Perhaps winter is nearly over. Perhaps not. It's not easy to tell in Britain, or anywhere in Europe for that matter. January seems to go on for an extraordinarily long time, followed by February, with its treacherous glimmers of spring, quickly and cruelly cancelled. It lifts the spirits to get away at this time of year.…
If you were to say “You always seem to be on holiday, mate,” I could hardly argue otherwise. But Anne is recently retired, as I have been for more than seven years. So why not, so long as funds and good health allow? So it's back to La Bréchoire, where nothing much seems to happen yet…
Brittany is (or was originally referred to as) La Petite Bretagne - did you know that? It was a place of refuge for Britons escaping from the Anglo-Saxon invaders of their homeland. Or maybe they just wanted to go somewhere a bit warmer, as millions of Britons still do. Having had a holiday home in…
Ten months between visits is a longer gap than we'd have liked. I know, many people have been suffering in various ways at this time so I shouldn't moan about it. The downside of having a holiday home is that you might arrive to find a leaking roof or a wasps' nest; well, you try…
Fancy a foreign break? Who can blame us really when it is so wet and cold in Blighty. Just when you think things might be improving, a hailstorm crashes down. Merry month of May? If you want to get away, there are currently very few Government-approved destinations. There’s Australia and New Zealand (who clearly don’t…
I am so looking forward to the Queen's Christmas address to the nation this year. "In difficult times such as these it is such a comfort to have one's family around one..." Leaving aside that Harry and Meghan have run away to California (which looks a better plan with each passing day), it's no longer…
A long gap between posts indicates nothing more sinister than me having better things to do. This blog is going to have more than a touch of "what we did on our holidays" about it. I fear it will only foment jealousy and resentment. Driving back from Médoc via Mareuil-sur-Belle *** We are back in…
“And have there been any cases of Covid in La Bréchoire?” we asked. “Yes, one lady, ‘Madame X’, sadly passed away in a care home in Rouillac. Mind you, she was 102.” As I write, France has recorded well over 200,000 cases of Covid-19, with 2,500 or more new cases every 24 hours: the highest…
I have been flying under the radar since I last posted (before Christmas). If that seems a long time ago, it's probably because it is. And starting a new year turns the previous year into ancient history. You buy a new calendar and throw the old one away. On the whole I was glad to…
I am an enthusiastic, if very limited, "musician". I don't think of myself as a musician - and neither does anyone else! I've never been able to read music properly, I've never had a lesson and I am certainly no virtuoso on any instrument. But music means quite a lot to me, and not just…
The Wight Stuff 