Repas de la chasse

Yesterday we went to a Repas de la Chasse, a meal hosted by our local hunters' society. Apparently these meals are famous for going on all day -- that's why they start early. It was scheduled to start at noon, and we arrived about quarter after, fashionably late, we hoped. We were among the first  people there, though. Eventually there were about two hundred of us for the meal at three long tables.

Apéritifs (pineau des Charentes, of course) and the first course were served about two, and the meal finished up just before six. We left about quarter after six, about the end of the first wave of leavers. We were seated next to the commune's funny-guy with his friends and family. He was friendly and told some funny jokes and pulled our legs a bit. He seemed to be quite well-known by everyone and had a reputation as a big eater, with a big, round beer gut to prove it. There was a lot of joshing with the people serving (members of the hunters' society), of which we understood only a little. It was all very convivial. 

What did we do all that time? We ate! Look at the menu:

We knew enough from our old-folks' lunch to take small portions and no seconds. Even so, today we feel like we're still digesting yesterday's meal. 

With the apéritif arrived the soup, some relative of chicken noodle. Followed by a yummy hunter's paté (terrine). Followed by fish (some kind of long, round fish like an eel, with a name not in the dictionary). In a tomato sauce, unfortunately for Ed. Then a venison stew, with triangles of toasted white sandwich bread. Then roast leg of boar with vegetables (the légumes), which were white beans. Then some salad (lettuce with vinaigrette) before the cheeses. All served with delicious bread and accompanied by wine, first the vin ordinaire on the table (which wasn't too bad), and then they sold bottles and bottles of red, white, and rosé bordeaux. (We tasted some of the red, thought it was pretty blah, and stuck with the table wine while the others finished off several bottles of the red.)

The meal finished up with black forest cake (fôret noire). They served the last piece off one tray just before reaching Kaye, so she and Ed quickly split his piece and they found us both happily munching our desserts when they returned with the next tray. The cake was followed by coffee and digestifs, not just one but many. There was a prune eau de vie, served either in the coffee or on a sugar cube, fire-breathing stuff, one whiff'll do ya. There was cognac and cassis, alone or together. There was cognac with some kind of almond liqueur added. This was quite tasty and probably homemade, since it was served from soda bottles. The alcohol was still flowing, but while we could still walk and drive, we made our escape.

During pauses in the serving, diners old and young got up and sang a song or two a capella. People told jokes and stories. At the end, a ham was given to the person who most closely guessed the weight. The guesses near us were all within 25 grams of the actual weight, but they weren't close enough. 

This morning we took delivery of another tankful of fioul. Luckily the price of oil  has gone down quite a bit since our last batch. Kaye's French might be improving a bit, since the ordering process seemed to go a bit easier this time.

We had bits of snow on the weekend, all show and nothing sticking to the ground. Today was warmer, but there are high winds and rain forecast tonight, winds gusting up to 115kph. Hold onto your hats!