshine we have been having down here. I had the most delicious plate of oysters at Café Saillan on Saturday ( I was late but not too late) - oysters from Gruissan, fresh, sweet, awesome with just a squeeze of lemon.

Flat peaches have arrived in the market which is a sure sign of summer and my menus changed from asparagus and duck confit to melon salad and roast chicken breast with tarragon butter and serrano ham, and from hot chocolate fondant to strawberries with meringue and cream to roast peaches with creme fraiche.

The fridge is now stocked full of rosé and white

As I have retreated out of my bedroom and the office into the kitchen and the spare room, I have taken my Mac with me to the kitchen table. It now shares a plug point with the toaster and a tabletop with the breakfast trays and the dinner service - it's not ideal. I can't tell you how many times and how many expletives have been issued over the last few days when I haven't been toasting bread because the computer has been plugged in! So frustrating.

But not the end of the world - nothing is.

More important than all or any of the above is that it has been nearly two weeks since I saw Debrah and will be another two weeks before I see her again. It's too long, it's not good and it won't happen again. We just have to get through maxed-out June.