Visits

Had a great week with our friends Caroline and Martin, eating and drinking wonderful things but energetically walking it off with several beach walks. The first photo shows Bouchots de Moules sticking out of the sea at low tide by La Pointe d'Arsay. We saw fishermen using a tractor-type machine lifting these sticks one by one to scrape off the moules. La Pointe d'Arsay is a sand spit just along the coast from here. Apparently much of the sand from round the bay to the north is deposited there. Here endeth today's lesson!

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I'm sure you'll be impressed by the second photo which was taken at St Martin-de-Ré just as the morning mist was lifting around midday. I'm positive I've never seen a white rainbow before! We wandered around the port before our guests treated us to a wonderful meal at a harbourside restaurant. Then we explored the town fortifications before driving C&S to the airport for their flight home. It's a good little end-of-holiday treat to go to the Ile de Ré as the airport is just on the mainland side of the bridge.

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Next day we drove down to Figeac for a couple of days to play Père Noël to Martine's family. The weather was very disappointing but we still managed to watch Loulou and his band play a gig at Assier, visit the beautiful village of Fons for a Christmas market where we saw St Nicolas (see photo), stock up at our favourite home-made pâté farm AND have some happy times with Francine, Loulou, Sylvie and les enfants. I even helped young Rems with his Maths homework and his iPod: what a man!!