Wednesday, 8 February 2023

Back to my daily walks

As you'll see, the weather can be pretty changeable.

There was a very big tide towards the end of October...

...but a few days later a big change in the sky!

We're now into November with clouds and waves one way...

...and stunning blue sky the other way: one of the tracks to the beach towards La Grière.

Can you spot the ragondin (coypu)? We see fewer these days as they're regarded as pests by the farmers.

The wind was so strong this day that there were waves on the boating lake

Sometimes we venture a little further: here at La Pointe de L'Aiguillon (you can just make out the port at La Rochelle on the horizon)...

...and la pointe itself, where the River Lay meets the sea.

The end of November and it looks a lot warmer than it was, looking over La Tranche...

...but still with beautiful sunsets.

What's that in the sky?

Migrating Brent or Brant geese ('Bernaches Cravant', my local expert tells me).

Saturday, 4 February 2023

Moonlight & birthday boy

We always love our town but there was a special eerie magic this autumn.

It wasn't even that late when these photos were taken...

...with no-one around.


It's now 18th October and young Sacha is celebrating his 8th birthday...

...with a specially commissioned lemon drizzle cake (merci Mamie Martine).

A few days later it's party time at the Starfish

Sacha in his temporary home, back above the Starfish & Coffee. He seems happy to be there...

...as are we in front of our log fire as the evenings grow chillier.

Tuesday, 31 January 2023

Chez Matthieu, Cynthia & Sacha

It’s been a long time coming but work finally started on the youngsters’ house this autumn and we were very excited to see developments on our return from the UK.

It's always useful to have a friend with a drone: merci Fiouz pour le photo! That's the original house just left of centre, Matt's white van in the driveway.

The windows have gone...

...and parts of the front wall too...

...supports keeping everything in place.

Round the back, that's the 'granny flat' to the right, and a worker's demolishing the old conservatory (not a sad loss)!

Demolition completed, now there's the tidying up to do

The new 'front door' on the side of the living area

You can still see the full length of the house for now...

...Sacha a long-distance target.

More demolition of bathroom and bedrooms...

...I bet Sacha would love the chance to help!

More to come in future posts

Friday, 27 January 2023

Fire

Whilst we were in the UK Matt sent this video: La Tranche Super U was on fire!


It must have been terrifying to witness the inferno. The person filming this was standing by the petrol station and it was a windy evening. Just think what might have happened...

Another shot from a drone (our house is few hundred metres from the store)

On our return to La Tranche I went to see the wreckage for myself

Super U Drive and the hairdresser


The main entrance...



...and the total devastation in the main shop and store area behind.

Amazingly no-one was hurt and later investigations pointed to an electrical fault in the stores starting the fire. More to come in future posts.

Monday, 23 January 2023

A mixed bunch to finish our UK visit

We caught up with a few youngsters

Our latest great-niece Meliyah


As usual Tine had the magic touch but she is a very smiley baby

Niece Vicky and partner Ste came to visit us at the caravan with young Rosie, loving doing party tricks!

And we were more than happy to catch up with Matt & Cynthia's friends, Stephen & Sally and their two lovely daughters Loïs and Saskia

Of course, it wouldn't be a UK break without nipping to the pub. I'm always in awe of the selection of Timothy Taylor's beers at the Brown Cow in Bingley...

...and a reminder of how flood-waters have affected the pub.

It's a 20/30 minute walk down to Saltaire from our caravan (depending on how good my knee is)! Can you spot the heron on the weir?

Of course you can use the tramway at weekends

Another shot of Salts Mill after dark, looking very atmospheric

It was Saltaire Festival whilst we were there. The crowds had thinned by now...

...but some special guests were still around.

Final stop, Portsmouth, for the overnight ferry back to Saint Malo


The skyline is always impressive