Mademoiselle Susie-Belle’s arrived in her spiritual home

Susie-Belle’s currently spending 10 days in the home of gastronomy – la belle France. Not just any old corner of France either, but one of the regions most renowned for its cuisine, Perigord, or as the British know it better, the Dordogne.

We drove down Boxing Day, Susie-Belle’s longest journey so far; it’s Renae’s second trip here after she spent 6 weeks enjoying herself here in the summer. Both were little bearded angels in the car, not a twitter from them till we reached Angouleme which is about an hour from our final destination.

The weather’s been cold and bright and as we’re in deepest rural France, what better to do than make the most of the space and walk. We’ve walked miles and intend to do so whenever the weather stays dry (rain’s forecast tomorrow) as we all need to trim or at least hold steady the waistlines whilst enjoying the richness of the cuisine this region offers up – so exercise is on the regime as well as eating like kings.

Yesterday was a day of finishing up leftovers from Christmas that we brought down with us, we all had various bits of turkey: cold meat & chutneys for us, turkey frame & offal for Renae & Susie-Belle. The change in scene, travelling & stress of a new environment has played SusieB’s tummy up a little so today’s a strict ration of well boiled rice, raw egg & goats yoghurt with some prokolin I brought just in case.

But tomorrow, all being well, we have a delicacy in store for the girls, they won’t be getting a chicken wing for breakfast, we picked up something far more exciting in the local supermarket for them to try: Susie-Belle’s first gastronomic trip to France is going to be Christened by her first taste of frogs legs.