A visit to country France

It has been a while between posts as the last few days of the trip
have been jam packed. Just before this though, we spent five glorious
night with my mum and dad, at their little country rental, in
Montenboeuf. This was actually the point of the trip, to visit mum and
dad who decided to pack up and spend three quiet months in the French
countryside. On arrival, I could see why.

The house was everything and more. So quaint and quiet. Days were
spend wandering to te nearby paddocks to see the animals and playing
with the local cats who come to say hi in the morning.

We were spoilt with amazing food from the second we got there,
including a whole wheel of baked cheese which would make Will Studd
jealous. Nothing beats mums cooking after being away.

A day of bric-a-brac

Since arriving at mum and dad's, we have heard so much about the weekends of bric-a-brac. Dad has been a big fan of spending his weekends driving to the smallest French towns, only to arrive to find fields full of people from France and England, offering the greatest of treasures to some, well, bits of rubbish they are trying to rid of.

Intrigued by the sound of it and wondering what hidden gems we could find, we set off for the town of Saint-Michel-de-Villadeix, about an hours drive from Montemboeuf. A gorgeous drive through countryside, which included a stop for lunch in Brantôme which was a really beautiful little town to stop in and enjoy a picnic in the park.

Arriving at the bric-a-brac was everything we hoped and a short while later we hit the road home with a couple of cute finds and the debate over whether the purchase of a second hand foot bath is acceptable. Bubble wrap will be needed to keep our purchases safe on the flight home!

 A stop back in Brantôme couldn't be resisted for an afternoon tea of some crepes and a cup of tea. A lovely Sunday in the country.

Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure National Cemetery and Memorial

On our way out today we stopped at a memorial in Chasseneuil dedicated to the men and women killed in action and to the 1,465 martyrs of the French resistance.

I have only recently started to become very interested in World War 2 history and this visit to the memorial was a really fascinating albeit sobering experience.

There is a timeline of events that told us the town of Angloueme (where we were shopping yesterday) was occupied by German forces on the 24th June, 1940.

The French resistance then were instrumental in the war for several years incurring many losses but ultimately contributing towards the liberation of the town on the 31st August 1944 - just one week after Paris was liberated.

Well worth a visit if you're in the area.

A little drop of Cognac by the river

Today we took a trip to the town of Cognac, home to many producers of the drink of the same name. We went to the Hennesy distillery who host regular tours (in French, German or English) of the premises.

The tour started with a boat ride across the river to a series of exhibits that showed the production process.

After that you are lead into one of the warehouses covered in "pas fumer" signs and flanked by rows of fire extinguishers, and once you walk in and smell those alcoholic fumes from the fermenting barrels of cognac you understand why.


A protected area of the warehouse revealed some barrels that date back to the late 19th century, with the oldest that we saw marked with a white "1893".

After a boat ride back across the river we had a quick overview of the various sorts of Cognac that Hennesy produce including the popular VS and VSOP and some of the more exclusive blends such as the 6,000+ Euro Hennessy Cognac in Baccarat Crystal.

Then, the final part of the tour, where you get to sample some of the blends.

A couple of measures of some fine Cognac at 11.30 in the morning was a pretty good way to start the day.

More information on Hennesy and the tour can be found on their website: http://www.hennessy.com/

Donkeys, and a bull

There are lots of animals in the local area. We went on a walk and discovered a field inhabited by four donkeys and a bull.

They were henceforth named as Phillipe, Phloppe, Kong, Brownie and Fabrizio (the bull).

Pictured is Phillipe ... no, it's Kong ... er ... actually I have no idea which one this is.

Château La Rochefoucauld

For our first full day in the French countryside we took a trip to the local town of La Rochefoucauld to take a look at the Château.

The family history for this building can be traced back to the 11th Century and viewed on the large genealogy diagrams on the walls of the chapel.

The Château has many levels with my favourite being the grotto two stories below the ground. This is a series of tunnels and caverns carved out of the rock which are pitch black apart from the dim lighting that adds to the spookiness.

On the top floor you will find the Salle De Oiseux. This is a room with clothing rails full of medieval costumes and headgear that you can try on. Pictured here is Jacq ready for battle with her war helmet and (plastic) sword of justice.

More on the Château can be found on their website: http://www.chateau-la-rochefoucauld.com/

Watching A380s coming to life at Toulouse Blagnac airport

Today I cashed in a couple hundred boyfriend points and went with Jacq to the Airbus tour at Toulouse's Blagnac airport.

Here they assemble every A380, A340, A330, A320 and a few other models that are then delivered to carriers across the world.

Our tour focussed on the A380. For 9.50 Euros each we got an insight into how the world's largest passenger aircraft is manufactured.

The tour started with a quick overview of the inaugural flight of the aircraft from April 2005 and were given a little insight into some of the many tests that the prototype models underwent in order to get certified by the FAA.

After that we boarded a bus that took us to one of the hangars where the aircraft are assembled. Parts are shipped in to Toulouse from the UK, Germany and parts of France via the Beluga A300's, barges and road transit. Then the pieces are assembled in Toulouse with just 2 weeks needed to put a completed aircraft together.

Airbus said they have over 240 orders for the A380s currently paid for with deliveries scheduled into 2014. Air France put in a request for an extended A380 that would be capable of carrying 1,000 passengers in a full 2-level economy configuration. The current 72m long A380's have a variety of capacities depending on the configuration ranging from 450 for Qantas up to 517 for Emirates and so on.

After visiting the hangar we had a quick look at a mockup interior which was interesting but pretty aged with a lot of the finishes tearing or peeling away.

The tour is a good insight into the manufacturing process of the A380, but aviation enthusiasts may be left wanting a little more. I would have liked to have been given a tour of the actual airport, to have seen the tower and to have taken a closer look at areas like the run up bays and other hangars. Getting closer to some more finished aircraft or being able to watch a few movements on tarmac would have been a nice bonus.

After the A380 experience, there was an option to take a Concorde tour (two of the original fleet are located at Blagnac) that you could purchase as well as the A380 tour but we only found this out at the end which was a bit disappointing.

All in all, not a bad morning for anyone interested in aviation, but a few little extras could have added a lot to the day.