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Pétanque and pastries

Hello Everyone

How was your week? We have had a really lovely week. As I mentioned last week, we were off to the village meal last Saturday. An annual event when the village comes together for drinks and a meal and this time some theatre, all outdoors, although the tables are under the cover of a very spacious open-sided barn space. Everyone brings along a starter or a pudding and the Mairie provides drinks and the local chasse (hunt) provides the main course.

This year quite a lot of people came along, we stopped on the way to have a quick aperitif with some friends who were also going. The theatre was performed by a local group, a series of short stories, some highly entertaining. Then to aperitifs and chat where we met people we haven’t met before and caught up with neighbours. We are quite a spread out commune so we don’t often see each other. The starters provided were delicious, salads, cheeses quiches and also savoury cake which is a big thing here and a firm favourite of mine. We were all at long trestle tables, prettily decorated in pink and green tablecloths and flowers. We had planned to sit together but my Mother and son, who sat down before us found themselves surrounded by the actors, leaving no space for us to join them! My son loved it, a great opportunity to meet people and practice his French. I think it was a bit overwhelming for my Mother but she decided to brave it and everyone was very good at trying out their English too. There was much fun and merriment, even singing and dancing. We had such a lovely evening.

The next morning, in spite of a late night, Max and I got up early and headed off to the market at St Antonin. It is holiday time so it is much busier now, trying to get a table for a coffee and much needed chocolatine amande (chocolate and almond pastry) was challenging. We enjoyed live saxophone music while we munched our chocolatines and could really have whiled the whole day away…if only.

We were invited to join the Monday evening village pétanque game this week. Off we duly went slightly nervously, boules balls at the ready (amazingly the house came with a set!) We were 17 so divided up into 4 teams, each team getting either a child or a newby (us) – it spreads the lack of ability I guess! We met some new people and reacquainted ourselves with others we had met on Saturday, as well as those we have known for a while. Luckily the evening was more about fun than serious competition, although at times the discussion over boule positions was quite intense – rulers appeared to check which team was nearest ‘le cochonnet’ (the little ball). A stunning sunset added to the experience, fading light didn’t stop play as there are floodlights at the pétanque area!

Later in the week we had a rendez-vous with a friend who was passing through on the way to a family holiday. She had sent a car seat they needed to our address, so we took the opportunity to plan a day out in Carcassonne. We met up in a motorway aire (rest area) overlooking Carcassone – what a view to enjoy over coffee and chocolatines and a brief catch-up.

Suitably refuelled, they set off for their destination and we went in to Carcassonne. The weather was lovely, we wandered the streets, had lunch in the main square, visited churches and a very unusual garden (a recreation of Mount Calvary and the crucifixion), finishing with an iced coffee while listening to a great band doing their sound check for an evening concert as part of the Carcassonne Festival – wish we had been staying!

On the way home we dropped in to IKEA to pick up an order for an additional linen cupboard, as I have filled the other two. A long story but ‘click and collect’ did not quite work as planned and an hour and a half later we finally left with a complete order rather than the proposed one door version they seemed to want to sell us. The saga included the door being out of stock, another customer saying they had just bought two of the said missing doors in the shop and there were plenty on the shelf, a return and a repurchase! Complicated and frustrating but also highly amusing, especially as they had supplied the hinges for the missing door but no door! You do have to see the positive in these things.

We also got to watch a part of the Women’s Tour de France, which passed close by on a very hot day. A few years ago we watched the men’s race as it came through Cordes sur Ciel. This time it was even closer to us. The section before they passed us was a long steep climb, winding up through the valley from Saint-Martin – Laguépie. Team and sponsor cars came speeding past, many a police motorbike and then they were rounding the corner near us. Very exciting. We watched the end of the stage into Albi on the TV, enjoying the fact that we had seen them in person earlier, but also that we recognised where they were cycling.

We have another guest arriving for my Mother next week, so a weekend of getting ready is in store – hopefully with a bit of pool-time too and maybe a vide grenier on Sunday! Bits of painting have been touched up, rooms cleaned and tidied and plans made. I added a bit of gilding to the table in the guest bedroom and am so pleased with the result. More on this in a renovation post but to tempt you to read that here is the finished product!

Enjoy the next couple of weeks. I would love to hear from you and thank you as ever for reading my musings. I will be back on 11th August with the latest update from our litte corner of the Tarn

A bientôt

Ali xx

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