Unlikely to surprise anyone is the importance of food to the French. Fresh food markets abound over here and even in the freezing winter months, they continue to draw the crowds. Patience is the key, as market stall holders don’t just hand over the required produce. No, they also offer advice as to how it should be prepared, cooked and served, which can often then result in a lengthy, enthusiastic exchange, with both sides offering their recipe opinions, so a prolonged wait should be expected. We’ve never seen anyone become annoyed by this, it’s just a part of their approach to life here and we find it very refreshing. These discussions also take place at the supermarket checkout, along with the mandatory ‘faire les bises’, which was even more in evidence, given it was Christmas. So, a warning to the uninitiated…don’t go to the supermarket if you are pressured for time. There will be no dashing in for 5 minutes just to buy a bottle of milk, absolument pas. Allow yourself at least an hour. Things happen at their own pace here and that’s what we love about it,

Montmorillon has 2 markets, so we are spoilt for choice. There is a large midweek  one on Wednesday, covering all food groups in abundance, bread (bien sûr!) plants, clothing and even a very chatty monsieur who sells very expensive cough lollies! I’m not sure whether his business is booming, but he has a conversation with just about everyone at the market, so it appears that money is not his main objective, he just likes the company. There is also a smaller market on Saturday, with seafood, cheese and bread stalls. In nearby Chauvigny, the Saturday market is huge and very lively and we go often. It being the festive season and freezing temps, ‘le vin chaud’ (mulled wine) was being liberally quaffed. The aroma of red wine and spices wafting throughout the stalls was very tempting, but we had an icy road to negotiate on the way home, so a hot coffee had to suffice instead. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t realise until too late, that there was also a Truffle market in Chauvigny between midday and 1pm, on the day we were there. Quel dommage, we only saw the sign at 1.15pm…!!!!  Both black and white truffles are definitely an acquired taste,  enormously expensive and have a very distinctive odour so, apart from truffle oil, I’ve always been a bit wary and never actually tasted one, but it would’ve been brilliant to see them piled high, en masse. Oh well, since it’s currently peak season for them here, it just means we need to come back at this time of year again, which will be absolutely no hardship at all..

The Epiphany is celebrated on the 6th January in France and the Galette des Rois, celebratory cake, is seen in pâtisseries everywhere. Each is sold with a gold, cardboard crown.  Traditionally made with puff pastry and frangipane filling, with a tiny, porcelain figurine (fève) inserted, it reflects the arrival of the 3 wise men (kings) bearing gifts, to visit the baby Jesus. The person who receives the slice of cake with the fève, is crowned king or queen for the day and can order everyone about. A slice of cake is always left on the plate, to be given to someone less fortunate. We love the story behind the tradition and wanted to sample the cake, so invited our friends Josiane, Claude and Colette to our home for afternoon tea.  It was such a lovely afternoon. Josiane was crowned ‘queen’ and ordered us to stay happy and healthy. Wise words, indeed….

Our friends, Anna and Thierry, who we met during our initial holiday in June 2017,   invited us for dinner, along with their friends Julien and Cbarlotte, and told us Raclette was on the menu. This dish is more commonly eaten in towns/villages throughout the French and Swiss Alps, but is now also enjoyed throughout other areas of France, during the winter months. We’d heard about it, but never tasted it, so we were looking forward to having the opportunity to try it, in the company of friends.  Traditionally, a huge wheel of cheese is placed in front of an open fire, the melted cheese scraped off and then served on top of sliced, boiled potatoes, accompanied by charcuterie ( saucisson, ham etc) cornichons (gherkins) and pickled onions. Anna and Thierry had a ‘raclonette’ which replaced the open fire. It is a round, electric hot plate, which was placed in the middle of the table and has small, individual trays, know as coupelles, to be placed under the hot plate, to melt the cheese. It was absolutely delicious, very rich and, of course, contained no calories whatsoever 😉.   We sat around the table and talked until midnight….

Our friend, Petra and her husband, Bruno, invited us to lunch at a small, family run restaurant ‘La Table Ouverte’ in nearby Moulisme. We haven’t yet embraced the traditional French 3 course affair spread across several hours, preferring instead to have a late breakfast and dinner only, with lunch often just a coffee, or a piece of fruit, mais non, here in France, quelle horreur, that is simply not done! The food, ‘une mousse de canard avec les champignons, un bifstek avec frites et une tarte aux pommes’ all made by Madame, was fantastic, as was the company. Petra and Bruno are both lovely and each have a great sense of humour, so we had a wonderful afternoon. But we only had an apple for breakfast, in preparation…. 🍎

We had dinner with our lovely, new friends, Suzanne and Phillip, and their gorgeous young daughters, Madeleine and Sophia, at a local Indian restaurant in town. We’d never been before, but the food was great. The French are not known for their love of anything too hot and spicy, so it was quite mild but full of flavour. That’s the way I like my curry too, so I thought it was perfect and, on a freezing, cold night, just what the doctor ordered. From Michigan, Suzanne and Phillip are in the process of purchasing a little house in Montmorillon, but unfortunately their experience has not been as straight forward as ours. They had hoped to have Christmas in the new house, but the settlement has once again been rescheduled. We have our fingers and toes crossed,  that all goes smoothly from here on in. We’re looking forward to seeing them again soon, if we can manage to make our calendars align!

Bon appétit