New year in Auvergne!

This year, Aniko suggested getting together and spending new year together in Auvergne - an excellent idea which we immediately agreed to. She managed to find a house big enough for our group (12 adults and 8 kids!) in a  place called Cunlhat.

We (me, Aniko and Philippe) where the first to arrive at the snow-covered village. We found the house, and met up with the stern land-lady (I guess the rough weather and landscapes breeds tough people...). The house itself was a real gem - a real French period house, the place could almost qualify as a museum.

As far as meals were concerned, we'd decided to take turns cooking - the idea being that everybody cooks a speciality from his/her country. As we arrived early, I decided to volunteer and make my Finnish salmon soup for dinner on the 1st night. I was a bit daunted by the task, I've never cooked for that many people before. But much to my delight (and surprise?), it all went pretty smoothly, and nobody died or even got sick! What was an even bigger delight than the salmon soup was of course being reunited with Mathilde (who's spent Christmas in La Rochelle).

After dinner, it was PARTY time! Nathalie mixed up some rather psychedilic-looking and -coloured vodka cocktail, which got us all into a rather festive mood! Looks like we can still party, even if we're mostly pushing (or past - as in my case) forty!

The next day, we got up "bright 'n early" (actually, the getting up was neither of those in my case - looks like "I ain't no spring chicken no more" after all...). After a filling breakfast, we decided to check out Culhat. Not much to see, to be honest, but it's got a pretty authentic, rustic village feel to it. And there was a rather lively market taking place at the main square, where we did a bit of extra grocery shopping (I tried a local speciality called Aligot - basically mashed potatoes mixed with cheese). Christian also showed his kids what NOT to do on top of an ice-covered fountain (the results of him standing on the ice were, let's say predictable...).

For lunch, it was Chie's time to cook. She decided to delight us with some Japanese curry. Predictably, it was quite simply delicious. Before starting our new year's eve celebrations, I had a bit of a stroll around the village after sunset, for a bit of wintery night-time photography. Beautiful...

For dinner, it was time for our Savoyards (Christian and Flore) to show off their culinary skills - Tartiflette time! Tartiflette is the kind of hearty, honest cuisine I like: lardons, cheese (and not just any cheese - it has to be Reblochon, from Savoy, of course!) and potatoes. Simple, but simply delicious. Needless to say, I was showing my appreciation by having several helpings. And just to celebrate the festive season a bit, we also had fois gras, oysters and some bûche de Noël for desert.

And then, party time again! I was quite impressed with our capacity to party again, no going to sleep at 12 o'clock after having our glasses of champagne. No, we stayed up at least until a respectable 3 o'clock or something. There was music, air guitar, and I invented a non-existent Finnish dance that resembled rowing... So one could say we welcomed 2015 in a properly festive mood!

And what better way to deal with a post-new-year's eve hangover than a proper English breakfast, cooked up by Geoff. Just what the doctor ordered, I say! Bravo Geoff! After the rather later breakfast, me and Mathilde decided to join Philippe and Aniko (and little Elize of course) for a bit of touristy action in Thiers (which is the closest decent-sized town in the area). There wasn't really anything going on over there (unsurprisingly, given that it's the 1st of January), but it was nonetheless a nice enough to town to stroll around. We checked out the rather impressive cathedral, which was open, and checked out some of the numerous knife shops for which Thiers is famous for.

For our last night in Cunlhoat, it was time for Aniko to prepare some Hungarian food for us. And what's more Hungarian than a goulash soup ? And a tasty goulash soup it was. Actually the next day was Aniko's birthday, so we took the opportunity to do some early celebration in her honour.

That brought an end to a great little mini-new year's break. It was certainly great for me - perfect way to get my mind off the rather sad events of Christmas, too. And a special thanks to Aniko for getting us all together!