Mombrier July 14 La Fête Nationale

La Fête Nationale (Bastille Day) but we will lay low. Decided it was probably not a good time to venture out into crowds of merry makers. I really want to work hard on scrapbooking but I still haven't even caught up on this trip we are on! However, I have learned how to count to 12 in French, so I am feeling a tiny bit accomplished. We heard our hosts going in and out a few times but we did not interact with them.

Late lunch yesterday was fresh pasta pesto ravioli. We still had some mushroom so we made a sauce for the ravioli out of those, sliced up, sautéed in olive oil and butter with Herbs de Provence and garlic. Fresh parmesan grated on top. It was delicious! We were still full late evening so we had just a brioche toasts with cheese spread. That was enough. 

Late evening, around 11p we could hear fireworks but even when we went outside to look, we could not see anything. Quite different than at home but we are pretty remote here. We know there was to be a large celebration in Blaye, supposedly wonderful with the fireworks over the river. 

 

Mombrier July 13

A quiet and relaxing day. I guess there is no need to say that because most of our day are quiet and relaxing. Today besides scrapbooking for me and writing for Stuart, we played cards. I guess I can say that every day as well! Anyway, we are enjoying every day!

Fanny's birthday is tomorrow. We suspect they will be gone for celebrating that or Bastille Day or La Fête Nationale as they call it, so we went into Bourg to find her a gift. We looked up chocolate shops in hopes of finding something nice there. We chose Pâtisserie Chocolaterie Frédéric Blanleil. We quickly found the place since it was right around the corner from the rustic cafe where we ate the other day. There weren't as many items in the store as shown on the website. I suppose those with fresh fruit must be ordered ahead. We got a few things for her and a few tastes for us. We took the chocolates and a bottle of sparkling wine over to them. Paul and the daughter were preparing a birthday meal for Fanny but he called her to come into the kitchen when he realized we brought her a gift. She seemed very touched and hugged us and gave a kiss on the cheek. She said it was a very wonderful chocolate shop. Such a sweet woman. Yes, they are celebrating her birthday today because they will be gone doing something tomorrow. 

We got a small sampling for ourselves. The odd looking ones are interesting. Here is the little story about them. I like figs so wanted to try them. Quite different, there is a sort of nougat filling with nuts, then the outside pink substance is the fig paste or I am not sure what to call it. It was good. Well, I hope she likes them because we got her the box of 24!!! We got 6 of those, some orange sticks, and 2 cherry cordials. A tasty treat for us. We didn't eat it all but sampling a little at a time. 

After that we played cards the rest of the day. Lunch was a 3 cheese flatbread we turned into a 5 cheese flatbread. Dinner was a repeat of the chicken fajita, really good. 

Mombrier July 12

It has really cooled off today, with a breeze as well. Another quiet day of scrapbooking for me, writing for Stuart, and other computer work. In the afternoon we went to Carrefour for a few items. We found a bottle of wine from Fort Medoc, even on sale, and got that to have with our leftover lasagna for dinner. We saw a lot of Bastille Day decorations at the store before. We wanted to get those today but alas, they were all gone. We did find a little flag and bought that. 

I also took a few photos of the fish market that is part of Carefour. 

After dinner we were playing cards at the kitchen table when Fanny's cousin Allan(?) stuck his head through our open window and invited us out to have wine with them. How fun! We also met 2 of their 3 children. A young son Maximilian, maybe 10-11 and a daughter 18, who we didn't ever get the name quite right. She was a delight, perhaps because she spoke fluent English? Anyway, she went to school for a year in Buffalo, NY area. Paul and Fanny have lived here for 20 years. It was an interesting chat with them. The wine they had was from Perpignan! Some friends of theirs moved there a few years ago and started their business. Domaine Mas Terra. Paul's grandfather is from Perpigan! I was stunned to hear this and told them of my ancestry from the same area. He also told me the correct way to pronounce "Brial" (Bre-al-lay) is the closest I can think of phonetically. Back to cards and called it a day. 

Mombrier July 11

Day trip to Blaye today. We didn't get an early start but that was fine. Ate a banana for breakfast and hit the road. First it was time to figure out our garbage. It ended up being pretty simple. There are containers, which open with a card, which we had. Even though Paul told us what goes in each color container, it is also shown in pictures on each bin. That ended up being pretty fast and not a deal breaker for staying here. 

Now we are on our way to Blaye (pronounced Bly). We took the country road route and not sorry we did. What a beautiful countryside. 

It only took about 20 minutes to get to Blaye even on the back roads. We parked by the massive Citadel. It is quite the amazing place. We also visited the Tourist office and gathered a little information. It is fun to be right by the Gironde that we were cruising on just a few days ago! We are also visiting some of the same places with a diffferent perspective. 

After looking around we decided to have lunch right across from the Citadel. We split a burger and a salad. That salad is burrata cheese and heirloom tomatoes...delicious! AND you can get a medium rare burger in France, no problem!

Our next stop was Aldi's Market in Blaye. I saw the sign coming into town and suggested we go there instead of Carrefour back in Bourg. They didn't have all the things we wanted but we got a few things we hadn't seen at Carrefour. It was quite surprising to see so many items with "Trader Joe's" labels on them! No, we didn't buy the hotdogs in a jar, but they didn't look bad.

Now we're tired and heading back. Tonight we had a baked potato with all the fixin's (onion, bacon, butter, crème fraîche (like sour cream after we added a bit of lemon juice), parsley, and paprika. We played a few games and called it a day. We do stay up later here because it is so light. It isn't dark until long after 10p.

Mombrier July 10

Laundry today. Hopefully, the sun will come out. It is supposed to be 80F. We both snacked for breakfast so we weren't hungry for lunch. Play games, Stuart is writing, I'm scrapbooking, we also explored the area right around us, and that was fun. Before we knew it, the day was almost gone!

For dinner we bought this fajitas kit from the store, along with the fresh ingredients needed. I didn't have high hopes of it being tasty but a simple meal to prepare. We seasoned the chicken with a variety of spices we brought along and some fresh herbs from the store. The sauce that came with the kit was delicious!

As we were eating Paul and Fanny came by. They explained again about the garbage system and what we need to do. If there is a drawback to this place, that would be it. Anyway, we will give it a go tomorrow morning and hope to figure it all out. They suggest week after next we will get together for appetizers. We have not set a date but agreed that it sounded good. Fanny will be gone all next week. Paul said contact him anytime for anything. I hope getting together with them works out.

Mombrier July 9

We washed linens today, then it started to rain. No problem because they were getting dry and we simply brought the clothes rack inside to finish the drying process.  

Didn't do much today but I am scrapbooking several pages a day to try to catch up on my travel albums. We also fed our spider that lives in a drain hole on our front door. No we are not bored, but it was interesting to see how fast it got the first ant we dropped on it's web. After that we tried to video on a retake but it didn't work out too well. 

Stuart made 2-cheese grilled sandwiches for lunch with tomato. For a late afternoon snack we ate the 2 remaining scallops and some tempura shrimp we bought at the store for only 2,50€ surprisingly they were very good! We added to the little sauce packet provided and it was really tasty. It was so good even though we intended it to be a snack, we ended up calling it dinner. 

We are both still coughing and blowing... not feeling bad but wondering when it will ever end!?!

Mombrier July 8

We are looking forward to a warmer day today. The forecast was 87F but has dropped to 85F. Either would be quite welcome. It was nice sitting in the sun having coffee this morning. For lunch Stuart made hash browns and I fixed the eggs. 

In the early afternoon we drove back into Bourg. This time sans GPS and we made it. That may sound funny but these roads we drive on are narrow, no center line, and only the small towns are marked with a vague suggestion of direction to go. All these little roads have names and numbers, but we see only the numbers (251, 253, etc). Anyway, we made it too and from town with no GPS and feeling pretty accomplished.

At Carrefour we decided to start at the back and walk up and down every single aisle to be sure we saw everything the store had. Sadly, the wine I liked is gone, I will try something new. We splurged and got some Rośe Prosecco to have with a small salad, cheese, and crackers. It was perfect, peaceful and lovely outside tonight. 

We sat outside well after 10p. It stays light very late. As the life around us continues there was a small tractor dusting the vines. There are several nice vineyards near us and also 2-3 that have been abandoned. 

We haven't seen much of Paul and Fanny, which is fine. I think they live pretty busy lives. If we needed something we can contact them. We saw Fanny briefly this morning when she had another large delivery. She is an interior designer or decorator, I can't recall the exact phrase she used. Something Paul told us the other day keep running through my mind. He said many vineyard are being abandoned, people are filing bankruptcy. He has never seen this in his lifetime. Nothing like this was ever mentioned when we visited wineries and other places along the cruise. I'm not exactly sure of all the reasons for this Paul gave, but he said tastes are changing and people are not liking the wines like they used to. 

I did find a few statements online about this:

1) A combination of high inflation rates and reduced spending power, post-pandemic lifestyle changes, global unrest and a lack of consumer confidence has led to a decrease in demand for wine. The resulting surplus has caused prices to fall, putting growers in a precarious economic position and sparking angry protests.

2) Bordeaux bloodbath! France pays winemakers to dig up vines. Red wine consumption in France has declined substantially in recent decades, in favor of beer and other beverages. Winemakers in the prestigious Bordeaux region are set to uproot thousands of hectares of vineyards as altered consumer habits and global warming hit one of the crown jewels of the French agricultural industry. 

3) Given Bordeaux's flagship status in the public's mind, this might seem surprising. Yet a mix of factors — including a decline in red wine consumption, falling demand from China and difficulties in producing wine in an increasingly warm environment — is strikingly transforming wine production in France.