Xmas 'Fayre' or/ou marché de Noël

Les Chimères, Puylaroque,SW France
Last Sunday was the annual Xmas market organised by the equivalent of the PTA but with a French twist! Not only jewellery, ornaments etc on sale.... plus the prized efforts by the kiddies of course!....but strings of garlic, and what enormous cloves too.
Dimanche dernier le marché de Noël a eu lieu, organisé par l'APE,...mais à la française, car il n'y avait pas seulement des bijoux et des bibelots en vente....en plus, bien sûr, des 'trucs' faits par les enfants....mais de l'ail! Et quelles énormes gousses...la fiérté de la région!

 

Facebook page Les Chimères

Les Chimères, Puylaroque,SW France

Other posts quite often on this fb page which might be of interest for dedicated followers of Puylaroque.....

www.facebook.com/LesChimeresBBandGites

 
Pour ceux qui suivent Puylaroque, cette page facebook peut vous interesser.....

Tractomania in Caussade

  Les Chimères, Puylaroque,SW France 

Tractomania...an annual event in Caussade.

Have to confess that we went for the first time last week though!

Truly amazing: clogmaking, blacksmith, distilling machine, hatmaking, vintage cars as well as tractors and steam engines....not to mention the stalls selling old, broken bits of tractors! People come from all over the world to rummage and hopefully find THE BIT they need....

Alors...je pense qu'il est temps que j'ajoute le texte en français, non? Même si j'en suis sûre qu'il y aura des fautes......

 Tractomania est un événement qui a lieu chaque octobre à Caussade à 14 km de Puylaroque. C'est magnifique mais je dois admettre que j'ai assisté pour le premier fois cette année!

C'était incroyable : démonstrations de fabrication des sabots, des chapeaux, ferronnerie, distillation de l'eau de vie... aussi bien que des voitures et tracteurs 'vintages' exposés....sans parler des stands de vente des pièces détachées, même cassées! Les gens viennent de partout en espérant trouver LE MORCEAU qu'il manque......

C'est la fête!

Les Chimères, Puylaroque,SW France

Just put photos of the annual vilage fete (taken by Geoff Lewis and Lisanne Ashton)  on flickr...take a look?
Je viens de mettre des photos de la fête votive (photos prises par Geoff Lewis et Lisanne Ashton) sur flickr...jeter un oeil?

La fête votive/annual fete

Website Puylaroque

Les Chimères, Puylaroque,SW France

Have a look at the village website: in English as well as French and lots of info about what to do/where to go to help you plan your trip here!
www.puylaroque.com

Pour plein d'infos sur Puylaroque...quoi faire, où s'héberger/manger... consulter le site officiel du village pour vous aider à planifier votre séjour ici!
www.puylaroque.com

Facebook page for Les Chimères B & B/gites

Les Chimères, Puylaroque,SW France

Les Chimères facebook page

Tour of the village by lantern light

Les Chimères, Puylaroque,SW France
 
Better late than never....but it's August and high season for B & B which means lots of ironing and little time for typing on computer! ... herewith a youtube video done by fete committee of the Friday evening 'retraite aux flambeaux' = procession through medieval streets with Chinese lanterns. When I first came to Puylaroque for summer holidays 31 years ago, it was actual with blazing torches as in olden days.........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVm8FwD0uec&feature=plcp

C'est la fête!

Les Chimères, Puylaroque, SW France

 The village fete means streets swept, illuminations up and the dodgems come to town.... it's always held the last weekend in July and starts on Friday night with a 'retraite aux flambeaux' ie. kids have burning torches or Chinese lanterns and everyone tours the narrow streets accompanied by live musicians. Then there's a dance in the village hall. On Saturday around 200 people eat an 4 course evening meal, usually outside but this year storms threatened,so we were inside; all organised (and served!) by the hard working, tireless members of the Fete committee.Then it's the rumba, polka, waltz and maybe salsa till the small hours... Sunday midday sees a wreath placed on the war memorial followed by the ubiquitous 'apéritifs' and a vintage car display with yet another group for the dance in the evening. Monday seems so..o.oo quiet afterwards!

14th July aka Bastille Day

Les Chimères, Puylaroque,SW France

'Put out more flags!'

 The war monument tidied up, tricolour flags at its corners as well as posters done,the wreath ordered and supply of bottles topped up by yours truly...yep, we're ready for THE big day in France!
After the speech by the Mayor and tunes from the brassband, it's time for a 'verre de l'amitié' (glass of friendship) in the salle des fêtes.
In the evening the fete committee took over with a disco/barbie and then when night fell everyone went up to the watertower to watch the fireworks; fingers crossed by the councillors responsible that no fires resulted from the sparks in drought affected nearby fields...........

A memorable day, commemorated throughout France. 

Check out all the pics on 14th July

My son's the singer in the band..........

Les Chimères, Puylaroque,SW France

OK, happened in Paris NOT Puylaroque BUT, my son Lewis lived here for  his formative years so although not 'pure souches'  (pure blood) Puylaroquaine, entitled to say he comes from here...............

Live concert 30th June in Pigalle by group Rio Nebulane ....can hear tracks written and sung by my son Lewis on soundcloud
 http://soundcloud.com/rionebulane/we-gotta-fight-rio-nebulane

or on Facebook
www.facebook.com/pages/Rio-Nebulane/317483788268743

 or enter 'rio nebulane' on Google

 and to see pics of concert go to

concert

Culture in the country?

Les Chimères, Puylaroque,SW France

Yes, it exists!

Last Saturday, in the 'salle des fêtes' a local theatre company 'Quercy Productions', put on a play by Molières "Le médecin malgré lui" (Doctor despite himself) and although the audience wasn't enormous, everyone appreciated live theatre in their village.

The Beatles live on in Puylaroque......

Les Chimères, Puylaroque,SW France

Juan Frutos

Lamollinairie, Frutos, Desmard

... in a painting!
3 local artists had an exhibition in early July in the Citadel organised by the Friends of the library club. Each year they invite an artist, or group, to exhibit their work.
 Two years ago it was Jean Suzanne, an internationally renowned sculptor and in 2011 there were 2 exhibitons...Beatrice Tebaldi, jewellery, stained glass & dressmaker as well as yours truly in an exhibition entitled 'It's a family affair' with works by 6 family members ...all art school trained.

Estelle Desmard

Estelle Desmard

Jean Suzanne

Beatrice Tebaldi

Lisanne Ashton & family

Lisanne Ashton & family

Les Chimères, Puylaroque,SW France

Just learnt about Loomji.fr...a site all about communes in France...you can click to discover details about virtually any village : number of inhabitants, info, hotels etc etc

www.loomji.fr/puylaroque-82148/

Bonfire at Puylaroque

Les Chimères, Puylaroque, SW France

Photo by Geoff Lewis

Photo by Patrick Auzanne

Summer's here....and the village followed the ancient tradition of dancing round the bonfire to celebrate the feast of St Jean ...after queuing up to be served with dinner (like a streetparty) and then dancing till the wee hours.
From now till mid August there's a 'fête' every weekend as well as virtually nonstop carboot sales.

Photo by Patrick Auzanne

Photo by Patrick Auzanne

Les Chimères, Puylaroque, SW France

View towards church

Just finished new web site for the village ...check it out?
www.puylaroque.com

Les Chimères, Puylaroque, SW France

A table!
Busy weekend as it's the annual accordion competition in Puylaroque when hundreds of youngsters come to compete for eligibility in the European championships...so, fullhouse with guests at table 2 nights running. Fine EXCEPT as the photo shows, have right index finger in splint thanks to Diamant the labrador tripping me up on the 700 year old stone staircase (former watchtower) ....this slows things down in the chopping and preparing department no end! No souschef aux Chimères, sadly....
BUT despite all odds, 7 of us sat down to the following menu last night:
Asparagus & Hollandaise sauce, homemade of course
Twice-baked goat's cheese souffles with rocket
Greek yogurt marinaded chicken fillets with ginger & fresh coriander (just a touch of chilli, cos the French aren't mad about hot dishes!) accompanied by 2 sorts of recherché spuds (ratte and grenaille)
Summer fruit pavlova & strawberry coulis...um, yes, fait maison
All washed down with red wine from Domaine du Merchien.
On the menu tonight... am taking time out from cooking as a breather to write this...
Roasted Thai scallops with samphire
Piedmont roasted red peppers
Pork & fennel roasted with preserved lemon & coriander, honey sauce
Pannacotta des îles (means it's got rum in it!) with lime sauce
Big THANK YOU Delicious magazine, Good Housekeeping and of course, Delia!
Back to the stove........

Les Chimères, Puylaroque, SW France: Four in a bed....
Just been contacted by 'Bienvenue chez nous', the French equivalent of 4 in a bed ...do I want to take part in their new series? Hum.... good question: the mail included interviews with previous contestants who said they'd had an increase of 30% in bookings since the programme was aired in April 2012.........wonderful for them. BUT the French version (which OF COURSE I watched!) seemed far bitchier and much more commercial (winner gets 3000 € prize and TV public competes for 1000 € prize by texting "what colour was the house facade" etc.........) which is somewhat offputting. Although I had some backstabbing comments from other contestants, overall have no regrets for having taken part in the UK version cos it put Puylaroque on the map, DESPITE the fact that I've had only one booking so far as a result..............Hey guys, I know you're out there, thanks to website hits, but 'come on down' to Puylaroque!
Oh, by the way...I really don't speak French all the time to British guests....tongue in cheek directing, n'est-ce pas?
Think resting on one's laurels is the best course of action, non? Any comments?
Lisanne (aka Frances de la Tour)

20 years on

Les Chimères, Puylaroque, SW France
 20 years at Chimères calls for a party!

So, on Saturday last that's what we did with fingers crossed for good weather....thank you up there! Great surprise: my son, daughter-in-law and grandson arrived having sworn they couldn't make it...super to see them and my son (singer/songwriter/film maker) sang in the small hours with the other musician friends (I'd put notes in letterboxes warning people to use earplugs that night!).. GREAT TIME had by all though the hostess didn't manage much mingling cos she was on duty. Fewer people ...65... made it than planned so LOTS of chilli con carne (very French, n'est-ce pas?) left over....

'I believe in miracles....'

Les Chimères = dreams & fantasies and even miracles?

"I believe in miracles...." Brixton, our 16 year old totally deaf black cat disappeared on 18th April and despite posters everywhere, no-one had seen him even in a defunct state by the roadside which is what we feared the most, him being deaf an' all....we'd given up hope and then on Friday night I dreamt I'd found him. Guess who turned up at 5 am this morning, miaowing at 60 decibels (if you're deaf, it's like wearing headphones: talk louder, non?) outside the bedroom shutters? Yep, wee Brickie, weighing a good 2 kilos less after 3 weeks AWOL. So today is dedicated to the one I love, vitamins, spiruline, milk,'croquettes' and all round TLC (tender lovin' care for those who don't know this nursing abbreviation). Have lost 11 cats on the road in 20 years here and wee Brix has outlasted 'em all plus 2 dogs....................Keep on, truckin', Brixton!
And if I dare take a political stance, not being a naturalised Frenchie, if it's 'bye bye, Sarco ce soir', EVEN MORE cause to rejoice and believe in miracles, n'est-ce pas?!

Carboot sale in Puylaroque

Les Chimères CARBOOT SALE in Puylaroque (aka 'vide grenier') :1st of May bank holiday and luckily sunshine for the first time in yonks....the shopkeepers' association held an 'open day' and carboot sale where I found a delightfully kitsch 'Betty Boop' figurine to hold Les Chimères visiting cards....OK, VERY kitsch! Resisted the temptation to buy more jewellery and settled for 10 litres of wine from winemaker friends Domaine du Merchien (who appeared on 'Wish you were here'...ALL the Brits here get to be on the box or what?)

Carboot sale in sunny (yes, at last!) Puylaroque

Wine & beer making friends from Merchien vineyard had a stall....