Life in a small French village for an old American

[corkybstewart]

My wife knows how little I like being around a bunch of people, and since she has 9 siblings who live within a five minute drive, it can get a bit tense sometimes but I'm working on it. On Wednesdays a sister and her best friend drive by our house on their way home from the senior center card games, so we usually fix an American meal for them. Tonight we also invited a brother and the sister's ex husband, Luke So we fixed green chile chicken enchiladas, Spanish rice, guacamole, and salsa. In spite of us telling them to not bring anything because our pantries are full, the sister and friend brought Mojito fixings, including a bottle of rum, the brother brought another 30 year old bottle of port(promised another one next week with a 5 pound frozen chicken), and the ex brought a bottle of 2022 private stock from our favorite winery. The brother also promised to bring me a bottle of rum he brought back from Cuba a few years ago.
On Sunday we're invited to Luke's house for an Easter Sunday lamb dinner. We'll supply the cheeses, which for most Americans means nothing, but over here we'll have to put some serious thought into which ones we'll bring. St. Maure de Touraine goat cheese, Camembert, St Nectaire, and a Rochefort are givens, but the last 2 choices will require some serious discussion. I leave the wines to Luke and my brother in law, they are serious, very serious experts in wine/food pairing, and since they've both lived here for 80 years they are personal friends with 75% of the winemakers in the area.
Happy Easter to all y'all

 

[An Ankoù]

Ah, the tribulations of the bourgeois !
My wife went searching for the owners of a couple of stray dogs that we had never seen before and came across our occasional-neighbour (visiting his old family home, which they maintain as their retirement home for when they've done with the rat race). She promptly invited him for apéro and to bring the sons and daughter, too, as they gathered from various parts of Brittany. An excellent couple of hours of drinking and conversing and learning the minutiae of the history of every little farm and household in the district. Then back to their house to enjoy a haul of freshly-caught mackerel and boiled potatoes washed down with the most nondescript of piquette (plonk, unassuming wine). A fine gathering of eight of us plus our dog. Wobbled home a couple of hours later with full bellies and good cheer. A truly splendid evening. We didn't need to worry about which forks to use and we never did find out who the dogs belonged to.

On the subject of rum: the few bottles of rhum acricole that I've tried, I haven't liked. They have a flavour in common which tastes chemical to me. But I do like overstrength, dark navy rum and import a regular supply from Blighty. This, with a third of 20% Crème de Cassis makes a lovely sipping glass to fill in the spaces when there's no more room for food, beer or wine.
The Cuban rum sounds good. Was it Matusalem?

 

[stahlsau]

I'm riding through the french alps almost every year with my motorbike and I always think those french (at least some of them, mostly in areas away from the big cities) have a nice way to live. For example you come down a mountain pass and see three old guys sitting on their chairs at a picnic tabel which they all brought to somewhere in the wild, enjoying a bottle of red together and having a chat. I've never seen something like that here in Germany. It's just something where I think "well these guys have figured it out".

 

[corkybstewart]

I'm riding through the french alps almost every year with my motorbike and I always think those french (at least some of them, mostly in areas away from the big cities) have a nice way to live. For example you come down a mountain pass and see three old guys sitting on their chairs at a picnic tabel which they all brought to somewhere in the wild, enjoying a bottle of red together and having a chat. I've never seen something like that here in Germany. It's just something where I think "well these guys have figured it out".

Exactly. 30 years ago we had our kids in the car and my 10 year old son pointed to a gathering of people on a porch and he asked if we were going to join them. He was used to us stopping at seemingly random houses and sharing wine with the residents.

 

[An Ankoù]

10 years old and the lad's already used to sharing a bottle of wine. I'm very impressed and consider myself to have had a deprived childhood.

 

[corkybstewart]

10 years old and the lad's already used to sharing a bottle of wine. I'm very impressed and consider myself to have had a deprived childhood.

Our son was almost 6 feet tall by age 12 so we looked much older than he was. And he had been given small glasses of wine by several of the family members-never enough to get drunk and usually watered down, but he had learned the social patterns by age 10. He still drinks wine at age 40, but very little, and he never came close to having a drinking problem.

 

[An Ankoù]

He still drinks wine at age 40, but very little

To tell the truth, I very rarely drink wine. I like the volume of a few pints of session beers or lager or cider, or the warmth of a rum and cassis as described above, but wine sort of slips between the gaps. It's alright with a meal to wash the Brussels sprouts and andouillette down, but I rarely eat and drink at the same time at home and I'm the driver when we go out. No problems with that, I like to taste my food.

 

[corkybstewart]

Yesterday we went to the first winery open house of the 2025 drinking season, at a small winery a couple of miles away. Their white and rose wines are excellent, but for my tastes the reds are thin and watery.

 

[corkybstewart]

Easter lunch. Smoked duck breast, smoked salmon , leg of lamb, all done by my BIL Lucien. Too many wines, each one chosen perfectly ]

 

[An Ankoù]

I started looking, but then the empty glasses in the first and third photos quite put the willies up me!

 

[corkybstewart]

I started looking, but then the empty glasses in the first and third photos quite put the willies up me!

A proper French meal requires lots of glasses

 

[corkybstewart]

It's Wednesday again, the day a sister in law and her friend come by for dinner nearly every week. Lately a couple of brothers have been coming by for dinner as well. I tend to criticize my wife for her "I need to feed the world" approach to life, it gets expensive to feed anyone who stops by. But this group is always welcome. Last Wednesday the sister brought a bottle of rhum, her friend brought 2 goat cheeses, one brother brought another bottle of very old port, and a magnum of 2015 local red wine, and the other brother brought 2 bottles of wine.
So if you are ever passing through our village, stop and ask for directions-my wife won't release you until you've finished the dessert she just made for you.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

It's Wednesday again, the day a sister in law and her friend come by for dinner nearly every week. Lately a couple of brothers have been coming by for dinner as well. I tend to criticize my wife for her "I need to feed the world" approach to life, it gets expensive to feed anyone who stops by. But this group is always welcome. Last Wednesday the sister brought a bottle of rhum, her friend brought 2 goat cheeses, one brother brought another bottle of very old port, and a magnum of 2015 local red wine, and the other brother brought 2 bottles of wine.
So if you are ever passing through our village, stop and ask for directions-my wife won't release you until you've finished the dessert she just made for you.

With all that going on why would anyone want to leave your place, other than to restock?

 

[corkybstewart]

With all that going on why would anyone want to leave your place, other than to restock?

We're home for days at a time, like during Covid we go to the store when we run out of fresh veggies.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

We're home for days at a time, like during Covid we go to the store when we run out of fresh veggies.

I can relate to that too, it can be a week or more before I leave my property and that's all of the time!

 

[corkybstewart]

Saturday was crepe day next door, all sweet toppings like Nutella (nasty stuff), jams and honey. Yesterday we ate backstrap of the local deer, a German shepherd sized critter that had been hunted out of existence around here but was reintroduced 20 years ago.

 

[An Ankoù]

Looks good and I agree that Nutella is complete goblin vomit.
If you want a decent crêpe, try a galette de sarrasin, La Complète. Speciality of Brittany, it's a main course to be washed down with cider or lait ribot. Then followed with a sweet crêpe, but never with Nutella.

 

[corkybstewart]

Looks good and I agree that Nutella is complete goblin vomit.
If you want a decent crêpe, try a galette de sarrasin, La Complète. Speciality of Brittany, it's a main course to be washed down with cider or lait ribot. Then followed with a sweet crêpe, but never with Nutella.

I'm somewhat fortunate to be allergic to hazelnuts so that's a great excuse to avoid Nutella. My nephew married a woman from Rennes last year, they had a 3 day wedding party here. On day 3 her family made about 500 galetes de Bretagne, served with meats and other real food-I grilled 240 sausages to put in the galettes.

 

[An Ankoù]

I'm somewhat fortunate to be allergic to hazelnuts so that's a great excuse to avoid Nutella. My nephew married a woman from Rennes last year, they had a 3 day wedding party here. On day 3 her family made about 500 galetes de Bretagne, served with meats and other real food-I grilled 240 sausages to put in the galettes.

I, too, married a woman from Rennes. Yes, galettes are very versatile, but after a galette saucisse, you don't really need much else. They're very filling. There must have been a good few guests. Makes me think of Jesus feeding the 5000! He could have done with a few galettes !

 

[corkybstewart]

I, too, married a woman from Rennes. Yes, galettes are very versatile, but after a galette saucisse, you don't really need much else. They're very filling. There must have been a good few guests. Makes me think of Jesus feeding the 5000! He could have done with a few galettes !

By that point there were still 125 people more or less. But the locals were just eating sausages and saving the galettes for dessert. There were probably 175 people there for the wedding, mostly from Rennes.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

By that point there were still 125 people more or less. But the locals were just eating sausages and saving the galettes for dessert. There were probably 175 people there for the wedding, mostly from Rennes.

I'm still picturing the 240 sausages on the grill.

 

[corkybstewart]

I'm still picturing the 240 sausages on the grill.

It took 2 hours, my grill is good for about 40 at a time, maximum. Since I don't know many of the guests(and I generally dislike groups of more than 10 people), I was happy to hang out in the BBQ shed by myself watching the festivities across the courtyard. And people made sure I always had a fresh beer in my hand.

 

[An Ankoù]

You miserable old bugler!

I know exactly how you feel. Best thing is to do something useful to avoid babbling inanities with complete strangers who, with any luck, you'll never meet again.

Can't stand big gatherings, personally, either. Funerals are OK, people tend to leave you alone and you can be grumpy while getting quietly ratted.

 

[corkybstewart]

We ate lunch with a sister on Thursday, wild boar pate for the appetizer and then boar meat cooked 4 times in red wine sauce, her specialties. But because she doesn't live in our village I drove and couldn't have more than 2 glasses wine. Luckily when we got home a brother showed up to work on a car in our barn so he brought a bottle of good wine. Obviously a bottle is not enough for 4 people so I went to the cave to get a couple more. I have 3 bottles of the 2014 and needed to check to see if it was still good, 10 years old is pretty much the limit for the local wine. It was perfect.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

We ate lunch with a sister on Thursday, wild boar pate for the appetizer and then boar meat cooked 4 times in red wine sauce, her specialties. But because she doesn't live in our village I drove and couldn't have more than 2 glasses wine. Luckily when we got home a brother showed up to work on a car in our barn so he brought a bottle of good wine. Obviously a bottle is not enough for 4 people so I went to the cave to get a couple more. I have 3 bottles of the 2014 and needed to check to see if it was still good, 10 years old is pretty much the limit for the local wine. It was perfect. View attachment 875727

Good thing you rescued those bottles! Perhaps you need to review your stock?

 

[corkybstewart]

Good thing you rescued those bottles! Perhaps you need to review your stock?

I took a 2016 off the shelf last night for some friends, one's family has been making wine for 6 generations. Her reaction to the first sip was the French equivalent of "Danm, that's some fine stuff"
I'm testing these older wines because it's time to drink them-I put a lot of money into them 10 years ago(most of them cost about $3 back then) and I don't want them to turn bad.

 

[An Ankoù]

Encore une que les Boches n'auront pas !

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I took a 2016 off the shelf last night for some friends, one's family has been making wine for 6 generations. Her reaction to the first sip was the French equivalent of "Danm, that's some fine stuff"
I'm testing these older wines because it's time to drink them-I put a lot of money into them 10 years ago(most of them cost about $3 back then) and I don't want them to turn bad.

Letting them go to waste is alcohol abuse. Smart move and shouldn't be a problem considering all your guests. Wish I could swing by to help!

 

[An Ankoù]

Wish I could swing by to help!

Regrettably @OakIslandBrewery , I think you might have difficulty getting in. Especially if you fell foul of the Appalachian Contrôlée rules.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Regrettably @OakIslandBrewery , I think you might have difficulty getting in. Especially if you fell foul of the Appalachian Contrôlée rules.

I should stay home anyway, I got too much work to do.