Spanish Women’s football World Cup win tarnished by unconsented kiss from football chief, celebrating our Ruby wedding anniversary in Saint Jean de Luz, to La Teillée to stay with my cousin Zuka and to Mareuil and Talmont-sur-Gironde for a Russian Orthodox wedding.

 La Teillée, France, Sunday, 27th August, 2023

Lunch on Monday, celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary in St. Jean de Luz

Good morning everyone from la belle France. Oh what a wonderful country this is for so many reasons. The more I come, the more I love it. I feel so at home here. We came to celebrate our Ruby wedding anniversary and to attend the wedding of Helene, my cousin, and Josh who is from South Africa. But more about that later.

Sunday started with a bang  for women's football when Spain beat England at the world cup final in Australia. I was happy for Spain but sorry for the runner's up. I later read, very sadly, that the father of the Spanish captain who scored the winning goal, Olga Carmona, died shortly before she played the match. She only learned of his death afterwards. What a bitter sweet day. But he would have been proud of her.

Spain can now sing "we are the champions"

This team has been marred because of behind the doors stories of sexism and abuse. I remember my daughter did a story on it for TVE and the communications director for the Spanish football federation came down on her like a ton of bricks. Well, no doubt he is now trying to play down what his boss, Luis Rubiales the Spanish FA President did after the match. He unbelievably planted a kiss on the mouth of player Jenni Hermoso after Spain's win. He also  clutched his groin when the team won from where he was sitting near the Queen of Spain. Really? In this day and age this behaviour is not acceptable. The story has gone viral and Rubiales had to apologise. Frankly I think he should leave his position as he is not fit for purpose.  After a week of extreme pressure, it was said he was going to resign but he didn't, blaming the Spanish player of all things.  Thanks to this disgusting macho man, the Spanish women's football World Cup win was overshadowed by him. It should have been all about the women who won, not about this man's disgraceful behaviour. Thankfully yesterday the FIFA suspended him (only for 90 days). I hope the coach, Jorge Vidal goes down the same route as there are some serious allegations of sexist behaviour, coercion and other unacceptable behaviour within the women's team, perpetrated by him. It's amazing to think this sordid story has made the headlines all over the world. It is a "me too" moment for Women's football which I hope ends with him out with his tail between his legs. Damn the man. 

Football is not my favourite sport but of course I was pleased for Spain and for women's sport in general. But I was much more interested in the Cincinnati Masters final to be played that night between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. The Spaniard may have won against the seemingly unbeatable Serb at Wimbledon but last week the Serb had his revenge in, probably, the most difficult match of his life.

No doubt Oli and Miguel were aware of the win for Spanish football while in Montrondo but they were far too immersed in taking care of my sweet grandchildren, Elliot (nearly 4) and Juliet (nearly 2). They became very close with their little cousins and in the photos we kept getting I could see budding love between them which filled my heart. Then when Oli sent me this photo below. I named it "love, pure love". It is so beautiful. Dolores later told me that after so much time together they had become very close. Isn't that beautiful? Love has many ways of manifesting itself and this photo is one I shall treasure. 

Love, pure love, in Montrondo

Love in the air too on our journey to St. Jean de Luz from Madrid last Sunday. This pretty coastal town just 20km from the Spanish border (near San Sebastián) and close to Biarritz, was the first place we visited on our holiday in France. I know Biarritz from childhood holidays at my Uncle's house and actually looked for a hotel or Airbnb there but couldn't find one. At the same time we wanted to stay at St. Jean de Luz, a former French Basque fishing village, a place we have stopped at on a few occasions but never actually stayed at  and a few months ago I was lucky enough to find the last available room at Le Grand Hotel de la Poste in the middle of the town. This is it from the back with its lovely garden terrace where breakfast is served in a very French way - French breakfasts are my favourite - oh the croissants, oh the pains au chocolat, oh the baguettess; not to mention the perfect cafe au lait. 

Our hotel in Saint Jean de Luz

The hotel is quaint in a Basque way and has its own history. I copied this from the blurb on their website which summarises its interesting history: "The Grand Hôtel de la Poste is a former coaching inn from the 18th century on the road to Spain. The hotel is made famous by the visit of the Marquis de la Favette when he left for Amercia to help the insurgents gain their independence. Today it is a beautiful hotel with a unique Neo-Basque decoration."It is lovely outside but also inside, especially the marvelous staircase which I tried to capture on my camera.

The magnificent staircase at the hotel in St. Jean de Luz

St. Jean de Luz is on the Atlantic coast by the Bay of Biscay so we escaped the heat of Madrid. It is a very elegant town, like most French towns and is beautiful. I love the local Basque architecture with the red and white houses. The most famous street is La Rue Gambetta right outside our hotel. It is full of enticing shops and lots of atmosphere. Everything is as the French say, very "chic". 

Ambling along St. Jean's most famous thoroughfare, La Rue Gambetta

Dinner was at Bistro Luzien recommended to us by the hotel receptionist and it was good. You hear nearly as much Spanish as you do French in St. Jean de Luz so there are no issues with the language. I always want to try out my French but it does help if the waiters speak Spanish, most of whom did. I do notice though that the French are very appreciative if you try to speak their language. Merci. As to  the food, well, Eladio went for the sardines he can never resist and I had mini squid (chipirons in French and chipirones in Spanish - dead easy). This was all washed down with local cider - délicieux! Here are some pics to remember our first dinner in France this holiday. 

Dinner at Bistro Luzien in St. Jean de Luz

As we walked out we noticed some beautiful flowers and I remarked to my husband just how well kept French towns and villages are, in comparison to Spain.  Here is Eladio by the flowers, to prove my point. 

Flowers in St Jean de Luz

We then went on our consitutional and headed, of course, to the beach, to the "Grand Plage" - Biarritz has one too. I had been there before and am in awe of the beautiful Basque architecture. Just look. 

The Grand Plage in St. Jean de Luz at night - love the Basque houses

We walked to the end to where the port is and then back to our sweet and charming hotel feeling content. The bed was not very big but extremely comfortable.

I woke up at around 7 am on Monday 21st August which marked our 40th wedding anniversary. While my husband slept I went down to make a super nespresso which I had on the garden terrace of the hotel. I reflected how young and beautiful we were the day we married 40 years ago and how long we have been together and that now we are getting old. For want of better words, I wrote this on my social media pages accompanied by a recent photo of the two of us taken in Capadoccia on the "trip of our life" from April to June this year: "40 years ago today, I married this marvelous, handsome and cultured Spanish man. I could not have made a better choice. I think I am as happy today as on our wedding day. Now we are growing old together but still want to get the best out of life. Thank you Eladio for being with me every moment of the way. I will always love you". I later read out my tribute to him when he joined me on the  terrace for a splendid French breakfast.

We spoke for long and we both contemplated our being in St. Jean de Luz where we had passed by last year and swore to come and stay this year.  I told him of some of my memories of holidays as a child and teenager in nearby Biarritz. I remember my mother taking me to tea with a niece of Tsar Nicholas II - Irina Paley (1903-1990) and  telling me she was a Grand Duchess. She had a maid who, amazingly, was my own mother's nanny - Nashinka - who was the only servant to leave with the family when they fled Russia. She was tiny next to my very tall mother. On train journeys from England to Spain I would often get off at Biarritz and visit her and she would take me to see the Princess. She had many stories to tell. My mother knew the Princess or Grand Duchess well, as it was her second husband, Count Hubert de Monbrison who set up a special school my mother attended. She called it the school at Quincy near Paris but I knew little about it. This week I researched it and came up with this description:

The castle at Quincy-sous-Sénart, located 30 km. southeast of Paris, belonged to the Count Hubert de Monbrison before World War II. He and the Princess Irena Paley (a niece of the last Russian czar who later became his wife), used the castle to house refugee girls from the Russian and Spanish civil wars. In 1939 de Monbrison was approached by his children's Jewish physician, who was a member of the board of the OSE, and asked whether he would take in a group of forty German Jewish refugee children. The count agreed and the Kindertransport of boys arrived on July 4, 1939. Quincy served as a Jewish children's home until September 1940 when, following the German occupation of France, the château was requisitioned by the German army. The boys were then relocated to other OSE homes.

I had no idea of the Princess' background really until this week. My father used to mention the Count of Monbrison very fondly. No doubt he also had tea with the Princess  as he and my mother often went to Biarritz on holiday after they married. They stayed with my Uncle Kolya, and my mother's youngest brother and many a tale they would tell of taking Zuka to the beach as  a very pretty and sweet child. I'm sure my mother and father would be happy to know we have been together this week in France. I wish I remembered more about tea with the Princess which were very formal affairs at a very large mansion near the Côte Basque beach in Biarritz where many Russians went to live  after they fled the revolution. If only we had had time to visit Biarritz. Next time, for sure. 

Another very significant memory of holidays with my parents and brother George in Biarritz was when one year my father decided we would all go and spend the day in San Sebastián. That was the first time I ever visited Spain and I was probably about 12 or 13 years old so we are talking 1969 or 1970. I told Eladio how poor Spain seemed in comparison to France and how cheap everything was. I remember buying lots of tacky Spanish souvenirs including a Flamenco doll! We had a menu of the day lunch somewhere and I was amazed to see my father ordering our meal in Spanish. He later told us it was very cheap. He kept the bill in some guidebook for many years and pointed out a typical spelling mistake. Instead of "vino", the waiter had written "bino". That was my first lesson in Spanish hahahaha. 

Breakfast at Hotel de la Poste was leisurely and pleasant and as we walked up the steps back to our little room, my dear husband who is still in love with me, took photos of me on the balcony, like this one. 

At Hotel de la Poste on the balcony on the morning of our Ruby wedding anniversary

We decided to spend the morning on the beach  - at the Grand Plage, of course which was a short walk from our hotel. Here is the sight that greeted my eyes. 

Le Grand Plage where we spent part of the morning on our wedding anniversary

It's a beautiful beach and the weather was perfect. Even though it is near the Bay of Biscay and is on the Atlantic the sea was not rough nor cold. We had a lovely bathe and then a walk to the end admiring all the beautiful houses.

We had booked a table at Chez Margot in nearby Ciboure at 2 pm but were out of luck. It was a bit far to walk but when we tried to call a taxi it was mission impossible so sadly I had to cancel the booking. You may wonder why we didn't go by car. The simple answer is that we would have lost our space when we came back as all the car parks were full.  In the end we just walked into a little restaurant in the old town and took pot luck. Well, La Diva came up trumps. I loved their "moules" and Eladio loved the sardines (again). The dear waitress brought out my chocolate mousse with a sparkler in it to mark the day. I have chosen that photo as the photo of the week.

We then ambled back but I couldn't resist the shops, especially those selling espadrilles, even though they are much cheaper in Spain. I got some lovely white ones with a cherry motif. 

While we were out and about celebrating our anniversary, Oli and Miguel had taken the children to Asturias for the day. They hired bicycles and Miguel's had a contraption in which he could carry the children. I thought that was great fun. This is one of the pics they sent. 

Miguel with the kids on a bicycle in Asturias this week - what fun

We, meanwhile,  had a long and leisurely siesta before venturing out again, in search of food, of course, hahaha. France is a great place for good food as you all know, "on mange bien en France".  Except that it wasn't that easy to find somewhere as all the good places were fully booked. Of course I should have booked somewhere special for dinner but I didn't as I had expected our main meal would be at Chez Margot which wasn't to be. But don't worry, we did not go without food hahaha. 

We walked to the harbour which we hadn't seen but didn't spy any restaurants. It was looking lovely at sunset. 

The harbour in St. Jean de Luz

So we headed to the Grand Plage again with its beautiful red and white houses. Eladio took photos of me sitting on the wall. It was nearly sunset and it was a beautiful moment. 

At the Grand Plage on our last night in St. Jean de Luz

When our quest for a decent restaurant was not successful we decided to head back to Bistro Luzien where we had had dinner on our first night. Thankfully "there was a place at the inn" there and we enjoyed a relatively nice meal on the terrace but nearly in the dark hahaha. I have learned my lesson and am now looking for places to book a table when we get to Île de Ré.

We went to bed quite early and we did not need the air conditioning. In Madrid the temperature had reached 39ºc that day compared to St. Jean where it was an agreeable 26ºc. We didn't watch the news but of course we always follow events. The worst story of the week was about a heinous 33 year old British nurse, Lucy Letby, who was sentenced to life in prison - a very rare sentence - for killing seven babies and attempting to murder six more on the neonatal ward of a hospital in Cheshire (Manchester). She joins the ranks of 3 other notorious women child killers, including the hideous Myra Hindley of the Moors' murders I remember vividly as a child. It goes beyond belief that a nurse who is the embodiment of a people and child carer, could be an evil sadist. We shall never know why she did it but no doubt she will reflect on what she did, all her life while in jail. I hope she rots there, I honestly do.

All good things come to an end and it was Tuesday, the day we were leaving beautiful Saint Jean de Luz for La Teillée to stay with my dear cousin Zuka  whose real name is Sophie after our maternal grandmother. La Teillée is a tiny village near Sant Sauvant in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region - formerly Poitu-Charentes. It's about 400km from Saint Jean de Luz and 2 hours north of Bordeaux and not too far from Poitiers. It is here that Zuka and her adored husband Bruce who so sadly died young, bought their holiday home and retirement nest. It's a place I have been coming to every summer since 2016 for what we call our "cousinades" - a large group meeting of many of our cousins in France. Just to remind you, Zuka is the daughter of my mother's youngest brother Nicholai (Kolya) and Aunty Valya who sadly died here last year aged 97. 

The drive was an easy one on French motorways where we hardly stopped except for the endless peages - my God they are expensive. In Spain most motorways are free but there is talk the European Union wants to change that. That would be awful.

We arrived to much hotter weather than in the Basque Country but thankfully Zuka has a pool or else I do not know how we would have survived.

It was wonderful to see her again. She had lunch prepared and had given us her huge old room on the top floor which is very comfortable but we needed the two fans to be able to sleep.

I opted to spend time by the pool where Zuka and I caught up on our lives since we were last together and it was  wonderful quiet reunion. Eladio who is a reluctant swimming pool enthusiast, came down finally in his trunks and joined me in the water. 

Cooling off in Zuka's pool on Tuesday

Later we convened on Zuka's porch for what she calls a "buvette" which consists of  drink or two with aperitifs and the moment I always look forward to in the day when I am in La Teillée. I feel completely at home there. Here is Eladio posing for me while we enjoyed our wine.

Tuesday's "buvette" in La Teillé

We sat outside and chatted until surprisingly it was nearly 10 pm. Zuka had made dinner so in we went to the cooler kitchen to eat an enjoyable meal together. We both had calls from our daughters, .Katty and Olivia and I would have loved them to be with us. This is the first year Katty who lives in New Zealand, was not here for the cousinade and we all sorely missed her. She is like a sister to me. 

In order to be able to get some shut eye I had a cold shower before I hit the sack. So with wet hair and a fan blowing into my face, I was able to sleep and actually got a good night's rest.

I was up at 7 am on Wednesday, our only whole day together in La Teillée before going to the wedding. I am so at home here I know where everything is so shortly I was outside having my first coffee of the day. I wanted to show you the place, well the main house, so took some pictures. This is one of them at sunrise. 

La Teillé at sunrise on Wednesday morning.

I also took a video to share with you which you can see here. 

We had a wonderful quiet day with a bit of socialising too as Zuka has a large group of amazing friends, some of whom she invited for a buvette round the pool in the later afternoon. We had a blast.

The morning was slow, just how I like it. We had breakfast together and darling Zuka had bought me lots of croissants and pain au chocolat; brilliant. Once showered and ready, off we went to her nearby town, Couhe, to do some food shopping at Intermarché. On our way home we stopped in nearby Sant Sauvant to see the new house she had bought. I thought it was lovely and it's actually a listed building. This is it from the outside.

The house Zuka has bought in Sant Sauvant

We came home to have a lovely light lunch together if you don't count the sausages my dear cousin made on the barbecue in the blaring sunshine while I naughtily dipped in the pool. It was so damn hot that day it was stifling. There was no other place to be and Zuka joined me for a while. I have known her since I was a child and she the only close relative I have left. 

Later she went off to prepare lots of delicious apertifs for her friends and I was then joined by Eladio. He is not a swimming pool person but as it was so hot he went in the water again that day too.

Soon  Suzanne, a New Zealander and widow like Zuka, joined us as did Babs and Paul, an English couple who are both ex Navy and are great fun. They have lived in the area for more than 10 years and have fully integrated. I soon realised what a hoot they are, especially Paul, as he is a great mimic. You should have heard him imitating King Charles. Eladio was astonished so I got Paul to talk to Eladio as if he were the King. He offered him a knighthood and duly used a fly swat as a sword! Paul told us all sorts of stories about Bab's experiences in the Navy. At one point she worked at Chequers during the times of Ted Heath and Harold Wilson, as well as Lord Carrington when he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs. We heard that Heath was a very decent man. She used to serve him breakfast in bed - boiled egg and "soldiers". Once she served him a false egg which he couldn't break. Her prank had him in stitches. He also once asked for her opinion on some reforms he had made at the "house" and she got into trouble from her superior for "fraternising with the PM". She was popular with the politicians as she served them liberal amounts of spirits and was once invited to Lord Carrington's house as she drove past it on her bicycle. He invited her in and they both got drunk on gin! What stories.

Paul and Babs with Zuka as he was imitating the King of England. He had us in hoots of laughter. 

Paul carried on mimicking so many famous people he has us in stitches and then I did my Yorkshire accent and Zuka and her friends were astounded as I can do it perfectly. I used to be able to do an Irish or Scottish and even a Geordie accent but no longer. In any case we had a grand time; a great spontaneous party. 

That night I told Eladio I was going to be a proper Brit so no controlling how much I drank hahah while he drank orange juice!!! I just got merry hahahaha. What a wonderful day we had in La Teillée.

We went to bed past midnight and once again I had a cold shower and lay down on my bed with the fan on. So I got a good night's sleep.

I was up again at 7 am on Thursday morning the day we were going to Mareuil in the Cognac district to join other cousins and people for the pre wedding dinner, etc. We woke up to the news that  Wagner boss, Prigozhin was on a plane that crashed. What a convenient death for the Kremlin. Thursday was also the day that Donald Trump was arrested in Atlanta on charges of plotting to overturn the election results in 2020. Unfortunately he did not go to jail although his mugshot was taken. He got out on bail, of course. Can't stand the man. 

But we weren't thinking about him or the news from Moscow. We were getting ready to drive to Mareuil. Meanwhile in Montrondo, Oli and family were also getting ready to leave. Bless my daughter who told me they had cleaned the house and got rid of all the cobwebs!!! They took one last photo to remember their lovely holiday there which I wanted to show to you.

Oli and family - a lasto photo in Montrondo before heading back to Madrid on Thursday

We hit the hot French roads at just after 3 pm following my cousin Zuka. It's about 1.15h to get to my other cousin's village nestled in vineyards that are destined to make the famous French brandy called Cognac. There is even a town called Cognac and it's very pretty countryside we drove through. I took a not particularly good photo from the car so you can see what I mean.

Driving along Cognac vinyards on our way to Mareuil

We arrived to a very full house of people; people from all over the world- We tried to count the countries and nationalities. Off the top of my head I think there were guests from the following, France, Russia, Germany, Iraq, Italy, England, South Africa, Spain, Japan and others. It was a truly international gathering. I wished we had been given badges with our names and countries which would have helped me, at least. Later I was told there were people from 10 countries speaking 22 languages! This is the main house.

The main house in Mareuil

We were given a room in a new wing and here is Eladio sitting outside it in the sunshine which was relentless and stifling. So thank goodness our hosts have a pool.

Our room on the first night of our stay in Mareuil

Next to him were more and more vineyards destined to produce cognac, a drink that might smell nice but burns my throat.

The vinyards surrounding our hosts' house

As soon as I had settled in, I made a beeline for the pool as did many others. People were arriving in droves and it was difficult to keep up with who was who. I was happy to meet an Englishman with whom I was able to have an interesting conversation. I was also happy to meet the groom, Josh from South Africa, They met in Africa where they both work as Safari guides in The Congo now. Africa is Helene's passion which I can totally understand.

 

Dinner was described as a "falafel party". The chef is originally from Iraq so we were served excellent Middle Eastern food. It was a vegan meal but very tasty. We sat next to some Germans, cousins of our hosts, who surprisingly for us, spoke Spanish. Wow, a truly international wedding. But we were not served wine, just water which is unusual in France. I jokingly asked the Russian priest  Yasha who would be performing the wedding ceremony if he could do us a favour and turn the wine into water hahahaha. Later we were offered cognac and other strong spirits but I kept to water hahahha. We were promised wine the next day.

It was early to bed for most people and thanks to the fan we had brought with us from La Teillée, we were able to sleep. I was woken up at about 4 am by a huge thunderstorm and just hoped it wouldn't rain during the wedding.I eventually woke up on Friday at 6.30. It was dark and I was the first person up. I had brought all my coffee making equipment and enjoyed my first cup of the day in harmony with the beautiful countryside of Cognac in France.

The wedding ceremony was to take place at a beautiful catholic church, Sainte Radegonde on a promontory by the sea at the pretty town of Talmont-sur-Gironde. The priest there lets the Russian Orthodox church use it for special occasions. Talmont is quite far away - at least an 1.5h drive so Eladio and I left early, keen to explore the pretty village before the wedding. I got one of the guests at the house to take this photo of us before we left. 

All dressed up for the wedding

We arrived at least 2 hours before the wedding and decided to check out the church first and then have lunch.  We loved it from the outside, even before going in and, as to the setting, well it was simply beautiful. Here are two pics we took there - the one of the two of us was taken by a kind passerby. 

Outside the church in Talmont

By the sea just outside the church in Talmont. What a setting for a wedding!

We then explored the village and found it charming. I loved the shops. At the one in the photo below I got some white trousers which will always be my Talmont trousers!

Shopping in Talmont

We ambled around the lovely streets where we saw more interesting shops and beautiful flowers like those in the picture I took of Eladio looking so smart in his suit and red bow tie. 

Eladio looking smart in Talmont

We had a quick lunch and were just on time for the wedding. Zuka was already there as she was the driver of the bride. Also there was my other cousin Masha and her daughters Elizabeth,. Sophie and Anna who were all to sing in the choir. I got Eladio to take a photo with my cousin Zuka to whom I confessed that this was my first Russian Orthodox wedding since hers when I was 10 years old! I have never forgotten it. 

With my cousin Zuka on a very special day

A Russian Orthodox wedding is something very different from normal church weddings. The most important moment is the crowning moment, after the actual betrothal. They are very long as well. What made everything even more special was the wonderful choir. Making it even more special was just how international it was. "Yasha", the priest from Paris, in his sermon in French and in English pointed out that a Protestant boy from South Africa was marrying an Orthodox girl in a Catholic church and that they had united representatives from so many countries. He couldn't have described it better. 

Let me share with you two videos I took of the most important parts - the entry of the bride and groom which you can see  and part of the crowning moment. That brought tears to my eyes as I have a photo of my parents at their Russian Orthodox marriage in London with crowns on their heads and I kept thinking of them. 

And here is a photo of the end of the crowning. God bless Helene and Josh. I hope their marriage will be as happy as ours and as long or longer. 

The crowning moment

I think the service lasted at least 2 hours after which we all drove back to Mareuil. That night we changed accommodation for a wonderful bed and breakfast place near my cousin's house. We spent some time winding down before it was time to attend the reception at 7 pm.

This was where we stayed. 

Our accommodation in Mareuil on the night of the reception

The reception was held in a marquee in a field behind the house and there were about 90 people. Half of the time we were fed canapes and drinks - so much champagne! There we met some lovely people including Beatrice, a French woman, married to a German South African who speaks perfect Spanish and is a teacher of English in Paris. 

We were all assigned different tables which doesn't always work but I was pleased that Beatrice joined us. As I was arriving at the marquee I caught the bride and groom coming towards it so had to snap a picture. This is the happy couple. 

The bride and groom

But before we sat down to eat we spent at least half the time mingling. The atmosphere was beautiful. It felt like an Arabian night hahaha - see what I mean

Pre dinner cocktail party

And here are photos of two special moments - one where the bride and her German father, dear Christophe, are confiding and then the cake moment. 

Bride and father confiding during the reception

The cake moment

No Russian party or celebration is complete without a raucous song where the bride and groom or person being paid homage to has to gulp down their drink in one go. It is accompanied by a traditional song. I had to take a video to show you. You can see it here. 

After that we made a quiet exit . as they say in Spanish, "a la francesa" (in a French manner). I'm sure there was more music and of course dancing, but we were too tired to stay on so left quietly for our little guest house. 

We slept like babies and were in no hurry to leave on Saturday morning.  Breakfast was divine - the best baguette and croissants so far - so we were not at all hungry when we arrived again at the house to find brunch was being served in the marquee.

While people ate, Eladio and I went for a short walk surrounded by vineyards, like this one.

Surrounded by vineyards in Mareuil

Feeling a little bit at a loose end and tired from the wedding on Friday, we made a quiet exit and drove back to La Teillée. Zuka stayed on but returned in the evening. We stopped at a huge Lidl to get some fruit and bread and came "home" to unpack once again and to unwind. I did some washing as we were running out of clothes, sat and relaxed and then made a simple meal which was lunch and dinner rolled into one and eaten at 6pm - not a usual meal time for us. Since the rain on Thursday the temperature has dropped by at least 10 degrees so it was getting a little cold. I have only brought one cardigan which may not be enough for the next stage of our journey to Île de Ré. 

The day ended with drinks on the terrace with Zuka before retiring to bed. Today is Sunday and she has promised to take us to "Green Venice" and to have lunch out. I am looking forward to that. 

Meanwhile, yesterday, Oli and family arrived at our flat on the coast in Santa Pola where they will have the company of our other daughter Suzy. I am looking forward to pictures of my grandchildren on their first visit there. Oli kindly told me the apartment is looking lovely. Oli  also adores France and has asked me to take some French produce back. Thus we will get some lovely Charentais melons, wine, cheese and foie gras to take home

I have come to the end of our stories of the week and now it is time to publish this post and get on with what promises to be a great day with Eladio and Zuka.

Cheers then till next week friends and readers,

All the best from La Teillée, Masha

c

Olivia and family in Montrondo, a bear in the village, what to do if you come across a brown bear, coffee with our Chinese friends, home alone, we're off again and other stories of the week

 Sunday, 20th August, 2023

With our Chinese friends having coffee at Alverán on Monday

Dear all. 

I am writing on the morning of our departure for what I am calling our "Tour de France". We are off to a wedding and a cousinade - the first since 2019 - which is on 25th August but I have turned it into a 11 day road trip which starts today. But let me wind back to last Sunday to tell you about our week which has been very quiet really and most of it spent "home alone"; allowing us to do whatever we wanted. 

Last Sunday, Oli and family were heading to Montrondo - their second time this summer - to spend about 10 days there with the children. It's the perfect place to take them and it's where we always took our girls every summer when they were small and not so small. It seems my grandchildren are carrying on the tradition. They have the house to themselves which we left in pristine condition. We shall be returning there from France at the end of August to spend 3 nights and get it ready for our next stays there. 

Oli sent me this lovely photo of my grandchildren on the staircase to the top floor which is where their quarters are. They were both delighted to be back.

Elliot and Juliet in our house in Montrondo where they went last Sunday

They have plans to make a day trip to Asturias to go on the "Senda del Oso" - the so-called route of the bear. Well, later when Oli sent me an amazing photo of a bear in Murias - just next to Montrondo, I told her they had no need to go and find bears in Asturias, hahaha. This is the photo captured by a camera in Murias. It seems the bear is walking along the road we always walk on, the only one there is which goes from Montrondo to Murias and is just under 2km long.

The bear as captured by a camera in Murias on 11th August last

It is a known fact there are bears in the area called Omaña but they do not usually venture onto roads. They are brown bears,  referred to as the Cantabrian bear in Spain and more commonly known as an "oso pardo".  This one looks black to me, but who knows.   Miguel said he is more frightened of bears than he is of sharks!!!! Eladio told Oli not to go for a walk at night which is easy enough to say but it's the only walk there is and many villagers go on it after dinner. He also said that where there is one bear, there are more. That had me looking up what to do if you come across a bear. The advice is a bit conflicting. Basically though, if you don't have bear spray which I doubt anyone has in Spain, you have to talk to it gently, say "hello bear", "where are you going", keep eye contact and slowly walk backwards. Honest to God, I read that on Internet, as if the poor bear would understand. If the worst comes to the worst and the bear attacks, you must go into a fetal position. Lovely. Other advice is to wave your hands and make noise but no shouting or screaming which I suppose is the first thing I would do if I saw one. The other advice is not to stop to take pictures or a selfie, hahahaha. I hope Olivia and co do not have to take any of this advice. It is sort of funny but no joke if you come across one. 

When we have been up the mountains in the snow in the winter we have seen bear paw marks but for me the photo of this bear was news indeed. Gosh! On Tuesday we heard from Olivia that another bear, or the same one, was spotted in Montrondo in the morning around 10 a.m. between the farmer, Manolo's house and the bridge where the village ends and the mountain path begins. So, we have a bear or bears in Montrondo too. I thought the bear population mostly resided in Asturias but that has changed. According to the latest information there are 370 bears in Spain, 200 of them are in León and of these 200, the largest population of bears in the whole of Spain is in Laciana with 108 brown bears. Laciana is very near Montrondo so that now figures. 

Meanwhile, far away from bear populated Laciana and Montrondo, we spent a hot and quite day at home. We were alone until our next set of guests arrived. The last ones were  Russian speakers from Lithuania.but live in Alicante, in Gran Alacant, practically next door to our apartment there. They came in a huge big car and were a group of six plus one baby. Of the six, two were small children who I knew would cause chaos in the house and lounge. I had to be pretty strict, politely asking them not to strew all their belongings all over the lounges and kitchen which fell pretty much on deaf ears. Being Russian they wanted to leave their shoes outside which doesn't work in this house as there are at least 5 entrances to this house. They were only staying two nights so peace was restored on Tuesday when they left. From then till yesterday morning we were amazingly guest free. So, it was lovely to have the house to ourselves for a few days before our departure. August is known as the low season in Madrid as most madrileños head to the coast. Any tourist visiting the city in the afternoon at this time of year is pretty mad to do so as it is far, far, too hot. So it was good to have some peace for 4 days. We spent the time at home and wouldn't have considered going "downtown". The heatwave was supposedly over by Monday but I don't agree. We have gone from a maximum of 39 to 34 degrees and 34 for me is still far too hot. Thank the Lord for air conditioning and the pool. 

On Monday we had a social engagement which is unusual for us. We were meeting our ex Airbnb Chinese guests, Amanda and George - not their real names. They came here in January having upped and left China to make a new life here without knowing the language or understanding the culture. They are very brave. Amanda was a teacher of English in China and George works in the travel industry. We had seen each other occasionally in the street and at Mercadona and had agreed to meet for coffee one day. That day was Monday. It was lovely to see them again, to see how well they are adapting to Spanish life and they are loving it. They are not, however, learning much Spanish as they rely on Gooqle Translate or similar; something I never had when I came here in the 70's. Having a morning coffee in Spain is quite a tradition, a bit like the Swedish "fika". We met, of course at Alverán - where else? Amanda later admitted she is not a coffee drinker but seemed to enjoy the café con leche with lots of foam served by dear Ragma. It was Ragma who took photos to remember the occasion and I have chosen one of them for this week's feature photo. This is another one.

Café con leche with George, Amanda and 11 year old Lucy

I asked them how they were standing the heat and was surprised to hear them say they thought it was quite cool here compared to where they live in China - somewhere near Shanghai (I think)! That is a first I must say as everyone complains about the heat in Madrid in the summer but not Amanda. They don't have air conditioning and nor do they have fans and Amanda says she sleeps with a duvet!!! We spoke a lot about our road trip which they had followed daily - bless them. For now they are happy to travel in Spain when George passes his driving test which he has to take as a Chinese resident in Spain even though he has a licence from China. It is proving difficult but I know he will make it. We parted at around 12.30 and agreed to meet up again in September. It was a lovely encounter.

We came home to a quiet house. Our Russian/Lithuanian guests were out and they were out nearly all day. The highlight of my afternoon was a skype call with Amanda and then a trip to air conditioned Ikea. We needed to get a desk and chair for a Peruvian Airbnb girl student who is coming in September, supposedly for the academic year and she will need one. Of course once in Ikea we got more things than were on our list including their salmon and meat balls. We had the salmon for dinner and then went to bed to watch the tail end of the news. I didn't even hear our guests come home.

They left on Tuesday morning. Tuesday 15th August was the Assumption, a national holiday in Spain. But I didn't notice as being retired, every day is a holiday. We had a good start to the day as we resumed our morning walks. It has been just too hot until now when the temperatures have descended  slightly.  Here is proof - a photo of Eladio and Pippa on our walk that day

Eladio and Pippa on our morning walk on Wednesday

We left at 8 am when it was just 19ºc and when we came back at 9 am it was 22ºc so very pleasant. We would go again every day this week after that. 

I was home on time to say goodbye to our Russian guests who were very pleasant people. Tana then set about cleaning the rooms. If I had to that I couldn't run our little business, so bless her. We didn't have any other guests coming until Saturday; another French family but we didn't see much of them as we ourselves are off to France today. 

I only left the house that day to get some food from Carrefour as we had run out of gazpacho and avocados - staple food for us in the summer. Eladio was busy assembling the desk and chair for "Suzy's room".  That's something I couldn't do for the life of me but my husband is good with his hands. I am better with my head for practical things but he is definitely the handy man. Here he is at the job.

Eladio assembling the Ikea desk 

On Wednesday I did go out and it was to do something luxurious - have my nails painted with semi permanent varnish.  I haven't done that for a long time as I once overdid it and my nails suffered and took years to grow strong again. I wanted to have nice nails for our trip and especially the wedding. Eladio, meanwhile, went to Leroy Merlin to get bits and bobs to connect the old Santa Pola TV in Suzy's room and other small things needed to set up a proper desk which our guests can work happily from. I came out with perfect nails and hands. Lili from Lilinails in Boadilla, had done a great job. She is a young and enterprising Bolivian woman married to a Spaniard  with 3 children. As she did my nails she told me her life story. I will be going back.

Once outside I sat and had a coffee and admired my nails - I could never do them as well. 

Beautiful nails for my trip to France

There I waited for Eladio to pick me up. We were home on time for me to put the finishing touches to our lunch - bacalhau à brás. There was also time to set up the TV in Suzy's room. Initially we had put it at the end of the bed with the TV facing the bed but it looked weird and took up the whole room. I had a stroke of genius when I suggested we move the dresser to the other side of the room and put the table and TV  facing the main window. So we tried it and it worked. 

The new table and chair with our old Santa Pola TV now set up for guests in Suzy's old room.

A huge plus was that the TV and electricity sockets are on that wall. Now it looks great and all we needed to do was to somehow hide the cables sticking out underneath. I was the one to set up the TV, sync the channels and connect it to an Amazon fire stick (turns a normal flat screen telly into a smart TV) and I did it successfully. I felt very "chuffed" with myself as they say in Yorkshire as I thought my technological abilities were limited to mobile phones and to some extent computers but not TVs.  Eladio looked on in awe as I set it all up as I looked on in awe as he assembled the Ikea table. My mother always told me that for love to work you have to admire the person you love and I certainly admire my husband and I think he admires me, with all my faults, too, bless him. 

 Later Eladio took Tana to Oli's house to clean it for her. We gave her free time until Saturday as she won't be able to go out while we are away. That meant we had the whole house to our ourselves for 2 days and 3 nights. It felt like "home alone". That meant I hogged the pool for myself and Pippa in the afternoons as I whiled away the time. The heatwave was officially over but it was still 34ºc that afternoon which I suppose is more bearable than 39ºc. 

Meanwhile in Santa Pola and in El Cuetu guests were leaving and new guests were arriving. I was happy that day to get two good scores on Booking for both properties, 9 out of 10 for El Cuetu and 10 out of 10 for Santa Pola. Both came from non Spaniards. I have come to the conclusion that Spaniards only bother to leave a review if they are not happy but non Spaniards nearly always leave a review and it is usually a good one. That made me pleased.

That day Oli and family continued their holiday in cooler Montrondo. There was no more news about the bear or bears but we did get some lovely pictures of the children playing at the back of the house - here are a couple.

I love the back of our house in Montrondo

Juliet and Elliot in Montrondo

They told me they had tortilla for dinner. We had the other half of the Ikea salmon - the best in the world - which I put together in a salad with these ingredients: salmon, lettuce, avocado, boiled egg, dill and a little creme fraiche. It was delicious.

That night we finished a series on Netflix which I have come to love - The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem which spans the period from 1919 to 1942.  If you like period or political drama and family sagas and are interested in anything to do with Israel, then this maybe is for you. I have now binge watched the whole of it - 2 seasons and 36 episodes - and will miss the characters. I may well watch it from the beginning again, hahaha.

Thursday came and we were home alone again. It was strange not to come across Tana in the kitchen but a sort of relief to have the house completely to ourselves. Again I took the opportunity after our early morning walk to skinny bathe in the pool and them shower in the open air. That's such a lovely feeling. It was great to have the pool to ourselves too and also to see the maintenance people coming to clean it that day. I had to have a photo afterwards taken from one of the lounge French windows.

We had the swimming pool to ourselves for part of this week. Love it. 

We went out again on Thursday, to Leroy Merlin, to exchange some of the bits and bobs Eladio had bought to cover up the cables. On our way home we had coffee at Manolo Bakes, for a change. This was how it was served - spectacular!

Coffee at Manolo Bakes on Thursday

Eladio came home to do 3 jobs; cover the cables under the new desk, set up a replacement parasol which Amazon kindly sent us that day, and finally replace some of the irrigation pipes. I was pleased with how the desk looked with no cables hanging about. 

The desk with the hidden cables. 

It was good to see a working parasol again and I hope this one lasts more than 2 months which is what the last one did.

The new parasol

I love that back patio where I often have my coffee in the mornings.

For lunch, Eladio was in luck as I made "spagbol". I also prepared our dinner which I would just have to put in the oven for 20 minutes. It was baked salmon with leek, peas, dill and a spoonful of creme fraiche - a lovely combination.

I spent most of the afternoon under the shade at the end of the pool reading on and off a book that interests me but is not that well written. It is A train near Magdeburg - the Holocaust, the survivors and the soldiers who saved them. It is an extraordinary story about a large group of Jews being taken on a death train. The US soldiers saved them in their final hour. A teacher called Matthew Rozell, in his efforts to teach his students about the Holocaust, somehow got caught up in this story and has now made it famous. 

The evening of course, like every evening this week, was spent alone at home; quite a pleasure. 

Friday came and I woke up at the unearthly hour of 5.45. I had until 8 pm to myself until we went for our newly resumed morning walk. The excuse until now had been the heat but at 8 am these days it's only about 20ºc which is very refreshing. I did the food shopping alone that morning and bought more than usual so as to leave enough provisions for Tana who was back the next day. I was not accompanied by Eladio who went to have coffee with his one friend, Roberto. For sure they must have spoken about politics and the semi deadlock situation in Spain after the general elections which is boring me stiff. Thus I had my coffee at Alverán on my own.

Saturday came and again I was up at 5.45 again would you believe? It was another hot day with the temperatures on the rise again, reaching 36ºc that day. After our walk I spent time packing. Eladio spent time with his South American gardeners repairing more leaks in the irrigation system. I did most of our packing yesterday so that we can leave early.

Our French guests arrived just after lunch. They had driven all the way from somewhere near Paris. But it turns out they are actually 2nd generation Portuguese. That had me in a language fluster; mixing English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. In the end we kept to French as any attempt to speak Portuguese interfered with my brain which was so annoying. They loved the place and soon hogged the pool. Thus I kept to our air conditioned quarters. It was the end of our wonderful home alone status this week.  

Meanwhile Oli and family were enjoying a birthday party for one of their aunts, Eladio's sister. She sent me some great photos including this group photo and one of little Juliet. I can tell my grandchildren are having the time of their life in unassuming, remote and rural Montrondo where they have also escaped the heat. 

Fun in Montrondo with all the cousins and aunts and uncles celebrating a birthday party

Juliet in her element in Montrondo.

I did not sleep well last night, owing to reisefeber, that wonderful German word which translates badly into travel fever. As I fell asleep so late I woke up later than normal, at 7.30 this morning to a very quiet house. It was only Tana and I in the kitchen.

And here I am writing on the day we leave for France. We have a 500km drive to beautiful St. Jean de Luz where our French holiday begins. Finally the day of our trip has come. It coincides too with our 40th wedding anniversary which we shall celebrate in beautiful St. Jean de Luz where we are spending the first two nights of our trip. We have only ever passed by and last year when we had a picnic there on the beach, I swore we would come back and stay a night or two. I was true to my word. We are staying at Grand Hotel de la Poste - the only place I could find a room when I booked months ago. It looks lovely. From there we shall drive to my cousin's house in La Teillée near Saint-Sauvant not so far from Poitiers. There are many towns with the same names in France so you have to be careful to put in the right place on your sat nav. From La Teillée we shall then drive to Mareuil  for the wedding where the bride's family live. The actual ceremony takes place in Talmont-sur-Gironde at a Catholic church (Ste Radegonde) which permits a Russian orthodox ceremony. Then it will be back to Mareuil for the party and after wedding brunch. The next day we will return to La Teilée for a couple of days until we drive to beautiful Ars-en-Ré where we are staying at Le Parasol Hotel for a couple of nights. Our last night in France will be on our way back to Spain and we shall be staying at a superb looking Airbnb house near Hossegor. I think we are going to have a wonderful two weeks. 

So, yes, today, is Sunday, the start of our trip to France. It is also the day of the final of the Women's football world cup taking place in Australia. Normally that wouldn't interest me at all, except that England and Spain are playing in the final.  Many people have asked me which side I want to win as I am a Brit but also an adopted Spaniard who has lived in Spain for longer than in England. That's a difficult question. Suffice it say I will be happy with whatever the outcome. As British fair play dictates, I could add "may the best team win". So let's see who does lift that cup today. But much more interesting for me is a tennis match final to be played tonight between Alcaraz and Djokovic in the Cincinnati Masters Final. This is a repeat of the Wimbledon final which "Carlitos" won. This time my heart is not divided but I don't have high hopes for the Spaniard as Novak will put out all the stops, plus he has won all the knockout stages more easily than the 20 year old Spaniard. This time I am not saying may the best man win but I do hope that the best man is Alcaraz.

But now my thoughts are on our road trip - yes on the road again and I have to do some last minute packing before we set off.

Cheers then my friends until next Sunday when I shall be writing from La belle France. Vive la France!

À bientôt, Masha