We have now been living and working here for 10 years and every year we hold a Christmas party for
all our French friends and artisans who have helped and supported us throughout the year.
Well, officially its called
an "Apero" and invitations state, date and time and RSVP. In the ten years we have been doing this, maybe one in forty
odd invitees responds. The French do not understand RSVP!
I have had numerous conversations about it and it is alien to them. As they say "you invite us to a
party/apero with food and beverages we come....we don't need to tell you every year!"
It starts, as the invitation points out, at 7pm and everyone is there at 7 pm, there is no 15 minutes leeway, or
"we will arrive half an hour late as etiquette dictates", bang on the dot 40 odd cars take over the front lawn, road
outside and anywhere else they can abandon.
The local chief of police is always a welcome guest, as is the Mayor, our local
doctor and dentist and the head of the pompiers!....just in case. (If there was an incident in town it would end up being the
worst party you had ever attended)
Actually it really starts in September when Elaine and I are wandering through the streets of Saint Antonin Noble Val
enjoying the summer weather and reviewing the restaurants, cafes and bars (for research of course!)
It could be a neighbour or one of our artisans who hollers across the street....."Have you started the cake yet Helene."
She then hollers back "I will next week, Richard has drunk all the brandy".
Our friends and co-workers (a word that didn't exist when we left the UK) are referring to the huge Christmas cake Elaine
makes from scratch every year, starting in September...when she has the booze to go with it.
They do not comprehend how you
can start a gateau in September that is eventually digested at the end of December, but boy do they digest it.
As the party progresses one or other friend guards the "gateau noel anglais" as we offer
turkey and homemade stuffing, prawns with pink sauce, salmon and cucumber, beef with English horseradish sandwiches,
(this is not one huge sandwich, but four varieties) to our fifty odd guests.
They get English sausages (imported from Spain) in honey and mustard, homemade mince pies, mini toad in the hole,
locally caught pork pie and a variety of other enticing Anglo Saxon tit bits.
One year we imported a large box of party poppers and they almost killed each other firing them into each others faces,
who was it said the French don't understand warfare?
Last year was Christmas crackers that we had smuggled back from a visit
to our dads. They were blown away by the crazy games, toe nail clippers et al and of course the silly hats.
The jokes were a waste of time, they understood the English, but the jokes...!
Its interesting to watch the guests, as we use competitive artisans to get quotes for work
on our managed properties, so at any given time there are three electricians, two plumbers, three men
with diggers, three masons, a couple of landscape gardeners, two roofers and of course their children,
wives and partners (another word that wasn't so much used when we left the UK).
You would think they would
avoid each other but no, they huddle in corners discussing who got what job and what's coming up in the new year.
I guess they treat this as the artisans end of year works do.
The Mayor has been guest of honour for as long as I can remember, but last year he took me
to one side and whispered "Richar, I leave early normally because of other mayoral commitments and have never
eaten a piece of this gateau de septembre that I hear so much about, can I try a piece"
Well what do you do when the guest of honour and his missus demand the September cake? Doggy bags were swiftly arranged,
the guard was distracted and two slices of Christmas cake were surreptitiously passed to the departing big wig and Mrs Mayor.
Its a fantastic evening full of Christmas cheer and once huge quantities of alcohol have been consumed our friends
and neighbours practice their English on us and each other, trying to speak in posh accents.
Discussions cover a
multitude of topics, should we allow a new supermarket in town (the jury's out), are the social and tax levels too high
(Is the pope etc.etc), is another bar in town a good idea (yes, yes and yes), did I have a head of hair on my wedding day
(well a little bit) and is there any more Christmas gateau (well of course Monsieur Le Maire)?
Now as I have said before, "Aperos" are drinks served before you go home and eat, so as a timeline 7pm to 9pm is what one
would expect, but as we offer food, the normal departure time is about two o clock in the morning, unless our
son Sebastian, the party animal, is in residence in which case we end up feeding half the guests breakfast
and we do this every year, we must be crackers....Christmas Crackers.
Happy Christmas 2011 and wishing you a great 2012 to you all from all of us at Saint Antonin
Noble Val Owners Club
If
you are looking for a property to rent,or someone to manage an existing
one, in or around Saint
Antonin Noble Val in the Tarn et
Garonne (82) region , why not talk to us...Call or email Richard or
Elaine Woollam......We can help you.
