Most years I go to the summer fete at Séligny (population 250). This is because I have several friends who live there, the natural history association Botamyco37 that I'm a member of puts on a display, and one of the best melon producers in the area sells their delicious Charentais melons at their peak.
This bloke had excellent saucisson, from Maine et Loire to our west. I bought wild boar, wild mushroom and bull.
This year I had lunch with friends Jean, Michel and Michelle. The menu was melon, moules frites and tarte fine aux pommes. Simple and classic.
The Charentais melons on this stall come from a farm just outside the village. I bought three.
My friend André lives in a house on the edge of the village that was his grandparents before him. Everyone in Séligny not only knows one another, but they are related. Jean told me his grandmother married three times, so almost everyone is greeted with 'ah, mon/ma petit.e cousin.e !'. This term is used in French to indicate a familiale link that is not as close and direct as first cousin, but might be several times removed.
The village restaurant.
André informed me that the mussels for the fete menu had been stored overnight in the brook that runs through his garden. He also told me that back in the day, his grandfather used to keep the community oysters fresh in the same brook. But in those days many people's untreated sewage discharged straight into the stream, and André's house is downstream of the entire village...
The remains of our meal.
The menu for the day.
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