As with the majority of the other days, food has been the focus of the last three. For lunch two days ago we had grilled duck cooked with halved peaches and potatoes. Absolutely delectable. This was served following foie gras on toast.
After the meal we convoyed a couple hours to village outside of Cahors called Saint-Cinq-_____ (??). The village was placed dramatically against a rocky backdrop. We ate ice cream near the top of the village and Louise explained that in french Cotton Candy is called le Barbe du Papa or Dad’s Beard. We wandered around the streets, watched an accordion player, and caught a portion of a outdoor play rehearsal for a performance later that evening. Once we had drank our fill of the village we piled back into Cyril’s car for the trip back home.
At night we played Canesta, Louise’s families signature card game, before falling asleep.
The next day Louise was due for her second round of shots so another trip to Cahors was required. We left the house around 10 and after stopping by a lookout overlooking the city we continued into the closest “city” (Cahors is tiny). We had some time before Louise’s appointment and opted for Vietnemanese takeout to eat in the park. The food was decent and fit in our budgets nicely.
While Louise got her second round of India shots Marine, Cyril, Mattieu and I walked over an ancient bridge and the towns cathedral. I love traveling through Europe, but find it hard to get excited about the Churches and Medieval era residue around the continent. Maybe this is due to the recency bias of my own education? Louise and her family definitely have a more complete understanding of World History than I do, and unsurprisingly we operate on largely different time scales. Additionally, the french definitely place a high value on arts education throughout high school… Louise and her friends school me with their painter/sculpture knowledge.
Once we got home, some 2nd cousins of the family came by for a large dinner. The nights have started to warm up and we sat with 16 people squeezed around two tables. The “kids” contributed champagne based cocktails and we settled in for the multi course meal. To start, we ate Foie Gras and Pate along with small tomato based pastries. Following this course we ate some melon slices and then enjoyed the main course: grilled lamb, duck sausages, a ratatouille type vegetable mix, a local squash-like vegetable, and rice.
After the main course a round of cheese was served. My personal favorite was a cheese from Normandy made of raw milk. As always, bread accompanied each course.
For dessert we passed around plates of citrus cakes, orange cakes, and peach cake. There’s a definite lean towards more fruit based desserts as opposed to heavier, chocolate based desserts. The family sat around drinking and socializing until around midnight (Louise’s 86 year old grandmother included) and soon after midnight we began the clean-up.
Today Cyril Marine Mattieu Louise and I venture along the Dordon river near the house in two rented kayaks. The kayak rental place’s car took us up river to start the 19k paddle, and we lazily drifted with the current for the rest of the afternoon. We made two stops: one to munch down sandwiches and take a nap in the sun, and another to test out a small rope swing along the river (the swing was anticlimactic but fun nonetheless). We arrived at our car around 4 pm, returned the Kayaks, and drove to another beach to meet the rest of the family where we played Mulkey before coming back home for a dinner of bread, cheese, pate, and salad. In general, lunch seems to be the most emphasized meal here. Lunch always consists of a starch, vegetable and (usually) some type of grilled meat whereas dinner is often bread and smaller snack-like foods.
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