Friends and Family

Our very very good friends, Anna and Andrew (Aib), visited us this week for a couple of nights. The reason for the visit was the Massive Attack concert in the Cité on Tuesday evening, but actually that was just a sideshow to us all catching up on life and comparing notes on running a business and living in France.

Anna and Aib run a very successful holiday business from their chateau in South West France, near St Emilion in the heart of the Bordeaux wine region. They bought their property about two years before we bought ours, having stolen our idea of a place in France and then moved their whole life and young family out here, which was far more than we had ever intended to do - partly because we are much older (sadly) than them and our children are already grown up and not the least bit interested in what we do or say.

I guess we have since stolen their idea by setting up our own holiday business here - different scale and therefore different issues but essentially the same sort of operation - unique in its place and offer. In fact Debrah practiced her interior design thoughts on the chateau before putting them into operation here and Chris was instrumental in the chateau renovation before coming down to the Languedoc to help me out.

And the trading of thoughts and ideas, from pricing to recipes to new business opportunities, continues to this day - which makes every time we see them extremely competitive but a lot of fun.

They weren't our only visitors this week. Christian and two of his friends, Andrew and Camille, turned up after seven days at a festival in Spain - passing through as they inter-railed around Europe - but in reality just over-working the washing machine and emptying the fridge and sleeping quite a lot. So it ever was, generation after generation.

We all seven of us went to the Massive Attack concert on Tuesday evening - the music was excellent and the lighting system something else altogether, until it all just became a billboard for the band's political messages - oh well.

Anna was keen to go out into the Minervois and find some of our lovely wine from this region to take back up to Bordeaux (I hope they don't find out up there or they risk being more ostracised than an English family living in the Bordeaux region trying to run a hotel business - err!)

Bizarrely, when I realised where we were going, I thought about Simon and Juliet, whom we haven't seen for months as we have all been so busy, because they live close to Homps and because Juliet would be the perfect person to give Anna advice on what to buy. So wouldn't you know it - Simon and Juliet pitched up at the same lunchtime spot - 'En Bonne Compagnie' - next to the canal in Homps, that we had decided to visit for lunch. It was lovely to see them and Juliet immediately recommended several local vineyards and a wine shop just down the canal and across the footbridge, where we once again met up and proceeded to purchase everything that Juliet pointed at as good - well Anna did. The least said about the lunch restaurant the better - we have to try these places in the name of research - it wasn't dreadful but Debrah wasn't impressed and I don't think we will be going back again.

The exact opposite can be said about our lunch spot the next day. 'Le Jardin en Ville' is a new restaurant on the edge of the bastille town - in fact it is tucked away on the opposite side of the railway line in a definitely residential area, which makes it a bit quirky to begin with.

It is fabulous mix of lunch spot, where they grow all their own vegetables in a potager next door, art gallery and furniture showroom and generally all round cool place. The food was delicious and the setting relaxing and inspiring - part industrial and part contemporary garden and part eating 'chez nous'. It all felt like just being invited into someones very stylish garden for lunch, which is pretty much what it was. In many ways it was the same as our business here - the owner being front of house in his own relaxed style - doing something slightly different from everything else that's on offer in the area. The very best of luck to them and we shall certainly be doing our best to ensure that they succeed by visiting as often as we can.

Today was a changeover day - guests leaving the Apartment and new guests arriving - so busy busy. Debrah helped enormously by going to the supermarket to re-stock whilst I cleaned out and changed the room.

Then the travellers all fell out with each other, which I guess is part of travelling and growing up and learning about life - and then this evening they all tried to work it out between them, which was good to hear. They leave tomorrow on the next leg of their trip - to Nice and then Milan - and I wish them well and hope they don't kill each other!!

We shall just have to hope for the best - in the meantime our new guests want breakfast at eight in the morning - despite being on holiday. So I'm off to bed.