Tuesday 3rd May

Apologies for those of you still back in blighted blighty, I understand you had a wet Bank Holiday yesterday, but it was lovely and sunny here in Eymet and we felt that Summer was on the way. Yesterday was Mayday here, again a holiday – but not, as in the U.K., deferred until the first Monday of the month. So, Supermarches were closed and quite a few Restaurants and Cafes didn’t open either.  There were the obligatory riots in Paris, but here in sleepy SouthWest France there were no such disturbances.  There used to be a custom that in the early hours of the first of May everything portable; plants, chairs, barrels etc., outside people’s houses would be removed by youngsters and taken to the square as some sort of memory of the confiscation of property during the French Revolution, but nothing happens these days.  Instead we had several sellers of little sprigs of Lily of the Valley.  Men are supposed to present their loved ones with these tiny bouquets on Mayday.  And of course the day would not be complete without Garlic Omelettes.

These are cooked not with the pungent bulb of the garlic but with the green stalks of new fresh garlic which are a bit like spring onion stems.  The meal consisted of a hors d’oeuvre of pate, salami and salad, garlic omelette with salad and bread, and apple flan for dessert.  There was also wine and Sangria (which while advertised we didn’t actually find).  The Salle Polyvalente was full of French people all indulging and meeting and greeting, and a handful of us English.  There was quite a jolly atmosphere and I was surprisingly hungry, the food though basic was really tasty.  And it felt like Summer, the sun shining after several weeks of rain, the trees now losing their blossom and new bright green leaves emerging.  Ah, this is what we came to France for; eating shared meals with friends and the occasional glass of chilled rose.  As I returned and switched on the news I was totally uninterested, so I switched over for bit of Snooker, a snooze and then back to decorating ( a never-ending task).