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Published: October 9th 2007
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After London, the 4 day trip to Aveyron was a perfect way of de-toxing. The region we stayed in is called Aubrac in a tiny village, Carrol - population 50. Leaving the hot Mediterranean coast we traveled up into the high altitudes and into typical mountain weather. The change in landscape from Muscat vineyards to mountain landscapes was amazing. France is quite diverse in that way you can drive two hours and be in a totally different place.
Our extremely generous hosts, Christian and Evelyn, have a stunning house. Their house is perched on the top of a massive land, with an amazing view of the green hills, and with cows as neighbors. They have a cute puppy spaniel by the name of Bora, who has a very naughty nature and is always jumping the fence to chase the cows. On the land, they have planted fruit trees and grow vegetables. Berries like cassis, mulberries, and blackberries grow wild in their garden - paradise does exist. Evelyn makes the most amazing jams out of these berries, and even uses the dandelions from the grass to make a sweet yellow jam. She is a very good cook, even though she reckons
it’s not her favorite pastime. Her husband of 42 years, Christian, is quite simply passionate about food and entertaining. As you can imagine, every mealtime was a culinary delight.
Being high up in altitude, the weather is not so great though. However, the scenery makes up for it. Our first day was spent at the authentic market at Espalion. The streets were packed with country people - old men wearing berets with checked shirts, speaking in their Aveyron language (apparently it is French, but quite incomprehensible to me), folk musicians playing pipes in the street, and of course the local vendors selling the cheeses, saucisson and fruit, veggies. The area is well known for their meat and cheese, rather than its wine.
Back to the house at lunchtime, for another hearty meal - pheasant cooked with olives and sepe mushrooms. After a lunch like that there’s not much to do but sleep, which is what we did. Later we headed to the town of Laguiole, which is famous for its cheese (and named after it). We visited the cheese factory, and saw how they make this unique ‘fromage’. Made from cow’s milk, it is actually pressed by machines,
in the traditional way, over again to become very soft. It can be eaten fresh, but mostly used in the local dish aligot, with potatoes, and cream. Once the cheese is mixed with these ingredients, it makes a stringy texture, and looks a bit like spaghetti. Quite fascinating - spaghetti potato cheese.
That night we decided to take Evelyn and Christian out to dinner. Everyone got the menu for 16 euros, except me - thank goodness. The size of the meals was surprising, because from my experience in France - for eating out - one is usually served light meals (but good quality). Here in the Aveyron everything is served in large portions, for the same price of the trendy restaurants in Sete. Nevertheless, we all got to try the aligot, eventually. A couple of mouthfuls for were enough for me, although I did try my best to finish half my plate. (Check out the photo of Benoit). And, quite surprising, after such a heavy meal, cheese was still served, and then dessert. That night we went back feeling stuffed, but still managed to end the night with a mint tea served in Moroccan style, with pine nuts.
The following day we planned a day walk in a nearby park - the paraloup. A ski field during winter, the trails makes good easy hiking in summer. The park is full of wild flowers, and has some great mountain views from the top. The morning started off with nice weather, but at lunch time, while we were drinking our red wine, it started raining, so our picnic lunch was hurriedly finished.
That afternoon, ‘back at the ranch’ we stayed indoors waiting for the rain to pass, drinking hot chocolate (banania) and playing sudoku. The weather quickly changed, and Evelyn got us out again for another walk. Leaving her house, we followed farm roads passed lots of cows, through some stunning bush, and arrived at a very old village with stone houses. We were even invited in for a drink by one of the local residents.
The last day was quite full on, as we got involved in the activities of the nearby village festival. At 8 in the morning, the village held a tripoux (tripe) morning. So, I went along with the boys to observe this act of insanity. The smell coming from the kitchen, where this
delicacy was being served, was turning my stomach (at 8 in the morning you can imagine), but I continued, to stay - all for the experience. First, a very fatty saucisson was served, with a glass of Bordeaux of course. Then the main deal - the tripoux. I watched Benoit’s face as he started eating this round ball of guts. He showed no fear, but I could see it wasn’t going down too well. Nevertheless, he conquered, and so did the two other warriors, Christian and Pierre. They all finished their plates, and quite comfortably enjoyed the cheese afterwards. Finally coffee and foauce for dessert, which is another local specialty, similar to a brioche but more moist and has orange water in it. Very nice. Benoit did mention that if Borat ever decided to do a movie in France, he should come to this village in the Aveyron.
Later that morning we joined in on the ‘randonee’ (day walk) that was organized. We had a guide who stopped along the way, talking about the flowers and trees. She mentioned that in this region, no artificial pesticides are used, which keeps the natural balance in the soil, allowing many different
types of wild flowers to grow. It seemed to me that the people really care about the land, and their animals well being. One example of this is that they don’t like bullfighting at all, something that is still practiced in the south of France.
Along the route, we also got shown how the tuile (roof tiles) are made, traditionally. The slate is picked up in the mountain and hand carved in a stony shelter. All the houses have this unique tuile, but now it most probably is done mechanically. The old man who showed us this method of making tuiles looked like he had been doing that for years. Everyone had a go at this art, making it a long stop along the way.
At lunch time, we descended into a valley with lots of trees for shade. I expected a light lunch of bread and cheese. Not quite, a trailer arrived with saucisson, pastisse, red wine, Muscat, some disgusting local liqueur made from roots of a plant- and bread, cheese and fruit. A good deal for the 6 euros each we paid.
That evening, after showering and changing, we headed back to the village for
the evening folk dancing. While watching the dancers, dressed beautifully in their traditional costumes, we made some new English friends, tourists from Kent. The dinner was in a tent, with long tables so everyone sits together. We ate again the aligot - potato, cheese, cream dish, with sausages and apple pie for dessert and vowed to go on diet after this night. After the meal, and lots of red wine, we headed back to the dance floor to try out the steps that we observed earlier on. The stars of the show were the English, who I reckon are undercover professional dancers. Everyone was so surprised how they got on the floor and just danced, perfectly, all night. Christian was so impressed with them (or rather the English girl), that he invited them back to his place for aperitif the next day.
Our sojourn in the Aveyron was something quite unique. We got to observe traditional customs, enjoy local products, see old villages in mountain landscapes and meet some very nice friendly and generous people. The area is not very touristy, compared to the south of France, and I think we got to experience the true aveyron especially on
the last day of the village fete.
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