Chris Slade describes the son et lumiere presentation at the abbey of Bon Repos called "Le Pays de Conomor" in Brittany, which takes place during the first two weeks of August.
Simon Pocock
We had a very quiet Christmas with all the children, only now they are grown up and eat and cost more.
We did our usual routine: everyone lies in bed until I have prepared the bird and put it in the oven, then suddenly they all appear with: “Oh, I wanted to help, etc”.
We walk down to the beach after the meal and play football, and then Bas, feeling brave, strips off and dives into the sea. Mad.
The following day was also calm until an hour after lunch when I started feeling queasy. I had only eaten 6 oysters and never had a reaction before, but for the next 4 hours I was quite ill, and around 8 in the evening just passed out, so Pauline called an ambulance and I spent the night in the local hospital, where they did various tests on me: heart and blood tests, but it was just a case of bad intoxication by the oysters, so I don’t think I’ll be eating them again for a long time.
Today, the old fanfare of Plestin did a gig at the port of Locquirec, while a dozen brave people swam in the sea.
They say if you swim everyday you get used to it, but I think I’ll stick to the music and the mulled red wine.
A happy new year to my blog followers and may 2012, the Year of the Dragon, be good for you.
Sorry to hear about the oyster problems, I don’t like them at all! I did try one over Christmas, the French really do love their oysters… my boyfriend’s family must have eaten them every day over the festive season!
I didn’t really start eating oysters until 4 or 5 years ago. My wife’s family are in Bordeaux and it’s a tradition for them to have oysters as part of their Sunday afternoon / evening meal. Their oysters come from the Bassin d’Arcachon.
When we’re at our holiday home near La Roche Bernard (Brittany / Pays de la Loire border) we now ritually pick up a dozen size 3 oysters from the market on Thursday mornings, and then share these as our entrée.
Touch wood, we have never had the misfortune to eat a bad one, but understand that it can be quite serious – hope you’re well again now Simon.
You hear lots of different comments afterwards such as never buy oysters from a supermarket around Christmas as they stockpile them and they aren’t fresh much better to buy direct from a market seller or chewing versus swallowing , the next time you are more sensitive. Still think I’ll give them a miss this lifetime.