Fete de voison

Simply take along some home-made finger food to share and a bottle of decent wine. Châteauneuf du Pape is probably over the top, but a nice Gigondas or Vacqueyras should go down well if you opt for red. Some top of the range cheddar will be appreciated too.

Plus food for the children, of course.

We made the mistake the first time round of taking a seafood salad - not easy to eat with your fingers.

And remember - you are in their country - take good food but don't upset your neighbours by trying to outdo them.

The whole idea of the Fête des Voisins was to get people in council estates and high-rise blocks to get to know their neighbours, but the idea has been adopted by the middle classes too.

Thanks for that!

If your neighbours in Provence are anything like ours in SW France there will be large quantities of food at the apéritif stage so some nice nibbles for this will be appreciated too. And whisky is served as an apéritif so if you feel wealthy enough ....

Have a very pleasant evening - we are promised 29C for Friday.

Ian

It was a lovely event with some neighbours we knew already and some we had not met before.  Incidentally we took a savory quiche and a strawberry tart, plus wine. Some people home made food and others brought pre-prepared bits and there was a lot of rosé.  I found it curious that at the end the people bid each other farewell "until next year", but we have made contacts that we intend to build on throughout the year ahead.

We had a pleasant time too - we found out that our most recent neighbour makes made-to-measure shoes in his garage. A bottle of decent malt is always good for conversation. Also more contacts for our English language tuition.

Re building on contacts we have made some errors in inviting people too early for dinner - we have found out that inviting people for an apéritif is a better route. Decent nibbles, and no comments when they put coca cola in their whisky. Larger quantities of food are needed in reserve in case the apéro turns into dinner.

When I was a student in the 70s I spent a year teaching English in a school in Avignon - that's when I decided that France was the country for me, though I waited around 35 years before making the move.