Eat, drink & be merry, for tomorrow we diet!

It started on Friday evening, with the AGM of the Caupenne fete committee. Nuts, crisps and drinks before the meeting, then an apero dinatoire (a sort of finger buffet) afterwards; toast and rillettes; quiche, pizza and cold roast pork; cheese and bread; then tiny, bite-sized eclairs, profiteroles, mille feuilles, fruit tarts….all washed down with red wine, coffee and, inevitably, armagnac. We didn’t get home till after midnight and I think Nick was still slightly in shock; he’d quietly mentioned the possibility of organising a VTT (mountain bike) ride as part of next year’s fete, to one or two people; it was announced as being part of next year’s festivities, so he’s committed to organising it now!

Saturday was the open day at the wine cave and armagnac distillery in Nogaro; it’s a co-operative, taking the grapes from 65 local vignerons, making them into wine, then turning some of that wine into armagnac. It’s very different from the one we visited on Thursday; a far bigger, industrial process, with 3 large stills, producing 20 000 bottles of armagnac a day from mid-November to January. There was also a talk on the Bigorre black pig, which was once almost extinct, but is now raised in the Pyrenees for its delicious ham, and yes, there were samples to try as well as local cheeses to taste.

The cycle club had been asked to provide lunch, so after the Maire of Nogaro had pierced and tapped the inaugural barrel of wine, we all sat down to garbure (Pyreneen mountain soup), daube de boeuf ( a rich, red wine and beef casserole), apple tart, coffee and armagnac. It was amazing to sit outside to eat in mid-November and not even need a coat! We were lucky, though; the heavens opened later on in the afternoon.

From the distillery we headed to Adrian’s; his local farm was having their open day and we’d booked to go to the evening meal as they produce some of the best foie gras around. So, to the accompaniment of an excellent guitarist/singer, we sat down, once more, to fill our faces. This time it was fresh foie gras with a grape sauce, confit de canard and French beans, followed by pastis, a local speciality cake, served with crème anglaise, and, of course, wine, coffee and armagnac.

By the time I poured the fellas into the car to head back to Ade’s, we were all feeling suitably full and relaxed. Ade got a couple of guitars out and we sat around the kitchen table, playing all sorts of stuff, from folk to Floyd, into the early hours of this morning, while Kieran took himself off to bed and Nick tried, unsuccessfully, not to fall asleep in his chair.

All in all, a very enjoyable weekend. Carrot soup, anybody??