Jeune Genevois 2023

We left home on Weds after work and after a stop for dinner at the Ponte Loco we arrived at the house around 20h45. It’s already getting quite dark by 20h30 now. We are having a late heatwave - less intense than a few weeks ago but for early Sept over 30° is very warm. 

We had a lie in on Thursday morning and I got breakfast from the baker. It was nice and sunny so after we had eaten we did some gardening which included pruning the vine which had gone a bit overgrown. Suddenly a young cat came into the back garden. It was not scared of us at all and made itself comfortable on the window ledge. I was in the chaufferie when I heard a squeal. A and J said that the cat had leap from the garden table onto A! 
We then set off for the tip just before it closed and dumped a load of green stuff. Then we parked in Salornay and sat in the shade and read a while before setting off for the Etape Charollaise. We sat outside and it was already very busy. It was very hot today but we had some shade under the big umbrellas. I had the menu of quiche and salad then ragu de porc with rice and peas. The others had steak with purée and we all had cherry clafoutis to finish.

In the afternoon an electrician came round to look at the 2 spots that have stopped working in the bathroom. He said the interrupters were broken so he needs to replace them and said he would come back the next day. His worker at the same time installed a light fitting we have had for 10 years in the chaufferie so all in all progress was made.

I did a bit of studying for my RHS certificate and then A and I went to Super U around 18h. We had dinner outside and it was still hot. Our new friend came back to visit. A has been decorating for autumn with the physalis that we seem to have in abundance this year. 

Longer lie in on Friday morning and luckily there were still some goodies at the bakers even after 9h. Ate breakfast out the front and did some more gardening. Then I did some cleaning in the kitchen. The electrician popped back at 11h30 with the spare parts and now we have all bathroom spots working again. Me and A then went to La Guiche at 12h for a swim which was lovely. Had lunch outside and then A and I did some studying out the front.

In the evening we tried a new restaurant in Cluny called La Locanda. It is a tiny place with just 8 seats inside and probably 10 outside. Small menu of 3 choices for each course. I decided to have two starters as a main and took poulpe salad and an aubergine parmigiana salad both delicious. J had tagliatelle with shiitake mushrooms and Italian sausage and A had gnocchi with Gorgonzola and fig both tasty. Then J and I shared a cassata semi freddo which was divine. Afterwards we passed by the St André pop up bar. They were showing the opening match of the rugby World Cup France v NZ. Pretty big turn out and they were doing pizzas in the wood oven. We didn’t stay long.

So France beat NZ by quite a big margin - didn’t hear any revelling. Saturday morning was again glorious although it had the autumnal coolness first. We ate breakfast outside and then started to pack up and left around 10h30. We stopped off at Decathlon in Macon before arriving home around 13h.