The Queen’s Jubilee weekend saw me heading to France to see Papa. My leaving this sceptred isle was by no means some sort of statement on the monarchy – I love the Queen – but, two back-to-back bank holidays made a weekend away a no brainer (and I was sure Her Majesty wouldn’t mind).

Across the Channel, I was met with blue skies and 20+ degree temperatures. The route down was trouble-free. I had toyed with the idea of doing a drive-by to see the pomp of the French Open in progress but sadly a few road closures in the vicinity confused my Sat Nav, so I didn’t get to see the gates of Roland Garros. I did see the Eiffel Tower though 🙂

Regular readers will know that my long-distance journeys are accompanied by a podcast – I had been saving for this trip the much anticipated third instalment of Kennedy Fisher & Matthew Heawood’s ‘The Mystery Machine’ aka The Shadow Over Innsmouth. It didn’t disappoint. If you haven’t listened to any of these, go back to the beginning and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and prepare to be enthralled! Speaking of enthralling, on arrival chez Papa, I was greeted by the Monsieur Macron of the cat world, successfully attempting to beguile me through the bannisters 😹

After spending Friday morning chewing the cud over coffee avec Papa, we lunched at Le Goût Lot in Quatres-Routes (recommended!) and then I took myself off for a swim in the Dordogne at the little beach in Gluges. I was told by not one, but two of Papa’s French mates that to swim in the Dordogne was bonkers because (a) it’s too cold and (b) I’d be swimming in yukky agricultural run-off. Well. I can report the water was lovely, warm as it was clean. And wow, the Dordogne has some current when one’s swimming upstream.

Whilst on the subject of all things flora and fauna, I spent a good deal of time out and about over the weekend with my trusty Olympus D-SLR. I managed to snap some very pleasing shots of the red kites hovering over the farmers’ fields near the moulin. They’re known as milan royal in France, which sounds more impressive. Papa and I were slightly crest-fallen as we were convinced these were golden eagles until we got home and compared the photographs with the illustrations in his French ornithology tome. Red kites they are. However, this is not the same bird I photographed (badly) back in February, the identity of which remains unconfirmed. Here’s a selection of some of my favourites taken over the weekend…

BadgerWatch

And, of course, it wouldn’t be a Corrèze visit without ‘BadgerWatch’! After capturing footage of a very pregnant sow on my last visit, I had high hopes that I would see little cubs playing. Sadly, it was not to be. There’s still a count of two badgers, however, one has a poorly leg. Papa also reports that he recently found a dead badger up on the road not far from the house. All I can do is hope that they stay safe and perhaps next year, there will be badger babies. On a happier note, we managed to get a fleeting glimpse of a pine marten…

Whilst the Queen’s jubilee celebrations were in full swing back in Blighty, Friday night saw a drama unfold the like of which could be the opening of a bloody good crime thriller… wait a minute… I won’t say too much about what happened, because… yes readers, I’m working on a new story for y’all which hopefully will be ready for you to read very soon. Here’s a little taster of what went down. It all started with a power cut…

The next day, we discovered a huge branch of one of the old oak trees had come down. We set about clearing it up as best we could. In the process, I managed to get devoured by tiger mosquitoes (they carry Zika virus apparently…yikes!) so for remainder of the weekend I sported attractive red blotches and slathering myself with hydrocortisone cream every five minutes! That’ll teach me for not wearing leggings!

Saturday evening saw the return of Kay from her trip to the UK (her return from the airport was a rather comical story but is far too convoluted to explain without me sending you to sleep!) So, on Sunday, we all went out for my belated birthday treat: a splendid four course lunch at the Michelin-starred Les Trois Soleils de Montal. No exaggeration, it was the most wonderful restaurant I have ever been to (and I have been lucky enough to have dined at quite a few ‘top’ restaurants, including Le Gavroche). The dishes were all amazing in quality of produce, composition and presentation, and were utterly delicious. The atmosphere and attention from every one of their team was outstanding. It wasn’t stuffy, it was relaxed and thoroughly lovely. I’m hoping this will now be a regular birthday treat… or indeed, a treat for any occasion!

And just like that, it was already time to return to the UK. I was a little late leaving (as usual, chatting and setting the badger cameras and a gazillion other things!) however, I still managed to stop for a baguette and some jambon at my one of my favourite airfields, Châteauroux.