The Little Christmas Tree...

Last year, whilst wandering through the Christmas trees in the B&Q garden centre, we came upon a little tree about a meter tall sat in a little red pot.  Perfectly proportioned and perfectly coloured.  The big label hanging from the top said "This tree can not be re-planted" but we thought it would do for Christmas.   We paid the money and took the little tree home.  The following day I bought a lovely white pot in IKEA for the little tree to sit in, not realising that the tree was as small as it was, the pot swallowed the tree.  Regardless, the little tree sat there in the corner of the kitchen all through Christmas happy to be decorated in pretty pink and white baubles. 

Gravy of two halves

Finely chop 2 shallots and lightly fry in a pan with some live oil and crushed juniper berries.  Add 50mls brandy, 150mls Madeira and set on fire.  Let spirits burn off then simmer until reduced by half.  Add duck giblets, a chopped onion and herbs to a baking dish mix in with some oil and put in the oven to cook.  Once cooked take out and place on the hob.  Add some Bisto to the pan.  (I know it’s a cheat but I love it.)  Add the Madeira sauce and gently simmer on the stove until you get a lovely gravy, strain and serve.

Christmas Dinner - Trimmings

Roast potatoes
Place a baking dish/pan in the oven with some fat.  (Duck or goose fat is best)  Peel potatoes and cut in half.  Put into a pan and just cover with cold water and a pinch of salt.  Place the lid on the pan and bring to the boil.  Once potatoes come to the boil, turn off the heat and strain.  Sprinkle on a pinch of salt and flour.  Give a good shake in the strainer then tip into the preheated dish.  Coat in the fat and replace into the oven for about an hour or so until they are cooked.

Roast parsnips
Peel parsnips and cut into pieces.  Put into a pan and just cover with cold water and a pinch of salt.  Place the lid on the pan and bring to the boil.  Once parsnips come to the boil, turn off the heat and strain.  Sprinkle on a pinch of salt, flour and mustard powder.  Give a good shake in the strainer then tip into the preheated dish with the potatoes.  Coat in the fat and replace into the oven for about an hour or so until they are cooked.

Cranberry stuffing roll
I made this earlier in the month so after defrosting this in the fridge for 24-48 hours I just popped it into the oven for half an hour.  After half an hour remove the foil and put back into the oven for about another half an hour until the bacon begins to crisp. When ready just slice up.

Pigs in blankets
Take some cocktail sausages and wrap them in bacon.  Pop them in with the stuffing roll for the second part of the cooking.
NOTE: I used some delicious Lincolnshire and Cumberland cocktail sausages purchased from Morrison’s.

Honey & thyme carrots
Peel and slice carrots into batons.  Boil until just cooked.  Strain and tip back into the pan.  Add a knob of butter a teaspoon of honey and a few sprigs of thyme.  Stir to melt and absorb the flavors.

Sprouts with bacon
Put the sprouts in a plastic container and cover with a little ware and loosely put a lid on.  Cook for between 1 and 2 minutes at a time until just cooked.  Chop 2 rashers of bacon and fry in a pan.  Drain the sprouts and add to the frying pan with a knob of butter and fry a little.

Cranberry sauce
Put 200mls red wine, 50g caster sugar, half a cinnamon stick, a star anise and 2 cloves in a saucepan and simmer over a low heat until liquid reduced by half to let the flavors mingle.  Strain the liquid to remove the spices.  Add 250g cranberries.  Simmer over a low heat until the cranberries start to burst and sauce starts to look jammy.  Leave to cool.

Christmas Dinner - Main

Duck
1 duck
rosemary & thyme
1 clove of garlic
streaky bacon

Preheat oven to 200C.  Clean duck making sure to remove all the giblets.  Cut garlic clove in half and put inside the duck along with a couple of sprigs of rosemary & thyme.  Lay rashers of streaky bacon across the back of the duck then cover over with foil.  Place in the oven for one hour.  After 1 hour  lower the temperature to 160C, remove the foil and bacon from the duck season and return to the oven for a further couple of hours to slow cook.

Christmas Dinner - Starter

Cream of roasted butternut squash and red pepper soup

butternut squash
1 red pepper
1 large white onion
olive oil
2 dried chilies
300mls vegetable stock

Preheat oven to 180C.  Peel and chop butternut squash.  Remove stalk and seed from the red pepper and cut into approximately 8 large pieces.  Peel and chop onion into approximately 8 large pieces.  Add chopped vegetables to a roasting dish and roll in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Put into the oven for approximately ½ an hour to 45 minutes until vegetables are cooked.  Remove from the oven, cover with foil and leave to cool.

Once the vegetables are cool remove the skin from the red pepper.  Tip the vegetables into a saucepan then add the vegetable stock and dried chilies.  Bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for 5 – 10 minutes trying not to let it burn.  Leave to cool, blend until smooth.  Add a little more liquid if required. Put in the fridge until required. 

When required just poor into a saucepan add cream and slowly reheat trying not to burn the bottom.

Christmas Cake – Ice Ice Baby

For the icing I used the following recipe

4 egg whites
900g icing sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp Glycerin










I whisked the egg whites until light and fluffy then slowly sifted and mixed in half the icing sugar. I then added the lemon juice and followed by sifting and mixing the rest of the icing sugar.  I added the glycerin which keeps the icing from going hard.  I then covered it over with some cling film and put in the fridge overnight so any air has a chance to bubble up.

Christmas Cake - Feeding time over

I have been feeding my Christmas cake approximately every other day for the last 3 – 4 weeks.  Every time I open the box I get the most heavenly scent waft up.  I can’t wait to try a slice.  From past experience of Christmas cake making, over the last two years, it always seems to be a moment of disappointment when I cut into the cake.  Year one I hadn’t cut/chopped the ingredients small enough.  Year two wasn’t too bad but the cake was very dry.  We shall see what happens in a couple days time.

PREZZO – Cardiff

It was a last minute decision by the team to go to Prezzo, an Italian restaurant in Cardiff City centre.

We arrived at about 7pm with no reservation but were shown to a lovely table overlooking the main street.

The staff were very friendly and welcoming.

To start we ordered some drinks and some olives (£2.75 per small dish).

The olives were delicious and we all scoffed them quickly.

To follow this I had ordered a starter of the GRILLED GOAT’S CHEESE with plum tomatoes and caramelised onions on focaccia bread with a balsamic glaze (£4.95)

The starter was a lovely, fresh and tasty combination of flavours.

My only suggested improvements would be to have a thinner bread as the base of the focaccia, even though beautifully fresh and light was a bit thick.

The tomato would also be better if it was grilled or roasted.

The fresh salad on the plate would be better if it had been tossed in a balsamic dressing before being put on the plate.  The dark sticky balsamic sauce drizzled across the plate could be left off as it added nothing but brown smears to my plate.   

For main course I had ordered the POLLO GORGONZOLA char grilled chicken breast with field mushrooms and leeks in a gorgonzola and cream sauce (£11.65).

I have to say that this was delicious.  My only criticism was that the gratinated potatoes that came with it were uncooked and a little cold.  Also I would suggest that vegetables would be better than the bit of undressed salad that was on my plate.

Overall we all had a lovely time and the food was good.

Vanilla & Cranberry Chocolate

400g white chocolate
100g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon glycerin
100g cranberries
vanilla essence

Honey & Almond Chocolate

Honey & almond Chocolate

2 100g bars of milk chocolate
1 100g bar of dark chocolate.
100g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon honey
100g almonds
2 honeycombe (Crunchie) bars

Nigella’s Sweet and Salty Chocolate Bars

After feeding the Christmas cake I got to work on Nigella’s sweet and salty chocolate bars.
Ingredients:
2 100g bars of dork chocolate
1 100g bar of milk chocolate. (I did accidently buy milk chocolate with almonds in so had to pinch some of my daughters ‘Dairy Milk’.)
100g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup
100g salted peanuts
4 Crunchie bars

Christmas Cake - Feeding Time…

My alarm went off at 00:30am and I gingerly crept down the stairs to investigate how my cake was doing.
I used a metal kebab skewer and thrust it into the center of the cake a few times to check it was cooked.  Every time the skewer came out clean which meant it was done.

I placed the cake, still in it’s tin, on my wire rack to cool and crept back into bed.

In the morning I removed the cake from it’s tin and paper and placed it back in the rack to cool some more as it was still warm.  I placed a clean tea towel over the top and went off to work.

Tonight when I got in from work I wrapped the cake in layers of baking parchment and foil and placed it in a plastic cake box.  After spiking the cake with the metal skewer I fed the cake by sprinkling a few tea spoons of brandy over the top.  Carefully wrapped it back up and placed the lid back on the box.

I will keep feeding the cake until nearer to christmas when I will attemp the icing.

Delivery...

When I got in from work today I had received a delivery from Thompson & Morgan.
The package contained seeds that I had ordered a week or so ago ready for next year.
I am now going to mark them as received on my allotment spreadsheet for 2010.

Broad Beans - Bunyard Exhibition
Pea - Ambassador
Climbing Bean - Blauhilde
Aubergine - Florida High Bush
Marigold - Bonita Mixed
Cauliflower - Autumn Giant
Carrot - Resitafly
Beetroot - Boltardy
Onion - Lilia

We shall see how these do.

Play Room - Lighting

Finally decided on the retro pendant light from IKEA.  Looks great.  Only thing was, a few days later I went to a retro shop called Hobo's in one of the Cardiff arcades and saw they had a number of original retro lamp shades hanging from the ceiling.  One of these was the same shade that my parents had in the hallway back in the seventies.  Only difference was that the shop one was pink and my parents was orange.  There hung my original inspiration.  Ace!


Original pendant light



New retro look

Play Room - Carpet is down...

The carpet has now been cut to fit the play room.  It will be fitted properly as soon as we have time.
We did have a bit of a panic when we unrolled the carpet and found there was a hole in the carpet.  Luckily when measured it was just on the edge of what we needed.

Phew.

The carpet is down awaiting the final fitting.

Christmas Cake - It’s in the oven…

Completed the Christmas cake tonight.  But what a phaf.  Too many bowls and trying to mix multiple ingredients in all the bowls.  I did’t like that idea.  Next year I am going to mix the ingredients my way and see what happens.

Play Room Task 3 – Carpet

Task 3 was the carpet.

I purchased the carpet by chance a month ago when I decided to pop into Carpet Right to check out the carpet prices.  I wanted the same carpet I had in the other bedrooms, a light beige wool Berber.  Unfortunately Carpet Right had discontinued the carpet I had previously bought but lucky for me they had the last remnant which was exactly the size I required for the room.  Yeh!  Bargain at only £60.

I then placed carpet grips around the room 1” from the wall.  I then cut out the underlay to fit the space within the grippers.

I am already now for may master Carpenter Pug to do the business and lay the carpet.

Watch this space…

Play Room Task 2 – Skirting & Door Frame

Task 2 was to paint the skirting and around the door frame.  I used a small bush (1/2”) to do next to an edge and then a larger one (2”) to do the main part of the skirting.

MY TIP would be to use the ‘quick dry’ gloss as you can wash your brushes out with water.  Check the side of the can to see if you can use water to clean brushes.  This is so much easier than using white spirit or turps which is incredibly messy.  If I can’t get this type of paint I just buy cheap brushes and throw them away afterwards.  Obviously this second method is not good for the environment, although IKEA do some good brushes made of natural materials.

Play Room Task 1 – Ceiling & Walls

After being unable to decide on a colour scheme for the room I felt the safest option was to go for white.

Task 1 was to paint the ceiling and walls.  I used Dulux white silk emulsion as I wanted the light to bounce around the room.  I also used a thick wool roller with a long handle.  It is much easier to paint the ceiling and walls with this.

Next I finished painting around the edges of the ceiling and walls.  I used a large brush (3”-4”) as it didn’t matter if I went over any edges.

Job done.

Welcome to the Play Room Project

My latest creative venture is interior design of my spare room.  This sounds very pretentious but I can assure you it is not.  I am the laziest person around and will take short cuts where ever I can.  Also this is on a budget of £400.

So here goes what can I get for £400 let us see...

This room has always been used as a playroom as the children have been growing up but now as they are in their teens I am redecorating the room to make it into a more adult play room with a TV, x-box, Wii, etc.

Everything has been removed from the room so it is completely empty of toys, books, cupboards, shelves, bean bags and the second hand carpet.

Christmas Stuffing Roll

I found this recipe in a Good food magazine a few years ago and loved the result.


Since then I have tried various stuffing recipes every Christmas but none have been as good as this recipe.  Therefore I am doing this one again.







Prepare the following ingredients and put them all in a large mixing bowl.
140g bramley apple (1-2 apples) finely chopped (I made this chunky so will see how it turns out)
3 x 450g packs of good quality sausages meat squeezed out
400g vacuum-packed chestnuts roughly chopped
small bunches parsley, sage & thyme chopped
1 egg (I forgot this so will see what happens)
100g white bread crumbs (3 slices)

Christmas Cake (based on Delia recipe)

Today I started my preparation for Christmas.

Went shopping for ingredients for cakes, mincemeat and stuffing.
I went to the Delia website and printed out her recipe for Christmas cake.  I have tried a few recipes but none have been as good as my friends.  When I asked her she told me it was a Delia recipe.  Therefore I thought that I would give this a try this year.
All I had to do today was to mix the dried fruit with the brandy and leave overnight to soak. Easy.

450g currents
175g sultanas
175g raisins
50g glace cherries, rinsed
3 tablespoons brandy

Mix all these ingredients together and leave overnight.

Soaking day to day.
Baking day tomorrow.
(Sorry about image.  I don’t know how to get it the right way up.)

Pink Cup Cakes

150g sunflower spread

150g caster sugar

3 eggs

vanilla essence

150g self raising flour

1 tbsp raspberry jelly conserve (mashed into tiny bits)

75g butter

175g icing sugar

strawberry flavour

milk

Cream the sunflower spread and sugar together.  Add and whisk in the eggs.  Add a couple of drops of vanilla essence and mix in.   Mix in the four.  Finally carefully stir in the jam.

Spoon into 12 cases and bake in a pre-heated over for 12 – 15 minutes.

When cooked remove from the oven and leave on a rack to cool.

Once cool make the butter icing.  Mix all the ingredients together except for the milk.  Once mixed just a a couple of drops of milk until creamy and spreadable.

Spread onto the cupcakes and add a few sprinkles to decorate.

These turned out to be delicious and were all eaten within 24 hours.

Butternut Squash Risotto

butternut squash
2 small white onions
2 small red onions
2 cloves garlic
1 courgette
1 table spoon olive oil
salt & pepper

Chop the squash, courgette and onions into chunks and put into a roasting tin. Add the garlic, crushed. Poor the olive oil over the vegetables. Sprinkle on a large pinch of salt and pepper. Mix around in the tin so all the vegetables are coated with the oil and seasoning. Put into an oven pre-heated to 180C for about 30 minutes.

Courgette & Brie Pasta

pasta (4 portions)
2 courgettes
1 medium onion
1 garlic clove
brie
1 -2 tbsp creme fraiche
1 tbsp olive oil

Boil pasta in a saucepan of water.  Chop courgettes and brie into dice sized chunks, thinly slice onion and crush garlic.  Heat oil in a frying pan and when hot fry the courgettes, onion and garlic with a little seasoning until just cooked and a light brown tinge.  Once the pasta is cooked, drain and tip back into saucepan.  Add the courgette mixture along with the brie, some creme fraiche and season to taste.
Serve immediately with a fresh salad and some fresh bread.
It was delicious.  Yum! Yum!

Welcome to 'Carrots from the Allotment'

We have been renting an allotment for around 18 months.  We have just about got the plan of the plots laid out and rotated for the second year.

It is getting towards the end of the season now so most crops are ripening and ready for picking.
Today we harvested some cucumber and tomatoes which I made into a salad.  We also collected some courgettes and onions which Added to a delicious and simple pasta dish for dinner.
Check out my dish of 'Pasta with courgette and Brie' in the 'Kitchen News' blog.

Japanese Onions...

Had my delivery of Japanese onions yesterday...

Used Grow Bags....

Here is what I do with the used grow bags when it's time to throw out the old tomato plants...

1st pumpkin grown on my allotment.

Roasted the seeds in the oven.

Scraped out the flesh and made soup.

Remaining shell artisticly carved by Dyl.

Apple Sauce and Cup Cakes

This Sunday we had a lovely roast port dinner with some delicious apple sauce made from a couple of Bramley apples picked from the tree in the garden.  After lunch I had plenty of apple sauce left over.  I put some into the freezer and the rest inspired me to make some cupcakes flavoured with the apple sauce.

Apple Sauce

To make the apple sauce I peeled and diced 2 Bramley apples and put into a small saucepan with a large table spoon of sugar (granulated or caster) and a little water so the apple mixture is not dry.

Start to gently simmer the apple and add a splash of water if the apple becomes a little dry.  The sauce is ready once the apple is nice and soft and squishy.  Take the apple off the heat and use a potato masher and mash the sauce not so it is smooth but just not with too many large lumps in.   If you like it lumpy to go with your roast then just mash the apple prior to making the cakes.

Cupcakes

3 tbsp apple sauce

1 tbsp golden syrup

150g self raising flour

150g light muscavado sugar

150g sunflower spread

3 eggs

Put sunflower spread and sugar in a bowl and cream together.  Add the eggs and whisk together.  Add the flour and mix gently and not for too long.  Stir in the apple sauce and golden syrup.

Spoon into cupcake cases and sprinkle some muscavado sugar on the top.

Bake in a preheated oven at 170C for about 15 minutes.  Test they are cooked by gently pressing the top and they should spring back.   When they are done, leave to cool on a wire rack.

Leek and Potato Soup

5 small – medium Leeks

5 small potatoes

1 small white onion

vegetable stock

bouquet garnet

crème fraiche

Peel and chop potatoes, chop leeks and onion.  Put into a large saucepan with the bouquet garnet and just cover the vegetables  with the stock.  Add a sprinkling of black pepper.  Simmer the soup for about ½ and hour then leave to cool down for about another hour or so.

Once cooled a little remove the bouquet garnet then blend/liquidise until smooth and creamy.  Stir in a table spoon or two of crème fraiche and season to taste.

Can then be cooled and kept in the fridge for day or two, frozen if you want to keep it longer or re-heated and eaten straight away with some lovely fresh bread.

It didn’t make it to the freezer.  It all got scoffed for tea.

Courgette and Bacon Liguini

Linguini pasta

1 large courgette cut into cubes (from allotment)

1 small onion thinly sliced (from allotment)

3 rashers smoked streaky bacon chopped

½ tub crème fraiche

Boil pasta. While pasta is boiling fry onion, courgette and bacon in some olive oil and season with a little black pepper.  Once courgette starts to soften and starts to turn golden turn down heat and stir in crème fraiche and warm through gently.  Add to cooked pasta.

Serves 2 - Yum!

Leek Moth....

Went to the allotment this week only to discover that my lovely leeks are rapidly being eaten by something.  They were doing really well.  I dug most of them up and cut the worst parts off and made some delicious 'Leek & Potato' soup.
If anyone has any suggestions on how to stop this leek munching creature please let me know.
Thank you.
*****
Well the dreaded leek moth has come and gone and what I have noticed on my neighbour's allotment and also the one leek I left in the ground, is that the leeks that looked completely decimated a week or two ago have come back stronger and better than before.
Next year instead of panicking and pulling them all up, I will leave them alone and see what happens.

Leek and Potato Soup

5 small – medium Leeks

5 small potatoes

1 small white onion

vegetable stock

bouquet garnet

crème fraiche

Peel and chop potatoes, chop leeks and onion.  Put into a large saucepan with the bouquet garnet and just cover the vegetables  with the stock.  Add a sprinkling of black pepper.  Simmer the soup for about ½ and hour then leave to cool down for about another hour or so.

Once cooled a little remove the bouquet garnet then blend/liquidise until smooth and creamy.  Stir in a table spoon or two of crème fraiche and season to taste.

Can then be cooled and kept in the fridge for day or two, frozen if you want to keep it longer or re-heated and eaten straight away with some lovely fresh bread.

It didn’t make it to the freezer.  It all got scoffed for tea.

Stinking pile of…

We found the compost farm where the council recycles green waste collected from the kerbside.  It was huge.  There were huge mounds of steaming compost everywhere you looked.  We drove the car into the barn, got out the shovel and started to fill our sacks with the compost.  It was hot and smelly.  We filled the car to the brim with the bags and headed off back to the allotment.

Digging....

This week it didn’t rain for two days so I managed to get to the allotment and finish cutting back the brambles, which grow madly along one side of the allotment.  I also nearly finished digging over a second plot.  That makes two plots dug over so far.

Next year I am going to try and grow some broccoli and cauliflower in one plot and squashes in the other.

Have spent this week trying to source free compost and manure.  We have found a farm which processes the composting collected from kerbside collection and they have said we can just turn up and take what we want so tomorrow will be spent looking for this farm.

Will let you know how I get on. 

Woodland Adventure...

     

We set off from home on our way to the Woodland camp, with the car packed with rucksacks, sleeping bags, water bottles and lots of other paraphernalia.  After driving down a long, pot holey track we eventually pulled the car off onto the grass at the side of the track, gathered some essentials and descended down into woodland.

France 2010 - The End

We woke on our final morning to the sound of the seagulls and the bells of the church next door.  We went down to breakfast but it was the most disappointing of all.  We had a cup of weak coffee which had been stood around and a stale croissant with a carton of jam to spread inside.  After breakfast we paid and set off for the ‘Chunnel’.  We drove all the way on the motorway passing through fields upon fields.  We arrived and parked up outside the terminal and popped inside for a comfort break, as we thought we had plenty of time but instead when we looked up at the screens our train was boarding.  We jumped back into the car and sped off to customs.  When the officer asked where we had been I replied “France”.  At that point he thought I was being funny so I had to explain that we had been travelling all over France and it would take me too long to list all the places we had visited. He laughed and let us continue.. 

Journey back on the train was uneventful which was good and then we found ourselves back on the UK motorways having to battle the lorries and other mad driving.  Why can’t our roads be like the French.

This brought our 2010 holiday to France to a close.

THE END

France 2010 - Le Treport

We headed onward towards our final French destination of Le Tréport.  We found the Hotel Calais quite easily right in the town centre next door to the Church.  It was very colourful and looked as if it was in the process of being renovated by the new Eastern European owners.  We were shown to our room which was very nice and just as colourful on the inside.  Not knowing what to expect, we headed out into the town to investigate.

France 2010 - Le Mans and Rouen

We decided against having breakfast at the hotel so set off early and headed towards some ancient stones we had located in the map but when we arrived at the location discovered that the area had been fenced off and turned into some kind of medieval theme park.  Disappointed we just found a picnic table and had our breakfast before setting off towards Le Mans.

France 2010 - Saumur and the Loire Valley

Once we left the Troglodyte area we headed to the main town of Saumur and found the Campanile hotel we booked earlier. It was very cramped but it was the only place where the whole family could share a room. While we were resting Pug had the unenviable job of trawling the Internet for a hotel near to Calais for our last night in France. He eventually managed to find a hotel and paid by credit card. He then printed out the directions only to find that the ‘Hotel de Calais’ was not actually in Calais. It was in fact 170 miles away in Treport. O well, it makes life exciting.

France 2010 - Travelling North through France

We got up early, packed the car and cleaned the apartment.  We got approval from the manager and set off on our return journey home.  Dyl was insistent that his toe was ok and didn’t want to go to the hospital so we set off north across France.

Travelling North - Views en route

France 2010 - Last day on Il de Re

The previous night we had decided that we wouldn’t be requiring the bikes so returned them back to the shop.  Again we just hung around the local beach and apartment pool for most of the day slowly preparing for our return journey home.  We went for a stroll into La Couarde Sur Mer town centre were there was a market and a few shops.  Rhi bought a hoodie with ‘I Love Re’ on the front and I bought a few gifts for family and friends.

Il de Re - Hanging out at the local pool

France 2010 - Day at the local beach

We were all exhausted today after our mammoth bike ride yesterday so just hung around the pool for the morning then went to the local beach for the afternoon.

Il de Re - Local beach at La Couarde

Dyl's bought himself some rather flashy trainers.

Il de Re - Dyl's flashy trainers

France 2010 - Marathon Bike Ride

As Dyl’s foot seemed to be getting better by the day we decided to head off on a mammoth bike ride to the North West of the island. We packed a picnic and set off in a Westerly direction through the Forêt domaniale du Bois Henri IV. At one point we got quite lost and ended up skirting around and then through a camp site. This then brought us out onto a very main road which was a little nerve racking on the bikes but we made it eventually onto the main cycle path.

France 2010 - St. Martin

Late afternoon we headed of back to St Martin but this time with the kids.  Again we wandered around looking for a suitable restaurant to have dinner in but this time one where the kids would enjoy the food.  We eventually decided on an Italian located on the quayside but there was a long queue outside waiting for tables.  We joined the end of the queue expecting to wait quite a while but we were only stood there a couple of minutes when a waiter asked us if we would like a table that had just become available.  We said yes and sat down to eat.  There was a bit of a cool breeze blowing where we were sat and we had to hold the placemats down with various object on the table. 

While we were sat there the sun was sinking in the sky and I was getting more and more nervous not looking forward to the dark ride home again so we paid and set off as soon as possible.  We got a little lost getting out of the town but once on the main cycle path we were ok and eventually made it back to the apartment safely.

France 2010 - Le Bois Plage En Re

The following day Dyl’s foot was good enough to ride his bike so we set off back to Le Bois Plage En Re, the town where he had hurt it the day before.  When we arrived we parked up the bikes and wandered around the market. Rhi bought herself a bracelet and yet another new bag.  Well I say she bought the bracelet when in fact she went to try one on and the girl glued it together so she couldn’t get it off. This meant she had to pay for it – nice ruse.  She did like it though and probably would have bought it anyway.

L’Avant Port - St Martin - Il de Re - France

After locking our bikes at the key side we must have checked out almost every restaurant in the town of St Martin on Il de Re and eventually found this lovely little restaurant situated away from the main town overlooking the harbour.  L’Avant Port is located in a quieter location on the key side in St Martin, away from the crowds.

France 2010 - L'Avant Port

It was a beautiful evening cycling through the vineyards.  When we arrived at St Martin we locked the bikes to a railing at the side of the harbour and started to wander around looking for a restaurant which took our fancy.  We must have checked out every restaurant in the town but eventually we found a lovely little restaurant situated away from the main town overlooking the harbour but from the opposite side.

Il de Re - L'Avant Port

France 2010 - Bike crash

Once we were all fully awake and fed we thought we would ride our bikes in the other direction to the day before and head east.  It was a wonderfully hot sunny morning and this time we found ourselves riding through vineyards and orchards instead of the expanse of salt marshes.  We were doing well until Dyl decided to do a little off roading...

France 2010 - Breakfast

When we had arrived at the apartments the sleeping arrangements were decided as follows:  Myself and Pug upstairs in the mezzanine room with two single beds put together to make a double, Rhi on the settee that turned into a double bed and Dyl in the single bed under the stairs.  Unfortunately I had forgotten that I tend to be an early riser these days and therefore spent most of the morning creeping around the apartment trying not to wake the kiddies up.  So once everyone had woken up we decided let the kiddies have their way and let them sleep upstairs.  This was actually where they wanted to go in the first place.  Myself and Pug settled on the bed settee downstairs which was actually more comfortable.

As myself and Pug were awake early we set off into the town to get some provisions for our stay in Il-de-Re.  After a lovely stroll around the little the town we returned to a local market located just over the road from the apartments where we got some fresh bread and croissants.  We headed back to the apartment for a lovely breakfast.

France 2010 - Bikes and Salt

We got up early to take full advantage of the day. We had already decided that during this second week we would leave the car alone and go everywhere on bikes. (Very Centre Parcs)  We therefore walked down to the closest bike hire shop and selected a bike each.  Obviously Dyl had to chose an off road mountain bike.  Not sure why as there are no mountains and not really much off roadness around but Dyls being Dyls would prove us wrong...

France 2010 - North to Il-de-Re

We woke up early the next day, packed our suitcases into the car and waited for Madame Butterfly to come and see us off. When she did turn up to carry out her final inspection we were shocked to discover that the shower in bath was not working - we hadn't used it during our visit. It turned out to be a twisted pipe which once untangled allowed the water to flow. Madame then returned our deposit and we went outside to take the obligatory "visitors snap". If you do visit the villa take a picture and send it to me so that I can see what we looked like. All completed we jumped in the car and started the long drive to Ile De Re...

France 2010 - Last night in Rancou

For the last night we decided to stay local and visit Rancou. This is a small village that nestles at the West end on Argeles beach. We drove down and were directed to park in a field by the local Gendarmes - a bit strange but we do as we are told and headed into the village...

France 2010 - Argeles-ser-mer for a Dinghy

During our stay at villa Claire Madame Butterfly had supplied us with a number of inflatables to use in the pool.

Playing on the inflatables

These were an air bed, a dinghy and a crocodile.  Dyl had a great deal of fun jumping into the pool on to inflatables.  Only problem was Dyl does get a little over enthusiastic with his jumping and the inflatables were starting to show signs of deflation in places.  The worst of these was the dinghy.   We felt that we need to get a replacement.  We set off for Argeles-sur-mer to do some shopping...

France 2010 - An evening in Collioure

When we got back to Villa Claire, from our adventurous day down the ‘Ugly Valley’ and the aquarium, I felt quite exhausted and decided to hang out by the pool while Pug and the kids wanted more adventures, so set off to Argeles-sur-mer to investigate what that was like.

On their return we then went into Collioure for an evening stroll round the town.  It was lovely.  We had a wander around the alleyways of the town where there were lots of little shops selling all sorts of lovely things.  Rhi bought herself a bag and some bracelets.  We stopped for a lovely drink, sitting right on the beach front and watched people wandering around as they do on holiday.  A few children were still playing in the sea even though it was quite dark.   Music was being played by musicians and bands out on the street nearby.

This was what being on holiday is about to me.  From the adventures of that day, to chilling out in the evening, just lapping up the intoxicating atmosphere of Collioure on a beautiful summers evening.

France 2010 - Aquarium

After our adventure down the ugly valley we thought we had better do something a little tamer...

The dried river bed that flows out onto the beach.

So we drove back to Banyuls, parked the car in the dry river bed and went for an ice cream.  One thing I do love about France is that, like the Italians, they love ice cream.  We went in to the shop and were faced with a huge choice of flavours.  Pug had one scoop of Peach and one of Melon. Rhi had two scoops of Smartie, Dyl had which ever was the most colourful and I had a scoop of coffee and Crème Brulee.  They were gorgeous, delicious and refreshing in the heat of the midday sun.

France 2010 - The Stony Cove

Was it worth it?  Not really…

Stones were a lot larger and more uncomfortable to sit on at close range.

The beach was pebbly and there was a very strong southerly wind continually blowing which made the sea very rough and not very enticing for a swim.

The windswept Mediterranean Sea.

We didn’t stay long before making our way back to the car.

France 2010 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

On our way back from the snorkelling yesterday we stopped to admire the view at one of the many lay-bys along the road.  We noticed that there seemed to be a road down to a small cove at the bottom and could also see one or two cars down there.  Being the very slightly adventurous types that we are, we cleverly thought that as we were the proud owners of a 4x4 vehicle that we could easily reach the cove down below.

The tiny cove seen below us from the viewing point in the lay by.

France 2010 - Alet-les-Bains, a memory made...

When we left Carcassonne in the afternoon we headed back via a scenic route explained to us by Madame Butterfly before we left our villa in the morning.  She had suggested to us that we stop off for lunch at a little village called Alet-les-Bains.

The road to Alet-les-Bains.

We found the village to the left of the main road and drove over the bridge and down a side street where we parked the car.

The bridge we crossed before parking the car for our picnic in Alet-les-Bains.

We grabbed the picnic from the boot of the car and headed across the river to a pretty picnic spot to eat...

Picnic table.

France 2010 - Carcassonne

We drove into the car park situated at the base of the citadel of Carcassonne on one of the hottest days of our holiday.  Carcassonne is a most beautiful place and once you look past all the tourist tat shops you can start to let your imagination go and drift back to its medieval past.

Carcassonne - Outside the town wall

France 2010 - Stinking Drains...

We had planned to go to Carcassone on the Wednesday but when we had arrived back from a night out in Collioure we were met with a horrendous stench coming from the drains…

To get rid of the smell we sprayed air freshener around in the bathroom, put the plugs in the plug holes, the lid down on the toilet, closed the door and went to bed.

The following morning we were told by Madam Butterfly that the pipe work to the drain was blocked in the other villa where a couple from Scotland were staying.  The couple didn’t say much but we never saw the guy without a drink in his hand.  Madam Butterfly explained that she had the plumbers coming to check things out on the Tuesday and advised us to be well clear of the villa due to the predictable stench that would occur during the work.  Therefore we decided to go on our trip to Carcassonne on the Tuesday instead.

'Labyrinth' & 'Sepulchre' by Kate Mosse

'Labyrinth' & 'Sepulchre' by Kate Mosse
I have read and loved both books and would strongly recommend them.  They inspired me to visit the region in the south of France where they are set.  Especially Carcassonne.

France 2010 - Crappy Creperie, Collioure

In the evening we went into Collioure for some food.  We eventually decided on a creperie as I fancied an ice cream and the children wanted a crepe.  The crapes were very disappointing as they we very grey looking, thick and rubbery.  Also I stupidly decided to go for the largest and most expensive ice cream on the menu.  My eyes were bigger than my belly and I soon started to feel sick and had to ask Pug to finish the ice cream for me.  Later in the evening Dylan sampled one of the many flavoured ice creams from one of the many parlours of Collioure.  His chosen flavour was ‘Blue Smurf’ or actually marzipan.

France 2010 - Snorkling Safari, Banyuls-sur-mer

After breakfast we set off westwards along the coast to investigate the nearby town of Banyuls-sur-mer and its’ Oceanic University.  There is an aquarium situated within the University and the coastline around the area is a protested marine reserve run and monitored by the university.   No boats or divers are allowed so as to preserve the underwater environment.  There is however a ‘Snorkelling Safari’ area which we wanted to investigate further...

Banyuls-sur-mer

France 2010 - Views around the villa

I thought that I would share some of the pictures of the villa. It has a small patio at the back that is perfect for haing breakfast in the mornings. The main garden faces South over looking the med. The pool is to the front left and has lots of space to lay around and sunbathe. The villa owner uses the kitchen at the far end during the day.

Inside is tastfully decorated with ample space for sitting out of the sun.

Villa Claire - Garden swing looking out over the Med

France 2010 - Villa Claire

The night was a little scary due to the fact of our remote location and the darkness outside, apart from the security light coming on all the time and the sound of the wind in the trees made for a scary night of restless sleep thinking someone was going to try and break in to the villa.

In the light of morning all our fears were dispersed as we looked out at the blues of the Mediterranean sea and sky...

Pug went out with the camera for a look around the grounds of the villa.  He came across a large blue spotted lizard which he then proceeded to spend the rest of our time at the villa hunting this creature down for the perfect photo.

Mrs Lizard

France 2010 - Ste-Enimie via A9 to Collioure

After my best nights sleep in two days (the previous being: the lumpy beds of Folkestone and the lorries of Chatillon-sur-Seine), I woke up feeling refreshed...

I open the hotel room window and look out.  Yes we were down a narrow street, but on looking upwards into the morning light the view was amazing.  We had found ourselves in a small village tucked down in the bottom of a very deep narrow gorge.

Ste-Etemie

France 2010 - St Etienne, Tour de France, Central Massif

...Had a restless sleep in Chatillon-sur-Siene due to the thundering great lorries, driving through the town centre every half hour.  Also at some point during the night, the fountain was turned off, so silence fell and made the lorry rumbling even worse.

It was still lovely to wake up and look out across the town square and see the various shops opening and people going about their morning business.  We left the hotel and bought some pastries in a lovely patisserie opposite the hotel, sat and ate them by the fountain. We then got going on our journey south...

France 2010 - Chunnel Fear, WWII, Chatillon-sur-Seine

We woke up and had a cup tea while discussing  which direction to go once we alighted from the train in Calais.  Our decision was to take the auto route down the right hand side of France as you were looking at a map.  Decision made, we then went downstairs and had a Full English. 

We then proceeded to the Chunnel terminal...

France 2010 - The Chunnel

We set off on the Wednesday straight from work.  Jumped in the car and headed off down the M4 to bonny Folkestone. We made the assumption that the Chunnel would be easy to find even though we had never been there before.

As we neared Folkestone signs began to appear for the Chunnel.  As our hotel for the night was said to be located opposite the Chunnel we thought smugly to ourselves we just need to follow these signs to the chunnel and we would see our hotel from there. What we didn't realise was the signs led directly from the motorway via a slip road, with no roundabout or alternative exit, directly to the check in booth for the train.

Grand Tour 2010 - France

This year we went on a grand tour of France.
Here is our story...