Friday 28 October 2011

That's what friends are for

On Monday we were asked by a customer if we knew of any local accommodation. It appears they were working on a renovation and the electrician had turned up from England. He was a "friend" of the owner and had driven down from the UK as a favour.
The favour was returned by being told he could stay in the house being rewired. He duly arrived after a 10 hour journey armed with his sleeping bag to find that the house had no windows, no toilet and no kitchen.
Fortunately we keep business cards of all sorts of businesses in the area and were able to find him a room for the 10 days he is due to be here.
I would imagine he will be spending the time thinking how he can best thank his friend for the experience.

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Salle de Fete

I have mentioned in the past the small size of the village but that it is very much alive. Last week was a fine example with 3 events in the Salle de Fete ( Village Hall)
On Wednesday there was the annual meal for the Over 65's. This is a meal laid on by the village for everyone who lives in the commune and is 65 or over. They have upwards of 50 people at this event and whilst the feedback was that a good time was had by all and that they played cards and games for a good few hours after the meal, neither J or I were invited so we cant say first hand!

Thursday evening, the Salle de Fete was in use again, a man from a local family Bernard Lucquiaud, was giving a talk on Columbia. This was to promote his book, written about his life in Columbia when he working for the Alliance Francais in Columbia. This was attended by about 80 people, 79 of whom enjoyed the anecdotes, the history and general discussion about the South American country normally only related to drugs and coffee.

The eightieth person was yours truly who sat for the hour and a half wishing he was speaking English and understanding only a little.


I was back again Saturday night for the third event of the week, a Music Event organised by Daniel, local poet, sculpture, radio presenter and owner of the Grange de Chanson in the village.





When we arrived at just past 10pm, (we don't close until 10), the evening was in full swing with all 100 or so seats taken. The meal had been served but we had advised them we would be late so were ushered to our seats where our Kir awaited. The meal we had come for was the autumn special, black puddings, cooked apples and chestnuts.
I will not go into detail about how a "boudin" is made, or what parts of the pig are used, suffice to say they are delicious and served with local cooked apples were exceptional. If you haven't tried boudin they differ from UK black pudding in that they are much finer ground and when eaten tend to be more like a mince than a sausage. picture below



The music played until midnight or so, then the remains of the wine were drunk up and it was time to go home whilst the salle de fete was readied for the next weeks usage in the sleepy village of Champniers

Saturday 1 October 2011

Thinking of Chili



Erl made it to Champniers yesterday evening, cycling 130 kms on the final day in 30 degree sunshine.
His journey was 1394 kms in total and a group of friends were here to meet him, even though he arrived earlier than expected

He explained that one of the things that he thought about for the last few days was a bowl of our chili with plenty of tortilla chips and melted cheese so for his meal he ha the biggest bowl of chili we have ever served!!!

well done Erl, superb effort