I've done something to my left shoulder - not sure what though. I think I must have slept on it in an awkward sort of way late last week and it's been getting worse ever since - as I try to compensate for it I think I am making it worse. It's rubbish having your wife in a different country half the time - no sympathy and no massage - but then it might not have been a sympathy and massage giving day anyway - you never can tell until you ask!
Debrah had some good news though - Christian has got a college place this year after all. He will have to work a bit to catch up because he is starting late and he better not let down all the people that have made this happen for him - but the opportunity is fantastic and I'm sure he'll make the most of it.
All of which might mean an opportunity for Debrah and I to spend a bit more time in the same country, same place, at the same time, together. It's all still a bit too soon to start celebrating as we need to work out a number of things to do with property (market dead) and Christian (fees and place to live to sort out), but at least it gives us something to work with and start planning ahead.
Talking of planning ahead, my lovely Irish guests who bought me the chocolates yesterday and for whom I cooked dinner this evening, have decided that they would like to book both the suites for Bastille Day in 2010 - next year is already booked, so they have gone for the year after!
We haven't quite got round to relaunching the website with next years prices (imminent) and I've only just set up all my booking sheets for next year, never mind the year after.
Still, it sounds good to say that we are booked out for Bastille Day until 2011.
Showing posts with label Christian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian. Show all posts
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Oh, that's good
The tomatoes are so good at the moment - I mean really really good - unbelievably good. Every meal this week has consisted of a fresh tomato salad alongside whatever else we have been eating - and so many varieties and colours and sizes and shapes, from red to yellow to green to purplish to striped and small and large and bell shapes and ribbed and knarled - and all mixed together with some good olive oil and salt and pepper and fresh basil - you actually don't need anything to go with them except maybe some crusty baguette.
Forgive me going on about the tomatoes - but apart from being absolutely delicious, they are nature's skin protection against the sun - and we have had a lot of sun this week and we have eaten a lot of tomatoes. It is one of life's lovely ironies that the sun makes tomatoes as good as they are and then the tomatoes protect one from the worst of the sun's radiation - neat eh?
Of course, the sun benefits all the fruit that is grown in this fertile valley - so the melons and peaches and apricots and strawberries, and other soft fruit, and the plums, that are just beginning to appear, and the figs, most of all the figs, are all just the most amazing mouthful of delicious sweetness that you could possibly imagine.
When I first came down to Carcassonne, three years ago, I had no concept of what figs were all about - I didn't get it at all. I had only ever tasted dried figs at Christmas and I had never tasted a fresh fig that had been plucked from a tree the day before and was oozing it's sweet juice from it's base, so much so that it was very very tricky to carry it home from the market without squashing it. What a revelation it was eating my first fresh fig - now, I can't get enough of them and I can't wait for the fig season to start and I mourn when it finally ends. Long live the fresh fig - with yoghurt and honey for breakfast and with foie gras anytime.
You may think that I am being a bit food obsessed - well, I am - after breakfast I think about lunch and after lunch I think about dinner and before I go to bed I think about breakfast and so it goes on. Surely, everyone adores food.
Well, maybe not to the same extent as I do. Our traveller guests, on an inter-railing tour of Europe, have spent most of their hours holed up here watching movies on the computer rather than experiencing the joy of the food market or the mysteries of the Cité or just sitting in the square having a coffee or a beer.
It seems that they would rather have just stayed here eating our food and drinking my beer than try to interact with the local population and immerse themselves in the local culture - which is what I thought these trips were about.
Christian is excluded from this criticism, not because he is my stepson, but because he has gone out of his way to help out at all times and because he felt embarrassed by his friends attitude and lack of appreciation. Bless!
It was a relief that they left today on the next leg of their journey - I told Christian that he was welcome to come straight back here if they all fell out! Anyway they are off to Milan via Nice and good luck to them.
Forgive me going on about the tomatoes - but apart from being absolutely delicious, they are nature's skin protection against the sun - and we have had a lot of sun this week and we have eaten a lot of tomatoes. It is one of life's lovely ironies that the sun makes tomatoes as good as they are and then the tomatoes protect one from the worst of the sun's radiation - neat eh?
Of course, the sun benefits all the fruit that is grown in this fertile valley - so the melons and peaches and apricots and strawberries, and other soft fruit, and the plums, that are just beginning to appear, and the figs, most of all the figs, are all just the most amazing mouthful of delicious sweetness that you could possibly imagine.
When I first came down to Carcassonne, three years ago, I had no concept of what figs were all about - I didn't get it at all. I had only ever tasted dried figs at Christmas and I had never tasted a fresh fig that had been plucked from a tree the day before and was oozing it's sweet juice from it's base, so much so that it was very very tricky to carry it home from the market without squashing it. What a revelation it was eating my first fresh fig - now, I can't get enough of them and I can't wait for the fig season to start and I mourn when it finally ends. Long live the fresh fig - with yoghurt and honey for breakfast and with foie gras anytime.
You may think that I am being a bit food obsessed - well, I am - after breakfast I think about lunch and after lunch I think about dinner and before I go to bed I think about breakfast and so it goes on. Surely, everyone adores food.
Well, maybe not to the same extent as I do. Our traveller guests, on an inter-railing tour of Europe, have spent most of their hours holed up here watching movies on the computer rather than experiencing the joy of the food market or the mysteries of the Cité or just sitting in the square having a coffee or a beer.
It seems that they would rather have just stayed here eating our food and drinking my beer than try to interact with the local population and immerse themselves in the local culture - which is what I thought these trips were about.
Christian is excluded from this criticism, not because he is my stepson, but because he has gone out of his way to help out at all times and because he felt embarrassed by his friends attitude and lack of appreciation. Bless!
It was a relief that they left today on the next leg of their journey - I told Christian that he was welcome to come straight back here if they all fell out! Anyway they are off to Milan via Nice and good luck to them.
Thursday, 24 July 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
Shock to the system
Christian is back in town after a weekend in London lying on his bed. He tried to avoid any work yesterday afternoon after his arrival but I finally got him upstairs to remove a load of rubbish which was in the way in Denis' apartment.
The next job at the bar was removing all the stuff that had been dumped in the basement and Christian said he wasn't doing it because of his fear of spiders and bugs - don't know where that came from? The problem for Christian was overcome the irrational fear or lose the job - he chose to overcome the fear - a good decision - I'm proud of him because it must have taken a lot of willpower to force himself down into that basement.
He said it wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be - as always our imagination builds these things up beyond the reality.
Mind you he seems to have adopted French working practices very quickly - he started at 8.00am this morning and he knocked off at 4.00pm on the dot this afternoon. "I've done a full day", he said, before falling asleep on his bed for the next 4 hours - the same next 4 hours that saw Chris and I doing a 'full day' with an 8.30pm finish. I guess after years of sitting around on his arse, 8 hours manual labour must seem like a full day - but when you are being paid by the hour and are going travelling soon, well, personally I'd have put in a couple more hours for the money and to hell with computer games and myspace until two in the morning.
I don't mean to sound harsh on the boy - he's worked hard and he is being very good company and it's good to have him here. Oh you should see what we've got in store for him the rest of the week!
We are coming to crunch time on Denis' apartment - he arrives in a week's time and we haven't started painting yet! Bugger - there goes this weekend then - somehow, working around the four new guests who arrive on Friday, we need to lay the new floor, paint the whole apartment, build and install the bookshelves, clean and generally make good. I'm not feeling 100% confident of success but as ever we will give it our best shot - it was the same when we finished the apartment and the same when we finished the studio. Timing plans - load of rubbish.
The guests went up to the Cité today but generally had another relaxing day ahead of the family wedding they are attending at the weekend. They took the bikes out this afternoon and unfortunately suffered a puncture. Before I knew anything about it they had the wheel off and the inner tube out and were asking for a puncture repair kit, which I didn't have, so they have promised to take it up to the Peugeot cycle repair shop in the morning and get it fixed - aren't they lovely?
In fact all our guests continue to be lovely and continue to write fabulous reviews on tripadvisor and i-escape which drives even more people to our website - thank you all for your kindnesses. It has been a pleasure to meet each and every one of you - please don't stop coming!
The next job at the bar was removing all the stuff that had been dumped in the basement and Christian said he wasn't doing it because of his fear of spiders and bugs - don't know where that came from? The problem for Christian was overcome the irrational fear or lose the job - he chose to overcome the fear - a good decision - I'm proud of him because it must have taken a lot of willpower to force himself down into that basement.
He said it wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be - as always our imagination builds these things up beyond the reality.
Mind you he seems to have adopted French working practices very quickly - he started at 8.00am this morning and he knocked off at 4.00pm on the dot this afternoon. "I've done a full day", he said, before falling asleep on his bed for the next 4 hours - the same next 4 hours that saw Chris and I doing a 'full day' with an 8.30pm finish. I guess after years of sitting around on his arse, 8 hours manual labour must seem like a full day - but when you are being paid by the hour and are going travelling soon, well, personally I'd have put in a couple more hours for the money and to hell with computer games and myspace until two in the morning.
I don't mean to sound harsh on the boy - he's worked hard and he is being very good company and it's good to have him here. Oh you should see what we've got in store for him the rest of the week!
We are coming to crunch time on Denis' apartment - he arrives in a week's time and we haven't started painting yet! Bugger - there goes this weekend then - somehow, working around the four new guests who arrive on Friday, we need to lay the new floor, paint the whole apartment, build and install the bookshelves, clean and generally make good. I'm not feeling 100% confident of success but as ever we will give it our best shot - it was the same when we finished the apartment and the same when we finished the studio. Timing plans - load of rubbish.
The guests went up to the Cité today but generally had another relaxing day ahead of the family wedding they are attending at the weekend. They took the bikes out this afternoon and unfortunately suffered a puncture. Before I knew anything about it they had the wheel off and the inner tube out and were asking for a puncture repair kit, which I didn't have, so they have promised to take it up to the Peugeot cycle repair shop in the morning and get it fixed - aren't they lovely?
In fact all our guests continue to be lovely and continue to write fabulous reviews on tripadvisor and i-escape which drives even more people to our website - thank you all for your kindnesses. It has been a pleasure to meet each and every one of you - please don't stop coming!
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
New Arrivals
My first Australian guests arrived yesterday afternoon. A lovely couple on a trip to the UK for a family wedding and getting in a bit of France whilst they are over here from the other side of the world.
It turned out that they had spent two nights already at the Hotel de la Cité - so I wondered what they would make of it slumming down here in the old town without 24 hour room service and all the other five star luxuries.
I got off to a bad start - I wasn't sure what time they were going to arrive and risked a late afternoon trip to Tridome for building supplies for Chris - but they turned up bang on 4.30pm (when we say rooms will be ready for check-in) and I kept them waiting for half an hour as a result. I have never felt so embarrassed.
So it was straight into over-servicing mode and I hope that after canapes and a restaurant recommendation last night and map lending and day trip planning this morning and dinner this evening, I have rescued the bad start. We had a very enjoyable dinner and conversation this evening and they ate everything put in front of them, which is always a good sign - so fingers crossed. Tomorrow I am sending them off on a wine tasting tour of the Cabardes and Minervois.
In the meantime, Christian arrived from England. He is here for a week initially, in the middle of his exams, and will then come back for a month after he has finished them for a bit of Languedoc therapy - sun, slower pace, a bit of manual labour for me and for Chris and a change of air from London life - after which I hope we and he will know where his next steps will lead.
I introduced him gently with a steak lunch in the square - like we need an excuse - and then he was straight into help mode with me on a supermarket re-stocking run and then rubbish removal for Chris upstairs. He did revert to type by asking me if I needed any help with dinner at the exact moment that I had finished two hours prep and just sat down for a moment - well, you can't expect the world on day one - it was a good start and it's good to have him here with us.
I just need to keep him away from a 'Men Behaving Badly' Chris and Patrick night out for a couple of weeks, at least until we've had time to work on him a bit!
It turned out that they had spent two nights already at the Hotel de la Cité - so I wondered what they would make of it slumming down here in the old town without 24 hour room service and all the other five star luxuries.
I got off to a bad start - I wasn't sure what time they were going to arrive and risked a late afternoon trip to Tridome for building supplies for Chris - but they turned up bang on 4.30pm (when we say rooms will be ready for check-in) and I kept them waiting for half an hour as a result. I have never felt so embarrassed.
So it was straight into over-servicing mode and I hope that after canapes and a restaurant recommendation last night and map lending and day trip planning this morning and dinner this evening, I have rescued the bad start. We had a very enjoyable dinner and conversation this evening and they ate everything put in front of them, which is always a good sign - so fingers crossed. Tomorrow I am sending them off on a wine tasting tour of the Cabardes and Minervois.
In the meantime, Christian arrived from England. He is here for a week initially, in the middle of his exams, and will then come back for a month after he has finished them for a bit of Languedoc therapy - sun, slower pace, a bit of manual labour for me and for Chris and a change of air from London life - after which I hope we and he will know where his next steps will lead.
I introduced him gently with a steak lunch in the square - like we need an excuse - and then he was straight into help mode with me on a supermarket re-stocking run and then rubbish removal for Chris upstairs. He did revert to type by asking me if I needed any help with dinner at the exact moment that I had finished two hours prep and just sat down for a moment - well, you can't expect the world on day one - it was a good start and it's good to have him here with us.
I just need to keep him away from a 'Men Behaving Badly' Chris and Patrick night out for a couple of weeks, at least until we've had time to work on him a bit!
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