Guests, gaspilage and gateau

The end of July and the beginning of August are proving to be extremely busy. I have though now made 3 out of my 4 rooms two nights minimum stay. The small bunk room is fine to turn over daily but the rest are too much. I have the last of my one nighters tonight. So tomorrow I will be turning over the room and the people then will be in until Thursday.

I was really touched by some of my guests at the weekend. Two of them left me a tip for their breakfasts which was lovely. If I’m honest I’m probably not charging enough for what I provide. However that’s an issue for later. Another two left me notes to say how much they enjoyed their stay which was also really affirming.

I enjoy talking with my guests and learning more French. One of the things that we discussed this weekend was the way in which direct translations are not always possible and this can be very confusing for all concerned. For example d’accord, which is often used to mean ok, cannot always be used as such and instead infers agreement, rather than something being alright. I feel that whilst gaspilage has a literal translation, wasteful, it’s meaning is not quite that. So whilst British supermarkets have a yellow label system for food that is short dated or past its best, in French supermarkets things are marked gaspilage. Last week I picked up a box of 6 melons for 2.50e which were gaspilage. I used two of them for breakfasts at the gite, they went down very well. I then gave some away. I was not wasteful!

There is a café in the next village that often has gluten free cakes. It’s one of the few things that I miss. The French have very few gluten free offerings. And most of the mass manufactured things are horrible! On Saturday my son and I went to the café but I was out of luck. However the owner promised to make something for Sunday. On Sunday I returned and there was a St Clements cake, delicious. I had to bring a slice home, I shall be having it with my dinner!

Until tomorrow!