Saturday, June 19, 2010

Rain,rain, and more rain.





Climate fact of the week : It's the wettest and coldest summer in the south of France in more than 200 years. It was raining when we set off in the car, it rained all the way there and when we finally got to the hotel it carried on raining . For what it's worth it also rained all the way back and is still raining now. Solid, unyielding sheets of water. Undaunted by the weather 'the font' went off to the spa while Wilf and I settled in the bar to study the winelist. On the short walk with me from the room to the bar Wilf determinedly ploughed through, and christened, every wet bush and shrub in the garden - I must get his eyesight checked. By the time we got to the bar his fringe was plastered down with water and he looked like Paul McCartney in the early days of the Beatles. A towel was brought for him by a smiling barman and he lay down contentedly in front of the fire to dry off. While I savoured a glass of reviving Batard Montrachet he had a bowl of water.

The hotel charged €26 for Wilf to stay with us in the room. At the time of booking I thought this was daylight robbery but for this princely sum he got his own white ceramic water bowl and a wicker basket with a matress with the hotels logo embroidered on it. A large pile of old sheets was also usefully left in the room to help soak up the water from post walk muddy paws - how sensible ! Although dogs weren't allowed in the rstaurant the 3 Michelin star chef made him a bowl of lean roast duck with lemongrass flavoured rice and green beans. This was delivered to the room half an hour before our dinner reservation. This gave him time to eat and settle down and relax before we left. 'The font' helpfully pointed out that his evening meal was the sort of thing that was served at British weddings in the late 80's. What it will do to his digestion, or his expectations, is anyones guess.

More tomorrow.

14 comments:

  1. Damp, but still ever so handsome. Wilf's dinner sounded much better than my own last night. Ah France.
    Yankee Gal

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  2. Rain or shine, this hotel looks amazing, (are those palm trees?) and to go above and beyond in treating Wilf as a pampered guest certainly shows that!

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  3. Well, it sounds like Wilf is getting his money's worth. The Moms say that if they could get accomodations like that for that price they'd grab them, wicker basket and all. Hope the weather gives you a break soon.

    wags, Lola

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  4. Sounds like a very dog-friendly hotel. Roast duck? With lemongrass and green beans? Sounds like dog heaven to me! Of course, the price is a little steep, but the roast duck makes up for it. :)

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  5. At first I was concerned about the duck -- but then I reread and saw it was LEAN roast duck and felt better about any potential consequences.

    By comparison I'm thinking about Jakey looking dejectedly at his 5,840th bowl of kibble and saying to himself, "Is that all there is?"

    Despite the rain, and with the help of the Batard Monrachet, you and the font -- and Wilf -- seem to be enjoying the moment!!

    xxx Joan

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  6. It sounds so wonderful! And I love the pictures. Despite the rain, it sounds like paradise!

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  7. What a very dog friendly hotel your staying in! I'm sure they are not like this in the UK? Enjoy your stay. Sue x

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  8. Wilf was, no doubt, only doing his part to honour Sir Paul on his birthday, which was yesterday, you know!

    Oh, I gave you a bit of a shout out on my blog post this morning. Hope that's okay!

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  9. Even with all the rain, that's still one beautiful hotel!

    Good heaven! If we ever went to a hotel where the chef cooked for the girls, we'd be done for! I can't even begin to think about all the repercussions of that!

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  10. beautiful hotel! wilf's meal sounds delicious -- i'd like to be eating that right now! i better not let asa and booker see this post. they might get "ideas". haha.

    the booker man and asa's mama

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  11. I had a peanut butter sandwich for dinner.

    Just saying! :)

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  12. Wet dog and white room furnishings.....disaster waiting to happen there. Wilf's such a good boy to STAY in his wicker basket while everyone's away. Even drenched in rain, it looks a great place to kick back.

    XXXOOO Daisy, Kendra & Bella

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  13. Wilf! You so rock! We told Mum we will be needing roast duck and lemon grass for dinner with a dry red wine and she looked at us, said something under her breath about Wilf's blog being a diaster in the making and then she pulled out some wine - but only for herself! Mum says our economic level is not the same as yours and the only duck we'll be getitng is if one lands on the property and we snag it. The good news is we have a wildlife reserve down the road.


    Love, Dozer, Dottie and Cooper Edwards

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  14. The grounds look lovely, it's too bad about the rain. Rain seems to be everywhere in MS too.

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