Gastronomic journey north

So we said our fond farewells to our surrogate home in Moncrabeau and set off (twice) to head north. Our first stop was a small place just outside Bordeaux which was a bit like living in the family home. We were the only guests and were met personally by Dominique and then met her husband and two children. Le Clos du Prince had a lovely pool with a little terrace but it wasn’t pool weather on this visit. The room was beautifully decorated though the tiled floor was rather chilly and there wasn’t a TV. Dominique prepared a delicious meal of scallop salad, magret with endives and field mushrooms followed by a local apple pie – a sort of thin batter filled with apples which was lovely. We ate in solitary splendour in the ‘wine museum’ which had all the machinery for pressing grapes and preparing the wine, punctuated by occasional visits from various members of the family. We had a bottle of red wine from a place close to Cadillac and towards the end of the meal the power went off for a while so we finished by candlelight. Next morning we were off and away early in order to do the rather longer journey from Bordeaux to Normandy via Moncrabeau.
The journey was made more annoying by pretty heavy snow between Tours and Le Mans including one fairly hairy stretch where it hadn’t been cleared. However, as we headed into Normandy the skies cleared and it was a lovely late afternoon. We discovered that our friends at the Villeray were fully functioning, even on a Sunday in late November so it was a real treat to go back there. They had shut up the Moulin for the winter so we stayed in the Chateau this time. I think they gave us the best suite in the place though we’d only booked a standard room and greeted us like long lost friends. We had a dressing room, a four poster bed and a bathroom, complete with a Jacuzzi bath in the turret. We also had a fabulous view across the valley. Sitting in the lounge by a roaring fire, which John hadn’t had to light, sipping the house aperitif of mure, calvados and champagne we relaxed after such a long trip. Dinner was great as usual, pumpkin soup with foie gras, scallops, guinea fowl, venison, their signature cheese trolley and baked pears and figs. It really is a fabulous place and we always feel well looked after.
The next morning we set out for Mr Bumblebees in freezing cold but delightful sunshine. The countryside looked amazing with ice and snow clinging to the trees and not too much snow on the road itself. We arrived at Escalles in good time just as the snow was beginning to fall. By the time we went across the road for dinner there was a good 5 cm on the car and it looked really pretty as they had just put all of their sumptuous Christmas decorations up, including some great coloured twigs which I would have liked to sneak into the car. We were a little anxious about the drive back up the hill in the morning but settled down to another good dinner and a nice burgundy!
Fortunately it hadn’t snowed too heavily overnight and John did a great job of getting the car up some pretty grim roads and to the tunnel terminal. The Eurotunnel was having some problems (don’t know why since it doesn’t snow under the channel) so we had to hang around for a while as one train after another got cancelled but eventually we were on our way. The M20 was not very good but after that it got easier. We arrived in Leysdown and hunkered down for the night hoping that the snow would not get in the way of getting to London the next day.