We spent the entire flight catching our breath and wiping away our cold sweat. When we saw Cedric, Elodie, his mom and his friends at La Rochelle airport, the joy was doubled. After exchanging hugs and kisses, we were dispatched into different cars and drove to Corrine's (Cedric's mom) big big house in Rochefort.
Corrine's house is beautiful. It was not only big, functional, bright, cosy and homely, it was absolutely beautiful by any standard. I could only say it is like the bed and breakfast in Taiwan, only better. We had the most wonderful part of our trip in this house.
Elodie is 7 months pregnant with a princess (and she is still so thin!!!!!) Anyway, it is with honor and pride for me to share with the readers of the Kinigu blog that I AM the official God-mother of this princess! It was formally asked and announced over dinner and champagne! I AM THE GOD-MOTHER!! *Leaping with joy*
Corrine kept a gorgeous garden at the back of her house. She grew roses, lavander, salad leaves, herbs, fruits........ everytime she needed to cook a dish, make a dessert or brew a tea, she would walk into the garden and get the freshest and organic ingredients she needs! And the kids had a wonderful time plucking raspberries and strawberries from her garden.
It was certainly very, very, very good to see our dear old crazy friend again!
The kids had a wonderful time playing in the garden. They were chasing one another or chasing after a ball. Otherwise, Uncle Cedric would be happily playing with them while the rest of us enjoyed a cup of nespresso or organic tea. At night, Uncle Cedric would oblige them and bring them to see wild rabbits. The kids had so much fun that they were reluctant to go to bed even though they were yawning and it was past midnight.We were pampered with lots and lots and lots of good food.
Freshly baked homemade bread was available on the table all day long (oh my god, as I am writing this post, I could still remember the aroma of the bread from THAT bread-making machine!).
We had the FRESHEST possible mussles.
Salad.
Lots of cheese. We were made to eat all sorts of cheese because we made Cedric eat durian when he was in Singapore. Sweet revenge for him. Hahaha!
We had the finest wine and champagne.
Elodie made the BEST crepe.
I dont know what tea this was but it was simply the BEST tea I have ever tasted! Cedric plucked a bunch of I-dont-kn-what leaves and put into the teapot. My god... it was heavenly!!
We had barbeque lunch.
Elodie baked this yummiest appetizer.
The children made this dessert together with Corrine, using the raspberries from her garden.
We had seafood platter one evening. According to the oyster eaters (I am not), the oysters were DEE BEST.
We hardly left the house for these 5 days. We were either sitting around this table to eat and talk...
or we spent time in the garden, eating and talking too.
On one of the afternoons the children went to the seaside (I chose to stay behind to enjoy the house and also to keep Jaimie company as she was having a fever).
On one of the days we visited the rope museum and the construction site of a ship.
The boys, as usual, had loads of fun and crazy moments. It was a time of total relaxation, both mentally and physically.
And they went marketing with Master Chef Chuah, who brought the instant chilli crab mix, instant laksa mix, instant chicken rice mix and instant bak-kut-teh mix from Singapore.
The kids entertain themselves while the adults spent a busy afternoon in Corrine's big and fully-equipped kitchen.
We found carrots, chinese mushrooms and chinese noodles in Corrine's cabinate and helped ourselves to the ingredients. We whipped up another dish-- Singaporean fried noodles, which the French raved about.
We bought a pot of orchid for Corrine to thank her for her hospitality. She is such a charming lady that we all fell in love with her. Did I mention that she is a famous dance teacher? I came back to Singapore regretting not having the courage to ask her to show us some steps.
On the left is Cedric's extremely talented and funny friend, Sylvain, otherwise known as Saulne. Click on the hyperlink to check out his art work. It's a little complex for me to introduce him here. Basically he is a drawer who has published a few books under his name! He makes comics for iphone too. I asked Elodie to verbally translate one of his books (Title: It Cost Me Nothing) for me. It was simply brilliant! The artwork was fantastic too. No, I am not overrating his talent.
Freshly baked homemade bread was available on the table all day long (oh my god, as I am writing this post, I could still remember the aroma of the bread from THAT bread-making machine!).
We had the FRESHEST possible mussles.
Salad.
Lots of cheese. We were made to eat all sorts of cheese because we made Cedric eat durian when he was in Singapore. Sweet revenge for him. Hahaha!
We had the finest wine and champagne.
Elodie made the BEST crepe.
I dont know what tea this was but it was simply the BEST tea I have ever tasted! Cedric plucked a bunch of I-dont-kn-what leaves and put into the teapot. My god... it was heavenly!!
We had barbeque lunch.
Elodie baked this yummiest appetizer.
The children made this dessert together with Corrine, using the raspberries from her garden.
We had seafood platter one evening. According to the oyster eaters (I am not), the oysters were DEE BEST.
We hardly left the house for these 5 days. We were either sitting around this table to eat and talk...
or we spent time in the garden, eating and talking too.
On one of the afternoons the children went to the seaside (I chose to stay behind to enjoy the house and also to keep Jaimie company as she was having a fever).
On one of the days we visited the rope museum and the construction site of a ship.
The boys, as usual, had loads of fun and crazy moments. It was a time of total relaxation, both mentally and physically.The Singaporeans decided to show appreication to our hospitable host by cooking some Singaporean dishes.
And they went marketing with Master Chef Chuah, who brought the instant chilli crab mix, instant laksa mix, instant chicken rice mix and instant bak-kut-teh mix from Singapore.
The kids entertain themselves while the adults spent a busy afternoon in Corrine's big and fully-equipped kitchen.
We found carrots, chinese mushrooms and chinese noodles in Corrine's cabinate and helped ourselves to the ingredients. We whipped up another dish-- Singaporean fried noodles, which the French raved about.
We bought a pot of orchid for Corrine to thank her for her hospitality. She is such a charming lady that we all fell in love with her. Did I mention that she is a famous dance teacher? I came back to Singapore regretting not having the courage to ask her to show us some steps.
On the left is Cedric's extremely talented and funny friend, Sylvain, otherwise known as Saulne. Click on the hyperlink to check out his art work. It's a little complex for me to introduce him here. Basically he is a drawer who has published a few books under his name! He makes comics for iphone too. I asked Elodie to verbally translate one of his books (Title: It Cost Me Nothing) for me. It was simply brilliant! The artwork was fantastic too. No, I am not overrating his talent.
The boys bought this tshirt. We told Cedric to wear it when Elodie gives birth. :D
The girls decided that they could not lose out to the boys. We went shopping and bought this very appropriate group t-shirt too!
More chor-dai-dee game at late night.
Here's me enjoying a drink at Corrine's kitchen.
Forfeit!
5 days just flew pass as we laughed and played. Our next stop was Paris with Cedric and Elodie. We had to bid Corrine farewell. We exchanged more hugs and kisses as we bid Corrine and her friends goodbye at the railway station. We already miss her before we said goodbye.
Shelley couldn't hold back her tears while I pretended to be strong.
The girls decided that they could not lose out to the boys. We went shopping and bought this very appropriate group t-shirt too!
More chor-dai-dee game at late night.
Here's me enjoying a drink at Corrine's kitchen.
Forfeit!
5 days just flew pass as we laughed and played. Our next stop was Paris with Cedric and Elodie. We had to bid Corrine farewell. We exchanged more hugs and kisses as we bid Corrine and her friends goodbye at the railway station. We already miss her before we said goodbye.
Shelley couldn't hold back her tears while I pretended to be strong.
Dear Corrine, thank you so much for having us. Thank you for taking care of us (and so many of us!!!). You made us feel so at home and at ease. We had so much wonderful memories in your beautiful house (sorry we messed it up!!!). We really couldn't thank you enough and we really wanted to visit you and go to your house again soon! Take care! Till we meet again! Au revoir!
5 voices:
Yr boarding experience was an exciting one! We experience once too while to Ho Chi Minh. The gate closing in 15mins time after our lunch... next moment chiong ah!
Wow, is this the best stop-over of your UK trip?
Btw, your UK trip seemed very long, how much luggage and enough clothes change you pack?
hi stardust, we were away for 18 days... we were able to do laundry at our friend's place and we also did our laundry at a laundrette when we were in UK. so the clothes wise is ok. we travel light!! one suitacase each and still "underweight". :)
the house is beautiful!!
With Car Rental 8 you can discover the most affordable car rentals from over 50000 international locations.
Post a Comment