A bit of eating and dancing

Le Vaulmier village centre, seen from the hillside above

Thursday evening (31st October) ASPECT, a local association in the Vallee du Mars held an event to celebrate the local autumn specialities, mushrooms and chestnuts, pumpkins and local venison.

We started the evening with a few country dances, to the music of two violins, and then sat daown to the feast, starting with mushroom soup with cep mushrooms, followed by local cured jambon cru and dried sausage. this was in its turn followed by the venison, of which we all had a small taste. The animal had been donated by a local hunter, and cooked by his wife. A selection of hot vegetable dishes came next, such as rice cooked in milk with nutmeg and almonds, and pumpkin and potato gratin. Local Salers cheese followed, and finally there was a choice of desserts, including pumpkin tart, cake made with chestnut flour, chocolate,walnuts and hazelnuts, or made with chestnut flour and apples. As we were munching our way through these last delicacies, someone was roasting chestnuts outside, and these completed the feast, together with some Limousin cider. Then the country dancing resumed  and continued until late into the night. A really lovely way to spend All Hallows Eve.

Walking

Yesterday we went on a bit of a hike. We set out from Le Vaulmier, walked through a footpath towards St Vincent-de-Salers, then followed a path uphill to the plateau above the valley . The path went through hazel woods for some of the way, mixed with other trees, so was pleasantly shady on what was a hot day. When we woke up in the morning, the sky was a clear cloudless blue, and remained that way all day and evening.

I must say that when we got higher up the path, past the waterfall which is signposted a couple of times ( and didn't have much water in it at this time of year) we met several obstructions, in the form of either metal or barbed wire fences strung across the way, which we had to crawl under a couple of times.There is also little if any signage for the path higher up, although it is marked on the blue series IGN map of the area. Much of the higher reaches of the path, indicated in a couple of places as part of a Grand Randonnee were quite overgrown with bramles and nettlesand other vegetation. It would seem that not many people use it to gain access to the plateau, or to descend from it. This is a great pity, as the path could well disappear completely in time if it is not used or maintained, and it is a really lovely way up past the mill at Orfaguet and higher. We eventually reached the plateau above the valley and were rewarded with gorgeous views , seemingly over half of the middle of France. Its almost like another world up there, as there is nothing between you and the endless sky; almost like flying. On one walk we did earlier this year, we saw an aeroplane flying along the valley below us. There are usually few if any other people, only the cows on their summer pastures, birds, and wild flowers for company, and of course no traffic noise, except possibly a passing 'plane. A fascinating place to get away from it all, but an hours walk downhill through a shady path brought us back to Le Vaulmier and the house.