Bonne Année from Ile de Ré >> LWSY New Year in Classic France
My first adventure of the year. A week in France, starting off in La Rochelle, following a few days in Somerset with my family for Christmas…
Boyfriends sweet airport transfer, introducing his Giulia Super. With a couple of nights to ourself before New Year’s where we had some friends join us, we spent our days visiting the surrounding markets and exploring Ile de Ré…
Our standard lunch of the holiday, and the freshest oysters i’ll ever taste, Ile de Ré is just a few miles away where oysters are cultivated by the thousand, so after collecting maybe 150 for our 5 nights, you could say we had our fill of the local delicacy….
Visiting the market in La Rochelle…
Vieux-Port de La Rochelle, where we collected our cheese, live lobsters, and vegetables for our New Year feast…
Lunch by the harbour in La Rochelle. One of the prettiest and unspoilt seaside towns in France…
Of course we couldn’t leave without each choosing a pair of charentaises, the traditional woollen felt slippers with crêpe soles. Perfect to keep us toasty by the fire in the evenings…
Laugh all you want, you couldn’t find toastier slipper!
Back on the road with pudding on my lap, it was time to head home and get started on dinner, (well the boys did…)
Spot mine!
Happy New Year!
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There is no better way to blow away the cobwebs on New Year’s day than a breezy walk in Ile de Ré, here we were below, on the beach at Le phase des Baleines.
From the moment you cross the bridge that arches over the Atlantic from France to Ile de Ré you’re hit by the air, the salty icy water, and you know you’re arriving somewhere special. Think cobbled streets and old ports, with miles of unspoiled beaches. This is where the affluent Parisians choose to summer. You can stroll from bar to bar, poke your head into the local shops and window shop for your dream sailing boat, all in all, it’s a rather fabulous place, even in winter…
One of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen, we arrived in perfect time to see the sun set on the first day of the year…
Dinner time back at the house, and yet another feast from the local market…
No better oven than the fire, our last night called for a serious côte de boeuf…
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After a beautiful few days in La Rochelle it was time to lock up and fill up the car to head back to Paris for my last few days in France before heading back to work in London…
Photographs by Guillaume Cadot / LWSY
LWSY