I am always amazed (I think Waz is too, to be completely honest) that I can walk up to complete strangers and ask them personal questions...like "Excuse me, you look like you live here, so can you recommend an English speaking Dentist in this area?" ..I might even have said something like "You have lovely teeth, and you obviously speak English, so can you recommend an English speaking dentist in this area?" Take your pick!
This occurred yesterday in a lovely by-gone era café in the middle of Place Charles de Gaulle, Riberac. This was the first Grand Crème we had 'been out for' in the 7 days since we arrived! Such a travesty! The coffee was reasonable, and we got a small chocolate to go with it, so I was happy. But I digress...back to the dentist thing.
So, let me show you a little of Riberac on a dull day. It will look 1005 better with some sunshine, no doubt about it. Behind this car is the Place Charles de Gaulle where the twice weekly market takes place.
The lovely English folks I happened to intrude upon (they were eating something like a muesli-bar with chocolate on the bottom...chocolate being something I can ferret out from great distances, you understand) knew the staff in this café, because they were indulging in the common Bise (air kiss thing) routine that familiar people do with each other in France, and therefore I assumed (rightly, as it turned out) that they lived in these parts...being Riberac. I did ask one of those questions, after asking them to please forgive my intrusion (I do have good manners, if nothing else), and the husband rummaged around in his man-bag and produced a business/appointment card for the dentist they both go to. I was sure the wife said that the man doesn't speak much English, but that is never a problem...however, we soon discovered that the Dentist does indeed have an English name, and after googling his name and location (as you do) we found that the good Doctor grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland. Hmm...where did I get that information that he doesn't speak much English? Well, duh! He speaks Scottish! Helloooo!
We had asked our insurance company to find us an English speaking Dentist in these here parts, and sure enough they did...it just took them a week!!! too bad if Waz happened to be in a lot of pain, which fortunately he isn't. Phew! Guess who they came up with ??? Yes, the very same Doc. that the folks in the Café go to.
The story began elsewhere, so lets go back a bit, shall we?
We arrived in Riberac with two things to accomplish before everyone disappeared home for lunch (as they do at noon). One was to send a package of documents back to the USA, and we found the UPS Depot in a small Tabac in the middle of the old town, and the second was to find where one of the two dentists in Riberac were. As in, where are their Cabinet Medicins?
We found a town map on a board outside the Touristic Office in the middle of the Place Charles de Gaulle, opposite the Chambres D'hote we had stayed at on our first night. Waz thought he knew where to go, and we decided to make it our daily walk. Riiiight!
We walked up this way, and turned right, and walked down there, looking all the while for the small Place Something that was where the offices were. Non! Wrong way! Should have photographed the map and then we would have had a better reference. No matter. A nice walk, if not a bit cold, and those were drops of rain, just now.
On the way we found a gorgeous Maison Maitre...stunner, this one. I had to go and stand in the middle of the busy road to get the photo, of course, but these Drivers Francais are very patient with people like me...thank goodness. I smile and wave, so what else can they do?:)
This other lovely home was behind the Warm memorial garden (foreground with pillars).
Back to the Map in the middle of the Place CDG, and that's when we discovered our (Waz's really!!!) mistake, and I wasn't going anywhere else, at 10 mins to noon, so the café was the next logical stop.
We had food shopping to do, so after finishing our coffee and thanking our dental informants profusely and giving them our House Sitting business card...just because we had a wee discussion about what brought us to these weird parts....we hopped back in the car and went up the hill to Lidl. I do like this store. As luck would have it, my favorite Chicken strips were on sale, so I bought two packs of those, and the fruit and veg was in excellent condition, so we filled out the fridge with those things, as they now had to last us until Wednesday.
Our 49 euro bill for a weeks worth of food was a little astonishing. So much food for so little! Our next stop was to get some petrol, and though Waz told me to go left at the crossroads, my brain was already turning right, and so it appeared, was the car. Never mind, Intermarche was just fine, and they have a cashier at the petrol pump, for a change. We have had bad experiences at petrol pumps where our credit card was repeatedly rejected, so having the option of paying at the cashiers booth was excellent. No problems this time, and we parked and went inside for our purchases of blue cheese and Beurre sel Guerande. Sweet butter with large granules of Guerande (Breton town where they farm salt) sel . Nothing quite like it on your baguette! It was 1.93 euros for half a lb, or 250gms.
Waz had finished his Roquefort cheese, so we needed to replace it with another blue. I would always prefer to get the service person to cut a slice of cheese, and while Waz perused the plastic containers of Blue, I was poking my nose into the huge wheels of cheese at the Fromage counter. We had to wait for the serving wench to look our way and stop her current task (as you do, here) and I thought I asked for deux cent cinquante (250) grams of the blue stuff. She must have heard just the Cent Cinquante, but even then she didn't give me what I asked for...I ended up with 194 grams. Eh? lol. Oh well, it is enough to last us until Wednesday next.
We found the butter, some plastic ziplock type bags for food to be frozen in, and a few other odds and sods and spent another 17euros. Not a bad weekly shop! The petrol was about 45 euros. At 1.43 euros per litre, it isn't inexpensive. One problem with living outside of a town where there are all the commerces (as they say here) is that you have to travel, which eats into the budget. One way or another, you spend more, because a house in or on the edge of town is more expensive than the house in a hamlet between two towns, for example.
Armed with the ability to get in touch with the dentist, we headed for home in the torrential rain, having had a nice break, in the morning and even a weeny bit of blue sky. The Dronne River, which runs through the bottom of Riberac had somewhat receded, but with more rain on the way, it will no doubt topple it's banks again.
Once home, I stored all the foodstuffs while Waz put all the al fresco items on the table for lunch...at 2pm. We forgot to buy some more pate, but he will have to do without until next week.
I was happy to have avocado, sliced tomato and a little butter on my mini-baguette, or petit pain.
We then set about trying to get hold of the dentist, realizing that it takes time to get an appointment. As luck would have it, the dentist is closed on Thursdays! ha! So, we wrote him an e-mail...thank goodness for google translate, I was able to send him a French message...oh dear...why did I listen to that woman...he was born and trained in Scotland, of course he speaks English! Waz received an e-mail from him this morning. He is pretty booked up, but will fit Waz in asap, and will contact us when he can. Well done.
The rest of the day was wet. I got the vacuum cleaner out, did some vacuuming, but spent more time cleaning the machine and trying to find out why it was making funny noises, and not sucking the way a large Dyson should. They are notorious for their suction! There is also a stick Dyson with a battery that lasts all of 10 minutes, if you are lucky. For a machine that is only 1 1/2 yrs old (according to the docents), the charge on the battery is shocking. I got very little floor and rugs cleaned in the time the battery allowed, before hanging it up again to recharge. I finished the job this morning, but the battery only lasted 7 mins, today! ack!
We had arranged with the docents Saskia and Graeme, to go to Leroy Merlin in Angouleme, this morning. They were to arrive around 10.30am, and did so. We explained some of the issues we have had, what we have remedied and what was needed next. All is good, and we added to their list.
Leroy Merlin is a fantastic hardware store. We thought American hardware stores were good...now up that about 100%!
On the way there, I managed to get a couple of photos on this glorious sunny day. Isnt this stunning?
On the way to the hardware store we stopped at a WONDERFUL food store/supermarket. Fresh Food, all displayed as artwork and thought more expensive, the variety of fresh food is incredible! Blown away, and excited to know this store is here. We will be back. Purchased 5 crisp looking apples (we have a hard time finding crunchy apples anywhere) for 1.8 euros. Cheap as chips! They are really flavorful and somewhat crisp, but not like fresh-off-the-tree crisp. Oh well.
Waz is checking out the meat.
Dragon Fruit. Arent they gorgeous! Passionfruit on the right and limes above
Leroy Merlin was next and we sorted a few things out there before finding lunch. We had intended to go to an Asian buffet, but they were closed. The French buffet next door was open, so we went there instead. Interesting! Flunch...F Lunch. Interesting concept where you choose, pay and then go to the station where the staff are cooking your food in front of you. One problem...we ordered the Gourmet burgers which were Gorgonzola cheese, jambon cru (raw ham, shaved) and steak hache (unseasoned hamburger), medium cooked (yes, you choose how well you want them cooked). We waited for ages...almost thought they had gone outside to kill the beast, so long were they, and then chose our fries/pommes and sat down to eat, alongside our friends. I had a double espresso with my food, and Waz had a cappuccino...where in the USA do you get those for lunch? Apart from McCafe, that is.....but even they dont have anything like we had today.
Fortified, we left for home. Graeme and Saskia took us home the same way we had come, through the pretty town of Villebois Lavalette. On the top of the hill is a gorgeous 11th/12th century chateau that is privately owned, and being renovated. The views from this vantage point are stunning. We will return in our own time and explore the hillside town. Plenty to see.
We are grateful that they took extra time to stop and show us the Chateau and view. It also encourages us to go back there to the SuperU supermarket on the outskirts of town. There is also a Brico (hardware) store here.
It is always wonderful to see an ancient monument being restored, and this is certainly a work in progress. Open to the public two part days per week. Nice of the owner to share his property in this lovely hill top location.
Our tongues were hanging out for a cuppa, when we arrived home, and Waz also had some kindling to chop with the new tomahawk, and cut some firewood with the blunt chainsaw. The chain has not been well sharpened, which makes the appliance a bit dangerous. We will get the necessary implements for Waz to sharpen it properly. Good thing he knows how to do all this stuff!
The sun's warmth was so lovely that I went around opening all the windows! Folly, because within ten minutes I was back closing them again. Bummer!
The fire is now going...I wont say roaring, because that takes a while, but some kindling is now in the basket, and we will have heat when we finally close the curtains.
What a difference a fine day makes!
We look forward to going back to Angouleme for an explore/tiki-tour, and to visit Franziska, our German friend who is married to Frenchman Julien, with year old Achille, that we met last time we were here. They live not far from where we were today.
It is only 40kms, so practically just down the road, as it were. That Graeme took a 'scenic route' to get there today is beside the point...we would do the same again...maybe the skinny roads?...no...they never put us off! lol.
Time to sit and watch some British TV and think about what I am making for dinner. Ciao for now.
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