Excellent BBQ Weather Today

We had a great little BBQ at the garden today as the Indian Summer continued with more blue sky and temperatures in the mid twenties. Clare and Lee came up as they had missed most of Claire's birthday BBQ when Clare had been rather ill. Despite a leisurely time it seemed that we might have had a few beers too many as our cycling on the way home was more than a little wobbly. Since Claire also has to get up at 6.15 tomorrow morning I'm sure she might regret it!

Good Cycling Weather and Leeks for Dinner

It's been great to get back on the bike this week in lovely Autumnal sunshine and it's due to last for a couple of weeks. Let's hope so. Also cooked some home grown leeks (see yesterday) for tea in a great risotto recipe. Mmmmmm

So Many Pumpkins..

As an Indian Summer seems to arriving here in Switzerland I've been up to the garden today and picked a load of vegetables. Loads of Pumpkins, 2 more huge Butternut Squash as well as Leeks and Carrots. Shame about the lawn needing such a good mow and I'll need to repeat it on Thursday I think.

Two Weeks Away from the Garden - YIKES

After the holiday the work has to begin again at the allotment and today I managed 4 big bags of garden waste plus a load of vegetables picked. There remains much to do and the weather forecast isn't great for this week so it will a matter of when it's possible. Lots of pumpkins to pick though!

Day 3 - Lunch by the River

With the wind making it a little tricky to sail yet again we set off in the car to visit a few local villages and found a little place for lunch by the river. We did see a good forecast for tomorrow and so set off for the lock at Arzal, hoping to get through and anchor the other side. However, we ended up rescuing a group of French teenagers who had succumbed to engine difficulties and we towed them to Arzal but it meant we missed the lock. Never mind our Good Samaritan behaviour got us a drink and made us some new friends (as well as earning the English a good name locally we hope).

Day 2 in Port Navalo

No sailing yet as the weather is still a little too rough (wind wise) but the sun was out and it was a great day to go to the beach at Port Navalo as well as getting a chance to visit the Friday market and see Jean-Francois Gabory for a bottle or two of his wine!

Day 1 in France

We travelled by train from Basel to Nantes today and it was hard work getting up at 6.00am to catch the early train to Paris. Thankfully we arrived on time and were greeted with wine and food by Monica & Peter, a sign of the next 8 days to come...

Jet Lag, Spinning & Packing Again

So we got back from New York at 6.30am and after a baggage reclaim delay we finally got home at 9.30, tired and very jet lagged. We knew we would struggle today as we had to pack for our trip to France TOMORROW!!! Not only that but our train is at 8.00am from Basel tomorrow morning. Despite this I went spinning and Claire cycled to Basel in our attempts to stay awake. It seems to have worked and we're packed and ready to go...

Last Night in NY

We spent our final night in a wonderful hotel in the Meatpacking District of New York, the Hotel Gansevoort, which had a rooftop bar and swimming pool (which we visited in the morning). We also found a delightful Asian restaurant, The Fatty Crab, which served the most delicious Malaysian cakes with the bill!