La Legue Vineyard


Diary August to October March to July February Join List	Monday 30th June to Monday 7th July Monday 30th June Author: Jack Well I can’t keep making our visitors work can I? So the only answer is for me to have a day off too! With Beck at school I am free for once to go and visit some chateaux and hopefully buy a bit more wine. We have a great day out visiting a number of Chateaux that Iain, in particular, thinks would be worth a visit. We also have to visit a couple of granddad’s favourite Chateaux. First stop, Chateau Haut Grave D’Arthus in St. Emilion, but no one was there. I phoned them later and arranged a visit for later in the afternoon. Then on to Fronsac and a visit to Moulin Pey Labrie. Iain had read rave reviews about the wines from this Chateau. After tasting their wines we all agreed that the reviews were right. The red wine is made from vines that are sixty years old and a special cuvee is also made from vines of about one hundred years. Next stop Moulin Haut Laroque. We didn’t stay there long. All the 2000s had already been sold (we were looking for 2000 in particular) and they didn’t have any other wines for sale. Apparently the Maison du Vin had some of the 1999; later in the day I bought a bottle to try it. Interestingly most of our favourite vineyards are centred around a village called Saillans, which also has one of the best restaurants we have ever been to. Before lunch we check out De Carles (one of granddad’s favourites). But as it is near lunchtime they aren’t too keen to see us. We arrange to go back at two and go back up the road for our lunch. The restaurant in Saillans, Les Catalpas (named after the two fantastic trees at the front of the restaurant) is as good as ever. The menu is 10€ for four courses and wine. Jenny and Derec were most impressed (phew!). After lunch we take a stroll around the village and then off to De Carles. I have been there several times and as usual the wines are excellent. Invest in a couple of cases for granddad and ensure that we are on their list for the 2000s, which will be available in November. Then off to Haut Graves D’Arthus, via a quick stop at the Maison du Vin in Fronsac. We always get an extremely warm and friendly welcome at Haut Graves D’Arthus and today is no exception, despite the problems they have. They have just lost thirty percent of their crop in a hailstorm and are busy trying to recover from the damage caused. Despite this Madame Musset is delighted to show us round and the offer us a tasting of the 2000 and the 2001 vintages. Jenny and Derec were just as impressed with the wines as I was. We have always enjoyed the wines from this Chateau and the 2000 and 2001 vintages are equally as good as previous vintages. Needless to say the car was loaded up with several cases (don’t worry Bert it was Jenny and Derec’s car, not the Picasso! (for the benefit of everyone else, Pat and Bert are buying the Picasso shortly and are not keen on it being overly stressed (Iain)). We were there for a good hour and a half. Will be back again soon for more no doubt and I may even go and help them with the vendage (harvest), which is done totally by hand. Mind you it will be back breaking work, as their vines, like all in St Emilion, are much lower to the ground that those of our region. Anyway despite that I asked if I could help as I thought it would be good experience for me. We’ll see….. On the way back we collect Beck from school. Jenny felt that she had spent too much time sitting in the car today so she decided to take a walk to the lake and managed to persuade Beck to go with her on her bicycle. There is no way she would have done so at my suggestion. Off they went for a large round the block walk / cycle. It took them about an hour and amazingly Beck returned proud of her achievement. Meantime Derec found escaping the jobs difficult and set to mending several of our parasols. There are six altogether at La Vitaille and four of them are broken. Unfortunately it seems that people don’t take terribly good care of them. Anyway thanks to the travelling tool kit in his car, and our assortment of tools and bits and bobs he was able to mend three of them. The fourth may be a candidate for the great parasol store in the sky! The weather has been great again so we are able to sit out on the patio for supper. And there we stayed for the rest of the evening. Bang on time our resident mouse tried to make its way across the patio, but spent much time trying to decide if it was safe to cross with all of us out there. Derec spotted it first saying ‘I’ve read about him’! (previous editions of the diary) Eventually he plucked up the courage to dash across the patio (the mouse that is, not Derec!), off to who knows where. As dusk set in we spotted a deer moving along the row of vines neared the house. I have noticed that lately they are getting much less timid and often pass by near the house. In fact I have even spotted evidence of their presence on the patio! back to top Tuesday 1st July Author: Jack Finally a chance for Jenny and Derec to sample, first hand, work in a vineyard. The weather had taken a turn for the worse and rain threatened so we had to dress for all eventualities. Derec was worried about sunstroke so decided that a tea towel and one of Rebecca’s hair bands was just the job! (Unfortunately he took it off before I took a photo!) He was a little optimistic though as the sun barely managed to break through the cloud and finally the rain arrived and we spent the latter part of the morning dodging some pretty heavy downpours. But that didn’t stop us working. We worked on the Sauvignon patch in Treyti (seems to be the patch I always have to work on!), deleafing and pampraging, carrying on until lunchtime. Back for a spot of lunch then off to the Maison du Vin in Duras for them to buy some of the local wines. Sadly their visit was at an end and they left around five. I hope that despite the work they enjoyed themselves. They certainly helped me out and we very much enjoyed their company. Once Beck was in bed I sat down to prepare a list of the contents of La Vitaille to be included in the sale. With any luck we have found a buyer. I have an appointment with the Notaire (Solicitor) next Monday to prepare the sales contract. So fingers crossed we may be able to complete some time in September. back to top Wednesday 2nd July Author: Jack No school today so we are able to have Fleur round for the day. I have lots of bits and pieces to do today, most of which are extremely boring! First stop Mr Vincenzi’s to see if the ‘fridge handle has arrived. I may have mentioned this saga before but basically the final guests last summer managed to wreck most of the movable parts of the fridge and it has taken all this time to try and get replacements. We have been completely unable to get the right handle though so Mr Vincenzi has made us one out of aluminium! Should be sturdy enough. Then a visit to the agency in Duras that has sold La Vitaille for us. And then off to La Vitaille once more to finish off the spring cleaning. It takes me another four hours to finish it but am finally happy that the house is ready for the summer’s visitors. The children are now getting bored. Thank goodness for McDonalds in Marmande, or McDos (pronounced McDoughs) as they call it here. We finally get some lunch at about 3.30. And more fun for the children, who groan, well Rebecca did anyway, not sure Fleur feels quite that comfortable with us yet - I have to go to the Nissan garage in Marmande to discuss the possible purchase of a Pickup. We have decided that the Nissan Navara is the one for us. After discussing options and availability the salesman says he will call me with a price. Interesting, if this is an example of a car salesman at work in France then it’s a lot less scary than in England. No high pressure sales techniques, no trying to sell you loads of different options, no one trying to push you into a finance deal you really don’t need; just a straight forward and honest discussion about your requirements. Bizarre! Next stop Leclerc. Beck brightens at the possibility of browsing the toy aisles and eventually appears with an all singing all dancing version of UNO (game) in her hands. Seems she is prepared to pay the extortionate price for this gem from her birthday money. Whilst initially reluctant I have to say that she has had lots of fun playing it since. In fact as soon as we are home the packing is off and she and Fleur then play almost continuously until nearly eight when Fleur leaves. After such a hectic day it’s all I can do to clear up after dinner! Mind you things are moving along, new car, La Vitaille sold, summer rentals about to start. So not so bad! back to top Thursday 3rd July Author: Jack Valerie, Fleur’s mum, is here this morning to help me in the vineyard, which is really kind of her. We spend the morning mostly deleafing as the pamprage is almost completed in the Sauvignon patch. She has worked from time to time in various vineyards and knows what she is doing. A great help. Whilst we are working two people wander by, stop and introduce themselves to me. Seems he is the president of the local cycling club and they are walking along the route to be taken by a cycling event to be held later this month. It seems that in the past Joel had always allowed them to pass through the vineyard on their route and, having bumped in to me, decide to ask my permission, once they realise that I am the new owner! The corner of the vineyard in Treyti is now marked ready for the event on the 20th July. After lunch I carry on in the vineyard. I had wanted to finish the two hectare patch before the weekend but unfortunately time has beaten me. Still with my sister-in-law here this weekend I may be able to get out for a few hours just to finish off. After school Beck and I visit the school in Duras here the summer school is to be held. It is open for the whole of the school holidays and children can go for as many or as few days as they like. Just turn up on the day. For £5 per day they will be entertained with various activities, both at the school and elsewhere, including several visits to local swimming pools. It all seems very easy and they don’t seem to have the problems of numbers that there are in England with anything like this. Hope she enjoys it because it should be an excellent way for her to keep her French going. back to top Friday 4th July Author: Jack Spend the morning indoors cleaning and tidying up as is becoming the norm whenever we have visitors. In fact it’s the only time I really do any chores indoors. On my way to the airport to pick up my sister-in-law Viv and her daughter Jess, I call in at La Vitaille for a last minute check and to leave the Welcome pack. Their plane arrives on time and we get back to the house around six, having collected Beck from Sarah’s en-route. No time for Viv to relax. I had to take the patio table back to La Vitaille so her first job is to help me ‘build’ our new patio table. Fortunately ‘build’ meant open and fold out mostly, so not too difficult. And then some unpacking to find the bits I brought from England that I now need, as the bits I borrowed from La Vitaille have had to go back there. Meanwhile the children have headed straight for the pool, and even though it is pretty chilly in there, only twenty-one degrees, play happily together, until the chill gets the better of them and they are out, teeth chattering, demanding towels to warm them up! Joel arrives to start trimming the vines again and to mow the grass in the alleys between the vines. Supper was meant to be chicken something or another but it had to be just something or another as I managed to leave the chicken at the checkout!!! Well at least Viv is finding out pretty quickly what it’s like here. Mind you we do eventually manage to sit down outside with a glass of wine and enjoy what’s left of the evening and watch the world go by; or rather the wildlife! back to top Saturday 5th July Author: Jack Taking advantage of Viv’s presence I’m up and out in the vineyard by seven thirty and manage to finish the remainder of the patch in two hours. Meantime Viv has unpacked more boxes for me and looked after kids. I grab a quick breakfast and then we set to on the garden. The forsythia outside the kitchen window has grown from a sensibly sized shrub into a triffid-like beast in next to no time. I have no intention of letting it take over the entire front garden, so - off with it’s head! Viv shoves all the cuttings in to the Picasso (sorry Bert!) and I pay several visits to the dump with this and the heap of other rubbish that has been growing in the garage. We have a lovely yellow plum tree (which sadly will probably disappear when the cuverie is built) and the plums are now ripe. Viv picks about three basket loads for us. I plan to make some jam and freeze some. She washes them all for me and leaves them to dry. In between all the work she does manage to enjoy the sun and read a little (it’s not all slave labour here!). Jose has been here all day carrying on with the pamprage. He finishes the trimming and then sprays the vines again for us. After lunch I drop Viv, Jess and Rebecca off at the Chateau de Duras. Beck has been longing to go back again and show someone else round so now is her chance. I am off to order our new Pickup. I manage to get a little more off the price and to arrange for them to lend me a car while I wait for delivery. The car will not be available until the beginning of September but the Picasso is going at the beginning of August so I could have ended up without a car. Back to collect Viv, Jess and Beck who have had a lovely afternoon at the Chateau and off for Becks first horse riding lesson. She has been longing to have lessons and we have finally organised one. Unfortunately it is not quite as exciting as she had hoped – quite the reverse in fact. I had told them that she had never ridden before but they clearly didn’t take any notice of me. Beck was happy getting on the pony, happy doing some exercises on the pony, even happy trotting, but distraught at the idea of galloping around the arena! And not once had they told her how to control the pony. She ended up sitting in the middle of the arena tears rolling down her face, scared stiff and wanting to leave; and they wouldn’t let her get down, so she just had to sit there! Needless to say I complained afterwards and managed to arrange a one to one lesson for her. Despite this traumatic experience she still wants to go again. Hope it’s better next time. Back home we all jump in the pool to cool down, dress and off out to Beck’s favourite restaurant in Allemans. The food is up to its usual standard and Saturday night is particularly good as there is always loads of seafood on the buffet table. Delicious. back to top Sunday 6th July Author: Jack Today was to be lawn-mowing day. I say ‘was to be’ because when I went to start the mower it was not very obliging. It coughed and spluttered and kept cutting out. Eventually I managed to get it as far as a piece of grass at which point it gave up altogether. This did not please me one bit as I had hoped to mow the grass before leaving on another epic voyage to good old blighty. Mind you every cloud has a silver lining, or in this case, if one job couldn’t be done another could. Next on my list of jobs was weed killing. So with the sixteen-litre Mr Bricolage sprayer strapped to my back I spent the next couple of hours wandering round attacking all those nasty old weeds. Got them. Meantime the children were in the pool with Viv supervising. I had hoped that the mower would have decided to play ball by now but no, it was still being obstinate. Viv and I were getting quite concerned that we would have to push it back in to the garage. The thought of this clearly scared it and suddenly it spluttered into life under a cloud of black smoke and crawled back to the safety of the garage. Maybe it had decided to play ball as I had decided that at least I should give it a good clean. I parked it in the comfort of the garage and covered it up to keep it clean until such time as someone could come and repair it. Whilst I was wandering around weed killing everything in sight Viv was happily hoovering the pool out and topping up her suntan in the process! Enough jobs for today. Well all except the jam making. Made about five pounds of plum jam – simple recipe – shouldn’t take long I thought – took most of the afternoon! The others spent the afternoon in rest and relaxation by the pool and eventually I joined them. Hooray. Later that evening, as I went in to the garage, I interrupted some young redstarts learning to fly. The garage is home to numerous families of birds, mostly redstarts I think. There were three of them, all with wonderfully fluffy heads and bodies. They were at a loss as to what to do when I came in. They didn’t have the confidence to fly off so just sat there staring suspiciously at me. I stopped momentarily trying to decide what to do but then thought I ought to leave them to it and left. No doubt they have earnt their wings by now. back to top Monday July 7th Author: Jack Well Viv and Jess are off back home today and so are Beck and I. But not until the afternoon. I have to visit the notaire this morning to sign the sales contract for La Vitaille. So I drop Viv, Jess and Beck off at the market in Duras and whiz off to the Notaire’s in Seyches. All quite straightforward fortunately. Back to collect everyone from the market. By now, midday, I am getting a bit panicky as we are due to leave at two thirty and I don’t feel at all organised. Fortunately Viv gets to work and we soon have lunch ready, the car packed, the house tidy and off we go. I literally throw Viv and Jess out at the airport and off we go, back onto the motorway for another six hundred and fifty mile journey! The plan is to stop overnight in Orleans and to be home sometime early the following afternoon. Meantime Viv and jess should have been home around eight that same evening. However unbeknown to me their journey turned in to a saga! Well that’s Air France for you. Apparently they got as far as boarding the plane only to be told that there was a technical fault. Everybody off! And they waited at Bordeaux airport, and waited, and waited. Finally they were told that they could not be flown back to the UK that night so instead they would be flown to Paris, put up in a hotel for the night, would have to get up at five thirty for a flight to Gatwick! Meantime Beck and I had settled down to a delicious evening meal in our hotel and a relaxing nights sleep with a more civilised start time planned for the next day. Maybe driving isn’t so bad. The only other person to have used Air France to visit was Iain and he has vowed never to use them again…….. Author: Iain ……yes, this is true. I decided that City Airport was a really convenient departure point for a visit – using Air France. Hmmm. Fog on the way out meant that the plane couldn’t take off and the only option was, eventually, a route via Clermont-Ferrand followed by a short hop to Bordeaux. Got there too late though and the only option was to get a plane to Biarritz. Jack not too impressed with the extra 150 miles to collect me. But that was only the start…… On the way back I got to the check in only to be told that the plane had been cancelled for ‘technical reasons’. So having negotiated the less-than-sympathetic helpdesk I queued up for another plane to Charles-de-Gaulle in theory followed by another to London City – two hours late but not the end of the earth. Got through the gate this time before the plane was cancelled – ‘technical reasons’ again – a wonder any of Air France’s planes are still in the sky. Back to the helpdesk – long queue by this time. Sorry, can’t get you back to London City. Great. Might be able to get you to London though….. Couple of hours later I get on a flight to Orly. Endure a manic taxi ride with two Germans around Paris (they are flying Air France and seemingly have been delayed for a total of two months – perhaps I’m not so unlucky). Get to Charles de Gaulle and run through the airport – somewhat worried by the reaction of the armed guards – and check in at the gate for the last flight of the day to Heathrow. I’m the last person the plane - breathe a sigh of relief (the pregnant lady on the seat next to me seems a bit worried about how out of breath I am, this is not helped by me getting a cough that lasts for most of the flight). Get to Heathrow and catch a tube to Canning Town. Manage to get a bus from there to City Airport (I even get off at the wrong stop and have to walk a half mile). At last, midnight, six hours late, but I’ve made it. Walk to the terminal to pay my car parking fee only to find that the airport is shut!!! My simple flight has now consisted of two flights, a taxi, a tube, a bus and a walk - I am not the happiest of travellers – indulge in 5 minutes of beating on the airport doors (no reaction) before getting in the car and, looking my most suspicious, drive around the car park looking for security cameras. This does the trick and a few minutes later a worried looking security guy let’s me into the building to pay for my ticket. As a final insult the parking cost me £150 for 10 days! I drive home in a pretty low mood and vow never, ever to fly Air France again. back to top	Get our diary every month Completely free Updates by email Click to join list

Monday 30th June to Monday 7th July

Monday 30th June
Author: Jack

Well I can’t keep making our visitors work can I? So the only answer is for me to have a day off too! With Beck at school I am free for once to go and visit some chateaux and hopefully buy a bit more wine.

We have a great day out visiting a number of Chateaux that Iain, in particular, thinks would be worth a visit. We also have to visit a couple of granddad’s favourite Chateaux.

First stop, Chateau Haut Grave D’Arthus in St. Emilion, but no one was there. I phoned them later and arranged a visit for later in the afternoon. Then on to Fronsac and a visit to Moulin Pey Labrie. Iain had read rave reviews about the wines from this Chateau. After tasting their wines we all agreed that the reviews were right. The red wine is made from vines that are sixty years old and a special cuvee is also made from vines of about one hundred years. Next stop Moulin Haut Laroque. We didn’t stay there long. All the 2000s had already been sold (we were looking for 2000 in particular) and they didn’t have any other wines for sale. Apparently the Maison du Vin had some of the 1999; later in the day I bought a bottle to try it. Interestingly most of our favourite vineyards are centred around a village called Saillans, which also has one of the best restaurants we have ever been to. Before lunch we check out De Carles (one of granddad’s favourites). But as it is near lunchtime they aren’t too keen to see us. We arrange to go back at two and go back up the road for our lunch. The restaurant in Saillans, Les Catalpas (named after the two fantastic trees at the front of the restaurant) is as good as ever. The menu is 10€ for four courses and wine. Jenny and Derec were most impressed (phew!). After lunch we take a stroll around the village and then off to De Carles. I have been there several times and as usual the wines are excellent. Invest in a couple of cases for granddad and ensure that we are on their list for the 2000s, which will be available in November.

Then off to Haut Graves D’Arthus, via a quick stop at the Maison du Vin in Fronsac. We always get an extremely warm and friendly welcome at Haut Graves D’Arthus and today is no exception, despite the problems they have. They have just lost thirty percent of their crop in a hailstorm and are busy trying to recover from the damage caused. Despite this Madame Musset is delighted to show us round and the offer us a tasting of the 2000 and the 2001 vintages. Jenny and Derec were just as impressed with the wines as I was. We have always enjoyed the wines from this Chateau and the 2000 and 2001 vintages are equally as good as previous vintages. Needless to say the car was loaded up with several cases (don’t worry Bert it was Jenny and Derec’s car, not the Picasso! (for the benefit of everyone else, Pat and Bert are buying the Picasso shortly and are not keen on it being overly stressed (Iain)). We were there for a good hour and a half. Will be back again soon for more no doubt and I may even go and help them with the vendage (harvest), which is done totally by hand. Mind you it will be back breaking work, as their vines, like all in St Emilion, are much lower to the ground that those of our region. Anyway despite that I asked if I could help as I thought it would be good experience for me. We’ll see…..

On the way back we collect Beck from school. Jenny felt that she had spent too much time sitting in the car today so she decided to take a walk to the lake and managed to persuade Beck to go with her on her bicycle. There is no way she would have done so at my suggestion. Off they went for a large round the block walk / cycle. It took them about an hour and amazingly Beck returned proud of her achievement. Meantime Derec found escaping the jobs difficult and set to mending several of our parasols. There are six altogether at La Vitaille and four of them are broken. Unfortunately it seems that people don’t take terribly good care of them. Anyway thanks to the travelling tool kit in his car, and our assortment of tools and bits and bobs he was able to mend three of them. The fourth may be a candidate for the great parasol store in the sky!

The weather has been great again so we are able to sit out on the patio for supper. And there we stayed for the rest of the evening. Bang on time our resident mouse tried to make its way across the patio, but spent much time trying to decide if it was safe to cross with all of us out there. Derec spotted it first saying ‘I’ve read about him’! (previous editions of the diary) Eventually he plucked up the courage to dash across the patio (the mouse that is, not Derec!), off to who knows where.

As dusk set in we spotted a deer moving along the row of vines neared the house. I have noticed that lately they are getting much less timid and often pass by near the house. In fact I have even spotted evidence of their presence on the patio!

Tuesday 1st July
Author: Jack

Finally a chance for Jenny and Derec to sample, first hand, work in a vineyard. The weather had taken a turn for the worse and rain threatened so we had to dress for all eventualities. Derec was worried about sunstroke so decided that a tea towel and one of Rebecca’s hair bands was just the job! (Unfortunately he took it off before I took a photo!)

He was a little optimistic though as the sun barely managed to break through the cloud and finally the rain arrived and we spent the latter part of the morning dodging some pretty heavy downpours. But that didn’t stop us working. We worked on the Sauvignon patch in Treyti (seems to be the patch I always have to work on!), deleafing and pampraging, carrying on until lunchtime. Back for a spot of lunch then off to the Maison du Vin in Duras for them to buy some of the local wines. Sadly their visit was at an end and they left around five. I hope that despite the work they enjoyed themselves. They certainly helped me out and we very much enjoyed their company.

Once Beck was in bed I sat down to prepare a list of the contents of La Vitaille to be included in the sale. With any luck we have found a buyer. I have an appointment with the Notaire (Solicitor) next Monday to prepare the sales contract. So fingers crossed we may be able to complete some time in September.

Wednesday 2nd July
Author: Jack

No school today so we are able to have Fleur round for the day. I have lots of bits and pieces to do today, most of which are extremely boring! First stop Mr Vincenzi’s to see if the ‘fridge handle has arrived. I may have mentioned this saga before but basically the final guests last summer managed to wreck most of the movable parts of the fridge and it has taken all this time to try and get replacements. We have been completely unable to get the right handle though so Mr Vincenzi has made us one out of aluminium! Should be sturdy enough. Then a visit to the agency in Duras that has sold La Vitaille for us. And then off to La Vitaille once more to finish off the spring cleaning. It takes me another four hours to finish it but am finally happy that the house is ready for the summer’s visitors. The children are now getting bored. Thank goodness for McDonalds in Marmande, or McDos (pronounced McDoughs) as they call it here. We finally get some lunch at about 3.30. And more fun for the children, who groan, well Rebecca did anyway, not sure Fleur feels quite that comfortable with us yet - I have to go to the Nissan garage in Marmande to discuss the possible purchase of a Pickup. We have decided that the Nissan Navara is the one for us. After discussing options and availability the salesman says he will call me with a price. Interesting, if this is an example of a car salesman at work in France then it’s a lot less scary than in England. No high pressure sales techniques, no trying to sell you loads of different options, no one trying to push you into a finance deal you really don’t need; just a straight forward and honest discussion about your requirements. Bizarre!

Next stop Leclerc. Beck brightens at the possibility of browsing the toy aisles and eventually appears with an all singing all dancing version of UNO (game) in her hands. Seems she is prepared to pay the extortionate price for this gem from her birthday money. Whilst initially reluctant I have to say that she has had lots of fun playing it since. In fact as soon as we are home the packing is off and she and Fleur then play almost continuously until nearly eight when Fleur leaves.

After such a hectic day it’s all I can do to clear up after dinner! Mind you things are moving along, new car, La Vitaille sold, summer rentals about to start. So not so bad!

Thursday 3rd July
Author: Jack

Valerie, Fleur’s mum, is here this morning to help me in the vineyard, which is really kind of her. We spend the morning mostly deleafing as the pamprage is almost completed in the Sauvignon patch. She has worked from time to time in various vineyards and knows what she is doing. A great help. Whilst we are working two people wander by, stop and introduce themselves to me. Seems he is the president of the local cycling club and they are walking along the route to be taken by a cycling event to be held later this month. It seems that in the past Joel had always allowed them to pass through the vineyard on their route and, having bumped in to me, decide to ask my permission, once they realise that I am the new owner! The corner of the vineyard in Treyti is now marked ready for the event on the 20th July.

After lunch I carry on in the vineyard. I had wanted to finish the two hectare patch before the weekend but unfortunately time has beaten me. Still with my sister-in-law here this weekend I may be able to get out for a few hours just to finish off.

After school Beck and I visit the school in Duras here the summer school is to be held. It is open for the whole of the school holidays and children can go for as many or as few days as they like. Just turn up on the day. For £5 per day they will be entertained with various activities, both at the school and elsewhere, including several visits to local swimming pools. It all seems very easy and they don’t seem to have the problems of numbers that there are in England with anything like this. Hope she enjoys it because it should be an excellent way for her to keep her French going.

Friday 4th July
Author: Jack

Spend the morning indoors cleaning and tidying up as is becoming the norm whenever we have visitors. In fact it’s the only time I really do any chores indoors. On my way to the airport to pick up my sister-in-law Viv and her daughter Jess, I call in at La Vitaille for a last minute check and to leave the Welcome pack.

Their plane arrives on time and we get back to the house around six, having collected Beck from Sarah’s en-route.

No time for Viv to relax. I had to take the patio table back to La Vitaille so her first job is to help me ‘build’ our new patio table. Fortunately ‘build’ meant open and fold out mostly, so not too difficult. And then some unpacking to find the bits I brought from England that I now need, as the bits I borrowed from La Vitaille have had to go back there. Meanwhile the children have headed straight for the pool, and even though it is pretty chilly in there, only twenty-one degrees, play happily together, until the chill gets the better of them and they are out, teeth chattering, demanding towels to warm them up!

Joel arrives to start trimming the vines again and to mow the grass in the alleys between the vines.

Supper was meant to be chicken something or another but it had to be just something or another as I managed to leave the chicken at the checkout!!! Well at least Viv is finding out pretty quickly what it’s like here. Mind you we do eventually manage to sit down outside with a glass of wine and enjoy what’s left of the evening and watch the world go by; or rather the wildlife!

Saturday 5th July
Author: Jack

Taking advantage of Viv’s presence I’m up and out in the vineyard by seven thirty and manage to finish the remainder of the patch in two hours. Meantime Viv has unpacked more boxes for me and looked after kids. I grab a quick breakfast and then we set to on the garden. The forsythia outside the kitchen window has grown from a sensibly sized shrub into a triffid-like beast in next to no time. I have no intention of letting it take over the entire front garden, so - off with it’s head! Viv shoves all the cuttings in to the Picasso (sorry Bert!) and I pay several visits to the dump with this and the heap of other rubbish that has been growing in the garage.

We have a lovely yellow plum tree (which sadly will probably disappear when the cuverie is built) and the plums are now ripe. Viv picks about three basket loads for us. I plan to make some jam and freeze some. She washes them all for me and leaves them to dry. In between all the work she does manage to enjoy the sun and read a little (it’s not all slave labour here!).

Jose has been here all day carrying on with the pamprage. He finishes the trimming and then sprays the vines again for us.

After lunch I drop Viv, Jess and Rebecca off at the Chateau de Duras. Beck has been longing to go back again and show someone else round so now is her chance. I am off to order our new Pickup. I manage to get a little more off the price and to arrange for them to lend me a car while I wait for delivery. The car will not be available until the beginning of September but the Picasso is going at the beginning of August so I could have ended up without a car.

Back to collect Viv, Jess and Beck who have had a lovely afternoon at the Chateau and off for Becks first horse riding lesson. She has been longing to have lessons and we have finally organised one. Unfortunately it is not quite as exciting as she had hoped – quite the reverse in fact. I had told them that she had never ridden before but they clearly didn’t take any notice of me. Beck was happy getting on the pony, happy doing some exercises on the pony, even happy trotting, but distraught at the idea of galloping around the arena! And not once had they told her how to control the pony. She ended up sitting in the middle of the arena tears rolling down her face, scared stiff and wanting to leave; and they wouldn’t let her get down, so she just had to sit there! Needless to say I complained afterwards and managed to arrange a one to one lesson for her. Despite this traumatic experience she still wants to go again. Hope it’s better next time.

Back home we all jump in the pool to cool down, dress and off out to Beck’s favourite restaurant in Allemans. The food is up to its usual standard and Saturday night is particularly good as there is always loads of seafood on the buffet table. Delicious.

Sunday 6th July
Author: Jack

Today was to be lawn-mowing day. I say ‘was to be’ because when I went to start the mower it was not very obliging. It coughed and spluttered and kept cutting out. Eventually I managed to get it as far as a piece of grass at which point it gave up altogether. This did not please me one bit as I had hoped to mow the grass before leaving on another epic voyage to good old blighty. Mind you every cloud has a silver lining, or in this case, if one job couldn’t be done another could. Next on my list of jobs was weed killing. So with the sixteen-litre Mr Bricolage sprayer strapped to my back I spent the next couple of hours wandering round attacking all those nasty old weeds. Got them. Meantime the children were in the pool with Viv supervising. I had hoped that the mower would have decided to play ball by now but no, it was still being obstinate. Viv and I were getting quite concerned that we would have to push it back in to the garage. The thought of this clearly scared it and suddenly it spluttered into life under a cloud of black smoke and crawled back to the safety of the garage. Maybe it had decided to play ball as I had decided that at least I should give it a good clean. I parked it in the comfort of the garage and covered it up to keep it clean until such time as someone could come and repair it.

Whilst I was wandering around weed killing everything in sight Viv was happily hoovering the pool out and topping up her suntan in the process!

Enough jobs for today. Well all except the jam making. Made about five pounds of plum jam – simple recipe – shouldn’t take long I thought – took most of the afternoon! The others spent the afternoon in rest and relaxation by the pool and eventually I joined them. Hooray.

Later that evening, as I went in to the garage, I interrupted some young redstarts learning to fly. The garage is home to numerous families of birds, mostly redstarts I think. There were three of them, all with wonderfully fluffy heads and bodies. They were at a loss as to what to do when I came in. They didn’t have the confidence to fly off so just sat there staring suspiciously at me. I stopped momentarily trying to decide what to do but then thought I ought to leave them to it and left. No doubt they have earnt their wings by now.

Monday July 7th
Author: Jack

Well Viv and Jess are off back home today and so are Beck and I. But not until the afternoon. I have to visit the notaire this morning to sign the sales contract for La Vitaille. So I drop Viv, Jess and Beck off at the market in Duras and whiz off to the Notaire’s in Seyches. All quite straightforward fortunately. Back to collect everyone from the market. By now, midday, I am getting a bit panicky as we are due to leave at two thirty and I don’t feel at all organised. Fortunately Viv gets to work and we soon have lunch ready, the car packed, the house tidy and off we go.

I literally throw Viv and Jess out at the airport and off we go, back onto the motorway for another six hundred and fifty mile journey! The plan is to stop overnight in Orleans and to be home sometime early the following afternoon.

Meantime Viv and jess should have been home around eight that same evening. However unbeknown to me their journey turned in to a saga! Well that’s Air France for you. Apparently they got as far as boarding the plane only to be told that there was a technical fault. Everybody off! And they waited at Bordeaux airport, and waited, and waited. Finally they were told that they could not be flown back to the UK that night so instead they would be flown to Paris, put up in a hotel for the night, would have to get up at five thirty for a flight to Gatwick! Meantime Beck and I had settled down to a delicious evening meal in our hotel and a relaxing nights sleep with a more civilised start time planned for the next day. Maybe driving isn’t so bad.

The only other person to have used Air France to visit was Iain and he has vowed never to use them again……..

Author: Iain

……yes, this is true. I decided that City Airport was a really convenient departure point for a visit – using Air France. Hmmm. Fog on the way out meant that the plane couldn’t take off and the only option was, eventually, a route via Clermont-Ferrand followed by a short hop to Bordeaux. Got there too late though and the only option was to get a plane to Biarritz. Jack not too impressed with the extra 150 miles to collect me. But that was only the start…… On the way back I got to the check in only to be told that the plane had been cancelled for ‘technical reasons’. So having negotiated the less-than-sympathetic helpdesk I queued up for another plane to Charles-de-Gaulle in theory followed by another to London City – two hours late but not the end of the earth. Got through the gate this time before the plane was cancelled – ‘technical reasons’ again – a wonder any of Air France’s planes are still in the sky. Back to the helpdesk – long queue by this time. Sorry, can’t get you back to London City. Great. Might be able to get you to London though….. Couple of hours later I get on a flight to Orly. Endure a manic taxi ride with two Germans around Paris (they are flying Air France and seemingly have been delayed for a total of two months – perhaps I’m not so unlucky). Get to Charles de Gaulle and run through the airport – somewhat worried by the reaction of the armed guards – and check in at the gate for the last flight of the day to Heathrow. I’m the last person the plane - breathe a sigh of relief (the pregnant lady on the seat next to me seems a bit worried about how out of breath I am, this is not helped by me getting a cough that lasts for most of the flight). Get to Heathrow and catch a tube to Canning Town. Manage to get a bus from there to City Airport (I even get off at the wrong stop and have to walk a half mile). At last, midnight, six hours late, but I’ve made it. Walk to the terminal to pay my car parking fee only to find that the airport is shut!!! My simple flight has now consisted of two flights, a taxi, a tube, a bus and a walk - I am not the happiest of travellers – indulge in 5 minutes of beating on the airport doors (no reaction) before getting in the car and, looking my most suspicious, drive around the car park looking for security cameras. This does the trick and a few minutes later a worried looking security guy let’s me into the building to pay for my ticket. As a final insult the parking cost me £150 for 10 days! I drive home in a pretty low mood and vow never, ever to fly Air France again.

Monday 30th June to Monday 7th July

Get our diary every month