This year’s Boat Race victory by the Dark Blues was particularly appreciated by those of us who met the crews last January at their training session on the waters of the Lot.
The 2015 edition of this event took place on 4th January. It had the added bonus of actually having more time to talk to crew members and their coaches over a protein-packed lunch, preceded by an apéritif.
Thanks to Brian and Liz Berks for their organisation, we were able once again to make the AGM an event worth attending.
At the Priory of Mesnil St. Martin at Montaut de Villeréal (47), members and guests were able to enjoy a fine catered lunch and then hear a Chopin concert by the owner of the Priory and concert pianist and teacher, Emmanuel Laloë-Ferrer.
This was followed by the lighter touch of Stanley Hanks with songs about London and from his native Costa Rica.
It’s a long time since I (or any of us) were addressed as “élèves”; it brought me a smile and fleeting feeling of youth when our host M. Lafargue at his Ferme Auberge welcomed the “élèves d’Oxford” to his unpretentious salle à manger for a high quality lunch created from his own produce.
Before this long and sociable repast, 20 OUS members, partners and guests assembled in the bijou village of Lagraulet du Gers, admired the rather bizarre water-tower-cum work-of-art (now a gîte) and shivered in the unseasonal cold, before the main event.
Mme. Martine welcomed us to the chai of Domaine le Grand Chemin and explained patiently the processes involved in creating vintages of Vieil Armagnac (no blended versions here) before warming us up with a tasting session. Apéros made from eau de vie and Schweppes, a 2002 and a 1985 Armagnac, and canapés of rilletes, were all plentiful and well received.
The restoration of a ruined chateau in the heart of the village is nearing completion and is soon to open as a four-star hotel “Castel Pierre”; we were invited inside to admire the quality of materials and workmanship by the enthusiastic (if naïve?) young couple who had put two years labour and a princely sum into the project.
Our thanks are offered to Kathy Jarman, who has had her holiday home nearby for 25 years, for organising the visit and making it a success.
Our group of 30 visited Josephine Baker’s Chateau des Milandes on 26th June, courtesy of Tony Tucker. A fascinating tour of this 15th century Chateau, restored in the 20th century after centuries of disuse, and home of the American-born entertainer Josephine Baker from 1937 to 1968 was followed by lunch and a well-presented display of predatory birds. Josephine Baker’s story is well documented, but still remarkable as a major stage star in revues of the 20s and 30s, who then used her wealth extravagantly and immensely generously at Milandes, modernising the village and adopting eleven children. Then as a member of the French Secret Service in World War II she earned the Legion d’Honneur, and became a major participant in Civil Rights demonstrations in the 1960s. The I-Spy prize goes to Richard O’Neill for spotting the pocket-free ‘Irish’ billiard table’ and the raptor photography prize goes to Pip Kirby.
Marion reports:
OUS South West France 
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