L’Auberge de L’Abbaye - Maillezais

It was Wednesday lunchtime and we were trying to visit the restaurant at Bouillé-Courdault called Le Trou Vendeen, we had visited before and seen the Auberge and we thought it looked worth a try. It sported an 11 Euro Formula and was populated by the French, too populated as it turned out because it was full. We had to find somewhere fast Trevor’s hunger was beginning to get the better of him and time was running out, so we decided to go to L’Auberge de L’Abbaye at Maillezais.

We went across country and I took a wrong turn, it looked for all manner that the larger road went round to the left so I took it, it didn’t and we meandered through what on any other occasion would have been delightful countryside but was now a carnivores black hole. We arrived at the Abbey car park and Trevor checked that they had a table for us while I disembarked the scooter, as it turned out all of the tables outside were taken and we were directed to the rear of the restaurant where a few tables remained unoccupied. They soon filled up and I found out subsequently that the restaurant catered for 150 covers; I begin to see why the Vendéens have such a short season. No matter that, I was intrigued at the choice of music that was being played, things that one would not normally expect in a restaurant, especially one at such a prominent tourist destination. They played Rufus Wainwright and Bebel Gilberto amongst others, two artists that I personally love but hardly main stream and hardly musac. I was told that it was the proprietor’s choice and all power to them I loved it. The ambience in general was very good; the room we were in was old and had plenty of atmosphere. It was a very hot day and in the room there were about half a dozen tables with small children on at least 3 of them, (that’s not counting Trevor and I) I’m sure that had we managed to get a table outside it would have been even better, kids in hot places sitting at tables do tend to get a bit fractious, love them though I do.

By this time we had abandoned all attempts at value for money eating, and I was staggered when Trevor avoided the faut fillet, he’s normally a sucker for beef, and plumped for the lamb. It was only when I found out that his friends Patricia and Alan had a house just around the corner, visited the restaurant frequently and had recommended the lamb to him that I began to understand. He really does look after number one when it comes to his stomach and he forgot to mention the recommendation until after we’d ordered.

I started with snails, and they were very good, they had plenty of very garlicky butter and I relished the opportunity to mop it up with the bread which was replenished upon request. The snails were a little small, which made holding them in the conventionally sized tongs a bit tricky but they were no less tasty for it. This is high praise from me as Gisele my former next door neighbour here in France, who is a marvellous cook, used to catch, clean, prepare and cook snails for me, they were fabulous and set an impossibly high standard. Trevor must have been feeling very 80’s as he had Vendéen ham and melon, which looked good it was very well presented in a fan arrangement on a square slate serving plate and he said he thoroughly enjoyed it, although it’s hard to see what you could get wrong with ham and melon.

Our main courses arrived, my faut fillet was excellent, it was perfectly cooked, very tasty and not too chewy. I’ve found here in France that unless you opt for fillet with the consequent cost you do rather take pot luck with the toughness of the meat. I personally don’t mind meat that’s a bit chewy just as long as it tastes good. The frites were as you would imagine, thin and crispy and the whole course was very good. Trevor said that his lamb was exceptional and I must admit that the little bit he gave me to taste was delicious. It was full of flavour, not at all fatty and made me a little bit envious; his course was served in two separate dishes one containing the lamb stew and anther containing the mojettes. If I was to make one very picky comment it would be about the presentation, it was in my opinion a bit half hearted. Trevor’s starter was very well presented but his main course had three chives laid across the lamb which I can only think were supposed to be decorous; they were a waste of time. The mojettes which look very ordinary and uninviting at the best of times were served in a plain bowl, and anyone who has eaten them will know that although they taste good they are not the most appetising thing to look at, so a bit more effort wouldn’t have gone amiss.

We both opted for the profiteroles, and weren’t disappointed, they were scrumptious. We had ordered a pitcher of house red with the meal, which was perfectly acceptable; Trevor had to make do with tonic as they didn’t have any non alcohol beer. We finished with coffee and to Trevor’s delight there was a small chocolate with it. The staff who had been very busy acquitted themselves very well, they were attentive and eager to please, and they even made the time to have a little chat busy though they were. I would like to eat there again either outside or in the main body of the restaurant, perhaps on one of their music evenings.

All in all it was a good place and at 54.70 euros wasn’t expensive for the menu that we had chosen. The mere fact that I would like to go back again shows that I can certainly recommend it.

Tate - 2009

Saint-Giles-Croix-de-Vie

This is simply my favourite resort on the Vendéen coast, and I couldn’t wait to get back there with the mobility scooter and have a real look around for the first time.
The town is an amalgam of two smaller towns on either side of the river Vie, Saint-Giles-Sur-Vie and Croix-de-Vie. They joined together, appropriately enough, in 1967, which may not have been a great vintage for wine but was certainly a vintage year in my life.

We arrived in good time and parked up in the car park just off the bridge over the Vie; we found a disabled place and were overjoyed to find that the parking charges were for the season only and that it hadn’t started yet so the parking was free.
We were on the South side of the Vie amongst the many restaurants and cafés so it seemed appropriate that we stop and have a coffee. We sat in the sun overlooking the road and had large milky coffees which were very nice but as usual in places like this they weren’t cheap costing over 5 euros for the pleasure. A tip for those who are looking to economise is don’t drink coffee, beer or even soft drinks in bars and cafés as they are all invariably expensive. Trevor and I normally have morning coffee, a soft drink at lunch and coffee and ice cream in the afternoon, and those things are often as expensive as lunch, so it truly is worth taking a cold bag or a flask, that way you save the cost and you can stop and have your beverage wherever you want. You may not get the same ambience but you will save yourself enough to put towards another day out.

Having finished coffee we embarked on the walk that Trevor had wanted to make. For photographic reasons he wanted to follow the path on the South side of the river then out to the river mouth and along the breakwater to the lighthouse at the far end. This took in the yacht marina which Trevor thought was becoming one of the largest on the Vendéen coast and which they were even then extending. It was a long walk for Trevor who was suffering from a foot injury which he had sustained the previous day diving into his pool. The walk was very interesting as one could see all of the points of interest on the river’s north bank including the various beaches, one of which has a natural swimming pool at low tide. One can also see the amazing mixture of old and new buildings sitting side by side, I just can’t imagine the inflexible planning officers in the UK allowing development like this. There is a mixture of old almost chalet style houses, stone built castellated buildings and modern shaped glass fronted edifices and everything sits well together and adds rather than detracts from the charm of the place, we could learn a lot from the planning authorities here.

The walk out to the end of the breakwater was long but it did afford a spectacular view back to the main beach which stretches South in front of the dunes and then on past the promenade. We were there at low tide and the beach was not only long but wide, however I’m reliably informed that at high tide the beach narrows considerably and your space can become limited. You could find yourself squashed up against one of the local beauties, but with my luck I’m likely to get up close and personal with the beast.

We came back along the breakwater and over the dunes to the esplanade where we planned to have lunch. This promenade has changing facilities, toilets (including disabled toilets), cafés, crêperies, bars and restaurants. Behind all of this are the hotels and apartments and behind them the town runs back to the river. All along the promenade the restaurants had dining rooms on one side and tables under sun shades on the other. We looked at all of the restaurants, most offered a formula for lunch which is a limited choice menu at a reduced price. We chose Le Marlow, which seemed to have a predominately local clientele and a menu that suited our needs. My scooter wouldn’t fit in the small space under the sun shades and I couldn’t get into the dining room. The waitress, who wouldn’t win any beauty contests but was nonetheless delightful, moved a table from under the sunshades to the dining room side of the promenade, even though she was incredibly busy, so that I could sit at it on my scooter. We were just in the shade when we started our lunch which was just as well as the sun was beating down. Trevor had his customary alcohol free beer and I had, don’t laugh, a Coke. Trevor had mussels to start, I had a gizzard salad, we both followed that with entrecote I had mine with a pepper sauce, Trevor had the Roquefort sauce and we both ended with Ile Flottante. The overall cost was 29 euros and the review will feature on the restaurant pages.

By the time we had finished lunch the sun had caught up with us and we were baking, we left the promenade and walked back towards the river through part of the town, emerging on the river close to the car park. We wandered on across the bridge to the Northern side of the river but Trevor was beginning to flag. If we were going to explore the North side of the Vie, which seems to be the working side of the town with the railway and the fishing harbour, we would need to relocate T2. We came back across the bridge and I wanted to have a quick look at the streets behind the cafes and restaurants, and went off exploring. I could have spent hours meandering around looking at the architecture but Trevor was becoming seriously fatigued, so I cut short my exploration and we made our way back to the car park. We crossed the river but Trevor was hot and a bit grumpy, he wanted a swim, so we abandoned our tour of St Giles and took the corniche past the devils hole which is a rock formation that during high seas funnels the water up in a spectacular spray and headed on out of town. We stopped in the beach car park at Sion-sur-l’Océan and went our separate ways Trevor went straight to the beach for a swim and I wandered along the sea front and then along a path around some rocks, it was hot but there was a slight sea breeze which only helped to remind me why I miss living by the sea so much. I came back along the road and couldn’t help noticing that there were a lot of single storey properties which fronted onto the path that I had previously taken around the rocks. Even though they looked uncared for, one could only imagine what they would be worth.

I met up with Trevor hanging his bather’s on the wing mirror of T2 he was in a much better mood having cooled off in the sea. We went to a beach café at one end of the car park and we both had 2 balls of Carte d’Or ice cream in a cornet and coffees, it was expensive but it was good. By the time we had finished it was time to head home so the exploration of the north side of the Vie would have to keep for another day, one that was preferably not so hot and one without the long walk along the breakwater.

Saint-Giles-Croix-de-Vie still remains my favourite coastal resort in the Vendée, so going back to complete the tour will certainly be no hardship, and having explored the more touristy side of the town I might even take a chance and visit the North side during the season. - Tate - June 2009

La Marlow - La Grand Plage, St Gilles Croix de Vie

This is simply my favourite resort on the Vendéen coast, the town being an amalgam of two smaller towns on either side of the river Vie, Saint-Giles-Sur-Vie and Croix-de-Vie. On arrival we had coffee in a café on the South side of the Vie, it was very nice but as usual in places like this it wasn’t cheap, costing over 5 euros for the pleasure. A tip for those who are looking to economise is don’t drink coffee, beer or even soft drinks in bars and cafés as they are all invariably expensive. It is worth taking a cold bag or a flask, that way you save the cost and you can stop and have your beverage wherever you want. You may not get the same ambience but you will save yourself enough to put towards another day out.

Having finished coffee we embarked on the walk that Trevor had wanted to make following the South side of the river then out to the river mouth and along the breakwater to the lighthouse at the far end. The walk out to the end of the breakwater was long but it did afford a spectacular view back to the main beach which stretches South in front of the dunes and then on past the promenade.We came back along the breakwater and over the dunes to the esplanade where we planned to have lunch. This promenade has changing facilities, toilets (including disabled toilets), cafés, crêperies, bars and restaurants. Behind all of this are the hotels and apartments and behind them the town runs back to the river. All along the promenade the restaurants had dining rooms on one side and tables under sun shades on the other. We looked at all of the restaurants, most offered a formula for lunch which is a limited choice menu at a reduced price.

We chose Le Marlow, which seemed to have a predominately local clientele and a menu that suited our needs. My scooter wouldn’t fit in the small space under the sun shades and I couldn’t get into the dining room. The waitress, who wouldn’t win any beauty contests but was nonetheless delightful, moved a table from under the sunshades to the dining room side of the promenade, even though she was incredibly busy, so that I could sit at it on my scooter. We were just in the shade when we started our lunch which was just as well as the sun was beating down relentlessly. Trevor had his customary alcohol free beer and I had, don’t laugh, a Coke. Trevor
started with mussels, so I had a gizzard salad, in an attempt to have something different to enable a broader review of the restaurant. Trevor’s mussels were good, he had plenty and they were perfectly cooked, the liquor was good he used his bread to mop it up with a smile on his face.My gizzard salad was very good, obviously one can’t expect to have the same quantity in this type of restaurant that one might get inland, but nonetheless it was perfectly satisfactory. We both followed with entrecote steaks, I had mine with a pepper sauce and Trevor had the Roquefort sauce both were served with frites and a little salad. The entrecotes were a decent size and were both cooked perfectly Trevor said that his Roquefort sauce was good my pepper sauce tasted good enough but it was a little bit glutinous and understandably had probably been cooked quite a while before it reached my plate. We both ended with Ile Flottante, which were served in small china ramekins and were totally unlike the Ile Flottante that your French grand-mère would have served. Now my expectations are undoubtedly too high, but for me Ile Flottante means floating island and I think it should be quenelles of egg white meringues served floating on a sea of Crème Anglais with a hint of caramel. It was difficult to see how this could in any way be described as floating anything, unless there was something suspended in the semi solid custard. Don’t get me wrong, the taste itself was perfectly acceptable; I just couldn’t see how it could be called Ile Flottante.

The overall cost was 29 euros and considering that we were eating on the seafront, I guess it was reasonable value for money. The service was good and the view overlooking the beach and the sea was glorious, but I just can’t help remembering the meal we had just across the river at La Fauvette last year. There’s no doubt that the view at Le Marlow is better, but I know which one I would choose.

Tate - June 2009

TAZ BAR - CHEFFOIS

As I have promised to post things on Trevor’s Website before putting them on my blog, some things are bound to get missed and this is one of them. It was the first lunchtime meal of the season, hence the way it starts, many apologies for the lack of continuity.

And so begins our search for good food, a good ambience and value for money here in the Vendée, I’m personally looking for eye candy waitresses as well, but that’s a whole different ball game. Our search this year begins in Cheffois, a small village just out of La Chatigneraie on the Chantonay road. The front of the property has been modified with sloped decking which affords good wheelchair access but once inside the bar getting into the dining area would be a struggle as there are 2 steps one of which requires crampons and pitons. I didn’t have T6 (my scooter) with me and with the strong arm of the barman/maitre d’ assisting I managed to get into the dining room with relative ease.

The dining area was small, with tables poked in anywhere they would fit, offering a very cosy 40-50ish covers. The décor was in the style of the American West, I am reliably informed that Mexican theme nights are a feature here. Even though the restaurant was busy Trevor and I were sat at a table for 4 and the Maitre d’ cleared the other 2 settings, this was very accommodating as I noticed that on other tables for 4 people were expected to share. There was a menu of the day which was Foie Gras, followed by Andouillettes, tripe sausages which few if any Brits that I know like, cheese and a choice of sweet. Both Trevor and I had spotted the hors d’oeuvres table which was groaning under the weight of a massive selection, all of which looked very fresh. Now I love Foie Gras but like every other diner, so far as I could see, we both went for the hors d’oeuvres. The variety was good, it included a whole salmon, slices of duck breast, various cold meats and slices of salami type sausage, pate, rillettes, pizza and all of the usual salad like suspects. Hors d’oeuvres tables are not uncommon here in the Vendee especially at lunchtime eateries, so the competition for the best table is fierce and while this may not have been the biggest it was right up there with the best of them. Everything on it was tasty and fresh and I didn’t even give the foie gras a second thought. Trevor and I try to order different things when we eat out in order to give the broadest possible analysis of the restaurant for our reviews and somehow Trevor always seems to get the first pick. This is of course because I’m a Gentleman, on the other hand it could be because I’m a procrastinator, whatever the reason he went for the Duck, which left me with a choice of Vendéen Ham, a bit like gammon, or Salmon as a main course. I went for the Vendéen Ham, which was served with a Cep Mushroom Sauce, and a choice of rice, frites, vegetables or pasta. I went for the frites. Everything was very good, the ham was perfectly flash cooked, sometimes it can be overcooked and turn out a bit like cardboard, and the sauce was fantastic, deep, rich and full of the distinctive taste of the Cep mushrooms, the frites were pre cooked and warmed through so they weren’t crisp but they were nonetheless very tasty. Trevor’s duck was by all accounts just as good, although it wasn’t slices of duck breast rather pieces of duck he was delighted with both the flavour of the duck and the orange sauce that accompanied it.

All the tables had a 500cl carafe of red wine which no doubt would have been replenished if desired, Trevor had his customary ¼ glass and I struggled manfully and drank the rest, it was a perfectly good Vin de Table and was made even more acceptable as it was included in the price of the meal. So copiously had we eaten that we passed on the cheese course going straight to the dessert. Trevor had pineapple in fact he had half a pineapple served with a cherry sauce, he enjoyed it so much that there was a time when I thought he was going to eat the skin as well. I plumped for the cold rice pudding served with caramel, it was my kind of dessert and I loved it.

The restaurant was very busy with several tables emptying and filling for a second time, and all of the other diners were French both of which are normally a very good signs. Everything we ate was very good quality, and I would think that the chef is a bit special for this kind of establishment. The presentation was good enough though unlikely to win any awards, and the service was impeccable. As an aside the waitress that served us was delightful, she spoke a good smattering of English and was more than happy to use it, sadly I’m sure if I’d tried to take our relationship out of the cordial business one that we enjoyed, No, would have been a word that would have rolled easily off her tongue, still the beauty of not asking is that you can continue to dream.

We adjourned to the bar for coffee, which was strong and suited my pallet; the bill came to 11 euros a head for the meal and an extra 1 euro for the 2 coffees. To summarise the food was terrific, the service superb and it was great value for money. Although the actual dinning room was cramped it had a great atmosphere and everyone, staff and customers alike were very friendly, and for me, as I love mingling with the locals this more than made up for any lack of space or view. You of course may differ in your opinion, but for the price you can certainly afford to go there even if it’s just to prove me wrong.I thoroughly recommend the Taz Bar and it certainly sets a very high standard for the establishments we will visit during the rest of the summer.

Tate - June 2009

OUT OF THE FRYING PAN

I am here inside while the sun outside is shining, why you might well ask, the answer is simple but true to form I'm not going to let you get away with it that easy.

On Friday evening I decided that Chicken Fried Rice would be the order of the day, it is just about my favourite meal, so I did all of the preparation including pre-cooking the chicken, onions, garlic, chilli and lardons. The rice was already cooked and dried, “I was ready to rock so out came the wok” (just a smidgen of contemporary poetry for you). I had already beaten the egg to within an inch of its life so into the very hot smoking wok went the ground nut oil and with a flourish in went the beaten egg. It was at this stage that I found that far from being beaten the egg was very much alive and kicking and was lying in wait to spring an ambush on me, it fought back with a vengeance by spitting hot oil at me. Oh! Bugger you might think another shirt ruined, or even better thank god I’d put on my apron, none of the above unfortunately. Because of the very hot temperature I was committing the cardinal sin of cooking topless; the scalding hot oil has left a trail of small burns from my navel to my throat like little crusty atolls in a dark brown ocean. I could have gone medieval but in true British tradition I soldiered on and continued cooking the Chicken Fried Rice, which incidentally was delicious.

The upshot however is that I’m now spending my third day out of the sun and away from my beloved pool and the temperature is still in the high 30’s Pant Pant BOO! HOO!

There is without doubt a moral to the story and that is no matter how hot it is in the kitchen never cook topless, unless you're female (that's just a personal preference) and you're making a salad.

Tate 2009

Le Marais Poitevin


We were out on tour again in the Marais Poitevin, this time we planned to take a route that neither Trevor nor I had taken before, this was to follow the Sèvres Noirtaise on the Deux Sèvres side eastward from Maille for as long as the road stayed next to the river, which we anticipated would take us to Thaire le Fagnoux This stretch of the Sèvres Noirtaise marks the boundary between the Pays de la Loire and the Poitou-Charentes so we were on foreign soil looking across the river at the beloved Vendee. The truth is that Trevor had travelled a part of this stretch of river before but that had been on the Vendéen side and the trail had ended abruptly in someone’s garden when the road simply ran out.

We approached Maille via Doix a pretty little place that had obviously been affluent in the past, as there are a lot of substantial properties in and around the village. We arrived in Maille and parked up by the river, it was raining, it was grey, it was a shame. We were looking for coffee, but there was nowhere open, there was a beautiful old church, but that wasn’t open either. All of the barges were tied up, none of the normal tourist places were open and there was absolutely nobody about. The weather was however clearing so we lived in hope, but for now we had to live without coffee. We ploughed on to our next stop which was to check out our proposed lunch destination L’Auberge du Vieux Batelier at La Croix des Marys. We looked at the menu and it was a tad expensive and as we had tasked ourselves with searching out value for money, when Trevor said that it got very busy as it was frequented by coach parties, I lost my desire to eat there. We decided that we would continue on our travels and find an alternative. So we turned on to the riverside road and dawdled along taking in the peace and serenity of the broad languorous river. We came upon an incredibly pretty little place called Le Fosse de Loup, there was nothing much there, a couple of weeping willows and a couple of houses, but it was really attractive and typified this stretch of the river. Having reached the point where the road left the river we drove on into Courçon, a little market town with nothing special in it, except that right next to the car park was a bar/café and at last we managed to get ourselves a cup of coffee.


The weather had brightened up considerably and the sun was out, we went back to La Croix des Marys and took the river road toward Damvix, it was an equally enchanting road alongside the river. We came across a large fresh water crayfish in the middle of the road, Trevor got out and I thought he was going to bag it for a snack but the crayfish was no easy match so Trevor did the humane thing and using a stick manoeuvred it back into the long grass by the side of the river, I wish I’d had my camera out as it was a truly humorous scene, the crayfish really did put up a terrific fight. The rest of the journey to Damvix was much of the same with small
houses dotted along the riverbanks, parcels of land some with large tents or a camper van setup for the summer and as a backdrop to it all the indolent river sliding noiselessly by. It was beautiful and instantly brought Renoir to mind.

We arrived in Damvix and Trevor’s battle with the crayfish had activated his appetite. Now when Trevor gets the call to eat it’s a must to find somewhere fairly quickly, I think in future we’ll have to pack some biscuits to stave off his hunger pangs. It was under these circumstances that we entered Damvix, a pretty little village on one of the canals, there is a large restaurant barge which departs from the quay but at 41 euros a head it wasn’t what we were looking for. I said to Trevor that I would prefer to continue along the road from Damvix to Arcais in an attempt to find a little restaurant on the canal with a bit more charm, but Trevor’s hunger won the day and we decided to eat at one of the restaurants in Damvix. There were 2 restaurants on opposite corners, we decided on the Deux Saisons solely because they advertised in a limited way the content of their 12 euro formula, whereas the other restaurant didn’t. We sat at a table outside overlooking the road and the other restaurant and the waitress came to take our order, she was delightful and very pretty, somehow that’s always an encouraging start for me. Trevor had an alcohol free beer and I drank the house wine that was included with the meal it was no Grand Vin but it was as you would expect it was a no nonsense Vin de Table, which was perfectly acceptable. The first course was what one could only describe as a very original mixture comprising of a slice of ham pie, a slice of salami, half a boiled egg with mayonnaise, macaroni lightly coated with a garlic tomato and cheese sauce and vegetable couscous. Now you might think that this would be an odd mix, and you’d be right it was odd but it was tasty and quite contrary to my original thoughts in an odd way I enjoyed it. The main course was cote de porc, essentially a pork chop, it was served with a vegetable risotto and courgettes and mushrooms. This again was a very odd mix, the constituent parts were well cooked and there were two pork chops when they could probably have gotten away with one. The meal was finished with Oeufs au Lait, this is milk, eggs and vanilla which have been cooked. When I first saw this on a restaurant menu and enquired what it was the restaurateur told me it was Crème Caramel without the caramel, when I went to pay the bill the restaurateur’s husband and his group of farming mates kept repeating the words crème caramel without caramel (in French of course) and laughing uncontrollably. All I can say is that some people are easily amused.

By the time I had finished the meal in Damvix I was extremely confused I couldn’t work out whether I was in France, Italy, Morocco or Timbuktu. I like variety, but when I’m eating I need to have flavours that go together and that I recognise alongside one another. This meal though well enough cooked didn’t do that for me and even the very pretty waitress couldn’t make up for it. With coffee the meal came to 26.50 euros for the two of us, which is pretty good value for money, but I couldn’t rate this as one of the better formula meals that I’ve eaten. After lunch we got back in the bus and travelled some more familiar roads. Incidentally there were several small restaurants set along the rivers and canals; they looked like just the sort of thing I had wanted to try. Some of them looked good but who knows how good or how pricey they would have been, by the look of the cars parked at one or two of them I think we may well have missed a trick, still hopefully there will be another time.

On our way back home Trevor decided that he wanted to find the port at Bouillé-Courdault this is a sink at the end of a long straight canal where barges used to come to unload and turn. Following a false turn that landed us in someone’s field we found the port, parked up and went for a roll (that’s a stroll to you but as I’m on the scooter I call it a roll). The port is unused now and all of the warehouses have
been converted into dwellings, these are not the great industrial buildings that we associate with quayside warehouses, but are more in keeping with normal Vendéen architecture. The whole place is now as charming and pretty as a place can be, there is a Bar/Auberge which looked good, decent parking and shade provided by some lovely old trees. I only hope that when we come back to try the restaurant, which we surely will, we find the place as peaceful and unpopulated as it was today, so that we can benefit from the tranquil atmosphere that is part and parcel of this truly unique place.

The only thing lacking was a coffee and ice cream so we got back on the road and went to Maillezais, the site of a ruined abbey and one of the hubs of tourism in the Marais Poitevin. We parked in the church car park and went off, as usual Trevor went off on his own with his camera and we agreed to meet by the canal at the abbey where there were a couple of cafes. I wandered down through the town and along to the abbey. The ruins look fairly impressive from outside of the enclosure but there is an admission price and I can’t honestly see the point in paying to look at piles of rubble, so I passed them by and went on down to the canal.
I arrived only to be greeted by the scene of people in odd clothing with silver painted faces working on laptops. I was wondering whether there had been something in the food at lunchtime or whether the odd mix was reacting and making me hallucinate. It was so disorienting that I started to go back up to the road, fortunately Trevor appeared and we ventured back down with renewed confidence, at least he saw the silver heads as well so I wasn’t hallucinating. The café being large we were able to sit around the corner from the silver heads and when we ordered our coffees and ice creams I asked the waitress about them, she told me that they were performers in a spectacular that was taking place that evening, phew! Thankfully we weren’t being invaded from above by laptop wielding silver faced aliens and all was once again well in the Vendée. We left the cafe and walked back up to the abbey (well Trevor walked) it was baking hot and I decided to do the right thing and go and get the van while Trevor relaxed on the grass under the shade of a tree, it had been a long but very pleasant day but I was now looking forward to getting back home for a cold drink and a swim.

Tate - 2009

HAYLEY

Hayley my beautiful young friend, you have been ripped so cruelly and far too early from life. I will always love you, and you will always be in my heart and in my thoughts. I will always remember your beauty so fresh and vibrant. I will always remember your humour so quick to laugh and so easy to laugh with. Life without you in it will be less, I wish you could be here with me. I will never forget you.

Goodbye my love.

Apologies To The Few

How many times am I going to start my postings with an apology of sorts? The short answer is I don't know, but I do apologise for leaving it so long since my last post, hopefully I can get back on track and bring you all the news from here in the Vendee. In my defence things have conspired against me when it comes to posting, and this is only a quick post to let the few of you out there who were bothering to read it know that I haven't forgotten you and to hopefully whet your appetite with a taste of things to come.

Firstly the reasons I've not been posting. Where to begin, well to start the weather here has been fantastic and who wants to spend their time on the computer when they can be out soaking up the rays by the pool. Today the sky is completely clear and the sun is already beating down relentlessly the clouds that the Bradleys brought with them have left with them and no matter that the weather was not brilliant for the weekend that they were here, it was truly great to see them. I'll tackle the weekend in another posting. The only reason I'm posting this today is that Marie-Jo the kind lady that cleans for me is here, I like to spend time with her so that she has a bigger experience than just cleaning and it seems to work because even though she is full to bursting with work she still finds the time to fit me in. Then there's the hectic social life, some of which I will post about, that has kept me away from the computer. Then there's the fact that Trevor's telephone and internet have been down for some time, another thing I'll be posting about, and as I've promised him first posting of all the travelogues and restaurant reviews I've not been able to post any of those. Then there's the visitors, I've got a dear friend and her family just coming to the end of a two week stay, so that's kept me off the computer. Worst of all a young friend of mine contracted a serious illness and in the space of a month has been hospitalised and has tragically passed away, nothing prepares you for the loss of someone so young and writing on the internet has seemed totally unimportant compared to that. There are probably other reasons that I haven't been posting but that's enough of them to be going on with.

Now I'll just give you a little taster of the things I' hope to be posting about in the near future. there will be descriptions of some great social evenings and social events that I've attended, including an evening with La Belle Isabelle, and winning a kid at the local feast on my birthday. There will be travelogues of St Giles Croix de Vie, my favourite coastal resort in the Vendee, another part of the jigsaw that is the Marais Poitevin, L'Aguillion and La Faute. Finally there will be restaurant reviews of amongst others L'Auberge de l'Abbaye at Maillezais where they manage to serve 150 lunch covers and still produce high quality food.

So I hope you'll bear with me, my guests leave on Friday and this beautiful weather can't last forever, can it?