The big day arrived! We gathered up at Brossac’s center at 8:30 am to say bon jour and have a cup of coffee before our walk; before we knew it Raymond was blowing the whistle letting us know it was time for the walk to begin.

I can not tell you how beautiful the walk was, passing sunflowers and grapevines; up and down the hills filled with chestnuts -which, I discovered were quite scary looking in their natural form- and (as Elizabeth would say) cute cattle.

Halfway into the walk we saw Jean-Michel, Raymond and part of the organization committee with a little table, cheering for us and offering the walkers wine, and our chestnuts!

After the walk, all the volunteers were exhausted and hungry so it was perfect that a nearby village called Rioux Martin had a autumn fête.

When we got there, after taking a look at the local vendors and produce, we realized we had been invited to a real French treat, a 5 meal course, including a lovely squash soup, local cheese and –Denise’s favourite homemade Pate!

Our bellies were happy and off we went to our next appointment: Brossac’s football match against Pons. Pons is a very important player in the region, and unfortunately we had pas de chance (no luck) with our rival and lost. We’ll get them next time!