Fun at Vintage Bazaar Fair

Over to my other Suzy Gaby and Maud for lots of photos of the Vintage Bazaar where I had a stall today!
If you didn't go, pop over and see what you missed....

A bientôt!

Isabelle X

French break and wedding in Belgium part 2

Following on from my last post, after the civil ceremony we drove to The Château de Florzé about 30 to 40 minutes away. The Château has a lot of history behind it including General Eisenhower who stayed there for a few hours during WWII.



As we got closer, the sky became very dark. As we arrived, a few drops of rain appeared and the sound of thunder made us all run for shelter in the Château.

The staff were frantically bringing in all the chairs from the garden back in to the Château. There should have been a second ceremony held outside under the beautiful blossom tree but as the heavens opened, there was no question of it taking place there. We all felt sorry the bride and groom as one of the reasons they had chosen this venue was so that they could have an outdoor ceremony there!
Strangely, just as the indoor ceremony ended, the skies cleared up and the sun shone again!




Rain over, it was time for some wedding photos of the bride and groom... Poor groom, my cousin Arnaud broke his ankle just days before the wedding so honeymoon is postponed! He managed to make it through the day though.


The setting was so beautiful!


My two nieces, Miss P and I enjoying the day

My Mother had told me of a bedroom with a legend/tale behind it. "La chambre des apparitions" (The room of the apparitions) The story goes that an elderly lady was in her bedroom when a statue of the Virgin Mary appeared at her window. Children, possibly her Grandchildren would dangle a statue from window on the floor above, in the hope that she might think that it was an apparition of the Virgin Mary. As it happens, that is the very room that we were given!

We stayed at the Chateau overnight and on Easter Sunday we woke up to a beautiful sunny day. Soon after breakfast, the children went on an Easter egg hunt on the grounds. A great way to end our stay there.
















Spending time with my Goddaughter's baby boy. You might remember that at Christmas time we tried to attend his Christening but due to very poor weather conditions, we only made it as far as France. It was so lovely to meet him at last.


Well, I couldn't go there without coming back with some food and drink. A little snippet of some of the things I brought back. A lot of these bring back lovely childhood memories.




I had a brilliant time, so wonderful to spend time with family especially when you don't get to see them as often as you'd like.

I hope you all had a lovely Easter!

***Just a reminder that I shall have a stall at the Vintage Bazaar at the Cheese and Grain in Frome, Somerset on Saturday 30th April 11 (09.00 - 15.00 hours). Hope to see some of you there! Miss P and Alan will be there too to give a helping hand***

A bientôt!

Isabelle X

French break and wedding in Belgium Part 1

Last Tuesday evening we drove to Kent and went across the channel on the Eurotunnel.
First stop France then Belgium. I was very much looking forward to seeing my parents and have some of my Mother's home made cooking! We couldn't have wished for nicer weather, really warm, sunny and azure blue skies.


I took the opportunity of catching up with some reading. I read more in those couple of days than I had done in the past four months! So wonderful to just be able to relax and not have any work to do :-)
Miss P spent a fair bit of time playing in the garden and looking out for bugs.
On one afternoon we took a stroll along the beach and visited a nearby war cemetery where soldiers and airmen from all over the world are buried. It was the first time that Miss P had visited one, she found it sad and interesting.


Making new discoveries in the garden


On Friday we left France and drove to Southern Belgium (Wallonie - French speaking part) to attend a family wedding over the Easter weekend.

On the way we drove past this sign. Each country seems to have funny place names.


We arrived on Friday afternoon at my cousin's house (my Aunt Suzy's daughter). She has a lovely big house, I couldn't resist taking a few pictures to give you a little taster of it.

These beautiful tiles are in the hallway


Very large mirror in the hallway. It used to belong to my Aunt Suzy who restored it and painted it by hand.


The door leading to the cellar


The garden shed

On Saturday morning, we all woke up early. The house was a hive of activity as around 10 of us were getting ready for the wedding, it was a great atmosphere.


Alan and I outside "Le Chateau d'Oupeye" (The town Hall) where the civil ceremony was held.






Miss P and I about to join the rest of the guests for the start of the wedding.

The rest of the wedding photos will be in Part 2 where we will be heading for the Château de Florzé...

A bientôt!

Isabelle X

The Island that inspired Agatha Christie

On Sunday, I had the sudden urge to go to the coast! Although we had quite a few other things to do (work, garden etc..) Alan felt the same, so without further delay we dropped everything and drove to South Devon.

The first place we went to was Noss Mayo, it was a lot busier than I recalled. The last time I went there was about 15 years ago or so and was not during the holiday season. So many cars this time, it was a nightmare navigating through the narrow road leading to the harbour. After a short time there we drove on to Newton Ferrers where we stopped and had a walk.


We left Newton Ferrers and headed for Bigsbury-on-Sea, on the way there we drove through Modbury, a pretty little town. Alan and I stayed there a couple of years ago.


As we arrived in Bigbury-on-Sea we were greeted with a view of Burgh Island.

It looked more like a summer's day, adults and children were playing and sunbathing on the sandy causeway.

This surfer almost knocked people down with his kite as he appeared to temporarily loose control of it. It only just missed them!


View looking back to Bigsbury-On-Sea


Pilchard Inn on the left


I was really looking forward to seeing the famous Burgh Island Hotel. Famous, as it was here that Agatha Christie wrote two of her novels "Evil under the Sun" and "And Then There Were None". Both stories are set on the island. The hotel was also used for the TV version of "Evil under the sun" with David Suchet as Poirot.

I had hoped to have afternoon tea at the hotel and perhaps get a glimpse of this beautiful room


but my hopes were dashed when I saw this sign at the entrance:

:-(( Oh well, we will just have to go and stay there some day...


I contented myself with walking around the island admiring the views all around it.










Remains of a former chapel

As I walked around I could imagine how this place might be the perfect setting for an Agatha Christie story. The Art Deco hotel, the dramatic scenery and steep cliffs...




By the time we decided to make our way back to Bigsbury-on-Sea, the tide had covered the causeway so we waited for the sea tractor.



Funny looking thing but it does its job well.



Goodbye Burgh...





Time to head back home...

I hope that you all had a good weekend.

A bientôt!

Isabelle X

Thank you to Elegancemaison who added some very interesting information about Burgh Island in her comment below. Here is a picture of the book mentioned. It looks like a must have book if you are interested in Burgh Island or Agatha Christie. I shall certainly be getting a copy of it.