Days 602-604, 25-27 Jan '16, Beauvais Market, Rouillac Extravaganza. Our local village is called Beauvais-sur-Matha. It's not even a 10 minute drive away - but to a city girl it seems strange to have to get in the car just for the proverbial bread, milk and Euromillions ticket. (Incidentally up to €131 million on Friday night.) Beauvais has a small market in the square on Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday this week was a cold, foggy, damp day and seemed to be dark until midday. Nevertheless we nipped in just for a lotto ticket and were stunned to see more vans than ever before - clothes, cheese, eggs, yoghurt and natural milk, meats, seafood and fruit and veges - Beauvais-sur-Matha literally became a bustling metropolis! Didn't make our ticket any luckier though. Wednesday however was extravaganza day. The town of Rouillac is about 30 minutes from home and their main claim to fame is their fair/market every month on the 27th. Doesn't matter what day of the week it is - just the 27th. We heard it was pretty good and just spread through the streets of the town - turns out it was great! We started off in the pets section (chickens, turkeys, rabbits etc). I've heard tell that it's actually more "pot" than "pet" section - but it's definitely the first time we've seen peacocks for sale! And that was just the beginning - the stalls are set up along the main street of town and wend in a massive loop through the town centre - just when we thought we'd reached the end - there was more. We bought some wine from a van that had driven in from Bordeaux, tested cheese and generally had a grand time wandering about. We are already looking forward to next months market - fortunately falling on a Sunday - which means we should be able to tack on a visit to one of the few local chateaus open in winter (only on Sunday afternoons and only from 2 pm). So no pressure to turn up on time or anything. The foggy morning (which didn't put a damper on the market at all) was still hanging around well after we got home - all in all a grimy day. We think the bloke at the French met office who predicted sunshine all week is on the take. And probably on a tropical island by now with his ill-gotten gains. Ah well - at least he wasn't burning tires
on the ring road of Paris earlier this week like the taxi drivers were. Plans for the rest of the week? Most importantly - a trip to Beauvais-sur-Matha on Friday for a lotto ticket. Yes it's a tax on people bad at maths... but for €131 million - sign us up. When the weather perks up a bit - Angouleme and La Rochelle are on our list for a drive.