A Walk in the Countryside

Summer here in the Quercy is now buzzing with village fetes and festivals. Last week there was a jazz festival in Souillac, a town about 20 minutes north of us. Last year it clashed with the Cahor Blues Festival, but this year it's been rearranged, so our friends on the other side of our hill suggested that we all went on Sunday when there was a 'Jazz Walk'. From what we could see of the programme, our pic-nic lunch would be serenaded by a band from 12 o'clock, then, at 1.30, off for a walk accompanied by a second band.

The pic-nic area was set up with tressle tables and benches in a large open sided marquee which provided great-people watching oportunities. However, the temperature was creeping higher all the time and by the time the walk started at 2pm (only half an hour late) it must have been in the 30's! Added to this, we found out that we had to pay 5 euros each for the priviledge of walking. Ok, so they gave us each a small bottle of water and a badge, but Sue was decidedly tetchy by the time we started, all 112 of us!

The walk proceeded along the side of a small stream but there was no sign of any band or music. Fortunately we were in the shade for the first part of the walk, but, after about 40 minutes we had to cross from one side of the valley to the other and then climb smartly up to the top of the hills overlooking the town. At this stage it was definitely head down and toil away. When we were nearly at the top we were overtaken by a 4x4 bringing up cold drinks, and we all collapsed in the shade of some large trees.

At this point music started to drift out of the bushes and our entertainment appeared. 'The Mystery of the Elephants'.

We listened to the band for about 15 - 20 minutes, and then they led us, some times in single file, back down the hills into Souillac, playing continuously. As you can imagine from their outfits they combined good jazz with a bit of a cabaret act and we can thouroughly recommend them. You can get a taste of them playing by going to their web site, http://www.mysteredeselephants.com/

By the time we were back into the town Sue had been mollified and declared the event well worth the effort of walking. To make it even better our friends Sue and Jon then took us home and fed and watered us. A very enjoyable day.