June – 2018

9th. Georgie and Will with the twins, Frieda and Nate arrived about lunch time. In the after noon we took a stroll to the beach.

10th it was the Fêtê du Port today. Incongruously there was a Piper playing “Amazing Grace”! There were also wind surfers and Kite surfers but not a lot of wind for them to show off in.

11th Walks around Mornac and La Tremblard in light rain today followed by a good seafood lunch at a funky and delightful spot at the Port.

Georgie, Will and the twins left on the 15th and Jon and Nikki arrived on Sunday 17th. We went straight to Merchers to walk round the Brocante where I bought a new Bouganvillia, mine having surcum to last winter’s unusual frosts (whereas my neighbors is flourishing!) Arriving home in time for dinner on the terrace.

18th Off to Brouage for the morning and lunch followed by a visit to Fort Louvoir.

While Jon and Nikki explored the Fort, The Best Dog in the World, and I had a walk around Chapus Village, Port and Oyster Huts.

19th. HAIRY/SCAREY 75TH BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Off to the market in Royan in the morning to buy seafood. Passed a lovely Tall Ship in the bay on route.

Back home for a swim and a bit of quiet time prior to attacking the mountain of seafood. We started with Crab Claws for Nikki and I while Jon got on with cooking the next course of braised asparagus! Swiftly followed by lovely delicate baby squid.

Cassidy would have had his nose in Nikki’s plate given half a chance!

Next up was Sardine fillets with shallots and baby tomatoes, all washed down with my last bottle of Van Louvren Reserve 2012 Chardonnay!

Finishing Off with a huge Prawn each.

In fact that was not really the end of it because Jon and Nikki had bought a selection of truly decadent cakes from the Boulanger which we washed down with small glasses of Pinaud de Charente, but I have confess that by now we were feeling too stuffed and too guilty to amass any more photographic evidence!

By way of compensation we took ourselves off for a long walk along the beach where we were rewarded with a beautiful sunset.

20th. I had a sun rise walk down to the port with Cassidy after which Jon and I dropped the Camper off at FIAT for a service.

After breakfast they set off for Royan to do the tour of the lighthouse at Cordouan.

It turned into a very hot day so we decided to take our evening walk in the forest. However we were chased out by swarms of vicious mosquitoes so we headed to the cliff-top walk between St Georges and Merchers.

21st Off to Mornac today. Enjoyed the Atiliers, Galleries and Boutiques on the main road.

In the evening there were multiple gigs on the streets of the village and we went down for a nightcap and to listen to the music.

22nd All good things come to an end and today Jon and Nikki fly back to UK. It has been really wonderful having them and they gave me a lovely 75th birthday.

24th Although it has been dry, warm and sunny the last couple of days, there have been strong winds that have effected the tides, swells and currents resulting in Portugese Men of War jellyfish washing up on the sand. Looking deceptively luminescent and pretty in the early morning sunlight.