A little trip to France

We haven't been to France since Our Month in France in 2024 and I have certainly missed going. As part of my birthday week we stayed in Kent (I'll write about that soon) and took an overnight trip to Calais with our son and his girlfriend joining us for the trip.

It's a while since we used Le Shuttle, it was son's girlfriend's first time, and as she said it is a strange concept driving a car onto a train. The cost of the journey even with a short stay offer, petrol, overnight hotel and eating out does not actually make any purchases cheaper especially now there are limits on what you can bring back to the UK .... for me it was all about being in France.

We shopped at Auchan and Citè de Europe buying a few bits for home, most importantly my vanilla sucre for my baking. We also popped to Lidl and Aldi as some of our UK purchaseable wines are much cheaper. Our dining experience was Flunch, it's such a great concept and brings back many memories of Flunch meals with my dad when our kids were young.

All in all it was a good trip, Calais is not as it was and I think our next trip to France will be a long travelling holiday but it was nice to be back. The car did chink home with some of our favourites and a few new finds, our son commented that that was the sound of a holiday in France!

Sparkling wine is one of my favourite French buys, there is sn abundance of choice from low priced easy drinking bubbles to high end champagne. Pol Remy and Paul Henri are good basic priced bubbles which we often enjoy as a Kir cocktail using Chambord. We found a couple of demi-sec mid priced wines along with a Blanc de Blanc on offer, it's always fun to try new wines.

I didn't pick up many whites as our cellar at home is white heavy, I must drink more! However I did include a couple of my cheap go to, I'm not sure if I bought them for taste or memory but we always bought Muscadet with the blue boat label and Pierre Chanau (Auchan's wine label) White Bordeau.

Two bottles of Sauvignon, one of which was from Touraine, a bottle of Chardonnay were easy drinkers for our cellar. Aldi's Cotes de Gascogne is one of my favourite wines, it was less than half the UK price so a good find. We have holidayed many times in the South of France near the Etang de Thau, Picpoul is grown there, and this quirky labelled bottle caught my eye. 

A lovely selection of white wine safely home and ready to be enjoyed. I was a little disappointed to not find Cellier des Dauphins white in full size bottles or a wine box, there was red or rose but no white. I did find small bottles which will be perfect for just me to enjoy.

Our red wine choices were a mix of favourites and bargains. Hubby picked three Bordeaux wines including his favourite Baron de Lestac, he also  selected Costellore an Italian favourite from Aldi. My choices of red were all based on our previous fab times in France, they were a Corbieres, a Ventoux and a wine from Cahors.

We did buy double bottles of our favourite wines; 

Blaye, Cotes de Bordeaux

Primivito, Puglia 

Croix de Ceyssac, Bordeaux

Cellier des Dauphins Cotes du Rhone

I'm very much looking forward to the darker nights now we have some super wines to enjoy, not necessarily expensive choices but I'm sure they will evoke great memories from flavour and aroma.

With Christmas approaching we stocked up too on a few favourite beers. There are more and more places selling French and Belgium beers, craft beer shops are opening all over the UK but as we were in France a few packs were added to our trolley.

Affligem is a family favourite that we're looking forward to sharing over the festivities. Grimbergen makes me think of autumn time and La Goudale always goes down well.

Nothing like enjoying a beer and a big bottle makes the enjoyment last longer. I have had Kasteel beer before, a very strong dark beer, and I like fruit beer so when I spotted Kasteel Rubus it was a no-brainer purchase. 

And so to my favourite beer treats. I do believe beer should be served in the matching brand glass and I do have a Kasteel glass ready for my Rubus beer.

I do have glasses for Triple Karmeliet, Rince Couchon and Kwak which is like a yard of ale glass on a vertical stand but I don't think we have a La Goudale glass .... might need a return trip to solve that one!

Neither of us are great cider drinkers but we do enjoy a glass of French cidre which is mainly produced in Normandy. We selected a bottle of brut which is dry, a doux which is sweet and a bottle of rosé cidre which is described as fruity. I don't think we've had rosé cider before although I guess it will be similar to the fruit ciders now available in UK stores.

Our final buys were at Le Shuttle duty free, Gordon's is my favourite standard gin and was such a great price two jumped into my trolley. Asbach brandy from Germany is delicious, when Hubby was working he was often given a box of chocolates filled with Asbach at Christmas. It's made in Rudesheim and most definitely on our tour visit list but for now we'll happily enjoy Asbach at hone.

We had a lovely time shopping in Calais, we didn't visit any of the big wine stores but as you can see we found plenty to bring home. It was so nice being back in France, I hope it won't be so long before we're there again.

Christmas at the Hearnden's

It's been a lovely festive season, quite extended with our Christmas Day on 28th. It all began with Hubby birthday on the 21st with a lovely sharing meal at Miller and Carter. The table was full of dishes (we needed a bigger on really) with steak, lamb and chicken taking centre place ... paired with a delicious Argentinian Malbec.

It has been and exciting time for us as Hubby bought a new car. Unbelievably we'd had our BMW Gran Tourer for 8 years, Hubby bought it when he retired. We both loved our 7 seater and have had many driving holidays in it through France and Germany but it was showing its age and we did worry expensive repairs may be looming. 

After trying a few BMW options we chose a X1, it's similar but different to our old car and is definitely lighter to drive. We no longer need 7 seats but wanted to make sure the boot was still big enough for our travels .... it's huge. 

Christmas Day was just the two of us as our grown up children spent the day with their other half's families. We had a lovely day starting with a glass or two of Buck's Fizz before a walk to our social club where we met up with my stepdad fir a Christmas drink.

It was very strange to lay the table for just two. In previous years we've had as many as 13 and had to bring the table in from the garden. 

We had a bottle of Louis Delaney champagne with our salmon starter followed by a superb bottle of White Castle Regent with our turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

Being just us there was no rush, it was almost dark by the time we had dinner which made it quite festive with the lights and candles lit.

Too full to eat any more straight away so our Christmas pudding was enjoyed later in the evening with a glass of Blandy's Clarence Maderia wine.

All in all a lovely Christmas Day followed by a chilled Boxing Day with our son and girlfriend.

Saturday was a food shopping day ready for our family buffet on 28th, the best bit of this was my doughnut treat accompanied by a chocolate Irish Coffee made with Jameson's Stout Edition and Mozart Chocolate Liqueur.

Our Hearnden Christmas on the 28th was superb, time together enjoying sharing gifts, eating a delicious buffet and a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. 

Thanks to my lovely Hubby and amazing family for making Christmas 2025 very special.

White Castle Winery

Our first visit to White Castle Vineyard was a few years ago when our daughter and (now) son-in-law adopted a vine for us following our discovery of this superb wine by winning a couple of bottles in a raffle. We were delighted as you can see in my blog post in 2021

We have revisited Robb and Nicola a few times since, in particular to purchase Welsh Sparkling Wine to celebrate our daughter's engagement to her Welsh love and for a super tour & tasting with our wine friends. 

The White Castle dream was to have a winery at the Vineyard making their wine pure Welsh from ground to bottle. 

The dream came true in 2024 with the opening of Y Gwindy, a superb purpose build winery with a row of impressive stainless steel vats and all the necessary wine making equipment including a bottling machine. 

White Castle wine is now grown, nurtured, harvested and produced on site making every drop 100% Welsh.

It's been a great growing year for the vines producing an abundance of grapes with riping happening earlier than previous years. When we visited Siegerrebe and Pinot Noir Précoce had already been harvested, pressed and were happily fermenting in the vats. 

We tasted both and although cloudy and still developing they were delicious, especially the Pinot Noir Précoce with a deep red colour and evidence of complex flavours maturing.

Robb and Nicola's hard work is evident all around the winery, as is their passion for what they are producing. Everything is in place and ready for the next harvesting which was happening just a few days after our visit. 

Y Gwindy had a wine smell that just made me smile, a smell I have appreciated in many wineries across Europe. One fragrance in particular means wine; that for me is wood, in particular oak, and filled the air from the White Castle branded barrels sitting ready for their next fill.

There are still a few finishing touches to happen in the winery, mostly finding the easiest working place for equipment, this is a discovery that will happen over the next few months as Y Gwindy is in full swing with this year's bumper crops.

One item to find its permanent place is the lovely board Robb and Nicola have had made to thank those who helped crowd fund their dream.

White Castle now produce a sparkling Cabernet Franc Rosé, a great addition to their range and one that came home with us along with Regent, our Christmas Day red. 

A sparkling Cabernet Franc is a new discovery for me that I'm keen to taste but I'll be opening it for something special with time to savour, as yet who know why or when that will be but hopefully soon.

Thank you Robb & Nicola for such a warm welcome, it was a real pleasure to visit Y Gwindy, your pride and enthusiasm is a delight to see. We'll certainly be calling by again on one of our travels to Wales, diolch.

It's beginning to feel like Christmas

Hubby and I took a little trip away to get into the festive spirit, nothing big I just wanted to be amongst the sights and smells of the festive season. 

I was browsing online for hotels and places with Christmas markets when a 2 nights for 1 offer popped up for Best Western Hotels and Bournemouth has a market. To top it off the train is direct from Coventry and our station has a train to there ..... and so all booked!

As seems to be the norm these days after a walk to our station we discoverer our train to Coventry was now a bus .... and would not be there in time for our Bournemouth train. The station office couldn't advise if our tickets would be accepted on a later train so we decided to take an Uber; great car, great driver, reasonable price and safely at the station in time. 

The Bournemouth train was a great journey, initially we faced backwards but the train changes direction at Reading so we were forward facing from there. I remember this happening when we took the train to Weymouth with the scouts in 1983, we took them to Guernsey for camp that year. 

Our journey passed through Leamington Spa, Banbury, Oxford, Reading, Basingstoke, Winchester, Southampton Airport, Southampton, arriving at Bournemouth. It was only 15/20 minutes between stations, so nice to see a different view of the countryside ... with our refreshments in hand (coffee, sandwiches and a glass of wine) 

We walked into Bournemouth as we had a while before check in, I was so surprised to find it very hilly. I thought it was flat like Weymouth or Brighton but the town centre sits on a Chine (a steep-sided gorge where the river flows to the sea) and our hotel was at the top of the very steep west cliff side of the town. 

But the climb was worth it, what a festive welcome and although an old hotel our room was huge, clean, comfy and had a sea view. To be honest we couldn't have stayed at the nearby Premier Inn for the price we paid, especially as breakfast was included.

The photo above shows how the road drops away to the sea. Our first evening we strolled down the hill, what a superb view of the Pier lit up and the lights beyond. From the Pier we walked through the gardens along the River Bourne to the Christmas market, the decorations were huge and very festive. 

Being a Monday it was fairly quiet which was perfect as we could get to all the stalls and had no trouble getting a table at the Slug and Lettuce for dinner with cocktails. We had a great night out, a lovely walk back through the gardens and a tiring walk up the hill.

The next morning after a delicious cooked to order breakfast, I had smoked haddock and poached egg, we decided to walk along the coast towards Boscombe Pier. In the daylight the views were even better, the smaller pier in the distance of the curved bay. We could also see the Isle of Wight and the Needles with its lighthouse, we should have brought our binoculars for a better view. 

Before setting off along the coast we walked to the end of Bournemouth Pier and back. There was a great Christmas Tree trail along the Pier with each tree having a Christmassy question with the answer at the next tree. From the end of the Pier we looked back towards our hotel, it's behind the white hotel and you can see the steep slope down.

Of course being on a pier and being by the sea means only one thing .... the 2p machines. I love a tipping point game, yes we never come away with big winnings but it's the game that gives the joy. Hubby did win a chew sweet!

It was lovely walking along the promenade road, often covered with sand, with the sea gently breaking on the shore. There were plenty of runners, dog walkers and even a few swimmers. There were rows and rows if beach huts, all closed now for winter, as was to my dismay the road train. 

The east cliffs towered above us, in some places the promenade was sectioned off due to landslides revealing the sandstone layers. We were so surprised to see a group of goats on the steep slopes, they seemed very happy munching away.

Boscombe was inland, again uphill and sadly it was very much like other town centres with many closed shops. We did find a lovely coffee shop before taking the bus back into Bournemouth. We decided not to venture back into town for dinner (the slope was too much after already walking 6 miles) and so had a pub meal in the Hop Inn just along from our hotel. Still being early when we got back we settled in the hotel bar with a very festive mulled wine and mini mince pie, perfect end to our day.

Our last morning started with another delicious breakfast and as our train home was late afternoon we left our cases with reception so we could explore the east of Bournemouth. I was not keen on doing more slopes so we walked along the cliff top route to Branksome which is actually in Poole district. 

The views were amazing, it was such a lovely sunny winter morning. To the west behind us is the coast to the west with Bournemouth Pier and the Isle of Wight in the distance. We were so lucky with the weather. 

To the east was Studland, we could just see Old Harry's Rocks sticking up at the edge of the coast. The weather did begin to change as we walked back, the sea noticeably changing from being still to being choppy with waves on the shore. 

As we walked back along the beach I knew we'd have to climb up to the hotel. Not enjoying the steep slopes we opted for the steps, oh my there were lots of them and a few stops to admire the view were very much needed. 

We had a lovely few days away, different experience not going in the car and using public transport. After collecting our cases from the hotel we walked back into Bournemouth for a meal before catching the bus to the station to get the train home. 

It was certainly beginning to feel like Christmas, a super early December getaway.