Notre Aventure Française, 2013: 7th October, Food, Potting and Sculpture

At about 4.30pm yesterday our young neighbour Cedric asked if we would like to go gathering mushrooms in a nearby forest. He was confident they would be in abundance after the recent rains. 10 minutes later Bob and Cedric headed off armed with baskets and knives in search of mushrooms with names like "pied de mouton" (sheep's foot) , "mousseron" (fairy rings) and others that I haven't retained.
After a quick lesson involving which mushrooms are no good for you and those that "will kill you if you eat 14 of them" we headed off into this forest with a thick layer of leaf mould and full of red with white spotted beautiful "no good for you" mushrooms but not a sheep's foot in sight. We came across a small pond which Cedric described as "the pond that the wild boars come down to bath in". It was now about 6 pm and he didn't know what time they bathe.
We did eventually find some of the sought after types, including some sheep's foot variety and we headed back, muddy, wet from light rain and drops off the trees but with another adventure added to the list.
Cedric offered me our entire collection but as we were going out for dinner that night and our collection required processing and eating now I declined but we agreed that I get the equivalent amount from his next gathering mid week.

Last night we had cuisses de grenouilles (frog legs) for dinner at the restaurant in the village. The restaurant, Auberge De La Vareze, has a reputation for its cuisses de grenouilles and it's regarded as a speciality of the house. We wouldn't have wanted to go to any old restaurant for our virgin frog legs' dinner and be disappointed with what we were served up. We weren't and to have this reputed establishment right here in our village was also special. I don't know how they were cooked or prepared but hazard a guess as coated in breadcrumbs and fried lightly in butter with a sliver of garlic. They taste and have the texture of chicken with a hint of shell fish. They are not very big and so a serving is about 10 each person and the eating protocol is with the fingers - it would be near impossible to remove the flesh from the tiny bones with a knife and fork.
They were not as expensive as expected. Separately they were 15 euros per plate if ordered à la carte, but we had a fixed menu offering of 4 courses plus coffee for 22 euros including the cuisses de grenouilles.

Today we were invited to another local house for lunch with our neighbours Jean and Josette and their daughter. Isabelle and Olivier Giroud are a potter and sculptor husband and wife team living in a large renovated and added onto house in a neighbouring village of Les Côtes d'Arey. The original house has been converted into a workshop, more like a factory, for both of them.
Olivier exhibits his work in both wood and clay and is represented in both public and private collections throughout France and abroad. Isabelle produces pottery and large garden pots up to 1m x1m x1m size, by hand for the upper end Paris, USA and European apartment markets.
We were served a wonderful lunch of 4 courses including a lobster mousse, baked pork with vegetables, fromage, a raspberry tart with ice cream and coffee and all washed down with Beaujolais.
We were given a tour of the "factory" and its many artisan nooks and crannies and had explained how this two person operation works. A grand adventure indeed and a privilege to be included.