Knackered

St Bonnet is a tiny, neighbouring town to Gap. It is nestled against quite a dramatic landscape. Although the mountains seem distant, St Bonnet is actually perched on a mountain as well. So, it was with delight that I accepted an invitation to dinner at this stunning location.

This is a view from the house at St Bonnet. The countryside was raw; the trees were thinking about producing spring buds and the freezing, cold air confirmed that there was snow nearby.

This is a picture of the next door neighbour's house.  Very, very nicely appointed, as well as being a snug, homely, haven.

As soon as we arrived, I gave the two children a tiny gift. I gave the ten year old girl a skipping rope. It went down like a lead balloon. Her leg was in plaster!!!!! (How was I to know????) The gift of gigantic pavement chalk didn't go down too well with the 7/8 year old sporty boy. 

Nevertheless, he wasn't too offended. Within minutes of arriving, we put on our coats again, so that we could be the audience, whilst the boy did lots and lots of circus tricks on his bike. It was soooo cool to see the joy and pride on his face. All those hours of solitary practise had now come into fruition.

The house in the background is still being built.

The alcohol was released and conversation began to flow easily. The hosts provided some extremely high quality alcoholic beverages. The numerous amount of beer bottles were pieces of art. They had absolutely no resemblance to what beer bottles look like back home. They were very classy looking; long neck, thick glass and fancy labels. The amber liquid made happy gurgling noises as it was being poured. 

Before dinner, the little girl impressed us all with her incredible ability to speak and read italian. Her flamboyant gestures, intonation and dramatic expression made her seem like she was a native italian.

The little boy, occupied himself with cards for hours. And then the little girl settled onto the couch, reading independently whilst the adults got on with socialising.

I was soo delighted to be able to follow and contribute in the table discussions. Although, I confess, at times, English was spoken.

Like all the other dinner parties that I have been to, jokes and laughter were a happy feature of the evening. We ate traditional tourtons that are typical of this area of France. They are basically fried pastry parcels with various vegetable or cheese fillings.

The desert was delicious. It was an apple pie, tarte tartine. Homemade food is so yummy!

Before desert, a book of english slang phrases was produced. There was hysterical laughter as the guy at the end of the table would read the English phrase and then translate it back into French. The absurdity of the situation was a tad awkward for me, as they were commonly used phrases that we use in New Zealand. I laughed along, as if it was the first time I had ever heard of this ridiculous terminology ...... (yeah right! )

I took a photo of the wine bottle. Apparently, this wine is produced locally. It was rich, full-bodied and silky smooth as it glided down my throat.

The guests gave the hosts a large amount of this sweet treat. I was told to take a note of this name, so that when I travel to Germany, I would know what to purchase ............ in copious amounts. I tasted one morsel ..... and it was delicious. But there's no way that iIwould be able to gobble up a lot, like some of the guests claimed to do.

It turned out to be a very late finish to this fantastic dinner party. 

I was "knackered" the next day!!!!!!