Page 27 of A French Country Escape
Alice turned to Penny. ‘Your mum recovered from the shock of you turning up unexpectedly?’
‘Think so. She and Dad got a couple of phone calls this afternoon that diverted attention from me instantly,’ Penny said. ‘The chairman of the church-fund committee rang Dad, asking him to organise a fete in the château grounds sometime this summer. Which he agreed to do.’
‘Growing up, there was always a fete in the château on the first Saturday in August,’ Alice said. ‘Would be good to see the tradition started again. Why are you looking at me like that?’
‘The thing is, as Mum pointed out to Dad after he’d agreed, they want him to sort out everything on their behalf. She says he has to ring them back and tell them no because they’ve never run an event like that in their lives before and have no French contacts. So, before he rings and cancels and the village hate us forever, I thought I’d see if you, as an experienced events plan…’ Penny’s voice trailed away as a wide-eyed Alice looked at her. ‘But I… I guess not. Forget I mentioned It. It was just a thought.’
‘No, it’s fine. I’ll help your dad with the paperwork and the organising. I’ll quite enjoy it. Grand-maman will more than likely have some contacts from the old days.’
‘Are you sure? You looked terrified at the prospect.’
‘Not terrified, but I’ve never planned an event in France before either,’ Alice said. ‘And the other thing is I can’t promiseto still be here for the actual event. I have to start job-hunting at some stage. Depends on whether the traditional Saturday date is chosen or not.’
‘Shall I get Dad to ring you? Or will you wander up and have a chat with him?’
‘I’ll wander up,’ Alice said. ‘I haven’t been up to the château since Grand-maman moved out of her cottage. I’ll enjoy seeing what your parents have done around the place.’
‘You said Ingrid received a phone call too,’ Sasha reminded Penny.
‘This one is definitely going to keep the three of us busy. An intimate wedding reception for thirty people. The woman is coming to the château tomorrow to discuss what they want. Doing a reception is not a problem; the short notice, though, could be. The wedding is just under three weeks away.’
‘Crikey, you’re going to have your work cut out,’ Sasha said. ‘If I can do anything to help, don’t hesitate to ask.’
Both Alice and Colette offered their help, Colette with the proviso that she was at work most days in Quimper.
‘Thanks,’ Penny said. ‘I might take you all up on that. How are you at waiting on tables?’
21
The next morning, Penny and Ingrid sat in the kitchen making a list of every question they needed to ask Madame Richard, and also decided on the answers to questions she was likely to ask.
‘Thirty people isn’t that many,’ Penny said, biting the end of her pencil. ‘Should we offer the orangery as an intimate alternative to the larger rooms here in the château? It could be really romantic.’
‘Not sure the orangery is ready,’ Ingrid said.
‘Not a lot to do to it. I had a quick look after breakfast,’ Penny said. ‘One of the important things we must get straight from the very beginning is the drinks they want served. I did a little research last night and there could be a minor hiccup in that there is no way we can sell alcohol without a licence, and we won’t get one in the next two weeks. You or Dad have to go for a training session before they will grant you one. You have gotchambres d’hôteand restaurant permits, haven’t you?’
Ingrid nodded. ‘Yes. And wedohave an alcohol licence. Dad did his three-day training session a few weeks ago.’
‘He did? That’s brilliant,’ Penny said. ‘Now, have you bought anything catering-related for thechambres d’hôteside of thebusiness and the weddings you plan to do eventually? And what about kitchen equipment?’
‘I did buy crockery, glasses and cutlery for the dining room. Otherwise, I was waiting until we were closer to starting before buying more. I want the crockery and glasses for weddings to be special and I haven’t actually seen any I like yet.’
‘How many place settings did you buy?’
‘Fourteen, because with six bedrooms, we’re never going to have more than twelve guests, and the two extra were for breakages.’
Penny scribbled on the notepad in front of her. ‘Kitchen equipment?’
‘You know what I had in my kitchen at home,’ Ingrid said. ‘But I did think ahead when we were planning the kitchen. We do have two ovens, the fridge is a big new double one, and there is another one and a wine fridge in the utility room, a small convection oven and a large freezer.’
‘Right. We can always hire crockery, glasses and cutlery if we can’t find anything we like in time. Depending on the menu I have to cook, I’ll buy some catering trays and dishes.’
Ingrid sighed. ‘I’m not convinced we’re doing the right thing, agreeing to do this wedding. It’s going to cost us. We’re just not ready.’
‘Wearedoing the right thing. Okay, we’re not going to make a fortune, even if we end up charging fifty euros a head, but it means we’ll be up and ready by the summer.’
‘How much a head?’ Ingrid said, looking at Penny in amazement. ‘I don’t think we can charge that much for a last-minute booking we’re not even ready for.’
