....Nellie having a crêpe at the market in Bergerac.....
Orange flyers posted all over town announced Irish Night at the salle culturelle, so on Saturday night at 9, despite the elders among us really wanting nothing more than to go to bed, we walked into the village to see what was happening. Immediately Julian and Nellie were sucked into a vortex of children hurling themselves around the lobby and then outside. Inside, a group of musicians were onstage, tables filled half the room with candles on each one, and much of Villamblard was there, chatting and drinking beer and cider and Cokes.
Remember the delight of running in a big pack of kids? I sat down with some British friends, feeling pretty delighted myself at the prospect of a cider, and watched the children zooming around the room, all with gigantic grins, playing some kind of game that makes no sense to adults and involves much crashing and falling and high hilarity. It was late, at least by my family's standards, so Julian and Nellie had that glittery wide-eyed look kids get when they're doing something exciting and out of the usual routine.
The musicians began sawing and strumming away, just loud enough to keep me from being able to talk to the French couple at our table. The cider was very cold and appley and delicious, with just the right amount of alcohol. The one boy with some Irish blood began doing a jig in between the game of chase, kicking his feet up and momentarily bedazzling Julian, who had been doing the chasing. Toddlers were rocking to the music, mamans swayed with their babies.
Soon a young woman with a headset was calling for couples to dance, and before long, around twenty of us were stumbling through her directions and having a fine time. I was pleased to notice that my failures at following the dance steps were only due to my clumsiness, not to misunderstanding the French. The kind of Irish dancing we were doing was much like the Virgina square dances I was taught in gym class as a kid -- but it's much more fun as a grownup, much more fun with an excellent live band, much more fun with Chris and the laughing, stumbling villagers of Villamblard.
We walked home under the velvety dark sky, looking at stars when we got past the streetlights, continuing our argument over the Little Dipper (Is! Is not!), and all of us were asleep within seconds.
