May
26
We filled our final week with Leni at Le Bourmier with various projects -- cleaning the barn, installing tomato stakes, planting beet root and various greens. Our final project was to wrap planks from a large, antique wooden barrel around the bathtub using some sort of awfully sticky and gray roofing caulk and Matt's hiking socks as a wedge. It tested our ability to work as a team, but we're still both here and the tub looks great. By the time we left the farm, our corn grew taller and even some spinach had begun to sprout out of the dirt.We had a bit of fun, too, like a trip to the château in Hautefort, a live concert with Ronnie Caryl (Phil Collin's former guitarist) in the nearby village of Genis, and swimming in the park with Corinne and Michael, an Irish WWOOFer.
Leni drove us down to our next host's farm. We stopped several times, turning the two-hour drive into an expedition of Southwestern France. One in Domme, a very pretty medieval town with an excellent view, albeit too touristy to stay for long. We also stopped at the Ossip Zadkine Museum in Les Arques (in the department of Lot). Les Arques is also home to the well-known restaurant, Le Recréation, but we had to save our money. Zadkine was a Cubist-Expressionist sculptor born in Russia in 1890, but lived most of his life in France. He kept a house in Les Arques, hence the museum.
Our stay at Le Bourmier provided an excellent introduction to life in rural France and to gardening. We were able to put the principles of Slow Food into action and really enjoyed the results. I felt healthier, lighter. It was no surprise to me to learn how much I enjoy the act of eating, but making meal preparation (and consumption!) the central part of the day required a real shift of attention, and one I would like to maintain, if possible. However, maybe not 2-hour long lunches and 3-hour dinners. It's difficult to get much else done, but what else in life matters except for good conversation and good food?
