01-03.11 - Days 291-293 - Lusignac, FRA

Friday 1st November - Sunday 3rd November - Lusignac, France (Day 291-293)

The next 5 days we settle into a relaxing routine. There’s no early starts or early walks; it's usually 8am before anyone is stirring in the exposed wooden beam bedrooms. 

Friday, Monday and Tuesday the kids polish off the week of school and make a decent dent in the second week. 

This is usually interspersed with, and encouraged by, tennis playing which everyone is keen to do. We’re not talking 5 set matches, more gentle rallies (occasionally fetching a ball from the ploughed field next door) for 30-45 minutes, three or four times a day. 

Sienna and Seb had both had lessons in Sydney and they certainly re-find some of that ability and improve over the time here in Lusignac. 

The swimming pool is covered over for the winter though our warm weather chasing luck continues to hold, so after dewy mornings, it’s mostly blue skies and shorts and t-shirts. 

Friday’s point of difference is Fish and Chip night recommended by Pauline and Alan which we wander along to - a mobile van serving up a tasty fare. They know their crowd - the bar tables are filled with English voices, the local expats still seeking a little slice of Blighty. 

Saturday’s extra excitement comes with a trip to Riberac to buy firewood and marshmallows. For the next 4 nights then after dinner we make a little fire upstairs in the lounge’s wood burner to toast the marshmallows, and, to a lesser extent, warm up the room. 

Sunday morning there is an outing to the once-a-month market. Like most markets in this vein I suspect it has evolved from car boot sale / second hand market to ‘antique’ market, though piles of books, CDs and DVDs are still in evidence.