Kermesse update No comments yet

Just a quick update to say that our excellent Kermesse last weekend made it into the “local ” paper Ouest-France. You can see their report and photo (Molly just sneaks in on the left) here:

[Ouest France: Du grand jeu pour «Terre d'enjeux» - Foussais-Payré]

St Antoine Kermesse - a feast of food and fun 2 comments

So to continue the tale of our hectic weekend, on Sunday we had the Kermesse for Molly & Joe’s school, St Antoine. A Kermesse is basically an end-of-term summer fair, although, unlike the ones we used to have in England, this one seemed to be more focussed on the community coming together and the children entertaining them, rather than bombarding us with a-hundred-and-one stalls selling corn dolls and peg-bags. Thank goodness!

We arrived way too early, of course. One day we will get it right and arrive with everyone else….  It was another beautiful day, which was fortunate as the night before we had had the most enormous thunderstorm. It had apparently been rumbling around for a while, but when it landed on top of our house at 3am I thought the roof was going to cave in. Thankfully we survived the onslaught and the morning was fresher, but still nice and warm.

The lunch was served in the Salle Polyvalente near the church and the Hotel de Ville. We queued for our meal and spotted our dear old neighbours at a table. It was so nice to see them there and most unexpected - we have never seen them anywhere other than round the houses.

The meal was great value - €10 got us a a large punnet of moules, and one full of gorgeous chips (you can’t beat deep-fried chips…), as well as a slice of bread, some cheese, a big slice of tarte aux pommes and a glass of rosé . The moules were the best we had tasted and the adults polished them all off. The kids filled up mainly on chips, as they do, so I ended up finishing their moules off, but nothing went to waste. They had clearly over-catered as well as they were coming round offering second-helpings to anyone who wanted them. By the end of the meal, topped off with a coffee, we were all pretty well stuffed and ready for a siesta!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/qPhWnZC0iM8]Sadly a siesta was not on the menu as the kids had all headed off to the school to prepare for the “Spectacle“. When they returned they all looked so sweet dressed in their costumes. The school takes children from as young as 3, so there were all ages there, right up to Molly, who will be 11 this week (although she is in a year below her age in order to catch up on her french). Each class did a number of songs and dances on the theme of the environment. It was a wonderful show and, once again, we were so proud to see our two taking full part in it. Joe even had to say a line of a poem on his own and I’m sure no-one would have known he wasn’t french just by listening to him.  Interestingly, Molly looked really pretty in her “designer” dress made from recycled tin cans!

httpv://www.youtube.com/v/mERVvXhyCC0

After the show, the stalls were opened and it was time to spend money :)    It was a good arrangement whereby the children could buy tickets on a piece of string and would trade the tickets for turns on the different stalls. There was a bouncy-castle, a football shoot-out, a fishing lucky dip, a wheel of fortune and a cake stall. Of course this was supplemented by a well-frequented bar as well…   We had turns on pretty much everything, winning various hats, t-shirts and other random prizes. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and as usual the atmosphere was so relaxed and friendly.

After a while it was time to draw the raffle. We had our eye on the gas barbecue - ours is still at my parents’ house as we didn’t have room to bring it when we moved over. If we could win one here it would save them having to bring it in the car next time they drove over. But sadly it was not to be. At school the next day they dished out the “lesser” prizes and we won a bowl and some salad servers - a nice accompaniment to a barbecue…if we had one.

The night was going to continue for a long time to come, but our gang were again getting a little restless by now, having spent all their money and bounced themselves silly, so we headed home.

It had been a really wonderful weekend and we really got the feeling that we were part of a great community, something we have never truly felt before. Here’s to many more weekends like this!

Looking forward to Music and Moules No comments yet

We have a busy weekend coming up…

On Friday it is the Fete de la Musique. This is a national event that was set up in 1982 by the French Ministry of Culture to help popularise music in France and the French-speaking world. The actual day of the festival is the 21st June, the day of the summer solstice, but in Foussais our event is on the evening of the 20th. It is basically a series of free concerts showcasing all different kinds of music and brining the community together to enjoy it.

The concerts in Foussais start at 8.30pm (like most things) and look like they’ll be going on into the wee small hours.  The pupils from the local schools will be singing some songs, followed by various acts that I really know nothing about (!), including “Katell et ses élèves” - with the accordian and flute , the “Chorale du foyer soleil” and “Trompes de chasse”. The evening draws to a rocking close with a series of bands called  “Maigre Souris“, “Nadine is a groove child” and “The Fat Pandas“, the last of which is billed as “British rock”, though I’m not quite sure what that is supposed to sound like.

We have Lisa’s mum and sister staying with us, so I’m not sure we will be staying too late, but it will certainly be nice for them to experience a little of the event and to see, hopefully, the community gathered together.

Another chance for a community gathering comes on Sunday when it is the Kermesse - the “summer fair” if you like - at Molly & Joe’s school.   This event is another all-day job, starting with a meal of moules et frites, one of our favourite meals. There is then a show by the children, followed by a raffle, with a barbecue to round off the night.  It should be another chance for us to get to know people and hopefully enjoy the lovely weather - presently predicted to be sunny and 30 degrees!

Rest assured, there will be reports and photos of all the happenings next week.