Day Fourteen 28.03.05 We revisited a restaurant that we had been to on a previous trip. It is beside an enormous lake and very picturesque. Before eating we went to the lakeside and were followed by a lovely black Labrador. William was particularly taken with him and said that he would like to have one in the future, James wasn't so sure as he prefers s***sus. The restaurant has large picture windows overlooking the lake and the food is excellent. ...

Day Thirteen 27.03.05 Got up really late and took the opportunity today to go for a walk. La Fraudiere lies in a valley amongst farmland. The area is relatively flat and walking doesn't involve too many hills which suits both William and I. We saw an amazing sight which was a line of about eighty-five (James counted them) caterpillars. They were going across the road nose to tail. They were big fat hairy caterpillars destined to become moths or bu...

Day Twelve 26.03.05 Today was Gordon's birthday which meant that we had to be nice to him all day. This was a real challenge (only joking) Gordon and Bill travelled in the back of the van and entertained us with singing and 'What Links' games. We went to La Tranche Sur Mer and the weather was lovely all the time we were eating which at Gordon's request was at a beach side restaurant with excellent sea food called Equinoxe. We had been primed that lun...

Day Eleven 25.03.05 We went for lunch today at Coulon and James tried snails for the first time. They are curious little things that don't taste like anything but the sauce they are in. Apparently they are often done in garlic, parsley and butter but these were poached in red wine and onions. To be honest they weren't worth the effort. I'm sure Gordon and Bill will disagree! There are may waterways in this region and Coulon is a popular place to hi...

Day Ten 24.03.05 Today Gordon, Neil, Bill and David arrived at the house. We had a super lunch al fresco and then took a visit to the supermarket to stock up all the necessary food and alcohol for the next few days. Going to the supermarket with this many people was quite a performance. It started with deciding to just take the van, with Bill and Gordon sitting on the floor on the way. Whilst in the supermarket we decided that we would have a couple of ...