A woodland harvest and a bush-tucker trial

This weekend we were joined by the Dixies for an explore in the forest at Mervent. It wasn’t specifically a mushroom hunt, us being the worst mushroom hunters since time began, but we came equipped with our books for identifying the good/bad ones, plus a (small) bag to carry them home in. Just in case!

We began, as all good explorations should, with a picnic dinner. Having filled ourselves with bread. cheese. crisps and fruit (NOT eggs…) we marched off into the woods. We quickly marched back out again when the kids heard the approaching sound of hunting dogs – la chasse was in full swing, so perhaps walking through that part of the forest was not such a good idea!

So we diverted round the edge of the woods and wound our way down to la Pont du Deluge. This is our favourite spot due to the lovely stream flowing through the trees that the kids like to try crossing on precarious stepping-stones. There was no chance of them getting wet on this occasion however, asd the stream was virtually dry! What a disappointment.

Undaunted by the lack of flowing water, we set our sights on harvesting the chestnuts that were littering the ground. Always the hunter-gatherers, Kevin and Sylvie were very excited at the thought of taking them home and adding them to the evening’s meal. So we all started trawling the area for the green spiky balls (…behave!) that sheltered the chestnuts.

After pricking ny fingers several times, and being the geek that I am, I fashioned a “gadget” out of a twig for picking them up, for which I was basically laughed at. Meh,,,some people just don’t recognise genius when they see it

In the end we collected quite a haul and, supplemented by a few edible mushrooms, we had our starter for the night:

Or so I thought…….

In fact, THIS was my starter for the night:

Clockwise, from the top, we have spleen, tripe and veal head. Not pictured is the pigs trotter.

Yes folks, Sylvie had lined me up with a traditional French bush-tucker trial as a challenge especially for me! How kind……

So, with the pride of a nation at stake I did my bit for blighty, closed my eyes and sampled some slices of these French treats. I have to say, they weren’t as disgusting as I thought they would be. The spleen took me back to school dinners eating cold liver. And the tripe and veal head were vaguely like the inside of a cheap pork-pie. Pigs trotter was just a fatty pork chop with very little meat. I managed to eat a little of everything and thereby took another step along the path of integration into proper French society

Luckily. the rest of the evening passed without further challenges and I could sit back and enjoy the lovely birthday meal that Lisa had prepared. The company, once again, was excellent. All the kids played like they were life-long friends and the adults could just relax and chat…and try not to fall asleep  *cough*Sylvie*cough*

Another excellent night. With everyone sleeping over it was a very relaxed affair, followed by a very lazy morning. The perfect end to my birthday celebrations and the first of many more such occasions I suspect.