Watching the River(s) Flow

Friday morning was terrible! We had torrential rain. Went to the market in nearby Montrichard and got drenched.

However!

It cleared up. Went to Chenonceau. You know those places that you've seen umpteen times in photos and you think it might be an anticlimax to see them in real life? Well this really wasn't one of those.

It bridges the River Cher. Apparently Catherine de Medici evicted the widow of the king of France so she could live in it. Chateau and gardens were both beautiful.

Saturday was a bit grotty again but we had a meal booked at a nearby restaurant for the  evening. 

Lovely meal, lovely surroundings and in the middle of the village music festival.

We love French markets and had been advised to do the Sunday Market in Amboise.

A great morning! Half of the oysters were mine!

We then headed for the chateau and a view of the weekend's second river, the Loire.

Both the Cher and the Loire are very high due to the large amounts of rain they've had over the last few weeks.

More later.

Ca Plane Pour Moi - Plastic Bertrand (French Punk Rock 1977)

We bumbled down from Caen yesterday, avoiding tolls and motorways until we got to Alencon and then decided that driving through dull murky France was no fun. We transferred to the autoroute and it started to rain as well!

However, we wound up in Amboise for lunch, outside in the sunshine.

This was only 30 minutes from the gite, which we found quite easily. It's small and the garden is a bit tatty, but it's clean, the bed is comfy and the shower is fab.

Went for a bit of a wander this morning to Pontlevoy:

and Montrichard:

Chilling and dozing this afternoon. Wine tasting tonight.

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

A Weekend in my new 'Local' (Musical Ref: Hurry up Harry by Sham 69)

 We had a lovely weekend, mostly in sunshine, at D&S's in Stainton last weekend. We had a nice lunch at the Brackenrigg Inn on Friday with Nick and Kahlan as well as Nick's mum and dad.

The Brackenrigg Inn, Watermillock

We followed this up with a stroll and an ice cream in Glenridding and a pint outside the Patterdale Hotel.

In the evening I was able to introduce Heather to the joys of a late night in The Kings Arms. Darts, craic and a really nice welcoming pub atmosphere. It's lovely to have a pub where people say "Hello again" to you, even if it is 83 miles away! I've not found a pub like that in Lytham yet and never really found one in Southport. The nearest was the Zet when Rev. Peter Knight used to have the pub group there.

The King's Arms Stainton

On Saturday Heather and I went into Penrith which is a nice little town with a lot of red sandstone buildings, including a church and a castle. We had a coffee and were surprised to be greeted by John, the barman from last night. Heather discovered that a half past midnight finish in the pub meant she needed a kip the following afternoon.

We were booked into a restaurant in Penrith that night as a birthday present for both Sarah and David. We ate at Four and Twenty and had an excellent meal with excellent service. If you're ever in Penrith, this is the place to eat! We got back to Stainton about 9-15 so back in the pub for a couple of drinks before bed.

Sunday and it's sunny again! We left the car behind and caught the X5 to Keswick for a walk along the Derwentwater shore.

Derwentwater from High Brandelhow landing stage

We then strolled down to Grange for tea and a rather lovely piece of Victoria Sponge cake before catching an open topped bus back to Keswick. Unfortunately it had gone cloudy and rather chilly by this point, so we didn't hang about in Keswick, but caught the X5 back to Stainton, where Sarah had cooked a lovely roast dinner.

We left on Monday morning and came home via Kirkstone Pass (nice new road) and Ambleside and stopped at the Watermill in Ings for lunch and a pint and a half of Colly Wobbles.

The Watermill, Ings

Does this sound like we spent the whole weekend eating and drinking? Well, yes we did! And we had a great time!

So now we have nothing to look forward to except lunch next week with our old (former?) housegroup and in 2 weeks we will be in France. Yippee!!