French Weekend

We arrived back aboard Quidditch at around midnight on Tuesday after our Ryanair flight from Poitiers, unusually without complaint!

We've just spent an excellent long weekend with Dee's mum and dad who live near Chavigny, France. This was obviously our first visit since getting married in May and so for me a first visit to the in-laws, they'll thank me for that one! Having retired to France several years ago Susan and Graham have been converting their house, which is now in the final stages of completion and looks really stunning. The house is set in beautiful grounds with a good number of fruit trees and I'm missing already my stroll around eating those delicious cherries prior to dinner.

Having arrived on Saturday evening we were treated to Champagne in celebration of our nuptials and as per usual an excellent dinner. On the Sunday Dee and I drove the two hours to La Rochelle (pictured) and spent the day sightseeing. La Rochelle is situated in south-western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, looking out on to the Atlantic Ocean. We enjoyed excellent weather with a temperature around 25C and after a long walk along the quay we took the little ferry across the bay and enjoyed some good food and beer in a bistro overlooking the harbour. In the evening we barbecued.

After breakfast on Monday we had a drive out towards Archigny but because of my usual birdwatching exploits, a drive which should have taken 10 minutes took well over an hour! You can read my thoughts on this by clicking on my birding blog in the side-bar. We took a diversion from our initial destination when we noticed a sign to Pinail Nature Reserve and were delighted with our discovery. The reserve, a result of millstone quarrying, has given way to a mosaic of over 3,000 ponds which are surrounded by moor and heathland rich in rare flora and fauna. Although the birding was fantastic the highlight were the Common Green Frogs, which have an incredible mating call, indescribable in writing. We had a brilliant couple of hours in showery conditions touring the reserve before moving on to our original destination of Saint Cyr Lake, a magnificent natural environment over 300 hectares, which includes a 85 hectare lake you can walk around. In the evening we barbecued once more and after an excellent dinner retired inside to inaugurate the new pool table which had just been installed, well done Graham on your win!!

Tuesday, our final day, started with a walk around the local area where we heard Nightingale singing and came across great numbers of butterfly, including one of my favourites, the Marbled White. The remainder of the day (28C) was spent out and about once more and this time we took a drive out into the Brenne National Park and after stopping on many occasions to take in the wildlife came across Reserve Naruralle Cherine. The main entrance to the reserve incredibly appeared to be closed but we did discover 2 hides we managed to visit. The first was notable for the many European Pond Tortoise which Dee really enjoyed and the second hide appeared to be the main one, with great views of a number of excellent species such as Great White Egret and a colony of noisy Black Headed Gulls. After returning to the house and packing for the flight home we enjoyed a lovely buffet dinner with some excellent home-made ginger beer.

Thank you to Susan and Graham for looking after us so well (as usual) the great food, wine and conversation and as ever the use of the car.