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.

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

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

Harvest Festival

We are very fortunate that we frequently are given produce from our neighbours in the village and our customers. The 90 year old lady who lives next door keeps us in flowers for the bar, bringing a bunch over every few days. The neighbours on the other side of the bar both have large potages and sometimes drop in excess, tomatoes, courgettes, beetroot, apples, plums, peaches etc.
Recently customers have dropped us in raspberries, plums, grapes,squash,walnuts and chestnuts but the "oddest" gift has to be last week when Les delivered us a puffball.

Les is knowledgeable about mushrooms and what can and can't be eaten. The fact he is still alive and in good health means he must have got it right so far and of course he is a fun guy.
The puffball had been found near his house and was about 25cms across.
He assured us that as long as we ate it when it was still bright white it was fine. We cooked it for breakfast, cut into slices of about 2cms and then flash fried in a pan. Once fried we poured beaten egg into the pan and within a couple of minutes had puff ball omelette. The taste was like a mushroom steak and was excellent.

Regretfully we will not be adding them to the menu as our wholesaler cant supply.

what people do to get to us

One of our "regulars" and neighbour Erl Wilkie is on his way to the bar. He has decided that he should cycle here from Glasgow!!

If you would like to know more please have a look at www.justgiving.com/Erl-Wilkie/

we knew when we met Erl that he was an exceptional man, he is Glaswegian and teetotal!!

Frelons

Frelons, or hornets in english are large wasps. They are about double the size of a normal wasp, with a sting to match. The sting is very painful and if the person shows an allergic reaction has been known to be fatal.
Therefore when the number of frelons around the bar started to increase we were concerned. We found that there was what appeared to be a colony living nesting above the ceiling of the customer toilets. Fortunately none were entering the building but we still needed to get them sorted.
Help was at hand with the wonderfully named Deratisation man (pest controller).
For only €80 he would come and sort out out nest.
He arrived yesterday evening, dressed himself up like Stig's blue cousin and off up onto the roof. Ripping tiles up he was soon surrounded by frelons as he exposed the nest. Flashing the lance of his spray tank like a fencer in full flow, he sprayed the air and frelons crashed to the ground


The nest he broke up and it filled a standard size bucket. An amazing piece of engineering, perfectly formed and almost symmetrical made by the hornets collecting wood and bark which they chew, mix with saliva and then form into the honeycomb shaped nest. It is a work of art and shows what a community can do when working.
together.


The nest contained larvea and also pods from which baby frelons were part emerging. Watching a "birth" was amazing as a "baby" about 3 cms long emerged complete with sting. It seemed only fair to stamp on it!!

My French

I was sitting outside the bar the other morning when a lady came over and started talking, in French. She asked about the bar and I tried to explain that we had been here for a year and that previously the bar had been closed for three years. She seemed to understand and then asked about "Anne". Anne was the previous occupant of the bar who left in unfortunate circumstances after her husband died.
I told the lady that "Desole Anne et mort" . The lady seemed very shocked by the news and went off to find her sister in law and tell her, I thought it a bit of an over reaction considering the lady had left Champniers 3 years ago but who am I to say.
About a quarter of an hour later a local gent, Daniel, arrived to join the ladies for lunch. They sat down and whispered for a couple of minutes. I went over to the table with the menu ( Jeanne was away at the airport dropping the kids off) and Daniel looked at me in a very strange way and said " jeanne - mort? "
Non Non I said, Anne et mort, the vieux commercant, Jeanne est a la areoport

The look of relief was instant. Jeanne was ok. I am glad we got it sorted so quickly. We had seen Daniel on Sunday evening and he must have been shocked that not only had Jeanne died so quickly but that the bar was still open and I was outside reading a book as if nothing had happened.

I am sure that the lady said "Anne" and not "Jeanne" but who knows. I think in future I will stick to desole je ne parle pas francais