the village fete near to Carcassonne. why I love france (Holiday Resorts in France in general)

Member Name: georgiesue

Product:	Holiday Resorts in France in general
Date:	23/09/08 (65 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Friendly people and a return to simple values

Disadvantages: may be more difficult to engage if you dont speak the language

I have always loved france and from my experience people either love it or hate it. Having recently returned from a short break to the south west region, namely a place called Carcassone I felt I had to recount my little tale which to me epitomises why france and french people are so quirky and fascinating.

We had been travelling around Carcassonne and for our last night had booked into a rather swanky chateau on the outskirts of the town. Having checked in we booked for dinner in the very expensive restaurant for that evening and went out for an explore. The chateau was in a small village. I noticed that there was a local fete on that day which centred around the local village school. Although not strictly sure whether we were allowed in we ventured into the grounds of the school. The children were playing all the old fashioned games I used to love so much as a child, little obstacle races, egg and spoon etc. There were litle stalls selling beautiful crafty things and local delicacies. What amused me most was the hook a trout stall. Like our hook a duck but involving live trout in a big tank. Putting aside your feelings for the fish, I just thought how typically rural french. when the children caught a trout it was duly despatched and they took it home for tea !!!!!!

We were approached by some of the locals and fortunately I speak reasonable french so after some friendly chat they explained that there was a bbq that evening in a nearby barn and would we like to attend. Both my partner and I were dying to attend. We cancelled our swanky restaurant reservation and in the early evening went off to the barn. To our suprise we were treated like guests of honour and sat opposite the mayor on the main table. All the parents of the school seemed to be involved in some way with either serving food or drinks and the sense of real community was overwhelming as was the french peoples friendliness to us not to mention their generosity. It came up in conversation that my partner liked good brandy. The mayor promptly dissapeared and it transpired he went back to his house to fetch his treasured and very old bottle of best brandy so that we could try it. It was a night neither of us will ever forget and I wished we lived somewhere as unpretentious and lovely as this little village.

This is just one tale from my travels in france but I have many other equally as lovely and thats why I would say to anyone who thinks that france is not for them, maybe try again and get out into rural france. I guess it helps a lot if you can speak the language a little but my partner speaks what i call Del boy french and he got by and had a whale of a time.

Vive la france !!!!!!!

Summary: A lovely experience, a bit like going back in time