Eugenia Keegan

The French are a strange mix when it comes to socializing. They are very private and an invitation to dine at someone’s home is a true compliment and sign of friendship and affection. But they love to bavarder and therefore the town cafe is a marvelous source of camaraderie and information. The town of Maury is no different. Many people think that sitting around the cafe is a post card picture of sipping rose (sorry can’t do accents on this device) with a cashmere sweater draped over the shoulders, no socks and gucci loafers. BUT, at our cafe the look is more vineyard grunge. Virtually any working person in the village works either in the vineyard or the winery and after a long day in one or the other a cold beer is just as welcome. An evening at the cafe is one of the true delights of our little town. I start this short photo journey with a shot of Pierre the most generous and even keeled proprietor.

This year we had a fun group of Brits in town to intern and/or make their own wines. They added a lot of color.

The final delight after an exhilarating morning of mushroom hunting is the meal that follows. Late afternoon was time to clean the bounty. By the time I arrived at the Calvets for dinner Jean-Roger and darling daughter Constance had cleaned our haul of craterellus (never to young to learn). Marie, with the assistance of son Hugo whipped up an omelette that tasted like no other.

The haul cleaned and prepped for the evening meal:

Constance relaxing after an afternoon of mushroom cleaning:

Hugo (on the eve of his 12th birthday) preparing the omelette:

Craterellus in the pan sizzling to perfection:

Preparing dinner is a family affair:

My first foraged meal: