The gathering in Susan and Simon's back garden.
The pictures here will give you a little bit of the flavor of the afternoon. The party started at noontime and started breaking up around 7 p.m. Not a drop of rain fell, but a few drops of the local wine flowed, for sure. It was all very civilized and friendly, and although many of us had never met face to face before, we felt, I believe, like we already knew each other.
The table laden with foods we all contributed to the party
Martine and CHM, the two guests of honor
Native languages spoken: French, English ( Australian, British, South African, American), Flemish, Dutch, Swedish... Lingua franca: English. Age range: 4 to 87 years.
Caroline and Alexander from Antwerp brought along their daughter
Florence. Here she is with Walt. She is a doll. When I showed
her this picture on my camera, she took it over
to Walt so that he could see it too.
Florence. Here she is with Walt. She is a doll. When I showed
her this picture on my camera, she took it over
to Walt so that he could see it too.
The circle late in the afternoon, after the crowd had thinned some
Susan and Simon were masterful hosts, setting the tone for a relaxed yet lively afternoon, and providing much good food and drink. What a nice way to begin the summer...
Looks like you guys had a great garden party...that's a very tempting table of food!
ReplyDeleteHow lovely to see all of my French/Belgian blogger friends having such a great time...I am sure the stories were enhanced by the local "drop"! Louise
ReplyDeleteLovely to see you all.
ReplyDeleteFrom reading some of their blogs, I was pretty sure it would be a lively group.
ReplyDeleteNice to see a photo of Martine! She is usually holding the camera instead of in front of it.
looks like a great time.....
ReplyDeleteWhat a party! Bonjour Martine and CHM. The food looks so good and the weather made for a garden event that looks so inviting.
ReplyDeleteCute what Florence did- she's adorable. Thanks for sharing your day with us.
We had a lovely time at the party too. Susan summed it up - 'interesting and interested people'. S&S are excellent hosts.
ReplyDeleteWe enjoyed meeting with you and Walt and can testify to the tastiness of the lasagne you blogged about yesterday.
Awwww, great! Thanks so much for sharing with us. That table of delicious foods looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteIt was great to meet you and Walt yesterday also CHM, what a lovely gentleman.
ReplyDeleteSusan and Simon did a great job, the food was excellent and the company brilliant. As you say it seemed like we had all know each other for years.
We meandered home today playing tourist and looking at sites which were new to us.
Great to meet you both Nigel & Diane
Bonjour Evelyn to you.
ReplyDeleteThank you Diane for your kind words. It was great to meet you and Nigel and all the others I knew of but didn’t know in person. It was a great party. [As I said before, the Quiche Charentaise was delicious!]
It's so nice to have a lot of guests at a party.
ReplyDeleteWhat a smashing time you all had - a real blogfest !!
ReplyDeleteIs that your remoulade next to the wine? We''ll be making that salad (using your crème fraîche "secret") for a francophone gathering Sunday.
ReplyDeleteYour garden party looks really fun and the food table...ça met l'eau à la bouche.
What a great Loire valley experience for guests of honor, Martine and CHM.
Dean, that was our remoulade on the edge of the photo, dotted with green olives. It was good, if I do say so. I hope your version will be good and appreciated too.
ReplyDeletecame over from Dianne's blog what a fun gathering and love the age range :-)
ReplyDeletewhat nice place and fun time, I came from Diane site!!lol
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