That is, Groundhog Day.
Roshan
Marius
Tag: Festival
St. Nicolas le chocolat
Our daughter has been so good all year that St. Nicholas found her even at her new address in this tiny hillside village. And brought a treat from our favorite bakery too.
Light the Advent Candle
We didn’t bring to France our ceramic Advent ring (made by wonderful potter Heide Billenstein) so I assembled a makeshift wreath.
Gina
Giving Thanks at La Savie
Thanksgiving is a big event in the United States, but in the rural Dordogne it’s an off-season quiet Thursday night. The three of us were the only patrons on a Thursday evening, off-season, at La Savie. It’s run by a young couple who gave up their city lives to renovate an old farm and give it new life housing both a growing family and a lovely restaurant with a fresh bright imaginative décor and menu. We celebrated quietly and far from home, but with much gratitude for our present temporary one.
Julia
Bounty
For Thanksgiving Day, a poem by Robyn Sarah. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! May this day find you among those you love.
Make much of something small.
The pouring-out of tea,
a drying flower’s shadow on the wall
from last week’s sad bouquet.
A fact: it isn’t summer any more.
Say that December sun
is pitiless, but crystalline
and strikes like a bell.
Say it plays colours like a glockenspiel.
It shows the dust as well,
the elemental sediment
your broom has missed,
and lights each grain of sugar spilled
upon the tabletop, beside
pistachio shells, peel of a clementine.
Slippers and morning papers on the floor,
and wafts of iron heat from rumbling rads,
can this be all? No, look—here comes the cat,
with one ear inside out.
Make much of something small.
—Robyn Sarah
Bridget
Armistice Day
We walked down to the monument aux morts—a memorial to be found in every French city, town, and village—to attend today’s ceremony.
Chestnut and Mushroom Festival Part 3
The second major focus of this festival was the cèpe, a wild mushroom that, if rainfall and temperatures permit, is abundant in this season. As we walk the forests of this region, we have encountered folks bearing baskets and seeking out cèpes. (Since we’re not familiar with wild mushrooms, we haven’t joined in this search, not wanting to wipe out our family by accident, although there are apparently not toxic varieties that greatly resemble this one.) Anyone who wishes can offer their finds and bargain for the best prices at the many Marchés de Cèpes taking place in this season. Professionals, like restaurateurs, usually buy large quantities; but anyone may be a customer. I was tempted, but the minimum purchase is a banquette of three kilos, which is a LOT of mushrooms, and I couldn’t persuade the woman standing next to me to split one.
Chestnut and Mushroom Festival Part 2
Chestnut and Mushroom Festival Part 1
We spent the day in Villefranche-du-Périgord for the Fête de la Chataigne et du Cèpe. You can’t take a country walk right now without stepping crunchily on chestnuts; everywhere they are falling from the trees and it’s really unnecessary to go purchase them. But it’s fun to watch them roasting and eat them hot from a little bag (memories of Rockefeller Center) while wandering around looking at other products: chestnuts preserved in syrup, chestnuts puréed, chestnut wood carved into knife handles and furniture. There are also contests for the biggest, the smallest, and the most beautiful chestnut.
St. Swithin’s Day
Look out the window. Happy St. Swithin’s Day!
