Days 605-607, 28-30 Jan '16, Aigre Outing. Nope. Don't even ask. The pronunciation of this town is beyond me and seems to differ no matter who you talk to. That being said, we drove through it on one of our other excursions and it's only 20 minutes from home - so when we felt like a change of scenery on Friday (and a Euromillions ticket) we hit upon Aigre. Thankfully someone has won the jackpot. Two someones - one in France and one in Ireland and they received...

Days 602-604, 25-27 Jan '16, Beauvais Market, Rouillac Extravaganza. Our local village is called Beauvais-sur-Matha. It's not even a 10 minute drive away - but to a city girl it seems strange to have to get in the car just for the proverbial bread, milk and Euromillions ticket. (Incidentally up to €131 million on Friday night.) Beauvais has a small market in the square on Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday this week was a cold, foggy, damp day and seemed to be da...

Day 601, 24 Jan '16, Cognac Excursion. We have some folks visiting us in late February and today we headed to Cognac for reconnaissance purposes. It's been a stunning couple of days weather-wise - brilliant sunshine and warm air. Perfect for strolling around Cognac. We poked our noses into St Leger church which was full to the brim with Sunday worshippers then headed down to La Charente river. We marvelled at the massive Hennessy cognac house on the shores of ...

Days 594-600, 17-23 Jan '16, Le Dorat, Magnac, Aperos, Matha and not winning the Euromillions (but it's up to €115 million - woo hoo!) The past week has seen us leaving the Hardie Hobbit Hole on a frequent basis and, for the most part, enjoying glorious winter weather. There have been mornings when the temp is -2 with a helpful note that it "feels like" -5. Usually we agree swiftly when we take the doggie out for her first thing "business". It's a stunning ...

Days 588-593, 11-16 Jan '16, La Trappe - a tiny hamlet in the vicinity of Bazauges... a slightly larger hamlet - in the vicinity of small, medium and larger villages and towns... near Cognac (now there's a place name to conjure with!) On Monday we grazed the breakfast buffet and lazed about in our spacious Paris hotel room (usually mutually exclusive terms) and checked out at noon. All very civilised. We adore the metro system in Paris (and most places) as it ma...