Le weekend a la campagne

Bonsoir tout le monde,
I have just got home after my weekend in the country. I met Sophie at the lycee where she is a sign language interpreter person and we have been for a couple of walks and kept in touch via email. (During the week. She doesn't have the internet or TV at her place!)Anyway, she invited me to go and have a restful weekend in the country so I did. It was actually a minor drama just catching the bus in the first place. The bus from here to the station was fine - I am a whizz at that now. But once at the station I could see no sign of where one catches the TER bus. I had looked on line but no clue there either. Anyway, I walked round, asked some people - who didn't know, then searched a bit more. I then asked the woman in the bookshop who directed me up some stairs and beyond the carpark...... Oh look, already this story is too long and it hasn't started!! Lol! Suffice to say those directions were wrong and finally I found an official looking person who gave me the right directions. And I finally found the bus station. Tucked away beside and behind the railway station and completely un-signposted. Crazy! (Also, Ian and Louise, my umbrella died during all of that rushing about in the horrible weather, mostly outside, and I had to put it in a bin. Where were the umbrella men when I needed them?)
Anyway, it was about a 40 minute trip to Chalandray. I couldn't see much as it was raining pretty hard. Sophie met me off the bus and we drove to her little village called La Joussamiere. With a total of 9 houses! Sophie would have automatic entry into the Green Party, and her house was just great - very Authentically French Country. In the real, as opposed to Gift Shop sense. (But don't knock the gift shops!)I had some home made soup for lunch and then we went for a walk as it had stopped raining and we needed to make the most of that! We just read and pottered round for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Also, I had a really sore back - I have been quite a crock lately - and Sophie who just happens to be skilled in that area, gave me a back massage. Which was very pleasant. But my back is still a bit sore. Oh yes, for a hottie last night I had two bricks which had been heating on the log fire burner thingee. Very effective!
This morning we went to a market in Thenezay, but it was so cold that there were hardly any stalls there. Sophie bought a few bits and pieces and we also went to the Charcuterie where she bought some Coquille St Jacques for lunch. Shrimps, scallops, mushrooms in white sauce on shells, and grilled. A very typical French Sunday meal, apparently. (As opposed to banana sandwiches which was a Kroon family Sunday lunch tradition! :-)) We went home via Chervre which is famous for its windmill, and also has a small castle from the middle ages which had fallen into disrepair but is currently being restored. It is attached to a church, and Sophie strolled in, with me tagging along, in the middle of a service! I felt most uncomfortable; it was a bit intrusive I thought. Anyway, we didn't stay long. We walked around the streets of the village for a bit, but the cold won in the end and we scampered back to the car.
After a lovely meal, accompanied by the rest of the NZ sauvignon blanc we had started the night before - (which, to be perfectly honest was a bit disappointing. And it had cost me a fortune at Dubai Duty Free. It was a bottle of Villa Maria Marlborough. I wouldn't recommend it) - we both had a nap! I was woken by Sophie tapping on the door saying it was 5.00pm and time for a cuppa! So I got up, and after the tea sorted out my stuff and we headed back into Poitiers. We were going to see a movie called Seraphine, which was set in France in the period 1914 though to the 1930s. It was based on a true story and was about a woman who was a, well, very working class person, I suppose, but who was also an artist and painted wonderful paintings a bit ahead of their time. She was a bit crazy, and ended up being totally so. It was a bit long and dragged towards the end, but overall I enjoyed it. I got the gist of it all right, but I'm sure you all would have. I also managed to understand some of the dialogue. I really should go to more movies.
So that was my weekend. It's still very cold, and Sophie assures me that February will be worse! The photos are of me in the village of La Joussamiere about to go for a walk, and Sophie bringing in the firewood.