Dining at the Mairie
Several months ago, JM suggested to the mayor that the village hold a short story competition. This is something that other villages have done and is a good way of bringing a cultural event to an area. I suggested that the theme for the contest be the Cathars.
The deadline came and went, the short stories were read and graded, the winners chosen and the top 18 stories were gathered together to be printed as a book.
The final step was to hold a ceremony at the town hall with the hope that some of the participants would make their way to the Possum Kingdom to receive their copies of the book and be feted by the village. This grand event took place this past weekend. Luckily, several of the winners were able to come to town, otherwise it would have been a bit sad.
This being France, there was, of course, an aperitif held as the first part of the evening. Noëlle, librarian extraordinaire, friend, and co-sponsor of the contest, organized the whole thing. Drinks and a variety of saucissson were happily consumed by all.
Then we all moved on to Les Cedres, a sort of community hall, for dinner. This is the first time I've participated from beginning to end in the organization of something like this since we've been here. There was no actual kitchen in the hall, so creativity was called for in the meal planning. Although the concept of "potluck" doesn't really seem to exist here, I think this counted as a French version of that.
No real direction in what we were to bring was offered other than telling us to provide something for the first course, so i suppose there was a certain amount of luck involved in not winding up with fifteen varieties of potato salad, for example. The menu turned out to be four varieties of quiche and pizza, fruit salad and green salad, my own contribution of an expermental vegetarian paté made of chestnuts, hard-boiled egg, onions, garlic and various herbs (it really tasted better than that sounds), some truly marvelous ham, cold roast pork with homemade mayonnaise and fig chutney, a superb cheese plate and delicious tiramisu and fresh fruit.
Add to that some excellent wine and you couldn't ask for a better meal.
One of the things that really impressed me in all this was that once the "guests" (the contest winners) had left, those of us from the village all stayed around to help with the cleaning up. In about ten minutes, the entire mess had been sorted, chairs and tables arranged, trash bagged, leftovers accounted for, floors swept and everyone ready to head home. Real cooperation from beginning to end and a great sense of community participation.
Good food, good conversation, good friends. The best way to spend an evening in the country.
Ciao for now.
Randy
The deadline came and went, the short stories were read and graded, the winners chosen and the top 18 stories were gathered together to be printed as a book.
The final step was to hold a ceremony at the town hall with the hope that some of the participants would make their way to the Possum Kingdom to receive their copies of the book and be feted by the village. This grand event took place this past weekend. Luckily, several of the winners were able to come to town, otherwise it would have been a bit sad.
This being France, there was, of course, an aperitif held as the first part of the evening. Noëlle, librarian extraordinaire, friend, and co-sponsor of the contest, organized the whole thing. Drinks and a variety of saucissson were happily consumed by all.
Then we all moved on to Les Cedres, a sort of community hall, for dinner. This is the first time I've participated from beginning to end in the organization of something like this since we've been here. There was no actual kitchen in the hall, so creativity was called for in the meal planning. Although the concept of "potluck" doesn't really seem to exist here, I think this counted as a French version of that.
No real direction in what we were to bring was offered other than telling us to provide something for the first course, so i suppose there was a certain amount of luck involved in not winding up with fifteen varieties of potato salad, for example. The menu turned out to be four varieties of quiche and pizza, fruit salad and green salad, my own contribution of an expermental vegetarian paté made of chestnuts, hard-boiled egg, onions, garlic and various herbs (it really tasted better than that sounds), some truly marvelous ham, cold roast pork with homemade mayonnaise and fig chutney, a superb cheese plate and delicious tiramisu and fresh fruit.
Add to that some excellent wine and you couldn't ask for a better meal.
One of the things that really impressed me in all this was that once the "guests" (the contest winners) had left, those of us from the village all stayed around to help with the cleaning up. In about ten minutes, the entire mess had been sorted, chairs and tables arranged, trash bagged, leftovers accounted for, floors swept and everyone ready to head home. Real cooperation from beginning to end and a great sense of community participation.
Good food, good conversation, good friends. The best way to spend an evening in the country.
Ciao for now.
Randy
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