IFP : VIALEX : French Village and Country Life

After all the hard work of the grain harvest in early Summer ( remember , 'la moisson' is early here, starting mid June for the Barleys and ending mid July after the Wheats) and before work starts on cultivating the land afresh, there is a rash of country fairs of various types in the rich farming areas of Lot et Garonne, Tarn et Garonne, Gers etc.. There are big, official affairs that take place in the main towns ( prefectures like Agen, Montauban, Auch etc) with lots of commercial stands, animals , machinery .... There are small, village fairs that often include a dance on the Saturday night...... There are fêtes de battage ( threshing , the old fashioned way) usually accompanied by an enormous meal...... There are Ploughing championships.....

Here there is the Commice Agricole, a very longstanding tradition in the countryside here. Violette and I went to the 21st annual Commice Agricole at Puymirol, a medieaval hilltop village in Lot et Garonne, one sunny Sunday the 3rd September. The commice is a gathering of the local farmers , with the idea of showing off their produce or animals ( there is a competition), talking to all their neighbours, listening to the usual excuses of the local politicians as to why they haven't done more for the local community ( the speeches are loudly commented upon !), and the perfect occasion for a huge country meal. Here are some souvenirs:

This is not a big livestock area, but what we do have is superb. The Aquitaine Blonde is a local breed of excellent beef cattle. Docile and pretty as a picture in the countryside.... above you will see some super rumps !!

Although horses are no longer used to work the land here ( but only just !) there is still a big tradition of keeping horses , and many farms and larger properties have some handsome looking animals in their paddocks. Here is a French saddle horse ( Selle Francais) of some 17 hands , to be seen later in the afternoon giving rides to the youngsters.

The goat of course is a very popular farm and smallholding animal . Easy to look after and feed, and giving excellent milk which is often turned into cheese . The local small, ripe, goats cheese is called a Cabecou

The whole of the Quercy and Gascony regions is famous for its Garlic production ( and consumption too ) This is what you need hanging in your kitchen... either white or pink varieties. A 1kg tresse will only set you back about 20-25F.

In this case, a good question because amongst the ordinary vegetables like courgettes and pumpkins and tomatoes, we also found mauve, yellow and white peppers, and all sorts of shapes and sizes of other vegetables. Another stand had a lovely display of the local eating grapes ' The Chasselas de Moissac'

As a gesture of peace and goodwill, everyone got a pigeon to throw into the sky at the count of 3, and then it was down to some speeches from local politicians...... as the crowd got a bit restless......... as MIDI approached........ and all eyes turned to the 'aperitif' table.

Speeches over and the crowd, as one body, converged on the bar where chilled, pink KIRS were offered to all, and serious business got underway.... lunch.

250 of us, very cheery after the Kir(s) sat down on 4 long tables to an excellent local meal of

Soup                ( Made with chicken broth) 
Salade Gasconne     ( salad, cold ducks breast, gesiers confit..;.) 
Poule Farcie        ( A large chunk of chicken with herby stuffing and vegetables) 
Cheese 
Apple pie           ( mouthwateringly good) 
Café 
Pousse café         ( for the uninitiated, this is a slug of something very strong to 
                    follow the coffee down, in our case Armagnac)

All this was washed down with as much of the local rouge as you could drink and cost a modest 100F. We were entertained by a very talented accordion player who passed along the tables, and seemed to know each individuals favourite tune.

All the produce was local, including the chickens..... the farmer in the picture above got up at 3 am the previous morning to slaughter 60 of his best for the occasion. As you can see, he enjoyed the end result( thats his third helping, I was sitting next to him). As did we all.......... until next Summer.

French Village and Country Life

No 7: The Agricultural Fair