The second bit of good news came as a
complete surprise, because it has been a secret very well kept, although some
people had been informed or had guessed it. I didn’t have a clue, though, until
I read it this morning on Walt’s blog: Ken and Walt, who are currently
travelling in the US, got married on May 10th, in the state of New
York. I’m so happy for them and looking forward to cracking open a bottle of
Vouvray bubbles with them in little over two weeks time, when I’ll be in the
Loire Valley with my friends Mats and Vera!
The first bit of good news arrived on
Tuesday night, when my friend Bea called me. They were back from their second
house-hunting trip in the Loire Valley and … they have found and bought the holiday
home of their dreams. They signed the ‘compromis de vente’ and paid a deposit
last Friday. The house is a lovely ‘longère’ built in 1885 but beautifully and
tastefully renovated by the current, soon to be former, owners. It’s located in
Pouillé in the Loir et Cher department, halfway between the towns of Montrichard
and Saint-Aignan. So they will practically be on Ken and Walt’s doorstep and
close to the flamboyant wine-grower Jean-No and his wife Chantal, whom we
visited with Ken during our 2010 visit. It’s always handy to have you own local
wine supplier nearby, isn’t it? Once again I’m happy and thrilled for them and
look forward to visiting the house soon.
So, you understand that I’m very curious
about the third bit of good news from France. Let me guess: the mayor of
Amboise makes me the Ambassador of the town, a title that comes with a nice
flat overlooking the Loire River?? Not likely to happen, but a dream that is
worth cherishing.
One of the experimental 'gardens' at the 2005
(or was it 2006? - scan of an old photo) festival.
The green, somewhat elevated parts are pieces of lawn that have been places on mats. The shiny metal bits beneath are spoons planted upside down in the ground. The result was amazing with the sunlight being reflected in the upside-down positioned spoons.
(or was it 2006? - scan of an old photo) festival.
The green, somewhat elevated parts are pieces of lawn that have been places on mats. The shiny metal bits beneath are spoons planted upside down in the ground. The result was amazing with the sunlight being reflected in the upside-down positioned spoons.
Back to reality: In three weeks time we’ll
probably be ‘recuperating’ from Susan and Simon’s party and the excitement of meeting
all my fellow bloggers. If we stick to the initial programme, we’ll be at the
'Festival des Jardins' at the castle of Chaumont-sur-Loire. The festival also
offers some attractive catering facilities, with a nice open marquis where they
serve alcohol-free vegetable cocktails made with i.e. tomato and poppy juice
(delicious), a starter of pickled tomatoes and onions (unique) and a selection
of meats, veggies and pastas that you pick out yourself from a vast buffet and
that are ‘wokked’ before your very eyes by talented chefs using all kinds of tasty
oils and marinades. After paying a fixed price, you are left to your own
devices, and ‘wander’ from one course to another … ‘à volonté’. It’s a clever
concept and the food is fresh, healthy and utterly delicious.
P.S. While trying to copy some photos of Chaumont from our 2009 trip, I found that the CD on which I had saved them isn't functioning properly and ... to make it even worse ... I couldn't find them on my external back-up disk either. This means that the souvenirs of my 2009 trip to the Loire Valley are lost forever; unless I can find a computer wizard who can retrieve them from the CD. D..., I was expecting some good news; not bad!
6 comments:
If you still have your old computer I'm sure you'd be able to read the CD with it and transfer the pictures on your external drive. I'm no computer expert, though.
Sad about the CD - same happened to us but fortunately not all our shots. Yes the Ken and Walt news is great. Sue is actually cooking for them at our friends home across the river from them late next week.
We will follow your trip with anticipation.
L and S.
PS: Again - thank you for your generous award which I will respond to when we get to Paris at the end of the month.
There's another exciting moment ahead of you that no doubt you have been counting the numbers towards.
100,000 hits are not far away. I've been having a very private competition towards the milestone but I think you will meet it first. Maybe we can leave you a bottle of bubbles with Ken and Walt to enjoy with two celebrations.
Leon
Chm, We've dismantled my old computer three or four months ago before disposing of it at the local container park. I've kept the hard disk, but it'll take an expert to retrieve the photos. So, I think I'll have to make do with the memories of the 2009 trip.
L&S, I've been keeping an eye on the counter too, hoping to reach the 100,000 score on the 3rd anniversary of my blog, which .... was yesterday. But it should be possible efore I leave for France. So, you're still in the running and only 200 hits or so behind. As a cyclist you should know that anything can happen when the followers are only 200 metres behind the leader :) But I'll accept that bottle of bubbly anytime (lol)
Martine, bring the CD to the Loire Valley on your trip and let me look at it. No guarantees but I'll be glad to try to save those photos.
Thanks for the good wishes. We'll be flying back to France in 12 hours now.
Ken, Thank you. I'll try and think of putting it in my suitcase. It would be wonderful if you could retrieve the photos. But I won't hold it against you if you don't succeed. :)
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