Our house sit hosts in Saint Simeux were very welcoming. They showed us around the area, took us to lunch at one of their favourite restaurants and even invited us to a party at a chateau owned by one of their expat friends. During our initial tour of the area we drove thru the nearby village of ‘Châteauneuf’ as we were being shown cafe’s and restaurants to visit etc, I stated that the people of ‘Châteauneuf’ (pronounced shat-en-off) obviously do not suffer from constipation! As the words left my mouth, the thought hit me that I did not know these people well enough to come out with an observation as such, but after a few awkward moments of silence, raucous laughter erupted. John and May had a good sense of humour but John was left shattered that he would now never be able to drive through the tranquil commune without mental images of its population sitting on a toilet! You’ve ruined it for me, he bemoaned, in his Irish accent.
The party at the chateau was an absolutely amazing experience. The owner was an elderly English gentleman whose wife sadly passed away several years earlier, leaving him alone in the enormous house that boasted a swimming pool, more rooms than we could count and a cellar with over seven hundred bottles of wine. Kenneth loved a drink and a laugh and that is why he hosted the party, which was well attended by mainly expats, most of whom were known to John and May. John jokingly introduced me to everyone as ‘his brother’! When they looked at me for confirmation it was difficult for me to keep a straight face.
It was a searingly hot Saturday afternoon so when Kenneth asked if anyone wanted to view the cellar, Linda and I, amongst a handful of others within earshot, welcomed the opportunity of going down into the cool haven. The big bonus was sampling some of the liquors Kenneth had made himself from fruit grown on the estate. As we stood in a circle around a table sipping fine liquors, in the Cognac region of France, Linda and I could not help thinking how lucky we were to land in such a unique situation – This is what we love about travelling.
A few days later, as John and May were packing their car to drive to Bordeaux for their flight to Dublin, Linda and I followed them out to wish them farewell. It was like saying goodbye to long time friends! “Thanks for coming”, I shouted, as they drove off to more laughter.
Saint Simeux was the perfect base to explore the region. We drove to Cognac one day and Angouleme on another. I purchased a 12/220 volt car fridge to store our cold meats and cheeses (and beer) as we travel through France and Germany. It has proven to be a very valuable asset as we can not resist buying so many delicacies when we visit the large supermarkets. We generally have one cooked meal a day and ‘graze’ from our ‘treasure chest’ for the rest of the day. I have usually got a few bottles of wine stashed under the seats but if I run out, no problem, wine is more readily available than milk in France!
We made contact with a friend that we had volunteered with in Cambodia a few years ago. Jo was in Nantes and when we heard that she was travelling to Bordeaux by train, we suggested she stop off in Angouleme and we meet up for the afternoon. We had a great afternoon, sharing travel stories and reminiscing our time in Phnom Phen. As it got later we thought it would be better to invite her back to Saint Simeux as there was a spare room in the house. We were sure John and May would not mind however we felt they should be asked, so I phoned John and sure enough, it was OK with them.
Jo came with me for the morning dog walk as Linda doesn’t ‘do’ mornings. During the walk we ran into one of the locals, an old guy whose English is as good as my French (lousy!). We struggled through a short conversation and he assumed that Jo was my wife. I was unable to explain otherwise so we just left him thinking that was the case. I had a little chuckle to myself imagining Johns confusion when the old boy tells him how he met the house sitter and his young red haired wife!!!
On our way back to the house we stopped at a vending machine outside the local school to pick up a baguette! I had never seen anything like it before. Deposit €1 in the slot and out slides a crunchy fresh baguette! Love it.
We drove Jo to the train station later in the morning to continue her journey to Bordeaux enjoying more of the countryside along the way. We were a little alarmed that no one was at the small remote station when we arrived but several minutes before the train was due, people started to arrived, and then she was on her way.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Saint Simeux and got to experience a French provincial lifestyle we may not have otherwise had without house sitting. When John and May returned from Dublin, John asked me if we would stick around till the Tuesday evening as that is ‘Bollocks Night’- A group of guys, including Kenneth, get together for a few beers. The thought frightened me at first, thinking it would be a session of drunken debauchery that would take me days to recover from, but it turned out to be quite civil. Just a few pints and a good catch up- and we were home before dinner!
We also went to a Sunday market (Brocantes) in Vibrac which was a very popular local event with some amazing collectibles and antiques. Our day culminated with drinks and local delicacies in the sunshine.
The next day John and May announced that they were going to sell their house and move to Spain! Quite a shock for us because we thought they were well settled into their lifestyle in France. I certainly hope that crack about Châteauneuf did not influence their decision!
Our next house sit was in Hannover in a little under a week so we needed to make tracks up north and enjoy a little taste of Belgium along the way.
Au revoir France, we will return.