Reached David's mill, just about the time the gang returned from their trek. I was the only Indian in the party of about 30 people and while I struggled with my French, some others struggled with their Anglais to get ourselves introduced. I discovered quite a few people I had never met, but had one or more links to people I know in India or Singapore.
Very soon we got down to business - eating our dinner and dancing around the fire. Included in menu was a particular snack which looked exactly like a sweet brownie with almonds, but want infact turned out to be salted dish made very skillfully from pork blood ! The main dish was aligot -a speciality of Aveyron region (fortunately for a herbivore like me) made out of potatoes and cheese..
I had brought along some packets of instant South Indian dish- Upma, the only ones I had brought from S'pore that remained with me. I had David's wife Marylene as my brand ambassador, who gracefully introduced the dish in French to the guests and made them taste it. The responses varied from -- "C èst bon !" with a thankful hug- from those who loved spicy food, but missed it in France -----to a muted scream and scramble to the nearest source of ice water/ cold beer by those who are not used to being "spiced up".
Some of them exacted revenge by offering me to taste a lil bit of nice home-made wine, asking me to appreciate the fruity taste of the wine. I gulped down the the colourless stuff like water, and burst out with a cough just like those who have their first puff of cigarette- the wine was revealed to be 5 years older than me (1976) and had an alcohol content of 40-45% !! I heard some chuckles in a whizzing and twirling background....
The music began with some songs from the 70's and 80's to which the children below 6 and above 60 began to dance, and were showing us some nice simple steps, and everybody joined in too. As the pace quickened and the kids tired out, the 20 or 30 somethings stepped up the tempo.
Then I was given an opportunity add some Indian twist to the dance.. Thanks to ARRahman's Boys album and my classmate Ashwin's impatient dance coaching -- managed to evoke a decent response from the crowd for the kind of dance that they see in Bollywood movies. The party went on till 5am, and the folks retired after the long workout.
The next day, the main activity was fishing in a pond near the mill, with some trout in it. I discovered the art and science of being an angler. I was taught how to make a fishing rod from a long slender tree branch, carving a notch, adding the string, the plumbs, the hook, and finally the sport of catching some grasshoppers for the bait ! Though I knew I would never eat the only fish I managed to catch, I wanted to learn the skill after watching Tom Hanks struggle to learn it in the movie "Cast Away".. Hope I never end up as a Robinson Crusoe to test those skills....
In the evening there was some time for petanque, a different ball game native to France, which the French never bothered to spread it to their colonies, unlike the British who sowed the seeds of cricket craze in their colonies. I shall devote a separate blog for the joys of playing petanque.
This night was relatively peaceful, with some simple food, friendly chat and some pleasant music, and none of the head banging excitement of the previous night. But it wasnt to be a tame end : we played a game called werewolves and the villagers, was supposed a game of strategy and logical reasoning, but with my limited understanding of French and the game rules, I found it funny and chaotic. I was smiling too much, aroused the suspicion of al players, and was exterminated in quick time.
The next morning was to undo all the party destruction we had caused, and pack up all the preparations. And then we proceeded to Roquefort caves, and Coivourturage..
I realised this was the only weekend I did not feel like being away from home, with all the human company and friends to talk and share.
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