Galette des rois - Kings Cake

Phil and I were invited for aperos (aperitifs, usually with a few nibbles) in early January. This was at a French lady's house but she invited five English. Part of the apero offering was a Galette des rois. Something I had never heard of. It is sometimes called Epiphany Cake. The season for this traditional cake starts on 12th night (the end of Christmas on 5th January( and extends until Mardi Gras - or as the British say Shrove Tuesday and commemorates the arrival of the Three Kings in Bethlehem.

Each person has a piece of this cake which is like a round sweet bread like brioche and frangipane, with sugar on top (I have since seen them with icing on top). The cake is generally crown shaped. Inside is a hidden baby or fève. A little like the silver coin inside a Christmas pudding.

In the past, the pastry would be cut into as many portions as there were guests, plus one. The last one, called the “part du pauvre” or poor man’s share, was for the first poor person who stopped by the house.

He or she who finds the 'baby' in their slice is designated King or Queen for the evening - and also must buy the cake the following year. (I suspect many a visit to the dentist is required afterwards as well.
So guess who bit into a 'baby'. Yep, you've got it. So I had to wear a golden cardboard crown for the rest of the evening.

A week or so later Phil and I were invited to the Mairie as we are new residents of Villefagnan and a galette des rois was served there along with some very nice sparkling Vouvray. As it was only Phil and I and another lady who has moved into the village in the last year they combined this welcome with a thank you to the staff of the commune. Very nice to be invited and interesting to see lots of familiar faces. Anyway - guess what! Yes you're right I bit down on to the 'baby' and was duly crowned!

No photos to show (shame, I hear you cry) but imagine being the only one wearing a Christmas crown out of a cracker on Christmas Day......

Concrete going down for gite floors, hallway and after much deliberation a downstairs toilet

Just to recap the first of the 2 gites in September was like this:

Then Trees arrived and with sledgehammer created this:

Gite 1

Gite 1

Fireplace Gite 1

After Phil's incident concrete making and spreading are out of bounds so a local and very lovely French man has come to help along with a friend of his.

Gite 2 - Before

Gite 2 - floorboards gone

   

The 'find' in gite 2 was below a cupboard that we thought may have been a 'fridge' or larder due to the latticing to let air in.

We have been told that what actually happened was that hot embers were put below - see hole that has been concreted in, in the photo and that the hear from these heated pans that were on a metal plate on the stone shelf above. So a cooker circa 1793 we think.

Cooker circa 1793

Cooker circa 1793

The gites are now concreted and once we have finished the main building we can start in there. Really pleased to have this done as the floors were rotten.
We have also had the courtyard dug up, a soil pipe and a water pipe are now connected in the second house so all ready to get started on plumbing.

Meanwhile, in the main house work slowed for a bit in the New Year. Partly colds dragging us down but a bit of the January blues I expect. The weather has been cold but also wet and grey, very UK so no wonder we have slowed up.

But we seem to be getting on a roll again now.

Plastering where the old sink used to be

Plastering in hall

New downstairs loo

Tiling is finished in utility room and the downstairs loo is tiled on the floor, plumbed in and painted. The doors have been painted too.

The hallway really is a huge job as all plumbing and electrics originate here so it really is the hub of the house. Next step - plasterboarding the ceiling so we can hide pipework and cabling. Not a job we are looking forward to but once the hall is done we can move on to the second guest bedroom. Something I am really looking forward to.

Aiming to open the two B&B rooms in April has meant I have had to do some marketing work.

I have built the website - check it out at www.lacourcharente.eu

Any comments gratefully accepted!

You can book online here as well as on the FaceBook page that I have also set up at - www.facebook.com/lacourcharente

This morning I registered the B&B with the Tourist Office in Ruffec and just in the nick of time as the insertions for their accommodation guide have a deadline of this week.

Paul very kindly helped me with the text for our entry - it had to be in French.

So right now things are starting to move in the right direction after what felt like grinding to a standstill.

Hope you like what we have done. On the 13th January we celebrated having the house for one year and on 24th we will have actually had the keys and been here for a year.

We haven't done too badly in that time really, have we?

Until the next time.

Much love  xx

Bonne année

We had a wonderful and hectic trip back to the UK for Christmas to see family and friends.
Phil was very excited to be able to drive back in the UK. It has been over 6 months since his last 'incident' and under Section 88 of the road traffic act whilst they are processing the return of his license he can drive - in the UK. Sadly French law requires you to have your license on you at all times when driving so we're not quite there yet.
Unfortunately on his first drive since March on the way back to Evergreen from Portsmouth a speeding camera caught him. A ridiculous 30mph zone on a wide country lane but nonetheless he was caught. 

As soon as we got back we were welcomed by Leigh who had lit a roaring fire for us. Wonderful!
That evening we met Martin and Sandra (who came top visit us here in September) and had a lovely evening at the Indian in Cheddar. Indian food is one of the few things I miss about living in France.

The following day we drove over to help Rich move his furniture to his new flat in Glastonbury. It a lovely flat and I am sure he will be happy there. Glastonbury High Street and all it's shops and pubs and cafes are on the doorstop. Much nicer for him.
After the move we went and did a B&Q shop. Not much required now as we feel much more confident about shopping for building materials in France. However paint and varnish are so expensive here we are still buying paint in the UK.

Our Christmas tree 2014

The following day we spent putting Christmas decorations up before meeting up with our friends for an evening. I hadn't seen them since October so it was great to catch up. 
When I was in Paris I couldn't resist buying each of them a French beret.

The girls

On the Friday Phil stayed in for deliveries (my Xmas present) and I went over to Rich's flat. He had been working since the move and we spent a lovely afternoon sorting a few things out and I got to see the flat properly.
That evening we got to meet his girlfriend for the first time and we met at the Crown in Wells - a pub familiar to those who know the film Hot Fuzz.
We had a meal at Ask by the Bishop's Palace - how apt! A lovely evening with great company - a pleasure to meet her at last.

Saturday was a day for preparing for the following day when Phil's children and grandchildren were coming over. We also had Dave and Ange from Villefagnan but currently spending some time in Wales over for lunch. So good to see them and slightly weird to see them at Evergreen rather than in VF.
The family Sunday was a great afternoon and passed so quickly. The children were great and we had a mini Christmas with them, turkey and everything!

I had a trip to the dentist and hygienist on the Monday - necessary but never something I look forward to. We managed to squeeze in a couple of hours with friends James and Mandy as well which was lovely, before meeting up with Phil's brothers and their wives in Bristol. 

After all this flying around we tried to slow down on Tuesday before starting up again Wednesday. We did get to meet at the Swan at Rowberrow with Jill and Melv for a very nice lunch and catch up. Pam and Dave surprised us by popping by and we had a lovely time. It was feeling very festive by this time.
The following morning I went to pick Mum up and my sister and family arrived shortly after we got back. Traffic was awful but by lunchtime the only person missing was Rich who had to work until early evening.
At 5.20pm we looked i the sky and saw Father Christmas going by on his sleigh. Seriously - we did. In reality it was the International Space Station but it was exciting for most of us. Sadly Tilly has a little fear of the big man in red so it didn't go down too well with her.

Christmas Day was wonderful. We didn't even manage to get through all the childrens' presents - some were saved till Boxing Day.
We got to say hello to David in the afternoon as well, which was a nice surprise as he had had to cancel meeting up the previous Friday.

The weather took a turn for the worse Boxing Day and our walk along the beach at Burnham on Sea wasn't as pleasant as we had hoped. Still, it blew away some cobwebs and we all went into Wetherspoons for fish and chips afterwards.

The following day we said goodbye to our guests and started dissembling the decorations and loading up the van ready for our departure the following morning.
It was so good to see Rich during our stay. I miss him so much and he has grown up to be such a wonderful son. I am bursting with pride and hope that he can make it over to France very soon.

We left in good time and had slowish trip to Portsmouth. Traffic along the A303 always gets snarled up around Stonehenge. The weather was cold but bright and after meeting up with Paul and Di at the ferry we had a good crossing.

They went on to their house and we went to the Ibis Hotel at Caen to rest before the trip to Villefagnan the day after.
I was back in the driving seat and we made good time. The weather was very cold but bright and we got back and decided to crack open a bottle of fizzy and watch a film before meeting up with friends at Chez David.

It was great to see everyone. New friends Linda and Anthony who have a lovely property on the outskirts of Villefagnan had just arrived back and it was like a reunion.

We had a to recover before New Years Eve which we spent at L'Etoile d'Or. Paul and Di came down for a couple of days to spend it with us which was wonderful. we didn't get to bed until about 3am - which for us is a very late one. Linda and Anthony's friend Neville came too and was such good fun. He danced with the elderly ladies and made them feel so special. A charming man.
He is also an amazing hairdresser and gave me a real pamper before he had to leave to go back to England to 'do' a wedding.

New Years Day we walked down to Linda and Anthony's for an exceptional meal and had a fantastic time. Paul and Di were welcomed too along with the guys from l'Etoile d'Or. 

Next year we hope to be in Villefagnan for Christmas. Therer was so much going on that we missed. In fact I nearly missed this little gem. Across from the church some barn doors had been opened and lights placed around them and inside was this beautiful nativity scene.

So as I write we are both recovering from colds and over indulgence. The work is continuing but at a slow pace as we haven't really got back in the swing just yet.

More of our progress next time.

Until then a very Happy New Year to you all.

Much love xx