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<blockquote data-quote="BillB" data-source="post: 2240740" data-attributes="member: 9985"><p>I thought I would treat Jackie for her birthday and take her to one of our favourite restaurants in France at Wimereux. We left on the morning of her birthday, driving through Belgium in the direction of Calais, and then carrying on towards Boulogne. We were too early to check in at the hotel so we stopped off at the outlets just outside the Channel Tunnel terminus. It was an odd thing to be buying but Jackie needed a charging cable for her iPad so we were looking for any shop specializing in electronic appliances.</p><p></p><p>We both had a feeling that we had seen a branch of the French chain, Darty, in the outlets building and were lucky enough to discover that we were right.</p><p></p><p>Finding the store was easy compared to finding recharging cables, but we eventually tracked them down and bought a 3 metre one which means that Jackie can use her iPad from practically any chair, table or armchair in the house while keeping it plugged in and recharging.</p><p></p><p>From there it was back on the motorway to Wimereux where we found the road leading to the hotel was closed off for resurfacing so we had to drive tentatively throught the warren of streets surrounding the hotel, hoping that we would eventually stumble upon our destination. </p><p></p><p>Luck was with us as we only made one wrong turn which I was able to rectify without getting lost or losing time. Many of the streets there are one way so it could have taken us much longer if we went round in ever decreasing circles. In addition to which a storm was howling through the streets, gusting so hard that we could feel it trying to push the car off course.</p><p></p><p>So we pulled up outside the hotel, found a slot in the car park, and went inside to check in. Once in our room we watched the waves breaking on the beach in a fury of spray. The tide was falling but we could see where the waves had flung shingle from the beach onto the promenade. Not many people were about.</p><p></p><p>We unpacked and I decided to set off on my usual daily walk. I like to walk briskly for at least half an hour a day, keeping up my regimen of diet, medication, exercise. Jackie relaxed while I put on my coat and hat and set off. All I can say is that my intentions were good, but the reality of facing a Channel storm quickly tore them to shreds. It was a freezing cold wind, fine spray filled the air and walking on the shingle-strewn promenade was difficult. Within ten minutes I was back in the room, and 3 minutes after that we were ensconced in the bar for a warming drink.</p><p></p><p>Later, back in our room, I stood at the window, watching the waves. Even up here on the 2nd floor we could feel the vibration as the waves smashed onto the beach. Just below the hotel there’s a manmade pool where children can play in the water, even when the tide is out. It’s deep enough at the seaward end to swim, and I was astonished to see a man take the steps down to the beach where he took off his clothes to reveal his swimming trunks. He walked into the water until it was deep enough to swim, then went head first in and began swimming back and forth. I could imagine how cold it must have been, but he kept it up for at least 30 minutes before he came out, dried himself off, dressed and made his way back to the promenade. I was full of admiration. I wouldn’t have dreamed of diving into such cold water without a neoprene diving suit.</p><p></p><p>We watched the waves crashing onto the beach, further and further out as the tide was dropping. Just after 7.30 we went downstairs to the restaurant for dinner. As you probably already know I always have a malt whisky for my apéritif but this night I noticed that there was a French malt whisky on the menu so I thought I’d give it a try - neat, no ice, no water, no Coke or any other pollutant, just whisky. And I was pleasantly surprised. French cognac I’m familiar with, but this was the first time I’d tried French whisky, although I’d tried German whisky and enjoyed it. Ihave a couple of bottles of Japanese whisky in my collection and they are impressive so I may well add French whisky.</p><p></p><p>From the menu we chose the “Menu Gourmand”, choosing as our starter the carpaccio of Scallops, thinly sliced, raw, and served with Jerusalem artichoke, pistachio and truffle. The main course was turbot gratinée, with salsify, orange juice and licorice. This was followed by the cheese board and then dessert.</p><p></p><p>The sommelier chose the wine to accompany each course, and we know each other well now after all our visits so his choice was very much to our taste.</p><p></p><p>The dessert we chose was Biscuit with green tea, black lemon and sorbet. It was completely new to both of us, but boy was it good.</p><p></p><p>That night I lay in bed, thoroughly sated with good food, good wine and a good whisky. Usually I read for a while, but tonight I didn’t. There I lay, listening to the wind whistling around the building and wasn’t even aware that I was drifting off.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BillB, post: 2240740, member: 9985"] I thought I would treat Jackie for her birthday and take her to one of our favourite restaurants in France at Wimereux. We left on the morning of her birthday, driving through Belgium in the direction of Calais, and then carrying on towards Boulogne. We were too early to check in at the hotel so we stopped off at the outlets just outside the Channel Tunnel terminus. It was an odd thing to be buying but Jackie needed a charging cable for her iPad so we were looking for any shop specializing in electronic appliances. We both had a feeling that we had seen a branch of the French chain, Darty, in the outlets building and were lucky enough to discover that we were right. Finding the store was easy compared to finding recharging cables, but we eventually tracked them down and bought a 3 metre one which means that Jackie can use her iPad from practically any chair, table or armchair in the house while keeping it plugged in and recharging. From there it was back on the motorway to Wimereux where we found the road leading to the hotel was closed off for resurfacing so we had to drive tentatively throught the warren of streets surrounding the hotel, hoping that we would eventually stumble upon our destination. Luck was with us as we only made one wrong turn which I was able to rectify without getting lost or losing time. Many of the streets there are one way so it could have taken us much longer if we went round in ever decreasing circles. In addition to which a storm was howling through the streets, gusting so hard that we could feel it trying to push the car off course. So we pulled up outside the hotel, found a slot in the car park, and went inside to check in. Once in our room we watched the waves breaking on the beach in a fury of spray. The tide was falling but we could see where the waves had flung shingle from the beach onto the promenade. Not many people were about. We unpacked and I decided to set off on my usual daily walk. I like to walk briskly for at least half an hour a day, keeping up my regimen of diet, medication, exercise. Jackie relaxed while I put on my coat and hat and set off. All I can say is that my intentions were good, but the reality of facing a Channel storm quickly tore them to shreds. It was a freezing cold wind, fine spray filled the air and walking on the shingle-strewn promenade was difficult. Within ten minutes I was back in the room, and 3 minutes after that we were ensconced in the bar for a warming drink. Later, back in our room, I stood at the window, watching the waves. Even up here on the 2nd floor we could feel the vibration as the waves smashed onto the beach. Just below the hotel there’s a manmade pool where children can play in the water, even when the tide is out. It’s deep enough at the seaward end to swim, and I was astonished to see a man take the steps down to the beach where he took off his clothes to reveal his swimming trunks. He walked into the water until it was deep enough to swim, then went head first in and began swimming back and forth. I could imagine how cold it must have been, but he kept it up for at least 30 minutes before he came out, dried himself off, dressed and made his way back to the promenade. I was full of admiration. I wouldn’t have dreamed of diving into such cold water without a neoprene diving suit. We watched the waves crashing onto the beach, further and further out as the tide was dropping. Just after 7.30 we went downstairs to the restaurant for dinner. As you probably already know I always have a malt whisky for my apéritif but this night I noticed that there was a French malt whisky on the menu so I thought I’d give it a try - neat, no ice, no water, no Coke or any other pollutant, just whisky. And I was pleasantly surprised. French cognac I’m familiar with, but this was the first time I’d tried French whisky, although I’d tried German whisky and enjoyed it. Ihave a couple of bottles of Japanese whisky in my collection and they are impressive so I may well add French whisky. From the menu we chose the “Menu Gourmand”, choosing as our starter the carpaccio of Scallops, thinly sliced, raw, and served with Jerusalem artichoke, pistachio and truffle. The main course was turbot gratinée, with salsify, orange juice and licorice. This was followed by the cheese board and then dessert. The sommelier chose the wine to accompany each course, and we know each other well now after all our visits so his choice was very much to our taste. The dessert we chose was Biscuit with green tea, black lemon and sorbet. It was completely new to both of us, but boy was it good. That night I lay in bed, thoroughly sated with good food, good wine and a good whisky. Usually I read for a while, but tonight I didn’t. There I lay, listening to the wind whistling around the building and wasn’t even aware that I was drifting off. [/QUOTE]
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