Love in a French Village

Saint Valentin gateau from our village boulangerie

As it is St Valentine’s Day I thought I would share a little of the love I have found in our village. Our neighbours, who have been happily married for over fifty years, certainly seem to know the recipe for love. Talking to Pierrette recently she was almost giggling in girly excitement when she let me into a little secret. Dominique, her husband loves pancakes, although she admitted they do not eat them very regularly, so on this particular afternoon once he was safely off working in his vegetable garden she rustled up the batter, adding a drop of rum, and left it resting until his return at dinnertime. For Pierrette, love is, surprising your man with pancakes!

Another village love story, which unfortunately has a sad ending, is of Mauricette and her husband Jacky. She is a regular at the library, choosing novels for herself, but as his health was deteriorating and he couldn’t follow a story she always chose large, photo filled hardback books for him as he still enjoyed looking at the pictures. She also ensured he never missed an event in the village, even if it meant her pushing him to the salle des fêtes in his wheelchair. Five years ago he was just one of the old soldiers standing with flags at our 11^th November ceremony. Last November, he was the only one and was sat in his wheelchair. Sadly, he passed away this week. I didn’t know him well, but I will miss him. I will also miss selecting books for him from the library bus that visits four times a year and ensures we get a good supply of different books for our library.

Remembering a special villager

For me, love is days out on the bikes with Adrian, especially if it includes a morning boulangerie stop, a picnic and an afternoon  beer stop. At the moment life is throwing spanners in our cycling plans as work is busy, which keeps Adrian away and the weather has been a bit wild, too wild for me on the bike. 

It is not unusual for us to spend St Valentine’s Day apart, but this year we were full of hope with his planned return home on the evening of 13^th. Then Tempête Ulrika arrived blowing her best all day yesterday, threatening the Atlantic coast, whipping the waves and bending the trees inland too. More worryingly for us was the effect she would have on Adrian’s return flight to La Rochelle, where the end of the runway is at the edge of a cliff, but thankfully he made it. Love is, making it home in a storm. To reward his efforts I’ve prepared a special homemade meal for tonight, but I can’t tell you what it is, as it’s a surprise.

Now, over to you, do you have a love story to share?

This post has been linked to the Dreaming of France blog link. Click here for more posts.