Sunday lunch in the French countryside

Thanks to the connections of some of our new friends, we were invited to a ‘Sunday Lunch’ in the countryside just out of Dijon. Our offer to take a dessert was accepted and Catherine bravely decided to make a ‘Kiwi Pav’. I say bravely because the matching ingredients are hard to find and our gas oven lost all its temperature markings a long time ago. (The first pavlova C made was not quite good enough to take but fortunately two US teenagers on a nearby boa thought it was just great…’You guys are amazing!’ was their comment. Mind you we had given the kind and generous people on their boat hot scones for breakfast as well)

The two of us along with Francois and Judith from Silver Fern (the Aussie boat next door!) were picked up at the quayside at 11.30am on a grey and drizzly Sunday by Christian, our mutual boat insurance agent. We were whisked away into the verdant French countryside. Although there has been a lot of rain lately, there is no evidence of flooding, with everything being so flat, there is no catchment area as such to funnel water downstream with perhaps unfortunate consequences.

On arrival we had to ring a bell at the gated wall and wait to be admitted and greeted by our hosts, Marie-Jo and Therese, as well as to gain the approval of the family dog, a very French breed we had never seen before but which we admired very much. The house is more than three hundred years old and was originally three two-storey cottages. They have been joined together by the current owners to make an amazing maison which has been restored faithfully in the appropriate manner. This restoration has taken seventeen years so far and there are many more years of work to come to complete this most ambitious and delightful project. We were permitted the merest glimpse of a stunning garden and were told we could look at that later when the weather was expected to improve.

We were ushered into what we would call a living room with a selection of comfortable chairs in front of a huge log fire which was keeping the very large area, complete with the original stone floor, pleasantly warm. This space flowed into the dining area and the ‘authentic’ county kitchen was off that. Seven of us sat around chatted, ate nibbles and the five wine drinkers enjoyed two bottles of Tattinger which went down remarkably easily. The first course was a Salade Composé e with greens, seafood and grapefruit accompanied by a dressing of fromage blanc, chive and lemon, and, of course, an appropriate wine. The next course was escargots on tasty garlic bread followed by beef bourguignon and new potatoes, alos accompanied by some stunning Burgundy from the cellar. Then came the cheese board with many types of cheeses including a wonderful Roquefort… (and more wine!) Miam! Then of course the dessert which included the pavlova covered with kiwifruit and a small jug of raspberry coulis. This was followed by coffee, more drinks and the three French people present enjoyed a post prandial cigar.

The wander around the garden was a complete and utter joy. More than fifty variety of roses were flowering with gay abandon and were suitably shown off with a variety of other shrubs and flowers. The vegetable garden is just beginning to do its thing and the garden is bordered by a crystal clear, spring fed stream complete with an enticing swimming hole and trout which can be fished. We then were given a tour of the house and its many out buildings. As much as possible is being saved and used from the original structure - as well as from Marie-Jo and Therese’s families’ attics, from second-hand shops and from the rubbish dump. Everything ‘new’ is sympathetic to the historical nature of the house. There is plenty of room for the owners to spread out and use the rooms for their special interests, music, art and all manner of creative pursuits including an entertainment and computer room. We were invited to check our e-mail which was much appreciated. We sat back and viewed a slide show of the restoration progress to date. At the beginning there were many years of living in very difficult conditions.

When we went downstairs ready to return to our boats, we saw the table had been set and we were invited to sit down and eat supper. We all assured our hosts we could not eat a thing and were instructed to go back upstairs and watch a short movie. The next time we went downstairs it was 9pm and we were still expected to sit down and eat. With some embarrassment we had to say we were still full from lunch and couldn’t possibly eat a thing. Reluctantly our hosts let us go but not without a big armful of beautiful flowers from the garden which are making our boat smell quite lovely. It was well after 9.30pm by the time we got back to the quayside after a most memorable and thoroughly enjoyable day.

Jeanette