Sunday lunch and Endurance Horse Race

Today was one of those days when it was difficult to choose what to do as there were so many things on offer.  My village, St André, was on the route of the horse endurance races – 20km and 40km – and at the next junction towards town horses and carriages were racing down the lanes.  There was a car boot sale at Duault where I have been promising myself I would go, a plant sale in Mael Carhaix and the market at Bon Repos.

Yesterday a friend of my son who is over in France at the moment, suggested that we have lunch together and I proposed that we should eat at the Café de l’Abbaye at Bon Repos so we could see the market too.  Although the temperature board at SuperU was showing 17°C there was a brisk, chilly wind and it was not the best day to sit outside the café watching the world go by so when S arrived we went inside to have lunch.  Afterwards we wandered around the Abbey de Bon Repos and took some photographs.

 

A bloom from a rhododendron and a novel way of storing empty wine bottles.

When I got back to the village the afternoon horse entrants were just starting to come through the village so I put a scarf and coat on and joined my neighbours watching them running up the lane to the calvaire.  The supporters were there with buckets of water for the horses to drink and bottles of water to pour over their necks to cool them down and refresh them.

 There were some very young competitors as well as the obviously experienced riders.

Once they had all come through we went down the lane to the next junction to watch the carriages coming towards us on the bend. 

 

 

Here are three generations of my lovely neighbour's family.

I love how when events like this happen everyone comes out to watch and there's such a good sense of community.  









Three things I like:

1.   Meeting friends unexpectedly while wandering around the market at Bon Repos.
2.   A very rare steak sandwich for supper with garlicky, mustardy mayo.
3.   Finding the runner bean plants I put in the ground yesterday haven't been attacked by slugs - yet!