The last week of the main summer holiday period came around very quickly and I think we tried most of the activities that were going on in July and August in the form of brocantes, night food markets, concerts etc. August is an important month for our own village of Tournon d’Agenais with two long-standing traditional events held in quick succession.
On 15th August, a public holiday in France for Assumption, the main square is taken over for the Foire à la Tourtière, a celebration of the local delicacy, a pastry based tart with apple and (hopefully) alcohol of some sort. Variations on this sort of tart seem to exist everywhere in France but of course our village lays claim to it. The tourtières are on sale throughout the day, at what seem to us to be an exorbitant price for a simple tart – individual tarts sell for around 3,50€ and family sized versions cost around 35,00€. We weren’t in the market for buying any, but I did want to go and see a demonstration of how they are made. The mayor’s wife is reputedly the queen of the tourtière and she was one of two experts demonstrating their skills with the wafer thin, filo-type pastry. It was impressive to see a ball of dough transformed into a transparent sheet on the table top and then layers cut by eye to fit the tart pan. Each person has their own preferred method, filling and secret ingredients. We were certainly surprised by the number of people the fair attracted and also discovered a lovely pop-up bar in the wall of the ramparts with views over the countryside.
Just over a week later came La fête des rosières. This festival, with various events taking place over 3 days, is probably akin to a May Queen coronation and dates back to 1845, with the nine parishes of the greater municipality of Tournon involved. The coronation derives its origin from the legacy of a rich landowner of Anthé, the village over the hill behind us. In his will he left a legacy of one thousand francs a year to be used to endow and marry ‘virtuous and deserving girls’. In 1908 a commission was charged with electing the ‘Rosières’ from 16-year-old young girls who had been born in one of the parishes of Tournon d’Agenais including Anthé. This year 4 Rosières were crowned, accompanied by younger ‘crown’ bearers. A church service, based more on tradition than religion, is followed by a procession through the bastide, speeches, lunch and culminates in fireworks at night. Again we were surprised by how many people attended the ceremony – presumably proud family and friends. It’s charming that these seemingly old-fashioned and to many, outdated, traditions endure.
Summer is also the time for music events being held at local vineyards and we attended a lovely evening at the nearby Château Nozières, a vineyard on the western edge of the Cahors wine region. A ‘Repas plateau’ was offered and as one of the uninitiated we weren’t sure what to expect. On arrival we were given. Small wooden tray, like one you might buy a tray of peaches in, with a salad starter, bread, cheese, cake and chocolate and we moved on to a grill area where sausage and chips were added to the tray. We moved on to long tables to eat , with dinner accompanied by the Chateau’s wine. After our meal we moved on to the seating area next to the vines for an excellent concert on Rhythm and blues/ swing music.
Summer also means fruit and vegetables and we’ve now had our first experience of trying to grow some produce and to harvest fruit from the trees that were already on our land. Surprisingly the crops did mainly survive attacks by animals and pests and most problems were caused by my inexperience of how close or far apart to plant things and how much staking and support they need. Despite that we have had gluts of courgettes, tomatoes and various types of plums, so there have been other new skills acquired making chutneys, jam, compote, tarts and sauces, as well as freezing produce where possible. Of course, very one else in the area is doing the same thing, so there seems to be a local ‘currency’ of taking something you’ve made if you go to someone’s home. I don’t think we’ll ever run out of jam here.
These ‘Ramblings’ are SO interesting Claire, we really look forward to their arrival. I do wish you had incorporated them into a book! Is it too late?
Glad you’ve had some success with growing veg etc., that’s probably the one thing I really miss – I couldn’t get Ray interested in doing any planting for the balcony! The only edible thing we have – and this plant was a present from a friend – are kumquats – last year we had over a kilo, this year hardly any, so I’m hoping that it has had a rest and we’ll be back to a larger crop next year.
Had a lovely birthday – we celebrated it on the previous day, a lovely lunch with a couple of friends – he was an Ambassador for various countries and since retirement has been the Chieftain of the Scottish society in the Algarve. We always look forward to the St. Andrew’s Ball in November and, of course, Burns’ Night in January, great fun even if we no longer join the dancing!
Love to you both from us both, Mary
I don’t think there’s a book in it Mary but our ramblings are a very useful reminder of what we’ve done over the past few years, if I ever want to look up anywhere we think we might have visited. Hope the kumquats get productive again and glad to hear you had a good birthday. Our love to you both xx
Another wonderful view into French life Claire, there’s certainly never a dull moment and it is great that you have both embraced it. As ever, great reading and super photos!
Thanks Lynn. There’s certainly no shortage of things to see and do here! xx