I mentioned in last week’s blog that our work programme for the week was going to be very weather dependent and include preparing Granary for guests who arrived on Friday.
The weather was suitably spring like with just about every condition you would expect from warm sunshine to bursts of heavy rain and hail. This meant that we jumped from garden tasks to indoor jobs with frequent regularity as well as taking some time out for shopping trips – another expensive week!
The outdoor tasks included planting the new flower bed (champignon) behind Priory that we had created the previous week to mirror the opposite one. The tree we used this time was a pear tree which David and I bought last year as an anniversary present to ourselves but had remained in a pot since buying as we weren’t sure where to plant it. We are still hoping to identify a small parcel of land nearby that we can rent to grow vegetables and have a couple of animals and we initially thought that the pear tree would go there. However, as we haven’t yet found any available land and, as an anniversary we changed our minds and thought that it may be better to have it in our own garden this new flower bed seemed the ideal location.
Both beds now have a white camellia, a choisya, a tree and fuchsias to mirror each other and we have fenced both in preparation of planting a small hedge around the perimeter of each in a couple of weeks.
Indoor jobs were principally running through the snagging list for Granary in preparation for our guests’ arrival. There were a number of things that we needed to do including touching up some of the paintwork that had suffered before we had the roof repairs completed, and attaching a kitchen cupboard door that had been missing since we built the kitchen. Thankfully, being a corner cupboard, sandwiched between 2 cupboards with doors, the open shelving looked planned!
Our shopping trips were to buy an additional cot (our Granary guests have 2 babies with them), a new fridge freezer, and a new TV for Granary. The handle had snapped off the fridge in Priory and, as all the door shelves had been missing since we arrived at Kergudon, rather than replace the handle we took the decision to replace the fridge and use the damaged one for drinks in the summer the TV we bought last year had broken so we had returned it.
The biggest expense however was buying wood and ‘boy toys’ (a circular and a mitre saw) in preparation for a large project that I hope to start next week – converting what was the ‘Mouse House’ into the Boot / Drying Room.
So it has been a bit of a ‘bity’ week, lots of useful tasks completed but no ‘big’ project finished so not many photos to show.
Last week I highlighted our Welcome Box that we gift to our guests and said that we were very fortunate to live in a region with so many fabulous farmers and producers with a passion for seasonal and fresh food. This week we thought that we would highlight some of the fabulous places that you can visit to eat during your holiday with us and have listed a range of restaurants close by that we have visited.
The closest (3 kms), and still one of our favourites is the restaurant on the shore of the Lac du Drennec, Au Lac. This charming little bistro restaurant is run by Mercedes and Jean-Pascal who are the most hospitable couple. Mercedes has travelled the world cooking which reflects in her menu which is influenced as much by her time in the Far East as by her English / German ancestry and you can always expect something with a little spice and a vegetarian choice, neither generally easy to find in France. Jean-Pascal used to own and run the most popular bar in Quimper and as ‘front of house’ is very knowledgeable about wine and keeps good beer.
If there is any type of restaurant in a Brittany village it will be a crêperie and there are many to choose from all within easy reach. Some will serve only crepes, although there will be both savoury galettes and sweet, while others will also have a selection of other choices. Sizun has a crêperie which also has a wide range of other meals as too does the Crêperie des Monts D’Arrée in Commana. The Monts D’Arrée was taken over in December last year by Pierre-Jean and Cyril and they have big plans to develop the restaurant. Their crépes and galettes are very good and they offer a small selection of other French favourites such as confit du canard or cassoulet.
Another popular food choice here, as everywhere, is pizza. Thankfully there are no Pizza Huts close by but again Sizun has a pizzeria as too does Brasparts in the Pub Feel Good. Both have a good range of great pizzas with a wide choice of toppings. The Feel Good cook their pizzas in a wood fired oven and is also a fun pub to visit – especially as the owner is also a wine and spirits enthusiast with his own cave in the pub.
For very traditional French cooking, in a very traditional French restaurant, the family run Hotel des Voyageurs in Sizun is excellent value and has a varied menu which will always include seafood.
For more formal dining, again in very a traditional French dining room, is the restaurant attached to the Logis hotel in Lampaul Guimiliau, L’Hostellerie des Enclos. The chef, Philippe Le Pelletier has worked in Michelin starred restaurants which is evident in his style and exquisite presentation of fabulous food.
These are only a few of the many restaurants within a short drive of Kergudon. For those who want to visit restaurants who are currently Michelin starred and are happy to travel a little further, Kergudon is well located to drive to those in the north, west and south all within an hour. The map below shows the location of all the starred restaurants and where there is a number given it indicates the number of starred restaurants and not the number of stars held by the restaurant.
There are many other restaurants that our guests have visited and recommended to us but we have yet to visit. As we do we will update you. We particularly want to visit a restaurant on the road between Sizun and Landerneau which is surrounded every lunch time by huge numbers of small and large vans, tractors and the occasional articulated lorry as it attracts the tradesmen and farmers from miles around which seems to us to be the perfect recommendation – you know how important lunch is to the French …
We are delighted that all of our gîtes will be full next week as we are accommodating the crew of a French film production company who are making a film somewhere in the region. Hopefully we will also be able to make a start on the boot room conversion.
À bientôt.