Last week's randonnee club outing - a winter's walk

How lucky were we last Thursday...we had a blue sky and sunshine for weekly randonnee club walk. The day before had been a whiteout and the snow fell again on the Friday.

Apart from it being a little damp underfoot it was the perfect day for a winter's walk.

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The walk took us through the woods around L'Abbeye to the north of Le Grand-Pressigny with the snow adding a different dimension.

Hamming it up in the supermarkets

So you want a slice of ham...someone needs to explain why French supermarkets  offer such a choice.

Church on Sunday - the windows of Saint Nicolas in Saumur

More detail on the church here

images courtesy of our 'sisters'

What a difference another day makes

What a difference a day makes...

Wednesday morning

Thursday morning

Snow is rare here in our part of France and as on this occasion rarely stays around for very long. On our weekly randonnee club walk yesterday, yes it was a lovely blue sky and sunshine day, there was much discussion as to when we last had any real long-lasting snow.

Chateau with icing on top! Chateau de La Guerche

Chateau de La Guerche yesterday

A little taste of Scotland in E. Leclerc and it's not whisky.

Although it could have been!
Spotted these on a special promotion shelf in  *E. Leclerc in Châtellerault. I'd actually never heard of them but on checking  the web I found out a little about them.

In essence, as they say themselves on their site

"Mackie’s Crisps are made with naturally grown potatoes, cooked gently in High Oleic sunflower oil. We firmly believe that our unique process “from plough to pack” gives our crisps tasteable difference, which sets them apart from other potato crisps on the market."

They have an interesting range of flavours.

*PS other supermarkets are available

Back on our feet - another walk around Chambon

Thursday saw us joining fellow randonnee club members for a walk around Chambon on what was our first outing of 2018. After the over-indulgences of our recent 'road-trip' it prved to be tougher than usual

Most were suitably attired for a winters walk, much as I can see the benefits and sensibility  of the low leggings (what are they called?) I somehow don't see myself in them!

The forecast hadn't been good but it proved to be a fine day for a walk.

Our leader, as ever, managed to vary a well trodden route which took us past chateau Rouvray in the distance and more recent piece of history.

Part of the route was the official GRP route which took us past L'etang de la Forge.

We past this large farm which had a rather sophisticated rotating solar panel system...these are obviously forward thinking farmers

We also passed a couple of chateauesque farms.

This beautiful Camellia seemed to be taking full advantage of the sun that was beginning to break through the clouds.

As were this beautiful display of snowdrops.

With the village in our sites we felt a slight relief that our walk was nearing its end but no, Joel was teasing us (though not deliberately).

To get us the customary 12 km we had to cross the main road to Barrou and head back down in the direction of the Creuse before thankfully making our way back to the village.

Are we in the wrong business? Renting gites in the Loire Valley

Pauline and I have been successfully renting out properties in the here in Centre-Val de Loire  (the Loire Valley) for 10 years and in that time we have seen the rise of the number of accommodation places on offer grow year on year, whether listed as a gite, a vacation rental, holidayhome, holiday rental and now holiday apartment/room. Out of interest I checked on a major listing site and narrowed it down to our little part of beautiful Southern Touraine. Above is a screenshot of the result, with the furthest north around 30km from Barrou. 

If you expand it north by 15km it is even scarier and this is without including any large town or city! The official site for Touraine lists 975 properties under 'gites', then there are all other accommodation types!! We often wonder how anyone narrows down their choice when face with so many options.

'Gobbleisation' as I like to call it has meant that every man and his dog seems now, to be offering some form of accommodation to the traveller. Having so many options is no doubt good for them but I wonder if, after all the listing sites take their cut as well as driving down the price, is it sustainable?

February flower

Camellia is flowering in the garden at the Old Walnut Mill.

House checks and some early colour.

Trying to get back into work mode - did checks on the houses yesterday to check all ok after our absence. They were all good, though going round, only highlighted the work we need to do in the houses and gardens in preparation for the new season! One bright spot however was an early show of colour in the garden at Le Bourg.