Cowboys, Wine and Swine

Saturday night was a big evening in Cotignac. It was the Cowboy Soiree. What a hoot! There were about 20 dancers, all but two were women. They were in their black outfits with gold embroidery, gold cowboy hats, boots and US flag kerchiefs. The room - a small version of the VFW hall in Smithville - was packed! This was clearly a big event. Dinner was part of the show so tables were lined up and we had assigned seats - a first class event. The room was fully decorated from 4' tall paper cacti, a mannequin on a western saddle and both US and Confederate flags.

It started at 7:30PM so in French fashion that meant that the show and dinner started at 8:45PM. We visited (as much as possible) with our neighbors over chips, salsa and guacamole while they served apertifs - kir. That was a first! I was sitting next to Theirry. His wife, Marie, was part of the dance troupe. He had clearly been through this routine before. The program started with the troupe doing line dancing to John Denver and Achy Breaky Heart. After a couple of performances they invited the audience to learn a line dance with them. I danced with my partner, Eva (a man). It was a bit amusing with our difficulties in communication. Following the group dance, dinner was served. We had "chili con carne" or so they said. It was served with rice and lacked any chili-like spice. But by now we were starving so we ate everything they gave us. More line dance demonstrations and a group dance followed this course, too. This time I recognized the steps - it was the electric slide! Let the record show - I did the electric slide in France. The next course was cheese (camenbert and emmentaler) and salad. That was followed by an apple tart and coffee. Of course, the entire meal was served with an endless supply of red and rose wine. We ran out of water but not wine! You gotta love this place. We thought that was the end of the Cowboy Soiree story, but, no.

David and Bernadette arrived on Sunday and brought recommendations with them from a friend who lives in the nearby town of Lorgues. Last night was went to Lorgues to a recommended restaurant, Bistrot Gourmet. As we settled in I noticed a woman who looked like Marie - one of the dancers. Sure enough, it was her. She spoke less English than her husband, Theirry, but he had told her enough of our story that she knew we were living in Cotignac for ten months. Apparently, Marie shared our story with the restaurant owners.
Turns out the owners live in Cotignac as well. We had a reasonably understandable conversation and determined that we live close to one of their employees. The owners, Dany and Jean-Luc are former owners of our favorite restaurant in Cotignac. At the end of the evening - during which they treated us to a glass of champagne (you gotta love this place) - they invited us to their house on Wednesday afternoon! We jumped at the opportunity and are compiling all our questions about the area. Bernadette and I will translate the questions to French tonight and hope we can understand the answers. We'll have more to report tomorrow.

I should also mention that dinner was wonderful. Between us, we had entrees of risotto with morelles, a vegetable tart, and fois gras. Dinner was lamb, grilled fish or lobster. Desert was an assortment of goodies - chocolate mousse, creme brulee, berry mousse and a pastry. All were marvelous. And on our way home we encountered a dog in the middle of the road - but on closer inspection it was a wild boar. Not a dog at all! It ran along the road in front of the car before darting off into the trees. Our first glimpse of wildlife!

We've already had a good time visiting with David and Bernadette and showing them around - in spite of a downpour of rain today. We successfully picked them up at the Nice airport. That was our first time to navigate the various terminals, and parking lots. They were already in the terminal when we found our way there. We'll be more proficient the next time.


At David's suggestion, we went to the Chagall Museum in Nice, partly to keep them awake and on their feet. The museum was fabulous. I'm not a big Chagall fan, but his work exceeded my expectations. The images and his use of color created emotion on a canvas. It was impressive. Other adventures included a trip to the Thoronet Abbey and wine tasting at St. Janet vineyard. More excursions are to come!