Isn't autumn wonderful...

The summer crops have been harvested and birds of prey hunt for small rodents

We drove off into deepest countryside last week to buy golf balls. Why? Well, Graham has taken up golf again and decided, with his loss rate, he needs more golf balls.

Thanks to the Angloinfo site (very helpful for anything you need to know about living here) he found an englishman living further south who had a few boxes to sell, so off we went.

You've been warned !

It was a cool hazy morning and eventually we found our way down ever more  narrow country lanes to the little house in the fields. Transaction concluded, 150 golf balls in the car, long chat about why were are all living in France, then back toward civilisation.

By now it was midday, and as everyone in France knows, that means lunch. We had been recommended a bar/restaurant in the nearby town of Issigeac. This is a beautiful little medieval village that holds the best sunday morning market all year round. We have often taken our australian visitors there and it's where we get our supply of vegemite from an englishwoman with a little van where she makes quite good egg and bacon baguettes.

This little piggy goes to all the markets

So into the Auberge du Café de France we went. The restaurant room,off the bar, is charming with stone walls, french country style wooden furniture and wicker light fittings. We were lucky to have a table by the window and in the sunshine. This is one of those country restaurants with a set menu for lunch and two choices for main and dessert.We started with a salad plate, simple and delicious. Then a choice of moules frites or coq au vin. Graham chose the moules cooked in wine and herbs and served with a bowl of excellent fries ( not as common here as one might expect) while I had the chicken. Uncomplicated food and very pleasant. Dessert was a choice of a selection of ice cream boules, or gâteau au poire . We both chose the pear cake - good choice. Served warm from the oven with custard, it was yum. The meal price included the 3 courses, a basket of freshly baked bread, water, a half litre of wine  ( a delicious rosé was our choice), and coffee - total cost €13.00/$A19.00 each. Can't complain.

As we left the village, we almost hit a large goose crossing the road, then we were surprised at the sight of a pair of deer grazing in a field beside the road. No hunters out today.

The countryside was looking at it's best with the sun shining, the leaves turning gold and red, and the grapevines, now that the fruit has been harvested, looking tired. Cépe mushrooms are appearing in the markets now, though expensive at around €20.00 a kilo, and of course, lots of pumpkins.

Decorative gourds at the markets

The first day of november is Toussaint, or All Saints Day. This is a public holiday and families all gather to visit family graves in cemeteries and  family plots all over the countryside. For the past month all sorts of shops , from supermarkets to hardwares, have been selling arrangements of plastic flowers for those who want something longlasting, and chrysanthemum plants for those with more traditional tastes. Unlike in Australia, here the chrysanthemum is the flower for the dead ! So saturday will be a quiet day with families spending it together first at the cemetery and then at home over a long lunch , naturally.

Bonne semaine mes amis