Catch Up Week in Gourdon

This week was a busy one after our return from Collioure; luckily there was no French class on Wednesday; there was only the matter of finishing the previous week’s homework.

This week’s assignment was to write a composition about either of the following subjects, “My First Date” or “My Perfect Sunday”.

The Professor requested that we write it in both French and English in case he could not follow our thoughts in French.

My story was about “Mon dimanche parfait”…”My Perfect Sunday” …the Sunday we had just spent at the Seaside in Collioure.

I wrote the story and emailed both the French and English versions to the Professor on Thursday.

However, Thursday night I had a sleepless night (and consequently so did Honey) because my internal French and English dictionary was rambling in my thoughts all night.

Friday morning I rewrote the French version to correct my errors.

Oh why do I take this so seriously?

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A visit to the “Laverie” (Laundromat- but this one is outside) was in order to wash the guest room linens for our next expected visitors.  The washing machine in the Gite is not large enough to wash all the bedding.

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We took a break from everything yesterday (Friday) and met some friends in Puy L’ Eveque for lunch.

We went to the Creperie- “Le Pigeonnier” that overlooks the Lot River with beautiful views of the medieval town. The river was running very high and fast due to the recent rains.

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Today is Saturday and you guessed it…”it’s Market Day”.  It was bustling today, no rain and although sun is not shining, the temperature is very pleasant (19C) at 11AM and no wind and not cold.

We replenished the larder with fresh onions, carrots, lettuce, and radishes which were all grown locally in Gourdon.

Also we purchased avocados, tomatoes, potatoes, limes.

Oh yes, I mustn’t forget he couple of celery stalks a necessary ingredient for my bolognaise sauce. Here, celery is in bunches and sold by weight so you can purchase as many or as little stalks as you like.

A stop at the Pasta Van- “Les Pastas Marco” for some fresh pasta noodles for my bolognaise dish was the final stop, before we enjoyed our Café Crèmes at one the Cafés.

I also bought some antipasto …stuffed tomatoes and as always Marco gave us “un cadeau” …a gift, today it was a container of tapenade.

Marco’s homemade foods have never disappointed us.

You will find him at the Markets throughout the region, but he is always at the Saturday market in Gourdon.

This afternoon, we went in search of the “Largest Strawberry Tart in the World” ** at the Strawberry Festival in the nearby village of Nabirat…a Canadian neighbor told us that it was a must see.  We arrived after a short drive on a new route, narrow one lane country roads only to discover the festival is tomorrow in this lovely tiny village.

** Graeme says he will only believe this if it’s in the Guinness World Book of Records. 

From here, we followed a road sign that piqued my interest about “Le Vieille Eglise”, an old, ancient Church.

We didn’t have to travel far when we discovered another quaint hamlet “St. Aubin de Nabirat” with a very old Church with a naïve, the east facing end of the building that contains the altar.

As in many of the French bastides, hamlets, villages and towns, there is always a War Memorial commerating those that lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars. In this tiny hamlet 8 people were lost in each war, probably one from each family in the hamlet.

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 Footnote - the sun was shining and the temp was 21C when we walked to the Cafe at  730PM.