Sunday walk and Lunch French style

Sunday walk and Lunch French style for the LG volunteers

Sunday the 18th May 2014 and It was an early start and a bright and warm one. We had been invited to join the Brossac Art Association on a walk to the blue lake round Touverac, with a guide. This is an old clay quarry and regenerating forest where a number of small lakes have formed. The minerals give the lake waters a beautiful soft blue colour. It is possible to swim in the lakes but with soft, clingy clay underfoot, it would be a brave soul to take a dip.

One of many of the Blue lakes in the Charente

This walk took about two hours and we were glad for a drink of water at the finish. We drove then to an old tile works where the Mayor of Tatre, whose ancestors worked there, explained the working and firing of the clay. The works date back to the seventeen hundreds and we came away with a better understanding of just how hard and long his ancestors had to work.

It was then off to Chez Renaud for a lunch at the home of Monique (the pharmacist in Brossac); a lunch, like no other I have experienced. Firstly, tables were laid with bright tablecloths under a shady veranda, cutlery, glasses, bottles of wine and water placed. From memory there were about 20 of us, and offered, firstly, what I thought was an orangeade but turned out to be something stronger. Monique’s husband was meanwhile firing up the barbeque. We then proceeded to enjoy aperitives, entrees, large portions of steak and beans, cheese and salad, a delicious dessert which just melted in the mouth, coffee and cognac.

All the time bottles of a variety of wines appeared and somehow at the end of the meal, our table, seating five, had acquired eight bottles.

Sunday Lunch in France can be such an event

Naturally, as the afternoon progressed (three hours on) the conversations and laughter made the meal one of the most enjoyable I have ever experienced. The French really know how to appreciate food, that’s for sure. A visit to a cognac museum was included in the programme but Paul, Tom and I made for home and a rest. Dinner that night was a sandwich for me and a pizza and ice cream at the local Brossac bar for the other two. I just went long for the walk.