The Petit Four - arguably the best place to go for a coffee and pastry in Cotonou…

Almost the only place, I suppose, apart from in hotels.

Whenever we’ve felt the need to ‘escape’ the madness of West Africa and chill out in a relaxing atmosphere (and all with nice food at a reasonable price) this is where we’ve come. Add comfy sofas, air-conditioning, wireless internet and friendly service and you’ve got a recipe for success, right?

Well, apparently not, as I was distraught to discover the the Petit Four had closed a few weeks ago. There are major roadworks outside, so we figured this was merely a temporary closure. But, no! They’ve now gone and turned it into a nightclub - quel désastre! Here’s what it looked like a few days ago:

It really is the end of an era. The Petit Four was the one place we took all our UK visitors (though not the entire Wood family) and at Christmas it was always nicely decorated. Why did it close? Someone said it wasn’t making enough, which I can understand during the roadworks, but prior to that it always had folk inside. Here’s one more reason why it should have kept going:

Mmmm! Now, if you like their pastries, they are now on sale at the Supermarché du Pont in Haie Vive and at the one across the old bridge, but it’s hardly the same as sitting in an coffee shop that could conceivably be somewhere like Cheltenham and browsing the morning papers over a latte. Shame.

Pourquoi a-t-on fermé le Petit Four? S’il vous plaît - que quelqu’un fasse un effort pour le rouvrir bientôt - ça nous manque trop!

Sorry about that - forgot where I was for a moment!

Other places to chill with a coffee and pastry include:

Le Gerbe d’Or in Ganhi
The Marina Hotel (bit pricey, though)
Le Festival des Glaces - we like the one in town best.

Other News:

* Ruth & Rob have their joint birthday on Monday.
* We’re having a ‘yard sale’ every Thursday to sell off unwanted stuff (and some friends are joining us with their bits too).
* The Harmattan mysteriously returned for a couple of days and was thicker than ever.
* The Land Rover had some steering joints repaired last week, but can no longer navigate sharp left turns as a result!
* The blog is averaging 101.57 daily visits this month, and had a record 145 visits on 15th Feb! Thanks for yours (unless your a robot!!)

That’s all for now…