Although some younger and more energetic (or maybe just foolhardy) friends drive down without breaking their journey I always spend the night somewhere en route. Apart from it being less tiring it’s always good to see another area of France and have a meal out. As I travel down with my intrepid mini dachshund Blodri I have to find somewhere dog friendly. I have experimented over the years but now have two firm favourites Le Relais Fleuri just outside Avallon and Le Val Moret near Troyes – both about halfway. Le Relais Fleuri probably edges it on food and has a very pleasant pool, but does involve about an hour and a half cross country to regain the motorway whereas Le Val Moret is incredibly convenient being close to the motorway and is also quite a bit cheaper. They were building a pool last year so hopefully that will be up and running this summer. They both use great local produce in their restaurants, are extremely friendly, and are both motels so you can park near your room and most importantly you don’t need to disturb half the hotel when your dog needs to faire pipi.
This year I’m sharing out my custom and doing one on the way down and the other driving back.
I’d be interested to hear other people’s favourite stopovers?
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Driving to the drome
Written on Saturday, August 13th, 2011 at 10:48 am
The trials and tribulations of a chatelaine! (1)
Written on Tuesday, April 5th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
One of the problems of dividing one’s life between a flat in London and Chateau Colombier is finding people who can help with maintenance. With a large property there is always something that needs attention, apart from the ongoing tasks like cleaning and pool maintenance. Guests naturally expect sparkling clear water and a pristine pool to swim in. As I am not always here to be hands on in this department I set about finding a company that would provide said maintenance.
Now, you would think that in an area of Provence where pools are pretty common this would not be a problem! Think again! Two of us were on the case for several weeks before finding someone willing to take it on. Same goes for finding help with cleaning or routine DIY tasks – you find someone, get it all organised and then after a few weeks or months it all falls apart and you have to start looking again. And surprisingly this type of work doesn’t come cheap in France. Fingers crossed I now seem to have a great team of helpers set up for the season. Watch out for more details on the CC team – coming soon on the main page.
Paraphenalia for the pool
Written on Monday, March 28th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
My recent daring dip (see latest Twitters) has prompted some thoughts on pool props.
Aside from the usual lilos, balls and sundry inflatable animals to play with in the pool there are other various necessities for the well equipped piscine. Those of you who frequent aquarobics classes will be very familiar with these:
- for frog impressions you will need aqua mitts (they also help to keep your hands marginally warmer when swimming in sub-arctic conditions and increase resistance for arm exercises)
- for wannabe divers you will need a wetsuit (also vital when swimming in March – see above. Note – this is only ever done by Brits and regarded with absolute disbelief and horror by French neighbours. However it is crucial to maintain the reputation of British eccentricity.)
- noodles (not the edible type as they tend to disintegrate in the pool) are great fun for balance and buoyancy and come in a variety of suitably garish colours. They are also known as woggles and also to my friend Sue as Franks. The derivation of this term is best explained by Sue after the watershed.
- aqua dumbells which are another exercise resistance aid for arm exercises, not a reference to intellectually challenged beauties.
- ankle weights – again a resistance aid rather than something found in the type of catalogue that arrives in a brown paper cover. One tip here – do not purchase the ones that need filling with water. First of all it is impossible to gauge equal amounts as you fill them – this is rather important if you don’t want to end up with one leg worthy of Arnold Swarzenegger and the other belonging to the proverbial 8 stone weakling. If you put on one and then try to fill the other you will probably keel over and risk drowning. If you overestimate the amount of water in both you may never make it out of the pool again without the embarrassment of calling for assistance. So yes – I threw them away!
After all this exhausting talk of exercise I realise that there is one piece of pool furniture that I definitely need to put on my shopping list: a small inflatable tropical-looking island complete with parasol where you can lie back and sip a pina colada while soaking up the rays. I know I’ve seen one in a catalogue somewhere……
More photos of the pool and garden
Written on Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
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Having failed to upload these to the zen photo gallery, here are some more up to date photos of the pool and the gardens.
It’s amazing how the cover warms up – and keeps the pool. From 10 degrees when it was filled end of March, the water was in the low 30’s in July. It was still mid 20’s mid September. I’ll post the water temperature each month as we go through autumn.