I am very pleased to report that Katie from Domaine Gayda telephoned immediately upon receipt of my email and put my mind at rest about their policy re vegetarian food at the restaurant. They had offered to make a full vegetarian menu from whatever they had fresh that day in the kitchen, but it appears that, for one of my guests, a pasta dish was what she wanted and that they couldn't do on the day.
So she left, forcing my other guests to leave too because they were dependent on them for transport - they weren't really, I would have gone and collected them, but they felt obliged and probably a bit embarrassed - as were we all ultimately.
My lesson is always to check both sides of the story before jumping to any conclusions and I am very relieved that I can continue to happily rely on Domaine Gayda in the future to look after any of my guest's food requirements.
Meanwhile at 42rvh I had a full house of guests at the weekend and a fridge full of champagne. Sadly it wasn't mine - being a man with many fridges, I was just storing it for a friend's 40th birthday party on Saturday evening - so I had to give it back but I did get to drink some in the end.
Canal boat, pub, nightclub - guests who had arrived from all over Europe it seemed - and a lot of champagne. You can probably guess the rest. I was up bright and breezy for breakfasts but definitely jaded by mid-afternoon and still struggling for energy as I put together the guests dinner I was hosting on Sunday night. I'm not as young as I used to be.
And so to today and my next property viewing - not a pile of stones this time but a barn and a garage on a small piece of land that could make the perfect little retreat for two people. It has potential, I think, but needs a lot of questions answered first. At least it was located roughly where they said it was and for once there weren't a lot of unexpected "Oh, didn't I tell you about that" bits to take in.
Showing posts with label domaine gayda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label domaine gayda. Show all posts
Monday, 28 September 2009
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Hotter than hot
Last evening there was a little soiree in the courtyard here at 42rvh which was orchestrated by Brigitte and Christine (beauty salon) and Sophie (music teacher). They all prepared a bit of food and we all bought a bit of wine and everyone moaned about the chavs renting the apartments upstairs, with their babies and dogs and filthy habits. The music teacher played some lovely jazz on the piano, we all applauded and wished each a 'bonne soiree', lots of kissing and it was all over as quickly as it started - but not before we had tidied the rubbish away and left the place spotlessly clean like the honest decent middle class folk we are.
The excuse for the event was the end of school for another year, which everyone in France seems to mark as a special occasion and then all pack up their Renault Espaces and head for exactly the same bit of beach that they headed for last year and the year before and when they were babies and their parents were babies etc. They are such creatures of habit - but then maybe I just notice it because it is slightly different - maybe the majority of Brits are just as much creatures of habit but I have never noticed.
I said last time that I wasn't going to talk about the heat, but it's too hot not to talk about the heat. At midnight last night it was still over 30 degrees and it doesn't feel any cooler this evening. There is no air movement either so no feeling of respite. It's ok if you just sit still but as soon as you move you start to sweat - which is not nice at all.
As for sleeping, it's difficult. Last night I slept fitfully and got up at 5.30am because it was better to be up than lying in bed. I finished all the outstanding ironing and cleaned the studio apartment ready for new guests tomorrow and the spare room ready for Amy arriving today - and then made breakfast for the guests before driving them down to Domaine Gayda and VinEcole for a wine tasting and lunch. All my jobs were done before midday - it has been slow work since then with a bit of sleep grabbed both before and after collecting Amy from the airport.
It is fabulous to have Amy here but she has been knocked out by the heat too. They told her on the plane that it was 42 in Carcassonne - I don't believe that for a minute but 38 or 39 is definitely a possibility.
We had a lovely dinner at La Roulotte. I am always amazed how few people are there considering how much everyone enjoys it when they go. I hope they survive. The owner was telling me that the problem with really hot weather is that everyone just goes to the beach and therefore isn't in town. He would be quite happy for it to rain, or be cloudy or cool, because everyone would look for other things to do besides being on the beach and may well end up in town eating at his restaurant.
We came straight home after dinner and took advantage of no-one being in the studio apartment and watched a movie. It was OK as long as we didn't move but Amy didn't last the course and went off to try and get some sleep - travelling is always tiring.
It all reminds me very much of the first day that I arrived here in Carcassonne, on my own, in July 2005. It was five months after we had completed the purchase and the first time that either of us had been down here since then. I arrived with a van full of stuff and (useless) builders on site. The electricity cut out in mid evening so I had no light and no music and there was so much noise on the street and it was so hot that I think I only got about two hours sleep.
I wondered what I was doing, why I was there and what was going to happen. It all feels a million miles away from now and it is a story in itself that I really should get around to writing down. One day.
The excuse for the event was the end of school for another year, which everyone in France seems to mark as a special occasion and then all pack up their Renault Espaces and head for exactly the same bit of beach that they headed for last year and the year before and when they were babies and their parents were babies etc. They are such creatures of habit - but then maybe I just notice it because it is slightly different - maybe the majority of Brits are just as much creatures of habit but I have never noticed.
I said last time that I wasn't going to talk about the heat, but it's too hot not to talk about the heat. At midnight last night it was still over 30 degrees and it doesn't feel any cooler this evening. There is no air movement either so no feeling of respite. It's ok if you just sit still but as soon as you move you start to sweat - which is not nice at all.
As for sleeping, it's difficult. Last night I slept fitfully and got up at 5.30am because it was better to be up than lying in bed. I finished all the outstanding ironing and cleaned the studio apartment ready for new guests tomorrow and the spare room ready for Amy arriving today - and then made breakfast for the guests before driving them down to Domaine Gayda and VinEcole for a wine tasting and lunch. All my jobs were done before midday - it has been slow work since then with a bit of sleep grabbed both before and after collecting Amy from the airport.
It is fabulous to have Amy here but she has been knocked out by the heat too. They told her on the plane that it was 42 in Carcassonne - I don't believe that for a minute but 38 or 39 is definitely a possibility.
We had a lovely dinner at La Roulotte. I am always amazed how few people are there considering how much everyone enjoys it when they go. I hope they survive. The owner was telling me that the problem with really hot weather is that everyone just goes to the beach and therefore isn't in town. He would be quite happy for it to rain, or be cloudy or cool, because everyone would look for other things to do besides being on the beach and may well end up in town eating at his restaurant.
We came straight home after dinner and took advantage of no-one being in the studio apartment and watched a movie. It was OK as long as we didn't move but Amy didn't last the course and went off to try and get some sleep - travelling is always tiring.
It all reminds me very much of the first day that I arrived here in Carcassonne, on my own, in July 2005. It was five months after we had completed the purchase and the first time that either of us had been down here since then. I arrived with a van full of stuff and (useless) builders on site. The electricity cut out in mid evening so I had no light and no music and there was so much noise on the street and it was so hot that I think I only got about two hours sleep.
I wondered what I was doing, why I was there and what was going to happen. It all feels a million miles away from now and it is a story in itself that I really should get around to writing down. One day.
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Parents in town
My parents arrived on Tuesday - their second visit to Carcassonne and the first staying here at 42rvh. When they last came we were still in the middle of the renovation and the thinking was that it would be better for my Dad in his wheelchair if they stayed close by in a hotel with proper disabled facilities.
The so called disabled facilities at Domaine D'Auriac proved to be anything but, so this time they stayed with me, even though we are on the first floor - once inside everything would be easy with all on one level, huge rooms and double opening doors everywhere.
He can walk a little bit but getting him up the grand staircase was still going to be a problem and so much depends on how he is feeling as to whether he has the strength to make it easy or difficult. And that's how it has been. Arrival on day 1 was easy as was going out on day 2 - coming back on day 2 was a bit more difficult but going out day 3 was ok - coming back on day 3 was very hard because he was tired and hot. We are restricted to one trip out per day - it would be much too much otherwise.
They do appear to be having a great time though and it is a much needed change of scenery and a rest for my Mum and, of course, they get to see me.
We didn't do much on Tuesday when they got here as travelling always takes it out of them and they like to get settled in. Besides, they hadn't seen the finished apartments and I'd had two sets of guests leave just that morning and needed to change those rooms over immediately, so Mum nosed about having a good look into every space and then 'helped' me with the room changes.
"I'll just take this towel through", said Mum
"There are more towels here to take", I said
"I'll come back for another", she replied
'Are you sure you aren't French', I thought to myself - talk about job creation.
Likewise on Wednesday morning - guests out and an immediate room change for new arrivals later in the day. Once that was done we ventured out together for the first time, just down to the Place Carnot for lunch outside at La Roulotte, where we were looked after very well as always and the food was superb and fantastic value at €15 each for three courses. I still don't know how a restaurant offering food that good and that well prepared can survive on those prices. Mum then checked out every shoe shop in town, and there are quite a few, before we ambled home.
Yesterday we went to one of VinEcole's excellent wine tastings and then had lunch on the restaurant terrace at Domaine Gayda. I've done the wine course several times so was very grateful that Matthew changed the wines - it was all new for my parents so they loved it all and I discovered some new wines that I hadn't had before - excellent. It was one of those glorious blue sky Languedoc days and with snow still on the peaks of the Pyrenees the view was outstanding and certainly took my parents breath away. We could see the weather starting to change as we sat and ate and the clouds started to pour over the peaks from Spain.
It was hot yesterday and that's why it was a problem, by the time we got home, for my father to get back up the stairs. Once he was in I knew that he would have a quiet evening and would need a good rest and sleep. As a result, we didn't do much and there was a grave danger of the evening developing into parental sitting (everyone sits in silence staring at each other), so I asked Mum if she'd like to go for an evening stroll around the town - a sort of 'passegiata', if we had been in Italy - which she was more than happy to do. I think she has had enough of sitting with my Dad.
Whilst we were out she asked me if I had noticed any changes in them. I said that I didn't think Dad's mobility had deteriorated at all during the last two years or so but that both of them are more frail generally now and their hearing and memory seems to be a lot worse. Ten minutes later she asked me the same question which just confirmed my concerns.
I postponed plans for today until I knew what the weather would bring and how my dad was feeling once he'd got up. It was grey and cloudy but that also meant cooler temperature wise, so after a very lazy start - by me too it must be said, the first morning for over a week that I didn't have a guest breakfast to do and I slept until 9am instead of usual 7am alarm call - we decided to head for the coast as Mum wanted to see the Mediterranean.
I booked a table at L'Hospitalet, a wine estate situated on the top of the 'Montagne de la Clape', the mountain that separates Narbonne from Narbonne Plage. It was exactly the sort of place that my Mum and Dad love. I don't actually think that the food in the restaurant is all that good, certainly not as good as Gayda the day before, but the staff were excellent and the whole place is extremely wheelchair friendly and my Mum bought herself a watercolour from the resident artist and Dad bought me a dozen bottles of wine from the 'caveau', which was extremely decent of him.
After that we drove down to the beach at Gruissan Plage and I took my Mum for a short stroll on the sand and then drove back slowly via Bages and Peyriac and then across country to Lagrasse and Carcassonne. Despite the overcast weather the whole region is looking fabulous at the moment with poppies everywhere and gorse and hawthorn and all the trees and shrubs on the hills looking all soft and fluffy with their new growth. Sorry, went a bit gay there.
I am pretty sure that I have sold them the whole idea of them moving to the Languedoc - a drier climate will be better for my Dad, a sunnier climate will be better for my Mum, the Mediterranean diet will be better for them both and a change from the routine they have had for 10 years would definitely benefit them - but they will probably find every reason why they shouldn't and not do anything, rather than embracing the positive benefits of such a change. What can you do?
The so called disabled facilities at Domaine D'Auriac proved to be anything but, so this time they stayed with me, even though we are on the first floor - once inside everything would be easy with all on one level, huge rooms and double opening doors everywhere.
He can walk a little bit but getting him up the grand staircase was still going to be a problem and so much depends on how he is feeling as to whether he has the strength to make it easy or difficult. And that's how it has been. Arrival on day 1 was easy as was going out on day 2 - coming back on day 2 was a bit more difficult but going out day 3 was ok - coming back on day 3 was very hard because he was tired and hot. We are restricted to one trip out per day - it would be much too much otherwise.
They do appear to be having a great time though and it is a much needed change of scenery and a rest for my Mum and, of course, they get to see me.
We didn't do much on Tuesday when they got here as travelling always takes it out of them and they like to get settled in. Besides, they hadn't seen the finished apartments and I'd had two sets of guests leave just that morning and needed to change those rooms over immediately, so Mum nosed about having a good look into every space and then 'helped' me with the room changes.
"I'll just take this towel through", said Mum
"There are more towels here to take", I said
"I'll come back for another", she replied
'Are you sure you aren't French', I thought to myself - talk about job creation.
Likewise on Wednesday morning - guests out and an immediate room change for new arrivals later in the day. Once that was done we ventured out together for the first time, just down to the Place Carnot for lunch outside at La Roulotte, where we were looked after very well as always and the food was superb and fantastic value at €15 each for three courses. I still don't know how a restaurant offering food that good and that well prepared can survive on those prices. Mum then checked out every shoe shop in town, and there are quite a few, before we ambled home.
Yesterday we went to one of VinEcole's excellent wine tastings and then had lunch on the restaurant terrace at Domaine Gayda. I've done the wine course several times so was very grateful that Matthew changed the wines - it was all new for my parents so they loved it all and I discovered some new wines that I hadn't had before - excellent. It was one of those glorious blue sky Languedoc days and with snow still on the peaks of the Pyrenees the view was outstanding and certainly took my parents breath away. We could see the weather starting to change as we sat and ate and the clouds started to pour over the peaks from Spain.
It was hot yesterday and that's why it was a problem, by the time we got home, for my father to get back up the stairs. Once he was in I knew that he would have a quiet evening and would need a good rest and sleep. As a result, we didn't do much and there was a grave danger of the evening developing into parental sitting (everyone sits in silence staring at each other), so I asked Mum if she'd like to go for an evening stroll around the town - a sort of 'passegiata', if we had been in Italy - which she was more than happy to do. I think she has had enough of sitting with my Dad.
Whilst we were out she asked me if I had noticed any changes in them. I said that I didn't think Dad's mobility had deteriorated at all during the last two years or so but that both of them are more frail generally now and their hearing and memory seems to be a lot worse. Ten minutes later she asked me the same question which just confirmed my concerns.
I postponed plans for today until I knew what the weather would bring and how my dad was feeling once he'd got up. It was grey and cloudy but that also meant cooler temperature wise, so after a very lazy start - by me too it must be said, the first morning for over a week that I didn't have a guest breakfast to do and I slept until 9am instead of usual 7am alarm call - we decided to head for the coast as Mum wanted to see the Mediterranean.
I booked a table at L'Hospitalet, a wine estate situated on the top of the 'Montagne de la Clape', the mountain that separates Narbonne from Narbonne Plage. It was exactly the sort of place that my Mum and Dad love. I don't actually think that the food in the restaurant is all that good, certainly not as good as Gayda the day before, but the staff were excellent and the whole place is extremely wheelchair friendly and my Mum bought herself a watercolour from the resident artist and Dad bought me a dozen bottles of wine from the 'caveau', which was extremely decent of him.
After that we drove down to the beach at Gruissan Plage and I took my Mum for a short stroll on the sand and then drove back slowly via Bages and Peyriac and then across country to Lagrasse and Carcassonne. Despite the overcast weather the whole region is looking fabulous at the moment with poppies everywhere and gorse and hawthorn and all the trees and shrubs on the hills looking all soft and fluffy with their new growth. Sorry, went a bit gay there.
I am pretty sure that I have sold them the whole idea of them moving to the Languedoc - a drier climate will be better for my Dad, a sunnier climate will be better for my Mum, the Mediterranean diet will be better for them both and a change from the routine they have had for 10 years would definitely benefit them - but they will probably find every reason why they shouldn't and not do anything, rather than embracing the positive benefits of such a change. What can you do?
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
Lovely Day
It was the most glorious morning. I opened the kitchen windows and looked to the left and saw the golden sun breaking the horizon over the Place Carnot - I looked to the right and saw the full face of the ivory coloured moon against the pale blue sky to the east - the same moon that had been over the Place Carnot the evening before. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect demonstration of the movement of the planets.
And I couldn't have asked for a more uplifting start to the day. I merrily trotted down to the boulangerie for the viennoisserie and whistled and sang my way through breakfast preparation and delivery.
What might have been a bit of a chore - driving my guests out to Domaine Gayda for a wine tasting that I couldn't attend - became a pleasure with the roof down on the car and the mist in the valley and the Pyrenean peaks poking up through the haze in the distance. I knew my guests would have a great day and so it proved.
Back home was back to the mundane reality of ironing and checking out my other guests and cleaning out their room - but none of that mattered because it was just work and I was in a good mood.
If only every day would be like that, but then you wouldn't appreciate them if they were.
And I couldn't have asked for a more uplifting start to the day. I merrily trotted down to the boulangerie for the viennoisserie and whistled and sang my way through breakfast preparation and delivery.
What might have been a bit of a chore - driving my guests out to Domaine Gayda for a wine tasting that I couldn't attend - became a pleasure with the roof down on the car and the mist in the valley and the Pyrenean peaks poking up through the haze in the distance. I knew my guests would have a great day and so it proved.
Back home was back to the mundane reality of ironing and checking out my other guests and cleaning out their room - but none of that mattered because it was just work and I was in a good mood.
If only every day would be like that, but then you wouldn't appreciate them if they were.
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
Birthdays
It's been nearly a week since I last got around to writing anything here, which is a bit rubbish, I know - but it's been busy and the days seem to have flown by.
Last Friday it was my birthday - just another forty something birthday so not that important but it is now less than 365 days until my first fifty type occasion, so I better start thinking about how to make that a bit different next August. As for this one - well there was an airport pick-up to do after getting a room ready - and the plane was late so there were two trips to the airport and no lunch opportunity as a result - and then canapes for both sets of guests - then the heavens opened just as we were all about to wander out for dinner in different directions. So, actually, it was a bit of a working birthday and then when Debrah and I did get to dinner we ended up having a very serious conversation about our life and our future and our children - which was all relevant but not very light-hearted or celebratory.
To be honest, I was very down about everything after that and still feel a bit upset about it.
A barbecue 'chez Nathalie' on Saturday evening helped to cheer me up. Naturally, it was extremely frustrating trying to talk French to the assembled friends (all lovely and all doing their best to help us with their English) but we had a good night with the more sophisticated crowd that Nathalie always invites and whom we would love to know better if only we could speak and understand the lingo!
There was a Sunday night dinner with our guests and a Monday lunchtime departure for both couples, which took us neatly around to Anna and Aib's visit for Debrah's birthday, today.
Actually, they arrived on Tuesday and we spent a lovely evening at the 'Jardin en Ville' - very relaxed, very chilled.
Debrah's birthday treat was a wine tasting at VinÉcole followed by lunch at Maison Gayda. For some time we have been meaning to try the new wine school run by Matthew Stubbs MW and what a fabulously informative and entertaining two hours it was. I highly recommend it and we will be trying to get our guests to try it too because I think it's just the sort of thing they will all enjoy.
We went on to enjoy a delicious and long lunch well into late afternoon looking at the stunning view of the Pyrenees from the open terrace. Matthew joined us too so we carried on improving our wine knowledge as we ate. Perfect.
Last Friday it was my birthday - just another forty something birthday so not that important but it is now less than 365 days until my first fifty type occasion, so I better start thinking about how to make that a bit different next August. As for this one - well there was an airport pick-up to do after getting a room ready - and the plane was late so there were two trips to the airport and no lunch opportunity as a result - and then canapes for both sets of guests - then the heavens opened just as we were all about to wander out for dinner in different directions. So, actually, it was a bit of a working birthday and then when Debrah and I did get to dinner we ended up having a very serious conversation about our life and our future and our children - which was all relevant but not very light-hearted or celebratory.
To be honest, I was very down about everything after that and still feel a bit upset about it.
A barbecue 'chez Nathalie' on Saturday evening helped to cheer me up. Naturally, it was extremely frustrating trying to talk French to the assembled friends (all lovely and all doing their best to help us with their English) but we had a good night with the more sophisticated crowd that Nathalie always invites and whom we would love to know better if only we could speak and understand the lingo!
There was a Sunday night dinner with our guests and a Monday lunchtime departure for both couples, which took us neatly around to Anna and Aib's visit for Debrah's birthday, today.
Actually, they arrived on Tuesday and we spent a lovely evening at the 'Jardin en Ville' - very relaxed, very chilled.
Debrah's birthday treat was a wine tasting at VinÉcole followed by lunch at Maison Gayda. For some time we have been meaning to try the new wine school run by Matthew Stubbs MW and what a fabulously informative and entertaining two hours it was. I highly recommend it and we will be trying to get our guests to try it too because I think it's just the sort of thing they will all enjoy.
We went on to enjoy a delicious and long lunch well into late afternoon looking at the stunning view of the Pyrenees from the open terrace. Matthew joined us too so we carried on improving our wine knowledge as we ate. Perfect.
Sunday, 10 August 2008
Emotional
Another dinner over, guests have departed back to their rooms in a jolly mood, washing up done apart from a few glasses and everything ready to go for breakfasts in the morning. It all sounds as seamless and sorted as every other dinner but actually it was all a bit problematic today.
It started badly because I forgot to set my alarm last night (first time ever) and woke up at 8.30 when I was supposed to be delivering the first breakfast of the day. It was a bit of a rush but they had it by 8.50 and the other went in at 9.00 as it should have done - I'm not happy with myself, but the guests were happily telling me this evening that breakfast was wonderful so clearly they were OK with it - what a relief.
The problem was caused by Debrah and me having a couple of drinks and working our way through some old songs from a recently opened box of CD's - Blondie, Abba, Madonna, Santana, The Doors - all classics of their day and not heard in these parts for a good while.
After the breakfast rush, I decided to try out my new iron and Debrah retreated back to bed with her book. Sad isn't it, when I'm trying out new household appliances on a Sunday morning - it's a new steam iron - one of those ones attached to a large water reservoir - and I'm hoping it will do the business on the sheets and pillowcases. My life now revolves around this level of domesticity.
So I was 'merrily' ironing and watching a bit of Olympic action on my computer when Debrah emerged from the bedroom in an absolute flood of tears - real proper big crying. It appears that she had got to the end of the book and was overwhelmed by it's sadness, and happiness and that it was a true story. Women and emotions - that's a big mystery to us men. All I could do was put my arms around her and let her cry until she got control again.
Then this evening turned into a little bit of a rush because we were out at lunch for so long. Debrah wasn't feeling very well with a bit of an upset stomach - not caused by lunch, we don't think. She decided that she wouldn't eat with us all but would help with the preparation in the background and then somehow she dropped the tray of fig tarts that she had been so carefully preparing. It wasn't a disaster and it was clearly just an accident but it was the first time we had found ourselves in a potentally panic situation of not having a dessert when guests were just about to arrive for dinner. It wasn't a disaster because there were more figs and there was more pastry and there was time before the dessert was due to prepare more tarts.
In the middle of the day, Denis had insisted on taking us out to lunch - so off we went to Domaine Gayda. At this point Debrah was feeling OK and the sun was shining and the view from the terrace looking out to the Pyrenees was absolutely breathtakingly fantastic - the food was delicious and the wine was a sumptuous 'la liviniere' and the company was just grand. A finer Sunday lunch one couldn't have hoped for. We just didn't need to be doing that before a guest dinner in the evening because it was too much and they both ended up detracting from each other, which was a shame because both were excellent in their own right.
So a day of learning really - remember to set the alarm, lunch and dinner on the same day is a bit much and look out for those emotions because you don't know when or how they are going to strike!
It started badly because I forgot to set my alarm last night (first time ever) and woke up at 8.30 when I was supposed to be delivering the first breakfast of the day. It was a bit of a rush but they had it by 8.50 and the other went in at 9.00 as it should have done - I'm not happy with myself, but the guests were happily telling me this evening that breakfast was wonderful so clearly they were OK with it - what a relief.
The problem was caused by Debrah and me having a couple of drinks and working our way through some old songs from a recently opened box of CD's - Blondie, Abba, Madonna, Santana, The Doors - all classics of their day and not heard in these parts for a good while.
After the breakfast rush, I decided to try out my new iron and Debrah retreated back to bed with her book. Sad isn't it, when I'm trying out new household appliances on a Sunday morning - it's a new steam iron - one of those ones attached to a large water reservoir - and I'm hoping it will do the business on the sheets and pillowcases. My life now revolves around this level of domesticity.
So I was 'merrily' ironing and watching a bit of Olympic action on my computer when Debrah emerged from the bedroom in an absolute flood of tears - real proper big crying. It appears that she had got to the end of the book and was overwhelmed by it's sadness, and happiness and that it was a true story. Women and emotions - that's a big mystery to us men. All I could do was put my arms around her and let her cry until she got control again.
Then this evening turned into a little bit of a rush because we were out at lunch for so long. Debrah wasn't feeling very well with a bit of an upset stomach - not caused by lunch, we don't think. She decided that she wouldn't eat with us all but would help with the preparation in the background and then somehow she dropped the tray of fig tarts that she had been so carefully preparing. It wasn't a disaster and it was clearly just an accident but it was the first time we had found ourselves in a potentally panic situation of not having a dessert when guests were just about to arrive for dinner. It wasn't a disaster because there were more figs and there was more pastry and there was time before the dessert was due to prepare more tarts.
In the middle of the day, Denis had insisted on taking us out to lunch - so off we went to Domaine Gayda. At this point Debrah was feeling OK and the sun was shining and the view from the terrace looking out to the Pyrenees was absolutely breathtakingly fantastic - the food was delicious and the wine was a sumptuous 'la liviniere' and the company was just grand. A finer Sunday lunch one couldn't have hoped for. We just didn't need to be doing that before a guest dinner in the evening because it was too much and they both ended up detracting from each other, which was a shame because both were excellent in their own right.
So a day of learning really - remember to set the alarm, lunch and dinner on the same day is a bit much and look out for those emotions because you don't know when or how they are going to strike!
Friday, 23 May 2008
Contacts
We were invited to a soirée at Domaine Gayda this evening, to celebrate the opening of their new terrace. We had established contact with them when we visited for lunch about two months ago, had subsequently exchanged emails and were now on the guestlist. It was a chance to meet some new people and hopefully some useful new contacts.
As far as I was aware there were only two people attending whom I knew - Jamie and Greca from the French Entree website - but that was enough to get us going on introductions and, naturally, Lesa appeared, spreading the good word about 42rvh as always and introducing us to the owner of 'Le Moulin' at Trebes, whom I now have to visit to cement relations. He could be a useful contact as his restaurant is just next to the Canal du Midi and is a natural stop-off for any guests borrowing the bikes and cycling off down the canal for the day.
Before we left we stuck our head into the wine production rooms below the restaurant, which led to a meeting with Matthew Stubbs MW, who is in the process of setting up a wine school and seems like a perfect contact for all those guests wishing to do a quick wine course, a bit of tasting or a more full on wine tour of the region. I think I might go along myself.
We had spent all night just missing the canapes trays and then when we did get to one it didn't really satisfy our food cravings. The dozen sausages sat in the fridge back home became very appealing - so we hotfooted back to Carcassonne and had a late night sausage and potato salad feast - even Christian got up out of bed (tempted by the smell and sizzling noise) to join in briefly. Excellent they were too.
The blockaded guests finally made it here late last evening after an all day drive through France and seem to have had a good day out in La Cité today. Our next guests arrive tomorrow morning at 5.30am at the train station after getting the overnight sleeper from Paris - at least 12 hours before their room will be ready - good grief!
As far as I was aware there were only two people attending whom I knew - Jamie and Greca from the French Entree website - but that was enough to get us going on introductions and, naturally, Lesa appeared, spreading the good word about 42rvh as always and introducing us to the owner of 'Le Moulin' at Trebes, whom I now have to visit to cement relations. He could be a useful contact as his restaurant is just next to the Canal du Midi and is a natural stop-off for any guests borrowing the bikes and cycling off down the canal for the day.
Before we left we stuck our head into the wine production rooms below the restaurant, which led to a meeting with Matthew Stubbs MW, who is in the process of setting up a wine school and seems like a perfect contact for all those guests wishing to do a quick wine course, a bit of tasting or a more full on wine tour of the region. I think I might go along myself.
We had spent all night just missing the canapes trays and then when we did get to one it didn't really satisfy our food cravings. The dozen sausages sat in the fridge back home became very appealing - so we hotfooted back to Carcassonne and had a late night sausage and potato salad feast - even Christian got up out of bed (tempted by the smell and sizzling noise) to join in briefly. Excellent they were too.
The blockaded guests finally made it here late last evening after an all day drive through France and seem to have had a good day out in La Cité today. Our next guests arrive tomorrow morning at 5.30am at the train station after getting the overnight sleeper from Paris - at least 12 hours before their room will be ready - good grief!
Wednesday, 26 March 2008
Power on, Water off
My new guests are from Vienna. I collected them from the train station, in the pouring rain, yesterday evening. They had set out at 4am and flown to Paris before getting the train to Carcassonne - so they were a bit tired and a bit hungry when they got here.
They seem like a very sweet couple. She works for a magazine called Weinerin, which translates as Viennese woman, and is writing an article about Carcassonne for the magazine, which we will hopefully be featured in as the place to stay when in town. He is an architect. The company he works for does a lot of work designing prisons - well somebody has to, I guess - and he was told by his colleagues that the prison here in Carcassonne is very highly regarded by those in the prison design business and that he might take a look out of interest. Let's just hope he doesn't get locked up for acting a bit suspiciously outside a prison - I can just hear him saying "Honestly, officer, these photographs are just for my work" as he is bundled into the back of a car by a couple of burly 'gendarmes'.
We have managed to avoid the electricity going off today - I'm still not sure if we need another increase in the power rating or there is a fault in the system somewhere - there appears to be no logic to when the power trips off. So power OK but when we got back from lunch the water was off! The workmen arrived early this morning and started digging up the road just up the hill from 42rvh - it looked like they were putting in a new water pipe to number 43. Just after midday it was clear that not all was well as litres of water were running down the street and a man was poking a stick into a flooded hole - someone had obviously drilled through the main (perhaps the bloke with the stick) and everyone else had made themselves scarce either because they didn't want to be associated with it or because it was lunch time and even though it was an emergency it could wait until 2pm - that's the price you have to pay for civilisation.
Fortunately, we went out for lunch today so didn't need the water and our guests were also out by then and didn't even realise it had been off. We went for lunch with Denis and his lady friend, Grainne, fresh off the flight from Dublin - I'm not sure she appreciated being whisked off straight from the airport in her travel clothes and without warning!
We had been meaning to try Domaine Gayda for a while and finally got round to doing so today. It is out in the countryside towards Limoux - a big wine estate run by one of the major players in the local wine trade, a modern building housing a restaurant, a wine shop and the vats, which are open to view as you climb the stairs to the restaurant - all very clean and comfortable and a lovely place for a spot of lunch, even when the weather is a bit foul as it was today. The big log fire and friendly ambience made it very welcoming.
Small world that it is, the maitre'd turned out to have worked in Ireland for quite a while and knew a lot of the places that Denis and Grainne knew well. He was also very interested in our apartments here in town - Debrah showed him some of her fabulous photos on the wonder that is her i-phone and he took some cards off me and we took some brochures off him. Hopefully we can push some business in both directions. Lunch and networking equals time well spent.
We would have stayed a bit longer and visited the wine shop, but I had an appointment with Amelie for my next French lesson, so we had to head back to Carcassonne. On the way back, Amelie called to say she was ill and couldn't make it - my French might suffer as a result but my credit card was spared the shop which at the moment is a good thing.
This evening, we helped our Austrian friends find a restaurant and then settled down on the sofa to watch a very soporific football match between England and France. I hope the state visit to Britain of President Sarkozy has a bit more meaning and passion about it than this evening's tame affair - I'm not sure it will - I understand he's been told to get in line and act with more decorum as the office of President demands. Act in a reserved manner and don't show your emotions - hmmm, how very British that sounds!
They seem like a very sweet couple. She works for a magazine called Weinerin, which translates as Viennese woman, and is writing an article about Carcassonne for the magazine, which we will hopefully be featured in as the place to stay when in town. He is an architect. The company he works for does a lot of work designing prisons - well somebody has to, I guess - and he was told by his colleagues that the prison here in Carcassonne is very highly regarded by those in the prison design business and that he might take a look out of interest. Let's just hope he doesn't get locked up for acting a bit suspiciously outside a prison - I can just hear him saying "Honestly, officer, these photographs are just for my work" as he is bundled into the back of a car by a couple of burly 'gendarmes'.
We have managed to avoid the electricity going off today - I'm still not sure if we need another increase in the power rating or there is a fault in the system somewhere - there appears to be no logic to when the power trips off. So power OK but when we got back from lunch the water was off! The workmen arrived early this morning and started digging up the road just up the hill from 42rvh - it looked like they were putting in a new water pipe to number 43. Just after midday it was clear that not all was well as litres of water were running down the street and a man was poking a stick into a flooded hole - someone had obviously drilled through the main (perhaps the bloke with the stick) and everyone else had made themselves scarce either because they didn't want to be associated with it or because it was lunch time and even though it was an emergency it could wait until 2pm - that's the price you have to pay for civilisation.
Fortunately, we went out for lunch today so didn't need the water and our guests were also out by then and didn't even realise it had been off. We went for lunch with Denis and his lady friend, Grainne, fresh off the flight from Dublin - I'm not sure she appreciated being whisked off straight from the airport in her travel clothes and without warning!
We had been meaning to try Domaine Gayda for a while and finally got round to doing so today. It is out in the countryside towards Limoux - a big wine estate run by one of the major players in the local wine trade, a modern building housing a restaurant, a wine shop and the vats, which are open to view as you climb the stairs to the restaurant - all very clean and comfortable and a lovely place for a spot of lunch, even when the weather is a bit foul as it was today. The big log fire and friendly ambience made it very welcoming.
Small world that it is, the maitre'd turned out to have worked in Ireland for quite a while and knew a lot of the places that Denis and Grainne knew well. He was also very interested in our apartments here in town - Debrah showed him some of her fabulous photos on the wonder that is her i-phone and he took some cards off me and we took some brochures off him. Hopefully we can push some business in both directions. Lunch and networking equals time well spent.
We would have stayed a bit longer and visited the wine shop, but I had an appointment with Amelie for my next French lesson, so we had to head back to Carcassonne. On the way back, Amelie called to say she was ill and couldn't make it - my French might suffer as a result but my credit card was spared the shop which at the moment is a good thing.
This evening, we helped our Austrian friends find a restaurant and then settled down on the sofa to watch a very soporific football match between England and France. I hope the state visit to Britain of President Sarkozy has a bit more meaning and passion about it than this evening's tame affair - I'm not sure it will - I understand he's been told to get in line and act with more decorum as the office of President demands. Act in a reserved manner and don't show your emotions - hmmm, how very British that sounds!
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