More post-Christmas fun in the west of France

After Christmas eve, things continued more or less as usual… More scrabble, eating delicious meals, opening oysters (one of my favourite Christmas time activities) and just in chilling out with the family, basically.

On boxing day, we were joined by Mathilde’s nephews and nieces. The nephews, Paul and Lucas, stopped to pick up their Christmas presents and then headed on towards Nantes with their grandma, whereas the nieces, Syehm and Alix, stayed over.

Me and Mathilde had a rendez-vous with some friends in Angers in the evening, and we took the rather bold decision to walk to the town center, following the Maine river (it’s actually just 5 kilometers or so…). A nice walk, impressive to see how high the river is – plenty of fields flooded as well.

We met up with Anne, Oliver and their two lovely children, as well as Sandra (unfortunately, Sebastien and Marie had to cancel last-minute). Since it was getting a bit dark, we headed into the nearest coffee shop for some coffee and hot chocolate (and beer, in the case of me and Oliver).

All in all, we spent a very nice evening together, catching up on the latest, as they say.

The next day, the plan was to head out into the Mayenne department with Joel and Alix, to have lunch with Mathilde’s three uncles. The Mayenne is what I would call authentic, real French country-side. So I quite enjoyed driving through the back roads and small villages, until we eventually found Didier’s little farm, located, almost literally, in the middle of nowhere!

All the brothers – Didier, Jacques Gerard and Joel of course, were present for the happy family reunion. Didier had prepared a real feast for us, with things kicking off with foie gras toasts with some proper free-range chicken for a main course. And to top it all off, a buche de Noel we had picked up in one of the villages on the way. This was followed by a rather interesting tour of his farm.

Our stomachs filled, we hit the road and made our way back to Angers. For the evening, we’d been invited over to Delphine and Christophe’s place for dinner & drinks. It was a bit of a university reunion for Mathilde; with Flore, Christian, Aude, Magaye, Servane and Stephane all present. Once again, we had great food, loads to drink, and a lot of fun! Great to catch up with everybody, a real pity Marion and Corinne had to cancel, though (a lot of flue going around, it seems...). Next time!

That brought an end to our wonderful Christmas break in Angers. As always, it was great, even if at least I had picked up a kilo or two, I reckon… A big thank you to Francoise and Joel, and everybody else who fed and lodged us.

Time to hit the road then... After stopping at the rather non-descript town of Vierzon for a lunch (which we have no complaints whatsoever about!), we drove to Issoire in Auvergne, where we were staying the night. We arrived during the afternoon, so decided to have a walk around town before having dinner. Issoire is mostly known for Église Saint-Austremoine d'Issoire – an exceptional example of Auvergne Romanesque church architecture. And indeed it is rather sublime, especially the cloister that is attached to the church. There wasn’t much else to see in the town, and the restaurants we saw in the town centre didn’t really tempt us, so we sadly enough ended up having dinner at the Courtepaille chain restaurant next to our Ibis hotel. Well, to be honest, it wasn’t too bad, actually!

The next day, we hit the road early, crossing the beautiful Auvergne landscapes as we headed southwards. We decided to stop over for lunch at Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert. This small village, stunningly located in the Herault valley. I can honestly say it’s one of the most picturesque villages I’ve visited in France (and that’s saying a lot!). The site really is magnificent, and the village has really succeeded in keeping its medieval character, with its stone-paved streets and rustic houses. Oddly, in spite of the numerous tourist shops and restaurants the place doesn’t have the feel of a tourist trap (probably due to the time of the year – I’m sure the situation is quiet different in summer!). We found a very nice little restaurant for lunch.

The village is a very famous pilgrimage site, and its medieval abbey, a really stunning work of art. After visiting this Benedictine abbey, which was founded all the  way back in 804 AD, it was time to hit the road. We did take the opportunity to visit the UNESCO world heritage rated Pont du Diable, which is located just a few kilometers down the road from the village. Apparently these bridges were built either with the help of the devil, or against his wishes, depending on which legend you believe. Anyways, a most impressive bridge it was!

That brought an end to our trip, as we arrived back in Cagnes!