Stuffed with gateaux and oreillettes

Not sure how much French we learned as the noise levels were so high and our mouths were stuffed with cake samples. The French arrived with tasty gateaux and one had made oreillettes which are a bit like flat doughnuts. ( I did manage to spirit some away for future testing.)
We had two local councillors in our midst and Nicole,  Marcia and I,  prime movers in trying to get the groups together felt it was a start. Nicole is French, Marcia Dutch and me British. There were 15 of us all together, We had 3 no shows and one phone call from someone on the way to an emergency dentists appointment.

Animated discussion between French and English neighbours

Overall the feeling from the French was  one of pleasure that we are making the effort. They really want to mix with us and that is only possible if we speak the language. How often at village do's are the French at some tables and the English at another when by now we should be a mixed bunch.
The gathering split naturally into small groups and I did learn an expression for twilight,  "entre chien et loup"  Meaning as the darkness descends in the half light it is difficult to tell if it is a dog or wolf. You never know when you will need that. I will be trying to get it into a conversation in the next few days.

Serge explains a point to Sarah and Gareth, all from St Martiel

 I think I had more than most gentle ticking off on pronunciation, but I keep trying.
We discussed using the  "ancien mairie" again for get togethers, it does have an outside loo and a sink.  We all agreed we need to get the key and really scrutinise its potential as a general meeting place.
 The next get together will be at St. Martiel and I learnt that before long the old centre aere (community centre) which is owned by the commune may be coming up for sale. A lovely building in the centre of St. Martiel, it has the potential to be a fine home.
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