Day 27   A Lunch and Concert in Le Buis.                                     

Date:  Sunday 25  June 2017       Weather:  Sunny 27'C   Mile:  000 /

Angie and Tom had a note in their diary to attend a 300 stall Vide Grenier in nearby Roussac, a village. It is one of the biggest vides in the Limousin. Mike had suggested last night that he would probably cry off and take things easy in the morning but insisted that they continue with their planned visit. To the Stopportons shame they were both still in bed dozing when we heard the car take off up the drive.

Fortunately we were up having a very light breakfast as they returned mid-morning from the vide grenier. Tom had bought me a rather fetching pair of sky blue 'Crocs', and a leather hammer for himself. I don't know either, don't ask me. 
However the bargain had to be forty cast soldiers, all painted, representing the Napoleonic period. Tom, it will come as no surprise to those of you who have met him, collects these guys. Normally they sell for E5 each. Tom bulk purchased and had forty for E30. You do the maths.

Old Boney is on the march again.

Lunch today was to be held at Le Buis Church. It was a community lunch for those wishing to partake. For Angie and Tom as residents and helpers with the Blues Festival held here at Le Buis each August there lunch is free.  We visitors have to pay E10 each. This as it turned out was a paltry sum for the lunch we enjoyed. Cold fish and vegetables roulade with salad items, followed by cold meat dishes of pork and beef, this followed by a four cheese selection then a two dessert gateaux. All accompanied by a selection of wines, spirits and soft drinks.
We arrived at 1200hrs and helped with setting out the tables and bench's under the marquee. Having eaten and drunk our fill we departed at1530hrs.

The Gateaux arrives.

We are due back on parade at 1800hrs for a concert by these guys, Louisville, again inside the eglise.

Now I don't really know my rhythm from my blues but what I do know is that if I closed my eyes and listened, then these 'two white guys'  sounded 'black'. Am I allowed to say that? It is meant as a compliment to them both and is most certainly not meant in any racist way. They both had magnificent voices. To me it sounded like Mississippi  Delta Blues or what I assume that style of music would sound like. At any moment, I expected Morgan Freeman to walk out from behind them and chat away about the dark days of Plantation existance down South. Their music was very entertaining and extremely well performed. Now this continued for an hour and a half. The guitarist who seemed to take most of the lead with the singing and mouthorgan, had all the mannerisms one would expect. The closed eyes, head tilted back towards heaven and the rolling of the head from side to side. All that was missing were a few lines such as ‘Lordy Lordy’ and ‘Yess masser’ and we would have been in downtown Birmingham Alabama.

Listening carefully, I could distinguish through the Southern drawl, they were singing in English and that a line was repeated five or six times to fill out the song. Now for a simple lad such as myself this was sufficient excuse to allow my mind to wander. I glanced around amongst the audience. There were quite a few feet tappers and head rollers, all seemingly in time with the music. The one that caught my eye, I mentally christened  ‘Jack the Hat McVitie’. He was an older guy, florid complexion with a shaggy mop of dishevelled straw blond hair upon which sat a dirty old grey fedora. When first I spotted him, I thought he had dozed off. His head was lolled forward onto his chest. But with an extra loud bang on the big bass that was right in front of him he woke up, like a worshipper at a riverside revival meeting and his head and shoulders would rock in time to the beat. Almost trance like.

After a time, much of the music seemed to follow the same style and pattern. Here I must apologise to those of you to whom Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf Chester Burnett are  names to be spoken with affection and reverence but I was reminded of a sketch Billy Connolly did many years ago concerning drunk Scots singing. After a while all you can here is ‘betty bong, betty bong’ well I was now at that stage with this Rhythm and Blues Concert.

I can fully appreciate the roots of this style of music and that singing was a method of release for the slaves but oh how it can be repetitive. Fortunately we were at the end of the concert. There was quite rightly thunderous applause from us the audience then the usual slow hand-clap till they agreed to play ‘a last’ number. This was Creedance Clearwater's version of ‘Rolling on the river’. Tina Turner also did a great version, in my opinion. Very heavily blues orientated but an enjoyable piece to conclude with that everyone, well almost everyone, knew.  Louisville concert at Le Buis Church June 2017

Outside in the sun, beneath the canopy at which we had lunch earlier, there were beers and wines to be purchased at cost price and huge slices of quiche for a Euro. We joined various community members for a Leffe beer (6.6%) and soon after were sat on the terrace at home chilling.