Further adventures in La Teillée, the boulangerie in Vivonne, café au lait, kayaking with my cousins, extreme heat in France too, the market in Lezay, goodbye Tyotya Valya, visit to Marieul, home again and off to Montrondo,

 Montrondo, Sunday, 24th July, 2022

Ready to go kayaking with my Kiwi cousins on Tuesday in Vivonne

Good morning everyone, 

How are you all doing?  The ferocious heat wave is still on but thankfully now we are in Montrondo where the heat is less intense as it is located in the north west of Spain and high up in the mountains. It was extremely intense and still is in Madrid. We thought that we had escaped the heat when we went to France and we had for a couple of days and then it got hotter and hotter. I think it was the hottest weather there in 50 years and of course houses are not set up for such extreme heat. In the north of France where, in places like Brest,  it reached over 40c. Tuesday was definitely the hottest day ever; the day we went kayaking. In Spain the hottest temperature reached 43c and in Portugal it rose to 47! There have been and probably still are wild fires in Spain, France, Portugal and Greece and people have fled from their homes. The UK was not free of the heat wave with temperatures reaching  40c for the first time ever. Trains were cancelled as well as aircraft as they are not designed  for such extreme temperatures. Now the heat wave has made its way to other parts of northern Europe with temperatures also reaching 40ºc there. In Spain and Portugal more than 1000 deaths were recorded in July and these are countries more equipped to deal with hot weather. I read that 2  poor street cleaners died in Spain while they worked in the heat of the day. Well, no wonder; it should be forbidden to work in such extreme heat. I have lived in Spain for more than 40 years and have never seen anything like this and I have suffered like most. Thankfully we are having a respite in Montrondo,

Last Sunday we were still in beautiful La Teillée, in the French countryside, staying with my cousins. We didn't have much planned that day. So, while Zuka and her daughter cooked as they do a lot there, I invited Eladio and my sweet 13 year old cousin Ruby to go and buy bread and cakes from a real French boulangerie and patisserie. Zuka suggested we go to Vivonne, maybe her biggest and nearest town. So off we went through the beautiful countryside which Google Maps didn't seem to be very familiar with. Besides, it all looks the same and is not well sign posted. But we got there. 

My love of good French bread (it's not all good anymore I'm afraid) started many years ago when I started coming to France on holiday, first to Biarritz with my parents, then to a summer camp for Russian orphans (yes) in Grenoble for 6 weeks when I was 10, then to Royan with an English family and after that via inter rail and latterly for for work purposes and now to see my cousins. We found one in Vivonne which looked great. Being with Ruby and Eladio it was me who had to use my rusty French and I did my best. I have found the best way to approach someone in French is to start off saying in  perfect French that my French is not very good. I find people then listen and sound appreciative of the fact that I am at least trying. I am good on one to ones but not good if there is a group of people talking fast. 

It was easy to choose the gateaux - they spectacular - and it was up to Eladio to choose the bread although I did insist on including a traditional baguette, the best bread in the world when it is made properly. I wanted croissants too but they were out of them and I had to do with "pain au chocolat" which is tasty too. Once outside I had to have several photos, like the one below, to record the moment. 

Outside the boulangerie with little Ruby

And these were the mini gateaux we bought, chosen by me and by Ruby as Eladio is not interested in cakes. He only has a sweet tooth for honey, bless him.

The gateaux from the patisserie in Vivonne.

If I love French boulangeries and patisseries I also love French cafes. My love of the latter stemmed from my many inter rail trips through France, first at Gare du Nord in Paris where I discovered French café au lait and croissants and learned to dip them in coffee just like the French.

We looked for a nice cafe but didn't find one. Vivonne is quite pretty with its salient point being the river. I asked a local if there was a cafe by the river and was told there wasn't. So we had no choice but to go for the only one that seemed open. Rural France is rather sleepy and on a Sunday most places are closed. I went for a cafe au lait and Eladio for a decaf. His arrived black and in a tiny cup which he said had "4 lagrimas" (4 tear drops) that had Ruby and I in stitches. It took a while for the waiter to understand he wanted his coffee in a big cup and to include milk. Each country has its own way of serving coffee.  So I learned that day that a decaf comes in a tiny cup hahahah. Ruby recorded that moment too and here we are having our morning coffee last Sunday in sleepy Vivonne.

Me with my café au lait and Eladio with his tiny decaf in Vivonne last Sunday

I like my coffee with extra foam but my French wasn't up to that or maybe it was but I didn't dare make a nuisance of myself. The lovely thing was to sit there and watch the world go by.

We had to leave shortly afterwards as Zuka had a guest for lunch. Amandine, her grandson's ex girlfriend who I suspect would like to be his girl friend again, was coming from lunch. She lives in nearby Couhé, maybe a prettier and nearer town than Vivonne we should have gone to instead as we got lost on the way back.

As I said Google Maps doesn't know the area and neither do we, so we got lost on our way home but finally made it walking into Zuka's property feeling triumphant with our box of lovely French cakes which everyone was delighted with.

In the afternoon we went to see my dear, frail, 97 year old Aunty Valya who is in a residence in Couhé. I hadn't seen her for 2 and a half years and was sad to see her in a care home when she all she wants is to be at home. But until a carer is found for her that is impossible. For those of you who don't know, she is the wife of my mother's youngest brother Nicky (Kolya). I have known and loved her all my life. 

I went with Katty and Sam and I know we cheered her up. We took her outside and sat under the trees in boiling hot weather with the temperature at 37ºc!!! She enjoyed her cigarettes and we enjoyed talking to her mostly in French. She is Russian but has lived in France since she was a young girl. Her English is good, much better than my French but we spoke mostly French as she found it tiring to talk English.

I think we cheered her up enormously and promised to be back and to bring good food and have lunch with her "toute ensemble" a few days later. We also promised to bring her kebabs and pineapple which she loves.

Pippa was overjoyed to see me when I came back. In my absence she had a dug a hole in the ground where there was a mole hole. Oh how she loved it and loved sitting in it once it was deep enough. I had to have a photo hahahaha. No doubt she felt cooler inside the earth. Obviously she needed another thorough bath later that  night. 

Pippa cooling off in the hole she dug last Sunday

Soon it was "wine o'clock" to quote my friend Kathy and there we sat in the garden under the shade of the trees until it got dark at about 10.30. I loved our evening drinks and talks together. in La Teillée.  Zuka and her family are the only family I have left really and I love being with all of them.

That night I made the dinner and Zuka and Katty were ordered to rest while I did everything with the help of Eladio, Ruby and Sam. We had a chicken and avocado salad, gazpacho, Spanish ham and chorizo with the baguette which wasn't as good as I had hoped.

We went to bed relatively early, at midnight, after bathing little Pippa and again I slept well. I awoke at 7 am on Monday morning to the quiet of the day and when it was at its coolest. I felt at peace with the world as I always do in La Teillée. Let me share some photos of Zuka's lovely place  so you know what  I mean. 

Some shots of Zuka's marvelous place in La Teillée

We did have a  plan that day. It was to go and do kayaking in Vivonne for something for the children to do and in a way, without planning it, we escaped the extreme heat. For Eladio it was his first time and was to be great fun. I had done it once with my "kiwi cousins" and Suzy back in 2018 I think.

We got to the Kayak centre by the beautiful river and were soon handed our life jackets and bundled into a van to be taken to the starting point. Our journey on the river was supposed to take 1.5 hours. In the end it took about 2 and a half. We didn't finish until nearly 3 pm.

It's the getting into the kayaks and into the river which is the challenging part if you are 65 and 77 like Eladio and me but we had lots of help from Sam and Katty. My kiwi cousins are very experienced kayakers and have their own kayak in Auckland where they live.

Soon we were in the cool and rather dirty and dark water but in beautiful surroundings. Katty had dared to take her phone with her which I didn't in case I capsized. So here are some lovely photos to remember the day and the experience. 

A hilarious moment when Ruby, Eladio and I got stuck. That happens often as kayaks seem to have a mind of their own. 

Sam and Ruby kayaking towards a chateau

Kayaking on Monday . That's me and Eladio in the picture. 

We had the river to ourselves and oh what a beautiful setting, going past old water mills, a chateau and through tiny stone bridges. The most challenging thing is going over the waterfalls; the moment you can capsize which is what happened to Eladio. But it made us all laugh. This time I did not fall in but I did get stuck at several points and needed help. We got out a couple of times to change our course of the river and to swim. Swimming in the cold river water was one of the highlights. Kayaking is quite easy once you learn the trick but sometimes the current was too strong for my arms when I tried to paddle in the right direction and I ended up on the river bed and had to work hard to get back on course. It's all part of the fun though. 

The fun was over at nearly 3 pm and although I had loved the experience it's hard on the arms and back so I was quite tired but very happy. We were having a true French holiday.

Before we headed home we went to a supermarket - Intermarché - in Couhé. It's not that great but ok for essentials. We came home to have lunch - bitki that I had brought from Spain, made by Lucy, with various salads. We ate outside stupidly and the heat was excruciating I ended up eating my ice cream in our room with the fan on.

We then slept a siesta until after 7 pm would you believe? It was still hot then so I had my 3rd shower of the day and did not dry my hair on purpose. Once in the garden Ruby and I ran in and out of the irrigation spray. Only then did I cool down a bit. We had to wait for it to be cool at past 11 pm to have our dinner; cold cuts, salads, fresh mango and some of the gateaux I had bought last Sunday.

I think we went to bed at past 1. Our room in La Teillée is the coolest in the house (thank you Zuka) but we still needed the fan on. I was awake at 6 am on Tuesday morning. It was only early in the morning that it was cool.

Tuesday was our last day and we made the most of it. That morning a swimming pool maintenance guy came to open Zuka's pool. When he had gone it was all hands on deck and Eladio did a good job of cleaning the bottom. We never got to swim it but I'm sure the kids enjoyed it.

Eladio lending a helping hand to get the pool up and running

It was market day in Lezay where I had been a few times on previous trips. We all wanted to go and we were to have more fun that day. 

The market was in full swing when we got there. First we got food - fruit and meat and of course more bread from a boulangerie.

Buying bread with Ruby in Lezay on Tuesday morning

We then looked at the clothes which are better in French markets than in Spanish markets but more expensive. Ruby got some loose trousers and I got a red loose linen blouse which is far too loose - it makes me look enormous in my mind.

It was then time for a coffee or a café au lait with my Kiwi family. There were only 2 and they were full. All the tables were taken but a kind Turkish man allowed us to sit at his and we got talking as one does. It was interesting. It was also the moment to have a photo of us all together and there began the fun as there were always people in the background. We found the perfect moment but for one person - a woman in red who was smoking. I asked her out loud in French if she would mind moving and she ignored me and thus she photo bombed most of the photos which had us in stitches and two elderly French ladies at the table next to ours too. Then we got talking as you do and I think they must have thought we were a lot of fun. They told Katty that I was charming. Isn't that nice. I tried to say I was a bit crazy but they weren't having it. This is the photo we shall always remember,

Photo of us in Lezay on Tuesday with the smoking lady in the background hahahaha

It was while we were having our coffee I spotted a dress stall I had looked at earlier but looked closer this time. It had a beautiful yellow linen dress which I knew would look good on me or so I thought. So I crossed the road to the man who was closing down the stall - why do markets close so early in France at around 12.30 which is mid morning for us? There and then I tried on the dress inside his van. I asked for a mirror which he didn't have so I crossed the road to the café for the family to give me their opinion. It was thumbs up from all of them. The real decider was that the dress goes with my lovely yellow suede espadrilles. Ruby took a photo for me to share on my blog. Thank you Ruby.

Trying on a dress I went on to buy at the market in Lezay on Tuesday. See how it matches my shoes?

Once home I put it on immediately - something I have done since I was a child - and I wore it for this year's photo with Ruby on "our tree". 

This year's photo of Ruby and I on "our tree". 

This tree with its peculiar branch which is like a seat is a place Ruby and I have often had photos taken, like these below from 2016 and 2019. She was 7 in the first photo and is now 13 going on 14. Oh how I love her.

2016

2019

Lunch was the delicious lamb I had bought at the indoor market which we had on the barbecue. Thankfully that day we had a breather from the heat wave when the temperatures went down a bit.

As promised we went to see Aunty Valya in Couhé at her nursing home. We found her a little down in spirit and frail looking as she won't eat or drink which is very worrying. We had brought her a kebab and some pineapple  - her favourite food - but she hardly ate anything. I felt rather emotional while we were with her as I do not know if it will be the last time. I shiver as I write that. Here are some lovely photos with her which I shall treasure. 

Our last visit to see Tyotya Valya

We all left with a heavy heart. When I had last seen her in January 2020 I had asked her to hang on until I came next and then of course there was Covid. I can only pray to God she hangs on again and I can see her next time. I felt sad and full of love.

Wednesday morning came and I was up early. So was Katty and we spent time chatting, both wondering when the next time would be. That's not easy as she and her family live in New Zealand. Hopefully now that Covid is "over" (not really) she will be able to visit her mother more often in La Teillée and I can see her there. 

It was sad to say goodbye as it always is and once again we had to record the moment. Here is one of the   last photos together.

Our last photo together - from left to right: Katty, her mother Zuka, me and in the front row Katty's kids Ruby in yellow and Sam on the right - isn't he drop dead gorgeous?

I also had to have one of Ruby with Eladio who had been my cousin's Spanish language teacher during our time in La Teilée. Ruby is learning Spanish and my husband taught her a lot of vocabulary including some slang - including a phrase "no me toques las narices" . Literally translated it means "don't touch my nose" but actually means don't bother me or something similar. 

Spanish teacher and his pupil Ruby

If you want a bit of a laugh I also took a video which you can see below and on my You Tube channel too. 

We finally left at around 9.30 I think and were given a splendid sendoff. Our journey back to Madrid which is nearly 1000 kilometres and would take us more than 11 hours or so was to be lengthened a bit because we were stopping in Mareuil to see another cousin, Marie Helene and her husband Christophe. Marie Helene is a second cousin who I am close to. She is the daughter of Olga. my mother's first cousin, whose husband was my grandmother Sophie Lieven nee Stachovich's brother. Got that? Not easy. I have no family left apart from my own so my Franco Russian cousins are very important to me. Their grandparents fled the Russian revolution as mine did but went to Paris while mine went to Bulgaria. Contact was never broken despite the times. I first met Marie Helene when both she and I were bridesmaids at Zuka's wedding in 1968 when I was 11 and she was 9.  We met again 48 years later!!!

Bridesmaids at Zuka's wedding in 1968. From left to right: me, Masha S (another cousin), Anabel (sister of Bruce, the groom), Marie Helene and in the front row another cousin who I have never met again. He is the son of my mother's first cousin Nastushka. 

We met again for the first time in July 2016 and what a reunion and then every year until Covid.  We hadn't seen each other  our last Cousinade in 2019 in wonderful Ile de Re and Eladio had never met her. So it was to be a short but sweet reunion. 

They live at an amazing "maison de maitre" ( a sort of mansion) there, close to all the vineyards from the Charente department, also in South West France in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region like La Teillée. 

Marie Helene's amazing house or part of it 

It's about 1.15h from La Teilée which was increased a bit by a stop at the Intermarché supermarket in Couhé to stock up on Charentais melons. They are produced in Spain but never taste of anything here. In France they are superb. They are the small type with orange flesh. I bought 8 and wish now that I had bought a whole box. I had some for breakfast the day after we got home and it was superb.

Marie Helene had guests, Ode and Bac (not sure if the spelling is right) who are a lovely couple. He is from Iraq and she is French but speaks Spanish perfectly which pleased both her and Eladio. Christophe was busy but joined us for lunch by the pool, a meal made by Bac which was delicious. He called it a tortilla but I think it was his own concoction. When the meal finished we had to leave as we had 800km or so to go. I only wish we could have stayed longer as the area is wonderful as are our hosts. Here is a photo to remember our visit.

With Marie Helene and Christophe at their amazing maison de maitre  in see what I mean by the red blouse from the Lezay market making me look enormous:-(

We left at around 3.30 or so and it was a long journey home. We stopped for petrol and to stretch our legs occasionally and then had dinner at Hostal Landa - a must if you travel on the A1 road from Burgos to Madrid. It was our treat of the day. 

Dinner at Hostal Landa on our way home. 

We got home at about 1.30 am and the house was boiling. As soon as we had put the melons away we unpacked in our room. I couldn't believe it was 33ºc there. Unfortunately the windows and door had been closed in our absence so that's why it was so hot. We immediately put on the air conditioning and fan and after a while it cooled down. There is nothing better about coming home than sleeping in your own bed. 

I was awake at 7 am on Thursday after under 5 hours sleep but happy to be home again. Naughtily I had some of the lovely brioche I had bought at the bakery in Lezay. It was accompanied by slices of the wonderful French melons I had bought in Couhé.

I was busy then till about 11.30 on my pc. First I had to call HP to get my internet connection restored on my PC. I could not have done it on my own as the connection had been interrupted by a software update apparently. The lovely agent also helped me restore our connection to our new HP printer. It's a great printer but has a mind of its own when using it over the air. I had less luck with Microsoft who I needed to help me with a keyboard problem I have ever since Elliot had a go at it a while back. Since then it types the wrong punctuation marks which is a real bind. I have tried everything. When I eventually got through to someone from MS I was then asked to pay 1 euro on a page somewhere and that they would be back. I went to the page and I was required to pay 45 euros which I thought was unacceptable. I then resorted to Twitter and got robotic answers. I was very disappointed that I got no real help from this American software giant. Damn you.

When I was free I had a quick shower and we went out to do some food shopping as the cupboards were bare after our time in France. 

Oli was busy too that morning. She had been sent to Avila - a province not far from Madrid to report on a raging wildfire of which there are many in Spain at the moment due to the heat wave, as there are in many other countries. Here she is reporting on the latest developments. 

Oli reporting on one of the wild fires in Spain this week

After lunch I had more rental work to do and only at 7pm was I free to sit by the pool with my book. I had bought the new biography by Tom Bower called Revenge which is about the war between Buckingham Palace and the Sussexes. It makes for thrilling reading if you are into the Royal family as I am.

Meanwhile Oli and Miguel were at home with the kids and packing for our trip to Montrondo. I suppose if you have 2 babies and are going on holiday packing is a serious task. But I got a lovely photo of Oli with her babies which I have to show you. Aren't they beautiful. Two friends remarked that Juliet looks like me! Really? I don't see it but was pleased to hear it. What she will look like when she is older is still a complete mystery,

Triptych, or Madonna and children - of Oli, Juliet and Elliot. Charming. 

On the topic of my grandchildren, do let me also share with you a lovely video of Elliot on the toilet having unrolled all the loo paper. It is hilarious. He may be on the potty dear friends but he has no interest in giving up nappies. I hope he does this summer. 

Elliot on the loo unraveling the loo paper

Dinner was inside in the dining room with air con as it was still very hot at home.  We went to bed early, started watching a series I think we have seen before and soon fell asleep.

Friday was supposed to be the day TV cameras were coming from Telecinco to do a report on our house; Airbnb and the pool rentals. The pool users were to be our neighbours boys but at 9 am the reporter, María, who is a friend of Oli's rang to say she had to cover a wild fire in Zamora instead. I had been up preparing for the report at 7 am but was kind of relieved the cameras did not come although it was a lost chance of publicity.

Thus I had lots of time on my hands. I spent part of it sitting by the pool which had just been cleaned. I carried on reading the Tom Bower biography - oh how badly Meghan Markle comes out - you almost feel sorry for her, but it makes for exciting reading.

Our beautiful pool

It was after lunch and during my siesta that my new set of guests arrived. There are 7 of them and I think they all work for Amazon. They hadn't realised this was shared accommodation but didn't seem to mind. That meant we had 9 guests. Today 3 more are coming totaling 12 which is a bit much so thankfully we are away. They are pleasant guests but not too tidy. They hadn't read the house rules nor the ad which specifically says no parties and no music after 10 pm. They ignored them and at 2 am I had to go down and ask them to stop playing karaoke!!!! 

The highlight of Friday was dinner out to a new restaurant. I was allured to Oliva Verde in Majadahonda because it had fish and chips on the menu. I asked if they were authentic and the waiter or owner who had lived in London said they were. They were not. The batter was thin and tough, the fish dry and worst of all  the chips were not chips but crisps. We shall not be going back. I should have realised that Spanish cuisine is not up to fish and chips. 

On Saturday morning I was up at 6.15 to a quiet house. The pool side was full of the guests' belongings - another no no and there were dirty dishes in the sink. I hate to  see the kitchen looking anything but spotless. Dear Lucy cleared it all away when she came up for her morning "maté" - a Paraguayan and Argentinian tea like drink. 

Eladio was up early too as he wanted to mow the lawn in the cool of the morning before we left. We said goodbye to Alison and Thomas from Malta and Austria who had been staying with us since 1st July. They are great and the kind of people I could be friends with. I think we left at around 10.15. For once we didn't stop at Rueda as I was keen to arrive before Oli and her family so as to settle in before all the baby paraphernalia arrived hahaha. I had brought our lunch - leftover meatballs. As soon as we were done they arrived. Oh what a joy to see Juliet and Elliot in our village. Elliot had the time of his life yesterday afternoon playing with all his little cousins whose ages range  from 2 months old to about 7. Their parents and Oli had bought a trampoline for the kids and  has proved very successful. I think it tired Elliot out and both kids are still asleep as I write. 

Juliet is now crawling and standing up. I wonder if she will take her first steps in Montrondo.

Juliet with Eladio yesterday

We spent the whole afternoon in the shade at Dolores and Jose Antonio's house watching the kids which was so much fun. Dinner was wonderful - lots of bits and bobs and we then we were outside again to watch the kids having more fun on the trampoline.

I went to bed early and slept almost the night through. Everyone is asleep as I write sitting outside. The only noise is of the water from the stream, birds singing and the occasional clang of a cow bell in the distance - heaven!

Now I shall leave you to get on with the day which will be warm again but not unbearable as it is in Madrid. It's always about 10 degrees or so less here as the village is high up in the mountains.

That's it then friends for this week. I hope you have enjoyed the read.

Cheers till next Sunday,

Masha

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 we went.