La Gacherie

The 12-hour flight from Mauritius to Paris went by surprisingly fast and after arriving we jumped on a train to take us down to Angouleme in France's southwest, which is about an hour from Bordeaux. There we were met by Marc's parents who now call France home, and we travelled to their place in the countryside. They live in a small hamlet of about eight houses called 'La Gacherie', where all the buildings are centuries old and made out of pale stone. I am told that in the summer months the area lights up with sunflower fields everywhere, but I still think it is plenty beautiful at the height of winter.

I didn't take my camera around with me for the two days we stayed here, but I did manage to get some snaps of the property as well as the incredible old stove from a neighbour's house. While we were in the area we returned to Perigueux for lunch at a bio-vegetarian cafe (VERY rare in France!) and spent the day in the seaside town of Royan where I picked up my favourite - salted butter caramels. They all got gobbled up straight away but I still have a bottle of salted caramel sauce that I am saving to use on a special occasion. A nice memory of the time spent in this idyllic little area.