“Mad March Offer!!”

Spring has sprung early in the hedgerows of Pierreville. The primulas are already in flower, before the snow-drops are finished

The catkins are already hanging from the branches

There are even some early daffodils

So why not think about an early spring  holiday?

For March we have a special gite price from £200 – follow the link below to our website –

http://www.hirondelleholidays.com/specialoffers.htm

Brittany Ferries also has a special offer for March for the relaunch of the Poole-Cherbourg service – £59 each way.

http://brittany-ferries.co.uk/offers/ferry/poole-cherbourg

So you can have a week in Normandy for two for just £318!! 

Hope to hear from you soon

Bob & Marjory

New for this New Year

Happy New Year from a very snowy and cold Pierreville.

It seems that most of Europe and Britain is very similar, so hardly surprising that peoples’ thoughts turn to the warmer days of summer, and summer holidays.

So we can announce a new gite for holidays this year; sleeping up to 7, and willing to take dogs, HT30 is now available.

Larger than our other gites at Hameau Tranquille, it has three bedrooms

plus a large seating/dining area with a kitchen off to the side.

With one of the bedrooms on the ground floor, with a seperate small sitting room and bathroom

it would be ideal for several generations of a family holidaying together; with space to be all together, but private spaces also.

Other features include washing machine, dishwasher and possibly also wi-fi connection.

We haven’t managed to get it onto our website yet, but already it’s booking up for the summer, so don’t hesitate to contact us if you might be interested.

Mieullers voeux 2010

Bob & Marjory

“Dreaming of a White Christmas”??

The snow arrived here, after some days of bitterly cold weather, on Friday morning. We’d been following the discussion in the media, which seemed to say nothing more certain than “possibly, but probably not”; so it was quite a surprise to waken to the snow in the garden

Just after midday we set off, somewhat warily as it was still snowing, towards Benoistville for lunch. The roads were covered, with only tyre-tracks each way, and the snow continued to fall . At Les Pieux we joined the back of queue of traffic which then ground to a halt. Fortunately, we managed to turn and make our way home, very slowly; passing various queues, and the gendarmerie on duty redirecting traffic. No pre-Christmas lunch for us on Friday.

Saturday we checked the gites, in the snow; but a glorious, if bitterly cold day

 – and the views over the dunes were wonderful

So, snow for Christmas ?? Posibly, but probably not. Today is grey and wet, though still bitterly cold; certainly not the stuff of Christmas cards.

One Christmas meal missed. But one occasion “The Buche de Noel” started off our Christmas celebrations last Tuesday

not only the cake, but an afternoon of eating and drinking -with fruit salad, biscuits, chocolate, clementines, and of course wine, coffee and calva and rhum!! 

Sunday we had our own Christmas dinner, as Christmas Eve we eat out at friends’ in the village, and Christmas Day with the neighbours. The diet starts after that, or maybe in the New Year.

Hope to see you next year; watch out for our special offers for the Spring, and news of another, larger gite for holidays next year.

“Bonnes Fetes” to all our readers.

Bob and Marjory

Les Journees de Patrimoine

Didn’t get to the Expo at Caen this last weekend. Instead on Sunday we went for a “walk down memory lane” with our neighbours, visiting the chateau at Briqueboscq, and then the water mill at Belle Fontaine – in process of  being restored.

Francis spent his childhood around the chateau, but had never been inside. Unfortunately this was not possible on Sunday either. But the exterior was well worth a look, and the history of the place as told by the present owner, though somewhat repetitive and dry at times, was interesting.

 More interesting was Francis’s memories of the German occupation of the chateau; and the factory in the grounds producing rocket bombs to be aimed at London. 

(On the way back through Les Pieux Francis pointed out the foundations of the Post Office, saying that in the war it had been a German block-house (the foundations still visible) with guns trained onto the road coming south from Cherbourg.)

We were allowed a look inside the gite that now takes up one section of the house. It has many of the original features – the fireplace, the doorways, the beams – plus some items of historical interest reworked as furniture, or simply for decoration, placed there by the owners. Will take up to eight people, but we didn’t get the price – probably much more expensive than ours! 

The mill at Belle Fontaine is under process of restoration – with a long way to go yet. So far, one of two water-wheels has been restored and is in working order.

 The millstones are in place, but the cog mechanisms are in need of much work, as is the whole of the interior of the buildng. An enthusiastic band of volunteers, sponsored by, amongst others, EDF – have done the research, and begun the process of restoration.

For the journee de patrimoine they were there to explain the workings of the mill, and raising money by selling craft works, and crepes cooked on the open fire of the mill. It appears to be part of a whole movement of restoration and revival of old traditions, alongside the windmill at Fierville, and groups like the Battous de Cotentin, and the folklore group St. Ergouffe at Surtainville.

EDF is involved in researching alternative, renewable energy sources. Is its sponsorship of groups such as these part of looking for these renewable sources?

Bob

What a week!!

Just over a week since we arrived back from England, and what a week it’s been.

The weather is glorious, so the grass and the hedges are growing apace – we’ve spent a day starting the first major grass-cutting of the year.

The Club des Aines had its assembly (AGM) last week; which is a full day out starting with the meeting and elections, then lunch at a restaurant for all members, which went on till almost 5 o’clock. Add to that I was pressurised into joining the bureau (committee), so had to return the following morning for the first meeting for election of officers, and planning for a day’s activities in May and a day out to St. Malo in June.

Saturday  we had a delivery of wood for the fire (ordered over a month ago), so began work sorting and stacking that. Then the evening was the “Premier Samedi-Gras” in Surtainville, where we went for a dinner dance/ fancy dress ball. We feasted on chou-croute and danced into the early hours, followed by a night-cap with friends. (I thought it was mardi-gras before lent, though I suppose there is some justification for not counting Saturday evening into Sunday as part of the season of abstinence!!)

Sunday was the open-day to start Jacqueline’s exhibition at Flamanville (see the preceding post), so after a lie-in and some work in our own garden, we were away there.

Monday/Tuesday making the most of the weather stacking wood, pruning and cutting bushes, cutting grass.

And the enquiries for holidays beginning to come in; and beginning to prepare work for an english experience for French schoolchildren (including today booking Fish and ships (chips, I think) in St. Helier for a one-day visit there.

Looks like it’s going to be a busy summer. And the best is, we’ve been told that as it’s been such a hard winter, we are to expect a glorious summer!

Bob and Marjory

Welcome

For those who’ve visited, or are thinking about visiting, we’d like to keep you up to date with what’s happening to us, and in our little part of Normandy.

Check us out from time to time to discover what’s happening here – news and views, festivals and fete days, special holiday offers in our cottages and chambre d’hote; all things interesting and exciting, we hope.

Contact us for further information, or visit our website www.hirondelleholidays.com

Bob and Marjory

Bon Annee – Happy New Year

Happy New Year 2008. Hello to our first trial at Blogging.

We want to keep you up to date with what’s happening with us, and in our little part of Normandy.

Check us out from time to time to discover what’s happening here – festivals and fete days, special holiday offers in our gites and chambre d’hotes, all things interesting and exciting, we hope.

At the moment we’re working on a special offer for school holidays for this year – Easter is the earliest it can possibly be – check out astral projections and golden numbers – so interesting school holidays with those on six-term years especially.

Do you really get a long weekend, and then a fortnight’s holiday just two weeks later??

Contact us for further information, or visit our website. http://www.hirondelleholidays.com

In France New Year greetings can be sent anytime in January, so “Meilleurs Voeux”

Bob and Marjory