The Hump Club gathers - Sunday lunch in the Hamlet of Auriac

Friday 6 September
Flashy cooked a gigantic rabbit and chicken cassoulet in preparation for Sunday. The rabbit, complete with head, heart, lungs, liver and kidneys was a fine marche specimen and the leftover baguettes were safely gathered in a bag in the freezer to create the necessary crunchy cubed topping (essentially to absorb the rich flavoursome stock).  Lady P prepared the guest rooms as our quiet hamlet was to get an invasion of Aussies, primarily from the Cairns region to celebrate a reunion over Sunday lunch. As the weather had cooled and some very crisp nights – 5 degrees on three successive mornings were noted, all of the available doonas and blankets were sourced so by mid afternoon we were ready to set off for Perigueux to collect our first house guests. David and Linda- friends from Cairns have caught the TGV from Paris for  Sunday's planned lunch and after some celebratory welcome drinks and nibbles,  Flashman serves up his delicious warming  Boeuf Bourguignon and tiny garlic potatoes for dinner and we consume a number of Bordeaux reds. We manage to stay up till 10.30pm, quite a record for the hosts at least.

Saturday 7 September
A quick trip to Lalinde for croissants which we enjoyed for breakfast with our hosts; homemade apricot jam, and of course the delicious fresh stone fruit from the market. The ladies set off early for Le Marche de Bergerac, 30 mins away, secure a prime parking spot nearby and find cafe au lait in a tiny ‘bar' en route, where the patrons, mostly male are playing the equivalent of keno and the maitre’ d is an elderly woman with a small Pomeranian dog hanging around her neck. It was real as we saw it move, but it looked a little similar to a fur so we guessed she was utilising it for warmth. We enjoyed yet another stunning array of fruit, vegetables and flowers and sourced the supplies largely from the stalls with a queue as we figured they were the ones favoured by the locals. We also visited the covered markets, sourcing Flashy’s order for moules and  witnessed the eclectic parade of boat crews, dressed in bizzare costumes, waving oars in the air. We still have no idea of the origin or intent of these happy people but with the accompanying band it provided much entertainment.
Meanwhile  back at home base, David and Flashy light the BBQ and smoke eggplant, capsicum, carrots,  zucchini and tomatoes over the traditionale  wood fired BBQ ready for tomorrow's hump club long lunch. The ladies returned to the Hamlet, unloaded the goods and collected the gents before setting off to Tremolat, across the river to Le Bistro de la Place. The prix fixe menu of duck duck duck and duck for €39 met with commendation by the gents and was enjoyed with a bottle of Bergerac red. Some in the party also had dessert! A leisurely stroll around Lalinde included meeting up with a cavalcade of old Renault 12’s some 25 in number who were competing in a 2 day rally around the district. Lots of tooting, French flag waving and reminiscing as this was David’s first car.

We return to our hamlet via the scenic route past the  Le cingle de Tremolat, a large bend in the Dordogne river, for some magnificent views of the river and then once home await the arrival of our next guests, Anna and Robert, also hailing from Cairns, at least originally, until they became mariners on their newly acquired canal boat back in May and have subsequently been enjoying canal life for the past 5 months. The gigantic bag of mussels, revealed,  Flashy produces moules mariniere for dinner along with some fries and much red, white and rose wine is consumed in support of another simply delicious  dinner.

Sunday 8 September
The day dawned blue sky and sunshine, with not a breath of wind. Flashy was busy in the kitchen making the last minute preparations whilst others pitched in to top and tail the market fresh green and yellow beans, lay tables and arrange the beautiful sunflowers in the good old tin watering can – thank you David.

At 12noon a frantic call from Russell and Jacqui, our esteemed Hump Club creators, and in their usual flappable panic stricken style, they were lost and arguing about how to actually arrive at the gathering in the Hamlet of Auriac. Some calming words and reference to route numbers saw them arrive successfully about 20 mins later – both being in serious need of refreshments, oh and space!

Four couples from Cairns have now gathered at our baker’s cottage. A remarkable effort from the Hump Club. Cyrille the owner joins us and the feast begins. The table is groaning under the weight of the crusty baguette traditionale, which accompanies the BBQed vegetables, yoghurt, garlic and cumin dip, smoked freshwater trout rillette made yesterday by Flashy. This was followed by the rabbit and chicken cassoulet and crispy beans with toasted almonds. There was Champagne, a Bergerac white, and reds from Bordeaux, Burgundy and Pecharmant . Much merriment ensued and fortunately our delightful host Cyrille was able to keep up with the oft times raucous Aussi slang and enjoyed the afternoon. Flashy was indeed flattered as he particular commented on the excellent food (and even went back for seconds).The day drifted away and we played a round of not too serious petanque, won eventually by the Kircheners. By now a special truck had to be called to remove all the wine corks from the kitchen and we reckoned we get at least 100€ for all the empty bottles.

Cheese followed, of course with more baguette  and red wine and eventually dessert was served with GnT’s about 6pm.
All in all a fairly amazing event to imagine you could bring four couples all on different journeys through Europe, together at a little hamlet near the Dordogne River for a memorable and fun Sunday lunch. We toasted far away friends, as there were a few of the Hump Club members who were unable to join us on this insugral event, however it was decreed it should become an annual event. How possible this is for the workers of the world remains to be seen.