..she does what with sea shells on the sea shore...?

oh I do like to be beside the seaside, oh I do like to be beside the seaaaaa......and so the song goes on. Gregoire, Scarlet and I took advantage of the offer a free static caravan (in French un mobil-home which is rather strange really) for Sunday night so we could spend all day Monday enjoying the thrills of Granville. We set off merrily at about 7pm and an hour later came a cross a gorgeous little gem of an auberge (L'Augberge de la Blanche Maison in case we forget) about 5 km away from the field where the caravan is sited. A delicious meal and bottle of wine later and it was pitch dark and suddenly those directions we had been given looked distinctly unclear. Cue much heated discussion, huffiness and driver-navigator discord. Fortunately, just as all out war had been declared and it looked like we were either going to spend the night in the car, one of us was heading home on foot, or one of us would commit mariticide, we found the aforementioned static caravan. Phew. "You're not getting divorced then?" Scarlet sighed with relief. A walk along a moonlit beach and a candlelit caravan can do much to restore normal relations, even if you do have an excited 8 year old bouncing along beside you :)
Monday we hit Granville, had a much less posh and quicker lunch in a brasserie then went to the Musée du Roc - famous for it's aquarium and *fairytale seashell collection*. Indeed. 2 hours later we stumbled out of the museum somewhat flabbergasted. Superb aquarium, gorgeous butterfly and beetle collection, stunning crystal and precious stone collections and mosaics, but the seashell room was like something from a parallel universe. Unfortunately (and possibly this should tell us something...) the photographs taken on our Granville trip are all destroyed as the memory chip in the camera mysteriously snapped in half. Cue spooky music. Suffice it to say that if you think you know about seashell sculptures you are mistaken. It was a bewilderingly kitsch display of seashells the like of which I have never seen ..a doll's house made from teeny tiny shells, 6 2 metre high Grecian pillars - all made from - yep - seashells, larger than life reproductions of various famous sea related old masters - all made from - yep - more shells. This was the life work of an old eccentric. Yeah. Right.
We then hit the beach for a while and headed home to St Fraimbault tired and happy and still dumbfounded by the seashells. They will stay in our memory for a long time to come methinks.

chic and shorn

what a grown up girl. Scarlet took it upon herself to go to la coiffeuse and have her locks chopped off. From long blonde tresses to a short chic bob. How very Frrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrench.

Les Flories d'Antan

15th August in Saint Fraimbault. 5000 visitors. Rain and wind meant that we served more coffee in one day than we usually sell in 3 months. Employed 12 staff - 8 waitresses and 4 kitchen workers (plus Gregoire and moi-meme)..good day had by all, completely exhausting of course..and I finished off by heading off to the village *do* in the evening (after we had closed, eaten and cleaned) and serving behind the bar until the small wee hours. Made friends with a French man who lived in Kenya for 3 years and was admiring my necklace and bracelets, with a German women who was relieved we weren't serving tripe, with a French woman who was grateful that I found her coat, with an Italian woman who ripped her skirt and needed repair help, and an Irish man who tripped and cut his knee. Saw customers we only ever see on 15th August and greeted them like long lost friends. Am fully aware of the fact that real friends came and said hello and I probably ignored them in the rush. Such is the suchness of the day.

soiree des benevoles

Since the 15th August fete began in St Fraimbault, the village has created a tradition much loved by all the volunteers who work the day of the festival. The now famous repas de benevoles. We, as sole restaurateur in the village, were responsible this year. The brief:To produce a feast for up to 300 people.

The challenge: To do it for as little as possible (price per head being the same as it was 4 years ago - despite the fact that for us salaries have gone up, bread, gas, drinks costs etc have all increased by about 12% in the past 2 years etc etc). End result : 300 happy villagers. For the first time in the history of the soirée, everyone invited by the mairie said yes.

Well, we did it. And lived to tell the tale. Went a bit mad at one point. We had a water fight at about midnight (me and my merry band of waitresses that is), I was whisked around the dance floor by a few old soaks of the village (after they had imbibed far too much wine for their own good), we washed more cutlery and plates than I thought existed on this planet, and fell into bed at some ungodly hour this morning. I think we did ok. No doubt the villagers will let us know....

la famille Booth

Louise, Micky and girls hit Chatillon. Scarlet disappears into the weird world that cousins inhabit.

July is centre aere time

Gregoire, Gerry, Dirk and an old Hillman Super Minx

It was raining. The challenge was to move a non-running 1962 Hillman Super Minx from one barn to put it in another ....only problem being the fact there were 20km between barns. And did I mention it was raining? Really, really heavily...