La Gourmandière, Vannes - A jolly fine place to get engaged

Amuse bouche, battered prawns, clams.

I often wonder if we can get too caught up blogging for others and forget about blogging for ourselves? This site has many facets, it started as a personal recipe site and cooking journal. Over the last 6 and a half years it is expanded to cover reviews, travel, commercial content and also serves as my portfolio. I have also pondered if it is time to ditch the blogger label and have decided that as my freelance career expands I need to blog more, especially blogging more for me.

On the last night of our holiday to Brittany earlier this year, Ed asked me to marry him, and I was delighted to say yes. This happened during a sumptuous meal at La Gourmandière, Vannes where we enjoyed about 10 courses. It is a sign of how out of touch I have become about blogging for me that this happened 3 months ago and I have only just put this post together; consequently I cannot actually remember that much about the meal – of course the proposal completely eclipsed the food.

I do remember the meal was very very good, but of course the food was completely eclipsed by the proposal. Service was excellent, I know I was impressed that our waitress referred to claret (why do the British call wine from Bordeaux claret? As a child I thought that claret was a term for all red wine).

Of course when Ed did ask the question I had to ask him to repeat it, as I was momentarily distracted by the approach of the next course, typifying my obsession with all things edible, although he has known me long enough not to have be unduly surprised by this.

Of the three friends who I texted with a admittedly somewhat cryptic, “You need to buy a hat … !” only one responded with congratulations, the others asked me why they needed a hat!

Ed once told me the story of a friend of his who asked his girlfriend to marry him before a journey back to London, apparently the chap was subject to wedding talk and plans the whole way back, and advised Ed never to propose before a long journey… I reminded him of this at some length on the drive across Brittany and on the ferry.

So this post is for me to remember the evening by, and certainly is not a review, although La Gourmandière comes highly recommended for that romantic special meal, or for a fine dining treat. We ate the € 75 Horizon Gourmand menu.