B&B Bliss

We've hosted four different clients (2 French parties, 1 Italian & 1 British), at the B&B so far. Each one has made me a little more comfortable and consequently has received a little better service. I supposed I should feel poorly for that first French couple, but they didn't seem to care.

The most recent reservation when off swimmingly. Of course, the fact they were from London and had three children may have helped a tad bit. This lovely family of five were touring the Loire Valley by bicycle. They had arrangements with the bike-rental company for their luggage to be taken by delivery service to each subsequent overnight stop along their way. They've traveled something like 15-20km a day with a 12, 10 and 6 year old on bikes! I was seriously impressed given our own fear of being run down while simply crossing our street to get the car port. But of course, now that I know another 6 yr old can hack it, I am ready to do our own touring via velo.

Anyway, this family helped me stay mindful of why I wanted to try out this whole B&B management thing. They got in (by bike, mind you) around 5pm and straight away wanted to know about nearby restaurants. I tried to keep a straight face as I considered how this question would sound to someone like my friends Peg & Stacy, who live in East Nowheresville, NH (aka Strafford). However, there actually is a restaurant just down the road in the center of Cravant les Coteaux (think "downtown" Melvin Village or Lee, NH to get the idea), but their hours are like eeeeverybody else's; "open when we feel like it." Apparently they didn't.

I felt poorly for these folks, car-less, tired from having already biked 15+ kilometers, hungry, and unrealistically hoping to return home before dark. So I did what you would expect: invited them for dinner. They hesitatingly agreed, "But we're five. That's so many. Are you sure you'll have enough?" I insisted it wasn't a problem and then rushed to the kitchen to lay hands on the beef stew ingredients and pray for what I like to call a "loaves & fishes anointing." It so worked. It always does. We had such a lovely evening with enough leftovers for another meal. Bo, Vivi & the little boy played "football" until it was too dark to see the ball, while the grown-ups sat sipping wine and chatting away like old friends.

After two days of the kids playing together every chance they got and lovely conversation sprinkled throughout, at the end of their visit we promised should we make it to London this year (which we so hope to do) we would let them know so we can be sure to visit together again.

And that it precisely why I think running a B&B is totally the coolest. (The cool factor certainly has NOTHING to do ironing sheets.)