Today was one of those days you wish you could bottle. It was Sophie's 4th birthday, and with her being a long way away from her friends at home, we were determined to make it a great day for her. And we did! We figure that when she starts school here she will meet some local kids and then maybe we can have another get together for her and her new French friends. So we started off with some lovely Skype chats with the folks in Australia, followed by pancakes, a drive in the country, followed by lunch at Sophie's favourite restaurant ( as it has a playground next to it - we've been there once before :)), followed by another drive in the country, .... caught the first half of a choral concert in a beautiful old church, and ended the day with candles and cake at home!
Here they are below with our beautiful back drop, note one of Sophie's dolls planted in the cake. This backdrop also doubles as our breakfast/lunch/dining table and my office.
Here we are at lunch. We had duck foie gras for the first time - tasty but pretty rich too. It literally means duck "liver fat", nice hey. Also on Jane's plate, which we shared, was smoked duck breast and duck gizzards, with salad. When in Rome....
The snails were quite nice too, well I enjoyed them, not enough meat though. Jane was not too sure about them.
Connor just loves his French food. Here he is, enjoying some pizza, and believe me the French know how to make pizza, yum!!
Below is this really interesting fortified Gallo-Roman church in this beautiful little village, Besse, which we came across on our drive today. It's actually in the Dordogne Department, right next to us in The Lot. The weather was fantastic ("formidable" in French) today with the sun shining and people starting to actually use their pools. I'd say it reached about 27c! Very welcome.
THE BEASTS HAVE ARRIVED. When we first enquired about our house here, Sabina mentioned that they daily feed the beasts. I wasn't quite sure what she meant a first. But here they are, a couple of very cute donkeys, that I'm sure we'll get to know well. They were up until recently on Sabina's other farm. We have also got chickens and a pair of geese (not intended foie gras, as far as I know) on the way, which will be good for the kids. We will be feeding them on some days to help out.
We had our first invite to someone's place in the hamlet. Beth, a really nice American lady who married a French guy many years ago, invited us up there for afternoon tea, where we also met a nice English couple who live close to us. Most of the houses in the hamlet are owned by Parisians, as their country house. We met one such couple the other day who said they live five minutes away from the Opera House in Paris - the life hey. Beth has been really helpful with her little tips for living in the area.
Here they are below with our beautiful back drop, note one of Sophie's dolls planted in the cake. This backdrop also doubles as our breakfast/lunch/dining table and my office.
Here we are at lunch. We had duck foie gras for the first time - tasty but pretty rich too. It literally means duck "liver fat", nice hey. Also on Jane's plate, which we shared, was smoked duck breast and duck gizzards, with salad. When in Rome....
The snails were quite nice too, well I enjoyed them, not enough meat though. Jane was not too sure about them.
Connor just loves his French food. Here he is, enjoying some pizza, and believe me the French know how to make pizza, yum!!
Below is this really interesting fortified Gallo-Roman church in this beautiful little village, Besse, which we came across on our drive today. It's actually in the Dordogne Department, right next to us in The Lot. The weather was fantastic ("formidable" in French) today with the sun shining and people starting to actually use their pools. I'd say it reached about 27c! Very welcome.
THE BEASTS HAVE ARRIVED. When we first enquired about our house here, Sabina mentioned that they daily feed the beasts. I wasn't quite sure what she meant a first. But here they are, a couple of very cute donkeys, that I'm sure we'll get to know well. They were up until recently on Sabina's other farm. We have also got chickens and a pair of geese (not intended foie gras, as far as I know) on the way, which will be good for the kids. We will be feeding them on some days to help out.
We had our first invite to someone's place in the hamlet. Beth, a really nice American lady who married a French guy many years ago, invited us up there for afternoon tea, where we also met a nice English couple who live close to us. Most of the houses in the hamlet are owned by Parisians, as their country house. We met one such couple the other day who said they live five minutes away from the Opera House in Paris - the life hey. Beth has been really helpful with her little tips for living in the area.
Bye for now, best wishes, Jane, Sophie, Connor, and me.
A great birthday for Sophie and another great day in the South of France!
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