speaking in tongues

This morning we went to buy wine for Christmas. We had to endure a drive through frosty deserted roads, under clear blue skies, through beautiful countryside and picturesque villages to the Gaillac vineyards . We had to wait while a call was made to the men in the vineyard for someone to come and open up the "cave" but we stocked up on wine and got a free bottle and complimented on our French speaking skills. On our way back we were counting our blessings along with the bottles!

The main difficulty with  living in foreign parts is of course that these foreigners insist on speaking a different language to the mother tongue. It is also one of the advantages though as learning a new language gives our aging brain cells constant exercise and challenge.

Every compliment I get on my French skills delights me and boosts my confidence. On the other hand our friend's daughter, 9 year old Elodie, keeps me from being smug  as she delights in correcting me and giggling at my pronunciation so I know I've a long way to go! I am at a dangerous stage too - often French people see that I understand something and hear me respond then assume I am fluent and off they go at full pelt leaving me listening to what could be outer Mongolian for all that I understand. Then there are the times I set off on a discourse only to find I have dug myself into a linguistic hole which can end in nothing but a total collapse into blithering idiot.

In November we organised a French/English evening along the lines of a celidh. TC managed to enlist musicians to play in a multinational "All stars celidh band" and I called traditional English and French dances in French and English to an audience of English, Dutch and French. It certainly was the biggest linguistic challenge for me  to date but I survived, the dancing was great fun and the musicians left asking when they could play together again.

I must have passed some sort of threshold though. During our last visit to England in November I found myself explaining how to use the coffee machine in a cafe to the customer ahead of me - she was somewhat bemused - I was speaking in French!

a nouveau excuse for a party

Need an excuse for a party?

Its that time again - the vin nouveau is here! Around these parts there is plenty of Beaujolais nouveau to be sampled but also the Gaillac primeur.While the wines may not be the best you've ever tasted its still a great excuse for a party and as usual Monique's soirée at the Auberge Bourdie at Bach was THE place to be on the third Thursday in November.

TC is now a regular guest musician at the party (even got a personal invite this year when we went for lunch at the restaurant recently) so played his concertina to much applause as always - and our
wine was free!

Restaurant owner Monique ( standing left of doorway)
always comes out of the kitchen to listen

There were several guest spots this year to support Sylvie Nauges ( seen sitting at the back) and her band, including a traditional cabrette player ( bit like the Northumbrian pipes) so there was lots of variety in the entertainment. Lots of dancing too - in tiny gaps between the tables - everything from waltzes to mazurkas and bourées. Its always fun watching the staff negotiating the throng as they balance platters and bowls of food on their way to the tables and, towards the end of the evening, trays heaped with empty glasses returning to the kitchen.

Last night another soirée - this time a village event in Promilhanes, a nearby village where friends of ours are occasional residents. The salle de fêtes was packed well before the start of the meal and we were glad we had learnt our lesson from last year and arrived in good time to choose where we wanted to sit. The menu was the same as last year too - simple fare with as much vin nouveau as you could drink. At least this year we knew what to expect from "duck bones" - exactly what it says! Great piles of duck carcasses in the middle of the table and literally up for grabs. Its a whole new take on finger food and it pays to know which bones are likely to have the best pickings but you have to be quick. Not a bad idea to fill up on the soup beforehand too!

So maybe not the height of gastronomy  but a fun evening in great company and a true insight into life in the French countryside.

Unfortunately the entertainment was something of a let down - the cacophony of a  karaoke sound system struggling to be heard over the noise of chatter in a hall with terrible acoustics drove us (and many others) away before coffee arrived but tant pis we enjoyed a coffee just across the road - thanks Maggie and Bill!

a universal language

Another milestone this week - two years since we moved into Ségala - and what a wonderful two years it has been. In some ways it seems much longer as we feel so much at home here and in other ways the time is just flying by (hence no blog since April!).

We had a really busy summer with visitors arriving constantly as the previous ones left. It's great having visitors, we love seeing people and sharing this fabulous corner of France with them but it does cause a significant problem - my French speaking and listening skills went into dormant mode! After they all left and the rentrée commenced  I felt I had taken more than several steps back when I started to try my French conversation skills again with our French friends at our dance workshops.

Although we do know some other English people in the area most of our socialising is with French speaking people who we have met through our interest in traditional music and dancing. I have TC to thank  as his musicianship ( he is an accomplished concertina, guitar, piano player) has opened doors to some superb soirees and fun occasions throughout the year with people of all ages and backgrounds sharing common interests.  TC has also enjoyed the challenge of learning a new instrument the diatonic accordion ( melodeon to us English) which he is now confident to play in public! Last week we went to lunch at the Auberge Lou Bourdie and how thrilled was he when Monique invited him personally to play at the vin nouveau soiree again!

Luckily our French friends are very patient with me as I massacre their language and hopefully over the coming months I will make some progress again - in the meantime at least we can play music and/or dance - a universal language.

April - end of year bal for los dancaires

First time out for the accordion

Bals sous les Halles was a brilliant series of outdoor traditional dances in various villages with market "halles" over the summer

Les musicians de Salles à Milhars

The musicians were pleased to be asked back Le Troubadour for the annual occitan festival in Laguepie

The boy's toy

"The truest expression of a people is in its dances and its music. Bodies never lie"

Agnes De Mille 

half a year on

This week marks six months of us living here at Ségala - time to take a breath and pinch ourselves to check its all for real!

We have had an incredibly busy six months and become regulars at the local Mr Bricolage as we worked on making Ségala our own. We were lucky that apart from the new ceiling beam and bedroom floor the major works on the house were done by the previous owners who created a lovely home out of a basic barn building. All we have had to do is work on changing things like the lighting and kitchen to put our own touches.




The garden too was beautiful and well stocked with plants which it has been fun to watch springing into life with the warmer weather. I have moved many of them and with each small change the garden feels more like mine. The greenhouse was an unexpected bonus and it is currently crammed with plants and seedlings ready for planting out.








Winter in this area was a new experience - we had been here in November and February for short visits but not for extended periods. It turned out to be more lively than I had expected - clubs etc actually mostly run in the winter months ( our dancing classes for instance will finish this week for the summer)- there were lots of dances to go to and we have met lots of people and generally led a more sociable life than usual. We had to get used to being without central heating and a stone house can take some warming up but log fires and efficient radiators and gas stoves have kept us cosy. Despite some cold spells, frost and snow its not been as cold as we are used to and there have even been occasional lunches in the garden. Its also been blissfully short - here we are at the start of April and it feels like summer already.

Best of all has been our success in getting involved with traditional music and dancing in the area - TC has been able to extend his repetoire and we have met lots of people with common interests which helps to reduce any language barrier.

We love Villefranche which is our nearest town ( only 20 minutes drive away and so different from the traffic and hassle of the drive through Longton and Fenton! ) and visit its brilliant market every Thursday. Today we drove to Bruniquel to visit our little holiday house ( next issue is getting that sold) - a beautiful drive along the Aveyron gorge. The countryside is turning greener every day and as Easter gets closer the holiday businesses are sprucing themselves up and getting ready for the arrival of the summer visitors - glad I'm not one of those any longer!

Now we are looking forward to welcoming our own summer visitors - hopefully there will be plenty - to be able to share this corner of paradise we are lucky enough to call home.

To bourée or not to bourée?

To bourée or not to bourée?
For us there was no question.

Getting involved with traditional music and dancing was a vital part of our lifestyle here and we were lucky to find a nearby dance association running a course over the winter months . ( see blog 30/11/10 We have cracked the mazurka!). Not only were we able to learn some French traditional dances and meet lots of French people we had lots of "bals" to go to over the winter months. Recently the tutor at these classes has introduced us to another class she runs in her own village. This is, as she says, " des kilometres" away, but is brilliant as there are musicians there who welcome TC and he has been able to join in when they are playing as well as dancing. He has met up with a fiddle player in Albi who also has time to play ( ie is retired from the wage game) and on Friday was back on stage playing bourées while I looked for another partner to dance with!


After my retirement I had fancied the idea of calling at celidhs ( maybe a way of not getting left behind every weekend when the band was playing?) . Little did I know that my first try would be calling a " strip the willow" dance in French. Three out of four sets managed which did not seem too bad ( I have seen some disasters at English celidhs!) and everyone seemed to have fun.

So as Spring arrives in all its glory - are we glad we moved here ?

silly question - vive la bourée!

the cat sat on the mat

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder - well it has certainly worked regarding the little feral kitten we were trying to "adopt " before we went away for two weeks. Previously she was very nervous when we opened the door and did not like coming inside the house to eat ( even to escape the chickens who were always after her food) and certainly hated it if we closed the door on her escape route. An absence of two weeks has worked wonders and we now have a quite different little cat who follows me around the garden playing and climbing trees, comes inside to eat and has started to explore the downstairs rooms - maybe one day she will even sit on my lap!

Our trip to England was a great success. Combe Martin folk club was a gem and TCs performance was needless to say brilliant. We had a lovely time and enjoyed being back as part of the English folk music scene. North Devon too was delightful and we loved the scenery and being beside the sea.

During the following week we spent happy times with family, availed ourselves of retail opportunities before a stay in North Staffordshire for our "leaving party". The celidh was just brilliant and all that we had hoped it would be. There were over 100 people ( including our children who had travelled from Coventry and Norwich to be there), many reunions, great music and lots of dancing. We were showered with presents, there were cake and balloons (which stayed in the window of the car for our return journey and are still decorating our dining room) and we generally had an evening to remember.



During the evening I was able to clog again with Leopard spot which was great ( especially good to know I can still remember how ) and we also introduced the assembled throng to the sardane which we have learnt at our dancing classes her in France. TC had sent the music to the band in advance and they had made it their own! It was good fun even if only a few people danced a recognisable sardane( I blame the teacher). Next month we are due to teach some English tunes and dances at a folk event here - all round I think this could be trickier!

Although we had had a great time and it was lovely catching up with friends and family we were very happy to be home - and yes, here really is home already. This week we have signed the contract for the installation of our swimming pool ( our last grand project), we have painted our big bedroom ready for the carpet to be fitted and we are starting to plan the rest of our garden projects for the summer. We are looking forward to welcoming more visitors over the summer months and the last few days the weather has been just glorious during the day full of promise of an imminent Spring.

If TC can shake off the very English cough and cold he brought back with him without passing it on to me I shall be extremely grateful as I have a lot planned for this week!

A night to remember.

Auberge Lou Bourdie presided over by the wonderful cook and hostess Monique Valette was a great discovery. We were introduced to it by friends and have returned many times. Jamie Oliver discovered it too and it was featured in one of his TV series. Whenever we have visitors we try to take them there - try is the word as we have been dissappointed by it being fully booked before now. Even at this time of the year when all of the tourists have departed it is always full which is not surprising when the food is so good and such good value.

During a recent visit, thanks to the intervention of TC's sister( never backward at coming forward) a conversation about music and musicians resulted in us somehow wangling an invitation to a special soiree in honour of les vins nouveaux ( Beaujolias, Gamay and Gaillac) on 18th November, and TC would be able to play as well!

We duly went along a couple of days later not really knowing what sort of event to expect and feeling somewhat apprenhensive as to what we had let ourselves in for. But what a night we had!

When we arrived TC was introduced to the band and invited to show what he could do with his instrument and the usual musicians mutual admiration exchanges took place. The room was filling up around us and we were not sure what do next when we were introduced to a Belgian couple who were on their own and told to sit on what turned out to be the table where members of Monique's family would sit. People kept pouring in until the two rooms were packed, the mayor came in and did a tour of the tables and we got to know our fellow diners.

We were then served a fabulous meal of soup, confit duck. cheese and gateaux to accompany the vin nouveau of our choice. As the meal progressed the music started and so did the dancing - no dance floor just gaps between the tables. By the time we had finished eating the room next door was still being served and great trays of confit duck were being carried perilously through the dancers. On their return to the kitchen the waitresses would stop to join in the dancing in their aprons. Every so often Monique herself would come out of the kitchen and join in ( also still in her apron) on one occasion pulling me up to dance with her. During one dance another partner danced me straight into the kitchen! The music was fabulous, and TC did a "turn" too which went down well, the French clapping along to the Irish jigs with no problem.

It was a brilliant evening and the highlight of our time in France so far. To round the evening off on our way home we saw two sangliers (wild boar) at the side of the road. Unfortunately I had forgotten to take my camera so there are no pictures to share.


We went for lunch at the auberge again this week and Monique was effusive with her welcome as always and full of praise for TC's musical talent hoping that we will go again next year - just try and stop us! Lunch of course was delicious as always. We have promised ourselves to indulge in the "menu de Truffe" at some point over the winter truffle season.

We have cracked the Mazurka!

"Autre fois" ( or before we moved here) our social life centred almost entirely around our folk music and dance friends. TC is a musician and played with a celidh band as well writing and singing his own songs. We helped to run a folk club and I was a member of a clog dancing side. We always knew that it would be this side of life in England we would miss most and were very keen to get involved in what appeared to be the thriving traditional music scene in Quercy.










Just four days after moving into our house we spotted a banner outside a nearby Salle de Fetes advertising a "Cours des dances traditionelles" with a phone number. We discovered that the course had started but we were not too late to join and it was that very evening. So there we were after just a few days welcomed into the class alongside about 50 French and three other English people. Now Tuesday evenings are a highlight of the week. We dance non stop for two hours and stop at 11pm for cake and apple juice! I can't help contrasting with our weekly clog practice in England - barely an hour dancing then off to the pub. (Mind you we do miss the chance to sit with friends for an hour in the pub).

Many of the dances we are learning use figures that are very familiar from English dances and are easy to pick up besides which, as in an English celidh, no one cares much if you get it wrong although they do take it very seriously. Easy that is until we tried the Mazurka - it looks easy and indeed I could do it when dancing with the teacher but let loose it was hopeless! We did feel encouraged when one of the old club members said it took him two years to learn it!

Anyway - this week we have practised all week and finally we have cracked it. The breakthrough for TC was getting a written breakdown of the steps from the internet - he always needs to analyse what he needs to do before his feet will cooperate.

This week was also my turn on the rota to provide cakes - a bit scary as every week there is a feast of home made goodies and I am still getting to grips with finding familiar ingredients and also coping with a ridiculously small oven. Anyway apple and cinnamon shortbread and bakewell shortbread went down well AND I was asked for the "recette" so a good week all round even if it has been freezing! Now all I've got to do is translate the recipe - should give evryone a laugh anyway.