Les Courances, Gourmande Marche

With thanks to Roger.......... So, to set the scene a bit before I tell you about our soiree last night. LPR is a group of eight houses surrounded by paddocks. Every few kilometres, there is another little village, some a little bigger and some a little smaller. These dot the landscape all the way, 10 kms up the road to St Jean D’Angeley, which is quite a large town.

Driving or walking around these little villages, you see almost no one, as the French love to hide behind two metre high concrete walls and closed shutters. We see lots of very big tractors and harvesters though. The occasional hare, deer, pheasant and quail as well.

Lady P spots a hand painted sign propped up against a farmer’s fence announcing a soiree with gourmet food and music, at Les Courances (this tiny collection of houses and cow sheds, two kms up the hill from us). Well, it’s a Saturday night, worth a look.

We wander up the hill and arrive to find a paddock full of cars and a large clearing behind a cow shed. The outside of the clearing contains all manner of food and produce tents. Pork, lamb and beef on spits and BBQ’s, rabbit sausages and rillettes and a seafood tent and baker. There is even a crepe stand and vegetable brochettes cooking on a hot plate. Importantly, there is a very large bar selling very inexpensive and delicious local beer and wine by the bottle and glass.

There are lines of trestle tables in the middle and a bandstand for the six piece Celtic band - well known from Brittany it seems.

There are about 2,000 people in attendance! A mix of ages but probably mostly middle aged. Lady P amuses herself by testing the teenagers’ English, which they shyly enjoy.

As we stand there with mouths agape, we wonder if we haven’t fallen through a wormhole to middle Earth.

A cooling beer calms us and then we meet our builder Willy, who is there with his family. After a circuit of the tents and a few not needed purchases, we decide on some raw salmon, cod and tender cooked octopus. These come with blinis and a little pot of delicious sardine rillettes. A bottle of Pays DOC Rose and a baguette help things along. The line up for the crepes is very long, so dessert is two lovely little cakes from the baker and a pot of yoghurt.

Sitting next to us is a young lady, originally from Reunion, who spent eight years in Perth and was delighted to practice her English with us and translate the obvious curious attention from our other elderly French diners. Her partner Sam, spoke no English at all but did pick up on some of the foodie references as he runs a food truck at the St Jean D'Angely market on Saturdays.

We had an entertaining night with good food and wine and after wishing bonne soiree to our new friends, wandered the two kms down the road to home by the light of the stars and Lady P’s phone-torch.

Sometimes the best adventures just come out of the blue.Read more