Salut everyone. This is the first entry by the newly christened Saloppe Francaise – Sharon, the gal next door. Although I have no doubt the Saloppe Francaise nickname (which I volunteered myself after our Thanksgiving bash indulgence!!!) is innocent fun, it does seem a bit spooky that the initials are SF, the same as my actual real life name….hmmmmmm.
Anyway, as my debut I have been charged with the task, nay, pleasure of writing about our day trip on Saturday to the Bergerac region, a couple of hours further South from here. There was a business fair being held at Chateau de Vigiers which I knew as an allegedly “delightful” country house and golf club with an 18 hole course. So, when I saw the advert for the fair I thought, what a great opportunity not only to get some business contacts but also to check out said “delightful” chateau and, most importantly, do a bit of degustation and purchasing at some of the vinyards in the area. Of course the boys were reluctant as they weren’t keen to disrupt and spoil their newly established exercise regime – not!
So, we all agreed it would be a great way to spend a Saturday and off we all ventured complete with very excited dog. For the most part of the route, I navigated our way there as I have driven to Bergerac many times but Matt was on hand for the last stretch armed with copious maps, printed directions and Sat Nag to boot. Surprising anyone? Matt is indeed very organised I realise but the thing is, he kinda reminds me of….aggghhhhh….me! So, we meandered along country roads in beautiful surroundings and in what was turning out to be a gorgeous day, until we reached le chateau. It didn’t disappoint in the beautiful stakes. It was a magnificent building and location although the wind chill factor was bitingly cold. Ploscar (4 legs) leapt out of the car and watered the first tree he came to and then became almost frantically excited as we attempted to put on his collar and lead.
Typically French, there were no obvious signs to the fair so we wandered around the outskirts until we eventually came across the entrance and a tiny plastic “Welcome to AngelTraders” banner wafting in the wind high above our heads, over the door. On entering the quite dark room we were greeted by a huge hustle and bustle of activity, Ploscar was in his element. So many new people to meet; he didn’t know whether to go North, South, East or West, so I handed him to Will so he could take the rap for 4 paws’ over-exuberance.
We did indeed make some great contacts, the most important of which was a British sausage supplier based not far from us, so I got his number to stock up for the Chrimbo delights. Ploscar was the star attraction with everyone – traders, visitors, kids and the sausage man who was cooking up a storm on his barbeque on the terrace leading out from the exhibition room.
We left the fair and went in search of somewhere to eat lunch and found a fabulous restaurant in Duras with an equally fabulous view from the top of the hill on which it was perched. The food was scrummy and beautifully presented and thoroughly enjoyed by all. Ploscar managed to bark the place down several times after seeing a man with a strange walking stick, followed by cat outside who dared to stand directly in front of him with nothing but a big glass pane separating the two – yikes! As far as I was concerned, he was again Will’s dog.
Sated and having had a bit of an after lunch walk to allow Ploscar to water more trees and for us to take in the view, we then proceeded to the most important part of the day – wine. We found a “wine circuit” which we followed and eventually came across our first wine pit stop of the day – Monsieur Ferrant. Although the place looked boarded up, we rang the bell as the sign suggested and miraculously doors opened and people appeared: Monsieur et Madame Ferrant. The wine tasting was delicious and we bought our first cases of the day. Flushed with success (and wine) we then moved on to a wine shop we had seen en route. Several tastings and cases later we again emerged, even more flushed with success.
As the car’s suspension was considerably lower than when we started, we decided it to call it a day and head for home. I suspected there was more than one reason for Matt’s maps and sure enough, he suggested we take a different route home which, at the time and without too much analysis, seemed to be ok. So off we went, boys, gal and pooch, very happy and it was indeed a glorious afternoon to be puttering about the French countryside. That is, until, it dawned on me, the driver, that we had at least another hour and a half to go of puttering up hill and down dale, around this bend and that bend, and roads that would shake your veneers loose, that seemed like they had been constructed from the mind of a lunatic who loved Scalextric!!! Matt was enjoying a nice snooze as I casually mentioned this to Will but suddenly woke to defend his route and his navigational skills.
It was at this point I knew we were all tired LOL and decided to just enjoy the golden sunshine casting its myriad of pine needles of light across the still lush and magnificent countryside. It was then that the subject of chateaus (yes with an s) came up and we realised that the plural was indeed chateaux. I mentioned it was like fish and fishes, ie: the singular and plural is just fish and Will suddenly got an answer to a question he had thought about some time before. Apart from sheep, what other creature is there where the singular and plural are the same. Why of course, fish.