Marcillac - Aveyron

Well here we are, in France, in the spring, what could be better?

Our journey was interesting to say the least but highly successful.  So let’s skip the boring travel details and get on to the nuts and bolts.

Marcillac-Vallon is a neat market town north-east of Rodez.  Sunday is market day so that’s where we went.  The drive there is wonderful through the hills, with quaint villages en route.  The main street of the town is closed off for the market and vendors sell everything from the famous Laguiole knives, food, fabrics and oysters.  Sally has to have oysters.  We tried some of the local fast food - a sort of onion bargee with pork called a fasouse (think that’s right).  I needed some cash so I bravely inserted my Visa card into the ATM having previously questioned my Uncle on the wording that may appear on the screen.  To my surprise it all came up in English and even spewed out the required amount of Euros.  Of course some wine teasting was required before heading back to Salles-la-Source which, as you can imagine from the name, is the source of some water which tumbles over the cliff in a very picturesque way.  The whole village is built on a steep hill and is the sort of place you see in holiday brochures but in fact you can never find.  I is the sort of place Sally and I could easily retire to and live happily ever after.

Now I won’t talk too much about the food because S will on her food blog.  However, we did get oysters and I tried two.  The second was better than the first but it’ll take a while for me to acquire the taste.  In the meantime S was barely visible behind the pile of shells from which she had slurped down the contents from within.