French Sunday lunch in the country

A beautiful day in the French countryside.

We were invited to dine at my ex-mother-in-law’s house an hour out of Lyon at Chatillon sur Chalaronne, a gorgeous village in the heart of Ain, near Les Dombes. There are many ponds in the area that nourish a healthy flora and fauna. Les poulets de Bresse, the best free range chickens in France are raised there. People come from Paris with their Michelin Guides tucked under their arms to eat the most succulent frog legs in France. The Beaujolais wine region is just next door. Chatillon boasts its own ancient castle complete with walls and ancient doors to enter the village.

An invitation to a Sunday lunch is not to be taken lightly. You must arrive promptly at noon and you are expected to stay until six or seven o’clock at night. The meal itself usually lasts at least three hours.

You begin with the apperatif, which consists of champagne and little tasty appetizers.

Next, you have a fresh salad of some sort. Then a main dish. Today we had blanquette de veaux, slow cooked veal in a creamy sauce to die for. (Not usually a summer dish, my ex mother-in-law just had to make it for us.) Next there is a hallucinatory amount of cheese with crusty French bread and a good Cote du Rhone wine.

Followed by homemade desert served with fresh seasonal berries. The final touch is thick strong espresso coffee served with dark chocolate.

All of this is drunk and eaten with the accompaniment of lively conversation. The French love to talk and talk and talk when they get together. They discuss politics, food and wine, la politique, la bouffe et le vin! Politics usually spark good arguments—the French love to argue. It is good manners to speak of the next big meal, analyze it, break it down and get at the little details. And wine, well, wine is a topic so vast that one always has something to learn.

Afterwards it is customary to take your incredibly large meal for a stroll. As luck would have it, my ex-mother-in-law has a pool, so we took our incredibly large meal for a swim and then lay like beached whales in the sun!

I love, love, love a Sunday meal in the countryside, there is nothing more relaxing!!

A demain.

Love, Charley