In France with Friends: MOISSAC Pt 3

MOISSAC

Part 3 of 3

Friends, Danny and Rozan and their little children joined us for a while in Moissac. Colin and Colleen will be our travel companions in France for a couple of months or so.

One day when we were all together we were invited to a very special lunch at the home of a French couple, Claudine and Joseph.

This has been a highlight of our visit—the wonderful hospitality extended by our French hosts. Claudine went to great lengths to prepare for all eight of us, an exceptional, traditional meal of the region that included local wines, homemade foie gras and cassoulet.

The meal began with aperitifs of cassis and her own orange wine.

Before we moved to the table, Claudine gave the three women a small gift, wrapped in coloured paper and tied with a small ribbon. It was a memento of her hometown.

We left the table with very full stomachs, and arms full too. We were sent on our way with enough cassoulet, cakes, orange wine, fresh tomatoes and aubergine from her garden for another meal or two.

We will never forget how Claudine and Joseph opened their home to us in Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave!

A note about restaurants in Moissac:

Joanne selected our first night to dine out in Moissac from a brochure of recommended restaurants in the Tarn et Garonne that are noted for their excellent presentation of foods in the region. L’Abbeye is in Place Roger Delthil, the square right below our apartment, only metres from the abbey. Excellent meals at reasonable prices. We returned with our friends for our last dinner out in Moissac. Patrice, proprietor and formerly a Chef in Lyon, served us personally. The service and food was memorable. The first course of my Plat du Jour - grilled gizzards of duck - was delicious beyond comparison. Only the French could come up with such a plate.
(Sorry, no photo).

During our stay in Moissac, we enjoyed a couple of simple meals at Jean Pierre’s Fromage Rit, (a play on words) cooked by his mate Julie.

Jean Pierre, a friend of Claudine’s, ended our dinners with complimentary glasses of his digestive concoction. It lightened our steps for our return to the apartment.

The third restaurant of mention is the Hotel Felix. Just on the edge of the city is this place that is advertised by a French billboard that depicts a cowboy from the Wild West. No North American tourist would turn in there, but we heard this place served the best escargots and grenouille (frog legs) in the area.

We ate there with Danny and Rozan. Wow! What a delicious meal. And inexpensive.

The funny thing is, this is essentially a motel with a Western motif. The owner drives a big old Cadillac. The rooms are little houses, replicas (French versions) of the old American ghost town, complete with a teepee, which happens to be constructed of cement. Needless to say, the owner has a passion for the American Wild West.

What an unlikely French restaurant. The food was so good we had to return. We took the Lucases there.

Colleen reluctantly tried the frog legs. She did not like them! But she was brave.

The city of AGENS is in the Aquitane, about 45 minutes west of Moissac and well worth the drive for a visit.

We came here for a day trip.

It is a medium-sized, rather cosmopolitan "alive" city with a wide traffic-free, people-friendly, bright promenade in the centre of town.

The sign in the picture to the right: what does it mean?

Cooling down with water jets on the promenade

MONTAUBAN, about 45 minutes east of Moissac, is one of the most important commercial, medical, and administrative centres of the Midi-Pyrénnées. The three bridges that cross the Tarn are the first sights that catch one’s attention at Montauban.