Last Sunday night we all had a very late night as four concerned
parents sat up and waited for our son to arrive. He had had a rather long day.
A half hour drive to the nearest ferry port, followed by a five hour ferry
crossing with at least seven hours of driving to follow that. All was going
according to plan until, twenty-five kilometres from the end, he was caught up
in a tailback which delayed him by about half an hour. That doesn’t sound like much
but when it comes at the end of a long, lonely and wearying trip, it is more
than enough to make parents worry. However, when he arrived, he was still full
of energy and was delighted to see our other guests whom he hadn’t seen for a number of
years.
The following morning we all went into Eauze to search for a place
called ‘La Maison du Floc’, which quite literally means the House of Floc. Floc
is a sherry-like drink, made from grapes, which is peculiar to this region of
France and we were hoping to be shown some of the secrets of making it, but,
having found the building it turned out to be only a wholesale outlet. They
wouldn’t sell us any of the Floc itself but were happy enough to let us buy
other products. We came away with a number of bottles of ‘Confit de Floc’, a
delicious jelly to spread on bread, biscuits or to accompany cheese or some
meats. Also some sweets rather reminiscent of old fashioned soft-centred boiled
sweets, with a Floc-flavoured filling. Not sure if they would be a good idea
for the kiddies, but adults think they are rather tasty.
When back outside, one of our party was (nosily) peering into some old
barns where he discovered two old horse-drawn hearses. Sadly they were very
neglected and almost hidden by other bits and pieces. We wondered what their history
was.
That afternoon it was warm enough to sit out and have tea on the lawn.
At last!!
Wednesday was an early start as our guests had a long drive ahead of
them and also wanted some time for sight-seeing. Those of us left behind all
had to pack as we were due to go our separate ways the next day. In the end, we
did not make a terribly early start as ‘Jane’ had told us that if we went via
the motorway, our trip would only take about four and a half hours. And she was
right, as usual. We arrived at our friends’ house in the mid-afternoon. It was
our first visit to the house and they took great delight in showing us around
both the house, and the two and a half acre garden. And what a lovely surprise………..they
had decided on a barbecue for dinner. We all talked too much, ate too much and
drank too much and it was really late when we all tottered off to bed.
There was to be no let-up, however, for our digestive systems and we
had been promised a sumptuous midday meal at a restaurant known to our hosts,
in a nearby village. This was preceded by an extensive scenic tour of the area
and we were suitably impressed. Our friends’ house is in the department known
as the Charante, which is far more forested than the Gers, and one can have
quite fantastic thoughts about young knights bounding through the forest on
their noble steeds, hunting deer, boar, rabbit and pheasant.
Our return trip was in fact shorter than getting there but took far
longer, as we opted to return on the alternate route which ambles its way
through numerous villages and towns, each one having, of course, a speed limit
that a sensible person dares not exceed. The scenery was better though, and at
the slower speed, we had the time to look around. Along the way, we came across
one of those sections of road which has high barriers on the outsides. These
are often to prevent cross-winds from affecting the traffic, and sometimes to
prevent traffic noise from affecting residents on each side. Some are just
concrete walls; some are wooden but this one caught my eye. It had been
fashioned to resemble bookshelves, with books stacked haphazardly on them at
intervals along its length.
The rest of the week and weekend was spent replenishing our grocery
cupboard and doing large loads of washing. Luckily there was a brisk wind and
lots of sunshine and by evening my linen cupboard was well stocked again, as
was my grocery cupboard.
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