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Wednesday 30 July 2014

Wednesday 30th July 2014: Fête de la Crêpe

Had a great time at the Pancake Festival. When Paul came over from the gite and asked if I wanted to go with them I wasn't sure at first as I have such a lot of work to get on with. He'd spent the whole morning practising some pieces by Poulenc. He makes a strange clicking sound with his mouth when he concentrates! He's on holiday from the college until September. He told me that Paris is virtually deserted in August, so he, Isabelle and Mathilde, decided to stay on here for another week.
When we arrived at Gourin there was plenty going on and the place was crowded. I was interested in the live music, particularly the Celtic bands; Tan De'i, a group of women playing accordion, violin and flute and Sonesien du, a band with flute, guitar, drums and traditional Breton bagpipes. Shame we got there too late to see the dance group.
Isabelle was amazed to see her old history tutor, Celine, from college. She hadn't seen her for a few years and had no idea she had moved down here. Thank goodness they can all speak fairly good English. We all went for a coffee and Celine told us how she's moved to Brittany from Paris and is writing a book about local folklore and customs. She was very interested in my writing and wanted to know all about my book.
As we were looking around the craft stalls, I decided to get a thank-you present for Laura for all the editing she's done for me. I asked Celine and Isabelle for help and we chose a pair of blue moon-shaped earrings. There were some very good artists exhibiting their work and Celine bought a small oil painting depicting a group of traditional Breton cottages. She told me she's a bit of a hoarder, her place is filled with stuff. She also bought two brightly hand painted plates from one of the stalls, and a blue and white striped handwoven rug (must have a thing about the colour blue). She mentioned her interest in philately so I told her about my collection of Victorian stamps (didn't mention my 2d blues though). There were a few stalls where you could sample different crêpes. We tasted quite a few! Laura would have loved it there.
Mathilde was very excited about entering the children's pancake competition. We watched her with the other children all wearing their aprons and hats. It was funny to see the concentration on her face. Paul and Isabelle said she's been practising in the gite, so for the past two days they've eaten nothing but galettes! Mathilde didn't win the competition but got some sweets for taking part. The winning pancake in the adult section was 70cm in diameter! The crowd went crazy when the results were announced with loud clapping and cheering. As soon as the judging was over and the photos taken all the entrants began eating their pancakes, inviting the crowd to join in.
Celine gave me her phone number, must get in touch soon.
(photos to follow)


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