Friday in Ventenac

The pictures are nice and it all sounds lovely, but I thought you were working, and exchanging, and stuff? Well, here's a typical day of work exchange at La Fontenille:

The day begins at 9am with breakfast. Fruit salad with heaps of freshly cut fruit, homemade bread with butter and homemade marmalade, and espresso with honey is a great way to start off the day.

After breakfast it's time to get on with the "help" part of help exchange. Today was dedicated to housework: hoovering, dusting, cleaning the windows with vinegar, water and newspaper. Earlier in the week we painted a stone banister, finished up some stone edging, and completed other outdoor tasks. We've been sprucing up the house and garden for the big soiree, a concert organized by David and Sundara to raise money for a charity of their choice. More about the event later.

Around 1:30pm I entered the kitchen to find Sundara teaching Andrew how to gut and fillet a sardine. Yum. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of Andrew proudly preparing our lunch, (very) fresh from the sea. Once lunch wrapped up, we got on with the rest of our chores.

After spending most of the day inside, a bike ride seemed like a great idea. We hopped on a pair of mountain bikes and set off. Cycling through the French countryside, passing fields aglow with ruby poppies between quaint old villages, it's easy to see why biking is so popular here. Again, I wish I had my camera. I think we'll make it back there tomorrow, so I'll post a few photos of the ride.

The way out was slightly downhill, with the wind at our backs. The way back, however, had us working up an appetite. Luckily, we enjoyed a delicious meal as usual. Fried duck breast, baked organic potatoes with a mushroom cream sauce, and green beans followed by cherries, cheese and oat biscuits made a tasty "traditional" meal. Our turn to make dinner tomorrow night. Pressure's on!

Before heading upstairs for bed, we cleaned up to Nina Simone's sultry voice, then chatted with our hosts about everything and anything we fancied. Another busy, rewarding exchange at La Fontenille.