September seems to be a busy month in this area with lots of local events every weekend, presumably scheduled to take advantage of locals being back from their holidays and hopeful of mild September weather.
Our first full weekend here was a busy one with a variety of events. Our village was hosting a 2 day ‘Foire aux Vins’ with vineyards from the locality and further afield showcasing their wines as well as local produce ranging from jams, charcuterie, cheeses to truffle honey from our near neighbour. We read that, in the past, the village has hosted a brocante/ vide grenier event but seems to want to take advantage of its recently acquired ‘Un des Plus beaux Villages’ status by staging more upmarket events, hence the wine fair. We headed up to the bastide, paid 3 euros for an engraved wine glass and were then free to taste as many wines as we wanted. We sampled some of the local wines, spoke with the vignerons, purchased a few and will return to their vineyards to stock up at some stage. We saw the mayor giving a speech to launch the fair and, when he had finished, we took the opportunity to introduce ourselves as we are near neighbours. He was very charming and welcoming and introduced us to his wife and children. The extreme heat probably kept visitor numbers down a bit for their inaugural event so it will be interesting to see if it stays on the calendar.
In the evening we attended a performance of 3 short comedy plays by the local bi-lingual theatre group – these performances were actually all in English. It was a fun evening and we met a few more expats including a couple of guys who are also interested in classic vehicles and motorcycles. One of them contacted Joe a few days later and rode out to the house on his classic Royal Enfield. Joe and he hope to do some rides together at some stage.
For the Sunday we had booked up some while ago for a ‘Balade Gourmande’ through the vineyards along the Lot river. We knew of the event after our travels in the area over the last couple of years when we took part in a wine harvest event. On another blisteringly hot day we met at the wine co-operative – Vinovalie – for a pre-walk coffee and to collect our wine glasses, carried on a cord around our necks, tasting notes and the vouchers for the different courses of the meal we would be served en route.
We set off, serenaded by local musicians, for the first 2 kilometre stretch through the vines which, we had already been advised, had suffered ‘une catastrophe’ earlier in the season when they were attacked by mildew as a result of a wet spring. The mildew affects the grape yield and taste of the wines, worrying for the vigneron when harvest is due in the next week or so. We’ve noted before that there seem to be so many climatic conditions that affect vines and it’s a wonder anyone makes money from wine production.We reached a shaded riverside location where we were served our starter and had an opportunity to taste three different wines. The musicians had raced ahead to meet us and it didn’t take long for them to be up on the trestle tables.
We set off again for another 2 kilometres which gave us views of the imposing Chateau de Cayx, the summer residence of the Danish royal family, as well as a working vineyard. We arrived at another shady riverside stop for our main course, with 3 more wines to taste and a different and larger band ready to serenade our arrival.
A final 3 kilometres in the hottest part of the afternoon led us back to the co-operative and the air-conditioned comfort of the area where they store their barrels of wine. Here, with musical accompaniment from yet another musician, we were served cheese and dessert with three more wines. We also had the opportunity to buy some of the wines we had enjoyed most. A great experience and although the walk was not exactly strenuous, it felt more exhausting due to the heat and perhaps the effects of the wine.
Speaking of warm weather, our Canadian neighbour kindly offered us the use of her swimming pool the evening after our move, as she was out and guessed we would be hot from unpacking. We took her up on the offer and enjoyed a refreshing dip with a glorious view of the bastide. We’ll probably investigate putting in a pool ourselves, so it may well have been useful to meet Monsieur Le Maire….