The Rest..

Monday 9 April 2007

After the exertions of the day before, we took it easy on the Monday morning, taking a stroll into Villefranche and picking up the obligatory cakes from the patisserie. We took lunch in the scorching sunshine on Phil's balcony before packing up and heading in the general direction of Ruy once more. We skirted over and alongside the east bank of the Saone before turning 'inland' (the rivers are that wide!) towards the Dombes region (an area dotted with dozens of small lakes) and onto a scheduled stop in the medieval town of Pérouges. Here we spent a couple of hours ambling round the narrow cobbled streets looking at the old buildings, browsing the galleries and shops, and also sampling the galette de Pérouges, a yummy sugary buttery pastry/biscuit cooked like a pizza! Then we went on home crossing the Ain and Rhône rivers, passing through historic Crèmieu, before arriving in time for dinner!

Tuesday 10 April 2007

Today was spent taking it easy and relaxing. We went for a walk in another direction from Vero's parents' house, through some woodland on the side of a hill before descending towards the local Champion supermarket to stock up on goodies to take home. The weather was still perfect and that evening the garden looked even more beautiful...

Wednesday 11 April 2007

Today I was consigned to a day with Vero and her friends. Carine picked us up at about 10am and we headed towards a local 'lake' called Lac Clair. However there was no lake just a circular meadow! I resisted the temptation to take a photo of the No fishing No bathing sign...Afterwards we all went into Bourgoin-Jallieu for lunch with another of Vero's friends, Mallory, in a local creperie. So it was pancakes but they were scrummy! Afterwards we stopped by at Carine's sisters for more rugby practice with Joris and a chill out in the back garden with some nice aperitifs, before heading home to watch Chelsea beat Valencia with last minute goal. Boooo!

Thursday 12 April 2007

Thursday is market day and it was déjà-vu for me. Sitting patiently on a wall waiting for Véro and her mum to finish fighting through all the jumble. Véro then deserted me for a haircut, leaving me in the company of her parents to continue around the market and also for a walk in a local park.

That afternoon we went for a final stroll to the Etang de Rosiére for a chill out, where we found plenty of (contented?) wildfowl, and then returned through Ruy picking up our final dose of French patisserie...

Our final evening was spent packing and enjoying one final wonderful piece of home cooking and those cakes we had bought earlier!

Friday 13 April 2007
So homeward bound we started. We left Bourgoin by bus mid-morning and by just after 2pm BST we were back in blighty. We jumped on the tube to Victoria to catch our coach however arrived in enough time to pick up some Krispy Kreme doughnuts and then finish the holiday as we had started it - another giant cinnamon dolce frappucino from Starbucks! Aaaaaaaah!

Yeah we did a lot but there was plenty of time for relaxing in between all the excursions, and we returned home super-chilled and recharged for the summer. We are lucky to have family with homes in such beautiful regions and would like to thank everyone who made our trip so enjoyable......Cheers!