We'd full to the rafters, which means that we have nine guests in the house. Having had a tidal wave of Aussies, Kiwis and Americans, we're now full up with lovely English. Two have gone off to Sete and the coast, two are taking a walk in the National Park of the Haut Languedoc, two exhausted new arrivals are basking by the pool and two more are strolling round Pezenas having been to the market this morning. There's another guest lolling somewhere reading a book. All in all it's very peaceful, so I'm off to Pezenas this afternoon for a very long-awaited haircut. Oh, the cut and thrust of it all.

Yesterday evening the guests and I went up to the goat farm at Mas Rolland to stroke the young goats and to buy lots of wonderful cheeses. So this morning, at breakfast, along with all the usual fruit, ham, eggs and croissants, we had fig and chestnut bread slathered with two-day-old goats cheese, drizzled with acacia honey and topped with tiny garriguette strawberries. Too yummy for words.

On the subject of food, the new watering system in the vineyard vegetable garden is working out a treat. So for the first time we actually have vegetables this summer. In the past it's always been way too difficult to keep them watered, so we've just filled up the garden in the winter and abandoned it each summer. Not any more. I have fine spuds, courgettes, chillies and onions a-plenty. The yellow banana and red and black cherry tomatoes and peppers are almost ready and I have recently planted haricot and stripey red and white beans which are doing famously. Only the aubergines look pretty feeble. God knows why. We've been scoffing so many lettuces that Ali can barely face another. Three types of basil keep us endlessly entertained at lunchtime with experiments to find the best tomatoes and mozzarella for a tricoloré salad. It's a hard life.

 

 

We don't have enough time to keep our vineyard meticulously tidy, in fact it's all rather a pickle. But it is a magical place to take a walk in the early evening. We frequently take guests up with a bottle of wine, to take a stroll followed by an aperitif.

Just recently we took the lovely Allan and Jill from Western Australia, with a bottle of fizz, to celebrate Allan's birthday. We sat on the Caux seat, hot from the day's sunshine, and toasted a very jolly stay.

 

 

 

Bananas are the least favourite fruit
Most people aim to come to breakfast at 9am
Half the world hates Marmite
Only one person in the last three years has asked for hot chocolate at breakfast
New Zealanders and Canadians are the earliest risers
Toffs ask for PG Tips
Everyone prefers a UV-treated pool
Only one person in 8 years has complained about the light coming in through a small window in their bedroom
Only one person in 8 years has asked for their bed to be tilted up backwards by 3 inches
Only one couple got caught  in a compromising position in the garden - then wrote us a very bad review on TripAdvisor.
Our visitor's book is nearly full
Hairs are the bane of a B&B keeper's life
On average, three loo seats and four shower heads get broken each year
About half of our guests arrive at the time that they say they will
We've made over 400 restaurant reservations this season
More people like rosé wine as an apéritif than any other drink
95% of our guests can swim
Women have bigger suitcases than men
People bring a lot more books than they end up reading
Apricot jam is the favourite
One person complained that the bath towels were too heavy to lift
The vast majority of guests read the room notes
The first question is always 'So how long have you lived here?'
No-one has ever forgotten the gate code - which we change frequently
Most people want to walk to a restaurant on their first night
Only women in their 30s order champagne for their room
Most guests say they would like to have a dog, but can't because it is a tie
Men in their 60s who bring super-smart cars spend their entire holiday worrying that someone will attack them
Most couples seem to get on extremely well
Only one person has ever said 'So when are you going to replace the shutters?'
The worst thing about running a B&B is that you waste hours, days and weeks waiting

The best thing is that amazing people turn up at your gate

Finally, the worst question any guest can ask is 'So when do you think you'll finish the renovations?' - We think we have.

PS Thanks to the lovely Sara MacKenzie in New York for the photo at the top and for her kind blog about her stay at Le Couvent, Roujan

 

 

Yesterday we picked the white grapes. We don't have the right equipment to make white wine - you need a method of chilling the grapes quickly and as we have so few it simply isn't worth the outlay.




So we picked our Muscat petit grain, along with a few black and white eating grapes,  just for juice.  Ali & I were joined by four of our lovely guests; Nicolette, Frances, Kristin & Justin. (For one moment this morning we had Justin Gosling and Justin Swan in the house.)

 

 The pre-squish footwash

 

 De-stemming the grapes

 

Waiting to squish

 

 Treading the grapes

 

 The pre-sieved gloop

 

 Bottled

After removing the stems and treading the grapes we ended up with about 50 litres of juice which we gave to our B&B guests at breakfast and to any of our pals who'd take some. It's absolutely delicious, but only lasts a few days in the fridge before it would start to ferment. So we glug it merrily while it's around. Last night we had it with champagne. Nicky named the cocktail a Le Couvent Grappellini.

 

It's been so hot that guests have been spending whole languorous days by the pool. I suspect that no-one wants me there gardening while they're trying to relax, so the garden is looking rather relaxed itself.

 

Recently lovely Kate-The-Human-Fish and her kind husband Darren came to stay. I was apologising for the fact that the garden looks a tad dishevelled. Today professional gardener Kate sent me this fab photo, with the reassuring words "I wanted to send this photo of the garden by the pool because you sounded so worried about how it looks. This is how it looks to guests - gorgeous! So stop worrying!"

You see what I mean? People who come to stay at Le Couvent are just So Very Lovely.

Thank you Kate.