I collected my mother from the Hotel Verchant in the pouring rain today. The weather might have been miserable, but she was perkiness personified.
She has spent a marvellous couple of days there, relaxing in the wonderful welcome of the staff and soaking up the revitalising ambiance of the place. This morning she enjoyed a face massage, emerging détendu de chez détendu. Big hugs to NG for setting that up!
Yesterday the weather was much better so she spent it outside walking amongst the vines, in the listed park and the rose garden. A quiet time was had reading in the pool house which overlooks the pool towards the hotel.
After the massage today, she explored the rest of the spa, including the luscious pool, jacuzzi, and sauna.
On Sunday evening my TWDB and I took her to the Chichoumeille restaurant for a jolly dinner (without dotty dad who was being dotty-dad-sat by saintly NG). There aren't many places open on Sunday night, but this one is, and it is a fabulous address. We started with oysters grilled with foie gras and truffle juice. They were very lightly grilled and the combination was wickedly decadent. This was followed by a lasagne of home-smoked salmon with lobster and a langoustine sauce. We washed it all down with a light but full-bodied red wine from Domaine Henry (at St Georges d'Orques). I'm not a great one for dessert, but my mother had a samoussa of raspberry and cognac cream which was warm, light and absolutely divine (I tried some!).
We stayed very very late, and had a blast.
A well-deserved rest then, for my mother who is now en pleine forme and able to tackle dotty dad with equanimity. For a totally relaxing, revitalizing break, there really is nothing like staying in a heavenly place, and Hotel Verchant really is the tops. I hope I'll be able to send her there again.
Happy Birthday Mother!!
Happy happy birthday, Mary - I bet it's one you will not forget!
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