Friday 24th December: Nantes Pornichet Christmas Eve

The Jegou’s live at La Chapelle sur Erdre on the outskirts of Nantes and we spent this morning going for a walk down to the banks of the Erdre and thereabouts to build up our appetite. Lunch of course was not to be the main meal of the day (just roast pork, apple and potatoes followed by cheese, fruit, etc. etc.) and it only lasted to about 4.00pm when we had to pack up the cars and head off to Pornichet for our Christmas Eve dinner.

Pornichet is about 80 km west of Nantes just to the north of Saint-Nazaire on the Atlantic coast at the mouth of the Loire and is home to Giles, Marie-Christine, Dylan and Meven Barrillot who are close friends of the Jegous and who also joined us for Christmas lunch in Melbourne last year.

On arrival we unpacked and settled into the house that Giles and Marie-Christine had rented for us to stay in while in Pornichet, before sitting down to eat………….Now, Christmas Eve is the most important celebration and the meal we had was to set the standard for the rest of the week. Remember too that all meals came with selected reds, whites and champagnes to match. The following will give you the idea.

Entrée: Crab Pate and Foie Gras, Scallops, prawns and leek casseroles.

Main: Roasted rooster with chestnuts, onion jam and potatoes

Salad and cheeses

Deesert: Yule Buche, honey and chocolate.

Dinner started bout 7.00 and finished bout 2.00, too late for Christmas presents, they had to wait for the next day!!