Two months on

Today is the 1st October so we have been open two full months. In that two months we have grown up, we are now confident in what we do, we have learned, in some cases the hard way, better ways of working and how to work together for the first time.
We now know what a diablo is, lemonade and syrup (squash), a monaco, a shandy with grenadine syrup, and even a baby, a small whisky.
We have met many interesting and friendly people, some who live here permanently, some who split their time between the UK and France and many holidaymakers. Our clients are a good mix of French and British but we have served Dutch, Kiwis, Aussies,Germans and belgiums. ( we have also met a couple of right miserable fatherless people but that's for another day)

We have hosted our first wedding reception, had a line dancing group practice in the function room, had the local hunters use the bar as an office for distributing permits,had our first function meal and in three weeks had over 100 people eating fish and chips in the bar on a Monday night.

We have more to come. Next Friday sees the first of our monthly Quiz and Curry night, hosted by an external company and on the 16th we have a free music night, featuring a guitar and keyboard playing duo and at the same time a Hog Roast

What else have we learned?
Nobody coming to visit gets away without helping!!!
That you can wear shorts every day until October (and beyond we hope)
That cash and carry's are more expensive than supermarkets
You never close on time.
The drink drive limit here seems to be a litre of wine (please don't try this)
That sometimes when the phone rings the caller can speak English
Who we kiss, who we shake hands with and who we just say hello to when they enter the bar
That Gilbert thinks our house wine is "too good" so we must buy him plonk instead for his daily 4 glasses
That we have made the right decision both in buying a cafe and in particular buying the Bar Les Tilleuls
That a good business is not built on focus groups, customer surveys, bullshit, lowest prices, or 50% plus 20%, or taking people out of the marketplace. Business is about making your customers welcome, having a smile, having time for them and making them feel at home and comfortable.




A few thank you's if I may indulge

J for putting up with me and "the lists"
Laurie for 5 weeks of decorating and general help to make the house a home
Moira for her help pre opening, thinking of many things that we hadn't
Jan and Terry for their help on opening night, the brocante and the wedding
Terry and Pat for their ten day " working holiday"
Our guest bloggers, Laurie, Moira and Pat
Cliff Brenda and Samantha for being our first customers (thanks for the postcard, I will send an email soon!)and becoming our first cafe friends
Gary, Chris and Richard and the senior team at MFI. Thanks again for your ineptitude. If you hadn't screwed the business I would still be there and would never have found out just what a great time you can have running a cafe in rural France



And onward we go, today as every day except Thursday, we are open from 11am until 10pm
Every day is different, every day we meet new people and learn new things

PS new menu available as of today!!