A Sunny Day at Last.

St Vincent parade in Malay

Sunday lived up to its name this week and actually brought us some sun, which made the St Vincent parade all the more pleasurable. It wasn’t too cold to go and watch and was as colourful as ever. The whole of the village of Malay was cut off for the parade, so we ended up parking on the main road and walking the last kilometre or so to the main square. Malay has only 220 inhabitants, so the parade was small, but very vocal as they all sang “Proud to be a Burgundian” as they walked from the town hall to the church.

We headed home to change for lunch, forfeiting our chance to go to mass - the hunters’ horns blasting during the service don’t do your eardrums any good!

Looks like shadow to me..

When we got home I realised that whilst it was lovely to see the sun after months of grey cloud and rain, it was in fact 2nd February – Groundhog day. Groundhogs aren’t native to this part of the world and so we have always relied on our trusty cat to tell us the weather for the coming months. And oh dear, it looks like there’s a shadow on this photo, let’s hope Fifi didn’t notice it.

Off we went to lunch - programmed to start at 13.15. The lunch is always late, but if we had known we’d start at 15.00, I think we might have had a snack before we left. It was well worth the wait though.

Pâté en croûte volaille, foie gras – divine
Cassolette d’escargots aux champignons des bois – I’m told was superb, I have never plucked up the courage to try snails, I’m not sure if I might be allergic or not, so I just watched as mouths around me drooled.
Trou Bourgignon – blackcurrant sorbet with the local fire water poured over it – burns a nice hole in all the food that’s already gone down, making way for the main course.
Filet of goose, with Maxime potatoes and Provencal tomatoes – my first taste of goose and I was not disappointed, lots of complaints from my neighbour about the colour (it shouldn’t have been so dark apparently) but no complaints on the taste and definitely no complaints from me.
Plate of cheeses - brie, goats’ cheese and St Agur – truly yummy
Tiny desserts – chocolate mousse on a feather light sponge base, a mini mille feuilles and a little cherry tart – what can I say?

Cees almost caught doing the Burgundian wave

Now it wouldn’t be a celebration of the patron saint of viticulturists if there wasn’t a stunning array of wine. Sadly just tasters for me as I was driving. Yet again, we started with OK wine and moved up to superb, not a concept we understand. By the second glass I am not sure many people can tell the difference. I was one of the few I think who really appreciated the Domaine de l'Echauguette with the cheese, I wish I could have had some more of that one. Crément and coffee finished it all off.

We were invited to the home of some friends for pancakes, as the 2nd February is also Candlemas - pancake day in France. How anybody could have squeezed another crumb into their mouths after that lunch I do not know, so we politely declined the offer and waddled to our car just as the dancing started at about 19.00.

Another successful Burgundian lunch, I’m looking forward to next year already.


For information on gites to rent not far from Malay in Burgundy click here.