Summer is nearly here!

.A shopping trip last week took us to one our favourite shops, one we've recommended to many of our guests, Grand Frais in Perigueux has the most amazing large stock of different fruit & veg from mainly France but also from all over the world. This area of France is the biggest producer of strawberry's and there was a counter full of different varieties producing a fantastic summery smell, plus, below, on another aisle, a tray full of even stronger smelling bunches of smoked garlic, what a combination!

New terracing (nearly) complete.

So this is what we've been up to recently! First we had to de-construct the existing terrace that runs between the Roque Terrace gite and the swimming pool, dodging between heavy showers and very strong, cold winds, it took quite a bit of brain and physical effort to sort out how to do the work.

The terrace frame work took the time, making sure it was all secure, stable and level, then over the last couple of days we've laid down the boarding on top which is now all completed, only bit to do now is the fencing around the edge.

We're both feeling pretty proud of the (nearly) finished result, not bad for a nurse and graphic designer trained team!!

..and there was more!

Yes the rumours were correct, more rain came over the weekend, as people who have stayed here with us in the past will recognise, the little seat at the bottom of the track was definitely not the place to sit and admire the view, in fact at its highest the seat was very nearly completely submerged.

Thankfully, as I write, the level is now back to normal!

Water everywhere!

Ok, I hold my hand up and say it's all my fault! A week ago in my last post I said how nice it was being able to sit out in the nice February sunshine for lunch,,since then, the heavens have opened resulting in the river Vezere being at it's highest that we've ever seen it since we moved here over 5 years ago. Reports have said that the level that was recorded at its peak in Montignac was 5 meters above normal, that's over 16ft. Bad news is they are expecting a lot more over this coming weekend, fingers crossed not too much more!

2015 guest numbers

It may be early February but it's still nice and warm in the sun to sit out and have lunch in the fresh air!
Last years visitor figures have now been counted and verified (by me!) so here is the annual post showing how many and from where all our 2015 guests travelled from to be with us for their holidays.....

Visitors by country of residence were:-
                 2011     2012    2013   2014   2015
Australia      27       35        11       23       10
Belgium        -          1         2         2         -
Canada        8          2         10       19        9
Catalonia     -          -          -           2         -
Denmark      -          2         -           -         -
England       87      133       116      95      112
France         38       19        20        52       16
Germany      25       21        11        7        12
Greece          -          2        -           -         -
Ireland         3          4         6          2        4
Israel            -         -          -          -         5
Italy              -         -          -          2         -
Malta            -         -          -         10        -
Netherlands  12        1          9          4        -
New Zealand 6         5          2          -        3
Northern Ireland       -          -          -         4
Norway         -         -         -           -         1
Philippines     -         5         -          -         -
Poland          6          -        -           -         -
Portugal        -          3        -           -         -
Scotland       4          7        5          14       14
South Africa  -         -         -           -         12
Spain            -          -         -           7         -
Sweden        -           -        5           -          -
Swiss            -          1        -           1         -
United Arab Emirates -        -           -         4
United States 43       25      21        53        24
Wales           2          4        2          2         -

A total of 229 guests came and stayed with us in 71 groups with 4 new countries added to the list,

2016 is already looking like another busy year so we're looking forward to meeting new and returning guests in the coming months!

Toulouse time!

Two weeks ago I celebrated my 60th birthday in Toulouse, a city which every time we visit never fails to deliver something different that just makes you feel that we must return again to this great place. The first day we spent walking around finding museums, galleries, beautiful sights plus ofcourse bars and restaurants for all tastes.

And then on the second and final day, a real treat for me, a visit to the Airbus factory where they construct the massive A380 double decker passenger aircraft. A fantastic informative one and a half hour tour of the site. As we were coming to the end of the tour one of the planes under construction was being moved (below), being built for the Emirates airline company, you really can't get an idea of the size of the aircraft from pictures, you'll just have to go next time you come to France!

Brive encounter!

Happy new year everyone! We hope you all had a very happy christmas as well as saying good bye to 2015 and welcoming in 2016!
A couple of days ago we wanted to go somewhere different, of which there are still plenty of places still to choose from, we decided to go to Brive. Having been to the outskirts many times, we have never been in to the old town, quite simply, we really liked the place, lots of lovely old streets and shops surrounding a wonderful cathedral.
It must be the graphic designer still in me that I spotted this fantastic old fading wall advertising poster (above) on one of the buildings that reminded me that these signs are becoming more and more rare in France, such a shame they can't be renovated in some way to keep them visible for the future and we shall be returning to have another look around soon..
Then there is the other side to modern day city decoration, another part of the old town with a shops shutters adorned with so called street art, now call me old fashioned, I know which one I much prefer to look at!