We have just finished Franco –British
Week here in Ste Foy. In typical french fashion it actually lasted two weeks.
Never rush a good thing. Many of the local shops and cafes are draped with
french and english flags to show their support of the week ( and maybe attract
a few tourists to pop in ??).
First the art exhibition. Last week at a
lunch we met an english landscape painter who invited us to his exhibition
opening on Tuesday night. There was another artist and a sculptress, both
german, sharing the exhibition room opposite the mairie. It was a busy night
with lots of food and drink ( of course) and we were introduced to more brits,
germans and even french. Here’s the link to Peter’s website….
Then on Monday we went on a garden tour
at Les Jardins de Sardy conducted by the owner, Frederic Imbs, who is french
but educated in England. Afterward he entertained us with lunch on the terrace
overlooking the gardens and the Dordogne valley. The house is on the hillside
and the gardens were first set out by the Italian wife of the owner a few
hundred years ago, in the Italian style. Frederic’s family bought the property
in 1956 as a ruin and rebuilt the house and relandscaped the gardens. They are
not as large now, but very pretty with the orchard below and a stand of
hornbeam trees on the plateau above. Lunch
was a simple french buffet affair of only four courses with coffee and as much
bread and wine as you wanted. A pleasant way to spend an afternoon with friends.
On Wednesday night we were persuaded to
join in a quiz night held at a local community hall. Tables were made up of
four french speakers and four english speakers who formed a team. Questions
were provided in both french and english to make it easier and were about the
history and geography of both countries. There were eleven tables altogether so
quite a good turnout and there was, of course, a three course meal served
during interval, with lots of wine available. As the only australians there we
didn’t expect to be able to answer too many questions successfully, but, who
would have guessed but our team WON ! And the prize – a bottle of good local
wine each, naturally. It gave us the opportunity to meet another english couple who live in a village nearby,
and a french family including their two teenage daughters who were all charming
and spoke as much english as we do french but we all got along really easily.
 |
| The winning team ! |
Decided against the “ darts and fish
& chips” night on Friday, and the
“decorate a hat ( french boater or English bowler)" competition at the pique-nique today.
Our friends , Jane and Richard, came to
lunch on Saturday before they head off to Amsterdam for the launch of Jane’s
new book “ An Army of Judiths” about an
historical event in Holland during the 16th century. It sounds like a great read. Check it out on
her website …….
http://www.cjunderwood.com/
Richard has finished quite a few jobs,
big and small, around the house including our dressing room, at last. So great
to be able to unpack the boxes of clothes and discover just what it was that we
packed all those months ago.
Our painter, David, is still hard at work
stripping that french wallpaper and filling cracks and holes . As he doesn’t
speak french he asked us to supply the
paint , and so we had an interesting time at the BRICO (DYI hardware) getting them to tint the paint to the colour
we had finally agreed on. We had chosen a Dulux colour as that is the paint we
are using ( everyone says that french paint is rubbish) , but the store only
had the recipe for a french brand,naturellement,
so we had to find the closest match. Lots of trop sombre or trop claire or
presque later and finally une résolution. Then the tinting of 4 x
12 litre cans and into the mixing cabinet while three people wait in line
behind us for attention. It didn’t help that we did this between 12.00 and 2.00
– that’s right LUNCH TIME – when almost every other business in France is
closed, except this one. The poor harassed guy who served us took off for lunch
as soon as we were out of the door – with a friendly au revoir, of course. He didn’t speak any english so this was all
achieved with our minimal french skills ! The next time you go to Bunnings and
have to explain what you are looking for, think about trying it in a foreign
language and see how much help you get .
Not father’s day here, but we did go out
for lunch to Le Pressoir at St Meard de Gurcon. Enjoyed a lovely lunch while sitting
in the courtyard sipping rosé and watching the clouds sail by. ( 3 courses for
€21.00 each !)
We are noticing the end of summer now.
While the days are still beautiful and warm it is getting cooler at night and
the mornings are quite crisp. We have had a few early morning fogs in the river
valley already , the summer clothes and outdoor furniture are disappearing from
the shops and the hunting clothes and gun stalls ( yes guns) are appearing at
the markets. I’ve already seen big orange pumpkins, and yellow courgettes and
even a few mushrooms sneaking onto the vegetable stalls. We picked the last of
the mirabelles ( 2.5 kgs) yesterday so I will be making lots of jam tomorrow
and we have discovered that we have a small apple tree. Didn’t notice it before
as it was overshadowed by other trees, but now we can see some small green
fruit. We are still discussing the plan for the potager and we are applying the
french attitude – nothing worthwhile should be rushed.
À bientôt mes amis
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