St Gaudens: mon village français! (13, 14)

What a funny experience, going back to my 'French home town' and taking my parents.  Made me think of that Crowded House song, Distant Sun, because two, if not seven, worlds were certainly colliding for me.
Mum and Dad were, of course, from New Zealand.  Although they had actually been (twice) to St Gaudens before, it was at the start of my contract, and I didn't really know anyone.  So, this was my first opportunity to introduce them to my friends in the place.  As a result, we had two fairly frenetic days...

One of my friends, Anne-Marie, was generous enough to put us up in her big house which, might I add, has views of the Pyrenees from the balcony.  One day, we had a fabulous lunch with her and her family (as her daughter is also a friend of mine).  It was a great French culinary and cultural experience with some very nice people.
Just to give you an indication of how awesome it was:

• poêlée de Landes... I have this written down but can't for the life of me remember what it was.  The shame!  And even Google can't help me.
•  beans and some kind of lardons 'bacon cubes'
• veal
• salami
• pâté
• cheese
• galette des rois: typical cake around 6 January.  In the South of France, it's normally round, like a big doughnut, fairly plain and bread-like, with crystals of sugar on top.  There's a fève hidden in one of the slices, too.

A Southen-France-style galette being devoured, with cider: comme il faut.

Although, before even getting to lunch, we had already done errands in town, plus made a trip back to the lycée where I used to work, catching up with a friend, teachers, and the friendly folk at the intendance (office, I guess...).

Plus we made it into the town centre to do some errands!

Entrance to the Lycée de Bagatelle.

We also had a café reunion with some of my 'colleagues' and a quick trip to the local music school to catch up with the folks there.

St Gaudens' cultural centre: home of the Guy Lafitte School of Music!

After this, we managed to be very French and have an apéro (pre-dinner drink with nibbles) with my friend, Hélène.  French Blog by Transparent Language explains the  apéro  as follows: An apéro is a goûter (snack) for grown-ups. You’ll need des boissons et de quoi grignoter—drinks and something to snack on.

This was, indeed, a fabulous way to catch up, and lots of laughs were had.  Plus, we somehow came away with two pots of home-made pâté.  Win.

Somehow, our whole day had pretty much disappeared by this point, so we toddled home, and had some bread, cheese, and some macaron-like treats!

Oh, how I love macarons...

On the following morning, we met up with a friend and her son at my go-to café, Chez Gerôme, aka the one with the Australian.

At Chez Gerôme - but with better weather than on the day mentioned in this post.

After that catch-up, and a quick spot of spot of shopping (including for St Gaudens t-shirts), we headed 'home' to this amazing spread: quiche lorraine, salad, and  pâté .

Our French lunch on our last day in St Gaudens.

We were chauffeur-driven to the train station, and had an easier time than what Mum and Dad did when they last departed.  (Running around the side of the station, with luggage, as the station doors wouldn't open, and the controller was already blowing the whistle to give the train the all-clear to go!)