Breakfast was fantastic! There was a selection of cereals and muesli, freshly baked compote's made from home grown produce, honey from their own bees plus the usual delicious baguette and croissant. It almost seems boring to keep saying how good our breakfasts are!!

The rest of our day was very quiet as the party wasn't scheduled to start until 7pm.

We made the best of our first lazy day by doing our nails (even Andy!!), updating our blog, backing up photos and having a little lay down. It was eventually time to get ready for the evening celebrations.

Having frocked up for the first time since arriving In France we took some photos before leaving to meet the chartered party bus in Confolens. Although warm it was raining when we arrived so not wanting to get our newly straightened hair wet we opted to sit tight in the car and follow the bus to "Uncle Rob's" Chateaux in Millac where he party was being held.

We made our way through some of the narrowest and most isolated country roads we have seen so far and wondered where we would end up. Eventually the bus slowed and attempted to make a sharp turn down a narrow dirt road, it was never going to make and in the end resorted to reversing down the entire 500 meter driveway to the chateaux.

We were greeted warmly by the 80 odd cousins, aunties, uncles and Perth friends that had made the trip over for Barry's 60th.

The estate was magnificent! Nestled on the banks of the La Vienne river the property had been a place of refuge for members of the Resistance in WWII and their etched names were still visible on the old stone wall that enclosed the property. Many civilian and resistance casualties had been buried on the estate and the previous owner had even chosen it as the last resting place for their own son who had perished in the Vietnam war. A solemnly beautiful crypt marking the place.

On arrival it was obvious we were totally over dressed. We didn't care though - in our minds we had bought some pizzaz to an otherwise casual affair. We saw the error of our ways however when the sun went down, the wind came up and the temperature dropped!!

One kind guest "Marja" (pronounced Moya) took pity on us and emptied her car of every conceivable rug to keep us warm. She and her sister in law "Hanneke" (pronounced Hunnica) proved to be the most delightful people and entertained us all night with tales of their amazingly cosmopolitan lives. We were invited to Marja and her husband Wil's property the following day and we were very excited to see where a chic woman like Marja would choose to live in this rural setting.

The party was complete with gorgeous canapés, bar staff offering a great selection of local wines, a pig on a spit, copious salads, baguettes, profiteroles for dessert and a 6 piece band (I for one was very impressed with their repertoire of covers which include sex pistols, 4 Non Blondes & Kings of Leon!)

Having met and talked to lots of interesting people we finally said our goodbyes (which take a long time here due to all the cheek kissing!) and left around 12.30 am. We wanted to save some energy for our visit to Marja's country home and Barry's cool down party at his house in Confolens later the next day.