My tiny village gets up to all sorts of activities throughout the year, one of which took place this last Saturday evening.
The 'Marche Gourmande' is a long night-time walk, peppered with occasional stops for different courses that eventually constitute a complete meal.
The walkers set-off from the church between 7 and 8 pm, and follow a predetermined route through the heavily wooded countryside. Every so often they stop at a farm and consume one part of their meal; then move on to the next.
If you enlarge the map above, you might see what was consumed, and where. First stop was for an apéritif, then a soup in the form of a velouté de choux fleurs, then a plate of charcuterie, followed by an entrecote with haricots verts. Back at the village they continued with some cheese and a dessert, then finished with coffee.
The whole meal was washed down with plenty of red wine, and walkers were advised to take pocket lamps. The route was estimated at about 9 kms long (it looks further to me); I have no idea what time they finished the evening, but I imagine it must have been quite late (and dark).
The early part of the route goes right behind our house, and one small group stopped to ask if I could let them have some string. A lady's sole had completely come away from her hefty walking shoe, and it needed repairing. I found some wide black tape, and did an instant repair for her; I wonder how long it lasted?
On Saturday there must have been about 70-80 walkers. Not really my cup of tea; my dodgy knee would complain too much, but it sounds like fun.
Oh, and the cost? €15 for adults, and €8 for children.
While I like the idea, probably not my thing. Hefty walking shoes losing a sole and bound with black tape. You should have named the boot brand.
ReplyDeleteIt was my good deed of the day! I should have given her the rest of the roll, as I'm sure it wouldn't have lasted too long.
DeleteOh that sounds great - I would definitely have gone. What about Lady M. Surely her knee is not dodgy as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid so. She was on grandson duty as well.
DeleteMy night vision isn't very good, I would probably fall over. Does sound like fun though.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't make it; full stop.
DeleteGADS (Goudhurst Amateur Dramatic Society) did something similar one year, we were the Puds point of call. Unfortunately I was suffering badly with sciatica and it was as much as I could do to make a selection of puddings for the strolling thesps, so didn’t get to sample others contributions. Nowhere near as far, ours was just an increasingly jovial amble around our pretty village.
ReplyDeleteLX
I didn't know you lived in Goudhurst; I was born in Lingfield, not too far away. A lovely part of the world, although Lingfield itself suffers terribly from aircraft noise, in and out of Gatwick. It wasn't like that when I was a boy!
DeleteI do know you're now in Lovely Ludlow.
DeleteThe funny thing is the mad, bad idea of moving to the coast in Hythe has strangely been our dream ticket to Ludlow. Boy, do we love it here, we are right down by the Teme and five minutes walk uphill to the castle, market and wonderful shops. Films shown regularly in the Assembly Rooms at the top of our street. Perfect!
DeleteLX
No thank you.
ReplyDeleteNot my Tasse de Thé either.
DeleteHow on earth do they cater for 70/80 people.......do they all have very large kitchens, and lots of staff?
ReplyDeleteI've no idea.... I may have over-estimated the numbers, but there were at least 50.
DeleteI would have fallen asleep long before the main course!
ReplyDeleteThat's much how I feel about it. Quite a gruelling meal.
DeleteMy ankle and knee would have collapsed before I got to my garden gate - but like the idea.
ReplyDeleteI would say that the walkers were mostly in their 40's, with a few children. Not many oldies like me!
DeleteDon't French children drink wine?
ReplyDeleteOf course they do. Very few eat entrecotes; they're all veggies.
DeleteWe used to have progressive dinners but it only included 10 to 12 people. That sounds like great fun if you are up for it.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately we're not really up to it. Great for others though.
DeleteI asked myself if I'd have joined in. Unfortunately myself didn't know the answer. It may have depended on the walking companions I would be with.
ReplyDeleteMost of them were in little groups, so I imagine they were either family or friends.
DeleteMrs. G tried something similar in Tuscany while I was running in a half marathon through the vineyards. It was a walk sponsored by Chianti and the participants set off in groups of 20ish at suitable intervals and halted at several taverns, five I think, to sample the wine, cheese, bread and olives etc.. I believe there's something similar in Medoc but it involves greater distance.
ReplyDeleteTo me, that sounds like heaven. I can just imagine Mrs Gwil sampling her plates of cheese and olives. Perfect.
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