Christmas Day

Negative Covid tests meant our isolation was over (although it took longer than expected as it was the weekend). 

Philippe was the perfect host so we treated him to lunch out once we had our freedom.

Back at Phil's, Cuddles is doing an excellent impression of a doorstop

Christmas morning and there are two very excited children in Dronfield...

...one of them enjoying dressing up in Frozen character costumes.

Who'd have thought we'd be in a hot tub on Christmas Day?!

Cheers everyone!

Look what Father Christmas brought for Alfie...

...and Sacha too, back in La Tranche.

Presents opened & food eaten: it's time for bed in pyjamas that Monique & Jean sent

Mamie & Papy needed a bit of fresh air (and some steps!) so a walk into Dronfield was just the job (especially as we found a pub open for a festive pint)!

New restaurant in town

We don’t often eat out be we wanted to sample La Tranche’s latest restaurant, Les Fondus de Popote.

And look, it’s right next to the Starfish!

In the evening…

…and by night.

There’s a mountain cabin feel to it…

…and a menu to match. My beef fondue was excellent.

One for future blackmail? Guy playing out whilst Isabelle was away for the weekend!

Another day and I’m showing off my individual cheese soufflé skills

To finish, a dusk-time shot over the sea. Wonderful!

That’s it for La Tranche for a few more posts as we’ve done all the paperwork again and heading back to Yorkshire/Derbyshire for Christmas & New Year. See you there!

The first Odds & Ends of 2022

A bit of a Sacha-fest to begin

He loved the aeroplanes that Les bought him

And how about this…

…all dressed up for his martial arts class?

There’s always plenty to do chez Mamie & Papy

The temperature’s dropping with winter fast approaching…

…but our lovely log fire helps…

…and what about this jigsaw for a winter activity? Looks great but the pieces didn’t  hold together well so it was a bit of a nightmare to complete.

I was very impressed by our first attempt at making paneer cheese…

…the forthcoming curry wasn’t bad either!

Meanwhile my daily walks continue…

…sometimes with company…

…and sometimes with a very low tide.

One thing’s for sure, I’ll never tire of this view!

Back to La Tranche

It’s now November 2021 and we arrived back in La Tranche to find Jean-Pierre & Catherine in the area. They sold up last summer to move permanently to Belle Île off the coast of Brittany, but craftily bought a small ‘pied à terre’ in Le Rocher, just a short car or bicycle ride away from chez nous.

The weather was great and we enjoyed a walk along the beach. That’s Catherine & Tine followed by third generation cousin Jules.

Just a climb up the dune…

…and a walk through the gnarled woods.

The view just one minute from their front door!

A few days later we return with Jean & Monique for a little ‘cousinade’…

…complete with one of Tine’s famed pavlova desserts.

Healthy eating of course!

Goodbye England

All good things come to an end, and our week in Cornwall was nearly over.

Time enough for Mamie to pose on the bridge over the stream with Betty & Alfie...

...and take a photo of the engine house nearby where we stayed.

It looked even more beautiful by night!

Sadly our planned Plymouth to Roscoff crossing was cancelled (merci Covid) and we had a longer journey to Portsmouth instead.

One benefit was having a break at Lyme Regis...

...with its very busy harbour...

...and pastel-painted beach huts.

No photo of the wonderful bacon butty we ate on the harbour wall, but hopefully we'll be back to explore the area further.

Newquay & St Agnes

The largest resort in Cornwall is Newquay with its many surfing beaches. Sadly the town itself is very run down and we couldn’t see any improvement since our last visit.

The house on this stack has intrigued many people over the years…

…the surfers probably don’t even notice it.

The harbour is wonderful…

…and a hive of activity when the fishermen return…

…not today though, just a lot of lobster pots to be seen.

We motored on to St Agnes and were intrigued by the terraced housing named Stippy Stappy. From the IntoCornwall website: The unusual cottages known as Stippy Stappy are named in Cornish dialect, probably with reference to the steep step type nature of their construction.

We followed directions to the beach…

…known as Trevaunance Cove…

…another surfers’ paradise.