8 September 2008

The Sunday market at nearby St. Antonin is famous in this region and in the summer is frequented by hordes of tourists. H grumbled to me: 'I wish all these English foreigners would go home again!' The ancient bridge which spans the Aveyron is particularly picturesque, elegantly spanning the broad expanse of the river. The bridge itself is somewhat famous from when they filmed 'Charlotte Grey', being the setting for a line of rumbling German tanks in one of the wartime scenes. We leaned awhile on the old rough-hewn bridge and admired the many flowering baskets of bright pink geraniums, vying with cascading purple petunias and firebright begonias that adorned the many arches. 'Why haven't they been stolen?' asked the realistic one next to me. I agreed with him. Another world from the urban West Midlands we'd left behind. Before we left the market, H insisted on stocking up on some wine and spirits. I could see his mouth watering at the selection: cognac, Armagnac (a speciality of this region), calvados (an apple brandy from Normandy), and liqueurs like Chartreuse, Cointreau, Grand Marnier and pastis such as Pernod and Ricard which are brewed in the south. Looking around, H whispered: 'I wonder why they call this one here Pissenlit ?'.
'Shhh!'