Travels in a Campervan: Apéro Hour

Thursday 15 September 2022

Nido's parked up with seven other vans at a free aire by Lac Rouffiac near Angoisse. It wasn't until we arrived that I realised we'd stayed here before, in May 2018. The lake has a sandy swimming beach, watersports and fishing and is popular with school groups, with a type of 'Go Ape' in the forest trees around the edge.

After a bit of a mammoth food shop in Sarlat, we arrived at our park-up yesterday in the tiny hamlet of Lorserie, close to the village of Nailhac. It was a bit of a gamble as not much was said about it in the Camperstop book and it had no reviews on the Search for Sites app, but we were really glad we took the chance. The aire was a free, private one on the property of a farmer and his wife. Their main crop is walnuts and the aire was parked right next to a large walnut tree plantation, with more trees providing us with shade. We had the place to ourselves when we arrived. There was a sign asking us to check in at the house before settling down, which I did. The lady was very welcoming; she spoke only French (but then why wouldn't she!) and my French is basic, but I got the gist of make yourself at home and I'll see you later. The weather was lovely - warm and sunny with none of the humidity of the past few days.

We set up camp, had a spot of lunch in the warm sunshine and took Salty for a walk along the very quiet road and then down a track past forest and fields. On our return a couple of other (French) vans had turned up. A short while later an old red Renault pulled up - the farmer. He invited us up to the house for an aperitif at 6.30pm, so we spruced ourselves up a bit (ie had a quick wash and put on clean tops!) and presented ourselves up at the bungalow, along with the campers from the other two vans. We were led into a long wooden shed-like building with a long table and fold up chairs. The farmer (I never got to know his name!) brought out several bottles of what looked like (and indeed was) homemade wine of various types. We were at a bit of a disadvantage as he spoke in fast French to the others, but we picked up little bits of what he was saying. A short while in, two ladies came in; they had come to collect some paté and of course had been invited to stay for an apéro. One was English so we were able to get a bit of translation of what was going on. He was telling us all about what he farms (mainly walnuts and cattle) and how it's been a difficult year with the drought. He also spent a lot of time explaining how me made his aperitif wines. The first - Vin d'Épine - is made with the macerated green shoots of Blackthorn (sloe), wine, sugar and eau de vie. It was very moreish! He then tried us on a similar one that had a slightly different taste. The last was much darker and a bit more of a challenge to drink, but we managed! Now, we'd not eaten so we were all a bit squiffy by now, which I'm sure helped us better understand what was being said as the night went on! They also make paté, foie gras and various jams and confits. We had a guided tour of his kitchen which was at one end of the long shed. It's fair to say it probably wouldn't have passed an Food Safety Inspection! But clearly their produce is popular and I don't think they've killed anyone with food poisoning yet!

A couple of hours later, we all toddled back to our vans, wishing each other 'bon appetit.' I don't know what the French motorhomers ate, but after all that hooch, all we could manage was beans on toast! When I took Salty out for his final night-time walk, it was completely inky black outside. The stars were everywhere and the milky was was clear to see. It was silent and cool at night and we all slept like logs. Before leaving we walked up to the house to thank our hosts and bought a bottle of their Walnut Wine, a fortified wine that was very similar to Port; we enjoyed it for tonight's apéro.

On arrival at the lake we took Salty for a quick walk before returning for lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the lake - about 4 - 5 miles in total - through thick deciduous forest which protected us from a few short, sharp rain showers. The last time we stayed here we ate steak and we did again tonight. We sat outside well into darkness; its very still and quiet outside and the owls stared calling very early on.