Sun 7th Apr - Glenn and I took advantage of having mum with us by going for a little run together (from the house to Naussannes village and back, 2.4 miles total). Drove to Issigeac, small town 8 miles away to check out the weekly market - a lovely town with small streets leading to an open square with a big church. The market stalls were sprawled throughout the town which meant the place was buzzing with both locals and tourists buying local veg, fruit, honey, cheese, olives, meat, foie gras as well as clothes, bags etc. We had a good wander around and bought a few bits before heading to a coffee shop for a drink and huge pain au raisin! We then had a wander around the wider town to get Daisy off to sleep in her pram and then sat ourselves outside a little pub for a cheeky Leffe beer and enjoyed a nice chat watching the world go by. When we got home the sun was out so we sat outside and enjoyed a deli lunch. Gave Daisy her first outing on Glenn's bike - she loved it! - and then we all had turns on the farm quad bike 🙂 Enjoyed another deli tea in the evening sampling the bits we'd bought at the market (asparagus, tapenade, cheese) along with a local bottle of rose wine. Yum!
Mon 8th Apr - Explored more of the local trails with Mum (and Daisy in the backpack) while Glenn did some work then Mum took Daisy for another walk in the pram to give her a nap. Mum and I took the bikes for a little cycle around the block going as far as a lovely little hamlet called Monsac and then took an unplanned detour on the way home! Not sure what else we got up to as I forgot to write up the diary for today!
Tue 9th Apr - Mum and I drove (my first French driving!) to Beaumont while Glenn cycled in with Daisy. It was market day but nothing like the size of Issigeac's, just a few stalls in the town square. Had a drink in the square and then drove a short way to Lalinde, a lovely little town set on the river not far away. Unfortunately we mis-timed the trip as Daisy was nearly asleep in the car and was not happy at being transferred to the pram. After 5 mins of trying to enjoy a peaceful riverside walk with a crying Daisy we gave up and got back in the car (Daisy was asleep within 2 minutes) and drove to Beaumont supermarket to stock up before going home to play in the garden as the sun was out. Had ravioli and salad for tea - a change from deli!!
Wed 10th - Drove 30 mins west to Bergerac. Again, it was market day in the town so we had a quick browse around the stalls before walking through the old town, down to the river and then to a cafe for a coffee while Daisy slept. Bergerac is one of the largest towns in the Dordogne and sits on the river. It's got a mix of old and new town and has a nice vibe about the place - it would be good to spend a couple of days here exploring all the shops and streets. Rather than trying to do too much in one day (learning from our past experience!) we drove back to the house for a late lunch. I got out for a (hot) run and then we went round to our 'neighbours' for tea (there are 2 gites and an Scottish/Irish couple and their son were staying next door for a few days). The husband loved entertaining and had brought a shed load of food with him - no joke our 'meal' was a 9 course taster menu which started at 6pm and ended at 11.30pm! It was a lovely evening and Daisy loved playing with their son Jay (we had a food hiatus to put Daisy to bed at 8.30pm when we realised we were only half way through the meal!). The meals were tasty but really rich (e.g. black pudding and rose jam on fried bread, salmon frittata, duck salad with orange sauce, ravioli with mushroom sauce, roasted tomato and chorizo soup) and accompanied by red/white/rose wine depending on the course so we were ridiculously full by the end of the night. It didn't help that Daisy didn't sleep well at all and was in our bed all night tossing and turning!
Thur 11th Apr - we all had a lie in and then a chilled morning (weather wasn't that great and we were all still feeling stuffed!). Mid morning Glenn and I cycled to Beaumont to get some bread, milk etc and then Mum took Daisy out for a walk in the pram. Sun came out in the afternoon so we sat out with the neighbours to let Daisy and Jay have a play in the garden. Very low key evening - Mum went to bed early and Glenn and I just chilled. Daisy didn't sleep well and woke upset at 1am with what looks like the starts of a cold so gave her a glug of Calpol which helped get her off to sleep.
Fri 12th Apr - Mum and I had a longer walk this morning from the house into Beaumont along the off-road footpaths and then a short loop around Beaumont taking in some of the local views which was nice (very green, lots of trees, rolling hills). Took us about 2.5 hours and then Glenn and Daisy met us in the town square. Drove home then sat out in the sun and enjoyed a little glass of vino with our lunch while mum sat reading in the car watching Daisy who had fallen asleep on the way home! Had a relaxing afternoon in the garden and then Glenn and I went for a cycle (same one as I had done with Mum although we took a wrong turning twice trying to find a track that didn't exist so ended up gone an hour!). Gave Daisy a dose of Calpol before bed (she defo has a cold and has had a runny nose all day bless her) then Mum and I played Yahtzee after tea before heading to bed.
Pics from this week...
