Bonjour Olivier!

Although we hadn’t seen Olivier Nicque in more than 30 years we recognized him instantly as he pulled into the parking lot in the center of the tiny beach town St. Marie. Olivier is a priest now and has 8 parishes around the picturesque town of Argeles in southernmost France. He met us and took us right over to his family’s beach house and within 5 minutes we were toasting with sparkling wine in the garden and soon on our way out to dinner at a very roots seafood shack that served the local shellfish with local wine in a seafaring environment, next to the boats. Oyster festival, part one, au Francaise!

Cellar Visit and Au Revoir

No visit to Les Buis du Chardonnet is complete without a stop in the cellar, which we did on the way out. Au Revoir, Ghislaine! Merci Beaucoup for the time of our lives!

Sunday Lunch

Our French friends are such troopers! Denise Milligan lead the charge on a paella lunch and Denise Longefay and her sister Annie and husband Raymond drove in for it. Something different, something new—count everybody in. We had a Paella au Beaujolais, since there was no paella pan, with rabbit and chicken—and cheese and wine of course. Michel Perroud broke out some Spanish wines from his cellar. Muchas Gracias to all the players!

Ready for Lunch

The pickers were tired, the kitchen crew and the three massive casseroles of Gratin dauphinois stood at the ready—and Benoît arrived! Big energy in the house now! Damien had the table set and the cheese, bread, and fruit compote dessert rested in the cool garage. Michel destemmed all the grapes in the machine and the fruit was in the tank. Time to celebrate. Saline got us rolling with a song.

So many interesting people at the table that day. We sat near Isabelle, an engineer colleague of Michel’s who had lived in Atlanta and helped a sisters of st Joseph mission in a southern Appalachian clinic. Also, Elise from Jakarta and her husband Alexander who met in Bali and had lots of tips on travel in Spain. But we all shared a mission that day—the Beaujolais harvest. That evening we went to the church in Cogny to listen to a choral group and then went to a Mexican art show complete with a mariachi band—and wine.