LeClozet

The weekend of the 22nd of August saw Scieurac, a tiny village of less than 100 people hold it’s annual village fete. We visited on the Saturday night as they had announced that a local band were playing traditional French music with swing and jazz numbers thrown in.

We arrived late, about 9pm and had time to eat a merguez sandwich and a glass of local rosé wine before they started playing. The group is called “Tristan Effroy et les Bicyclettes”. The leader, I assume to be Tristan, dressed the part with a retro suit and floppy hat. He was the singer, there was a guitarist who was amazing, a double bass and drums.

Surprisingly for anything French, it started almost on time. The music was exceptional. He had a voice with an amazing range, the sort you sould hear on a well engineered CD. It was a mix of old café music, 40’s &nd 50’s swing numbers and jazz. They played for at a good hour without a break then came back on for a second set. All this for FREE.

The villages in the Gers certainly know how to celebrate the summer and have fun. Any week from mid June to beginning of September you can visit villages everywhere, to eat, drink and have fun. Meals are priced

between 12€ and 20€ with all you can eat and drink plus entertainment. They are often linked to a “vide grenier”, like a car boot sale, they are very well organised and varied in their content.

If you holiday in the Gers you certainly won’t be short of things to do.

Thursday the 14th August we visited Fources for one of their free, open air concerts. This time it was linked with the world renowned jazz festival at Marciac. About a 1000 people wewre gathered to spend the evening in the beautiful bastide village of Fources, one of the only round bastide in France. Tables were set up on the green, food and drink were served and the concert began.

We however had booked too late and had to eat in the auberge, in the corner of the green. If you can have a corner that is, in a round village. However we were not dissappointed. The new owners, a young couple, Alexia and Bernard have transformed the eatery into one of the best in the region. About 150 people were booked in and we expected chaos. However the service was fantastic, the ambiance was warm and very friendly, and the food was exceptional. My wife had 12 snails, followed by lamb shank, then finished off with apple pie and ice cream. Whilst not haute cuisine it was fresh, well presented and of sufficient quantity that you left the table completely satisfied. All this for 19 euros, we will certainly go there again.

In the winter period they are open all year and have themed live music evenings. Worth the trip if you do not live close by.

After eating we took our coffees outside to listen to the music. Whilst a little chilly for the time of year, the ambiance more than made up for it. Th seven piece band, Paul Chéron Septet, were very good. Played my sort of jazz, more on the blues edge of jazz. The girl soloist had a voice I could listen to all night. You would normally expect to pay at least 20-25 euros a head to listen to such quality music, but here we were in a tiny village, in the open air, listening to world class mùusic for free. They certainly know how to organise local events in the Gers.

We will most certainly be putting Fources on our calendar for next summer.