July in Luchapt

We drove to Luchapt via Portsmouth and la Havre on the 11 July, taking the overnight ferry. We slept in a strange sleeper arrangement, it was like a large dormitory with large adjacent reclining chairs. We didn't get the best nights sleep but sufficient so as I could drive the 5 hours to Phil & Angela's house.

They have done a lot of work since we were last there, having extend the house into the barn to make a guest room with en suite and kitchen, although we didn't have to cook for ourselves! The house had also been reroofed and they had started extending further into the barn. (You can see part of their 'back garden' in the picture!)

Fortunately Bastille day was celebrated this week, so although we were not in France at the weekend there was still quite a lot to do. We started on Monday with helping the local village prepare the food for their meal on the night before Bastille day.Very little English was spoken so we mucked in as best we could with another half dozen Brits, I like to think my garlic pressing and cutting impressed

The meal was held for a 100+ inside a hall adjacent to the playing fields, which was just as well as the rain which had been threatening arrived that evening and we got rather damp watching the firework display.


The following day Tuesday 14 July was Bastille day and Phil and Angela drove us to the races at Le Dorat. The track was a bit basic although there was a small grandstand and plenty of opportunities to lose some money at the bookies.


We managed to miss all the winners until the 5th race when we struck lucky and managed to recoup a small amount of our losses. We decided this was a good time to quit and moved onto Confolen, a small picturesque town which was holding a highly recommended firework display that evening.

Here we enjoyed a meal and a few glasses of wine at a restaurant overlooking the river, followed by a few more glasses with friends of Phil & Angela outside a local bar.The fireworks started at 11pm from barges moored in the river with accompanying music and were certainly impressive.

Phil and Angela seem to have integrated well into the expat community, as we subsequently played boules on Wednesday evening, and had a meal in a local bar/restaurant with more of their friends for Friday lunch. The meal should have followed canoeing down the river, but much to mine (and Mums) disappointment this was cancelled because of a violent thunderstorm.

The weather was mixed during our stay but always warm and as previously we found Luchapt very quiet (apart from the church bells at 7 in the morning!) so well rested we returned home Saturday morning.