Balancing riding with socializing is always a challenge. On riding days it is hard to get to dinner without taking one or more naps. So when Natasha and Tony decided that our dinner with them would be tonight we had a easy excuse to park the bikes for another day.
One condition of our dinner invitation was that they would bring another English speaking couple we have not met. To our delight the balloon pilots were on the menu. They own one of the many balloon operations here in the area. I am sure we will have more to add after meeting them and exchanging life stories.
The other dinner condition was that Kim would make duck bolognaise, one of Tony's favorites. So our day started early with a quick walk to the boulangerie for a simple breakfast of cereal baguette and butter, quick once over to get the house clean and presentable, then an outing to Cenac for a shop at the intown Carrefour for the basics... duck breasts and lots of other stuff. Then jumping across the road to the patisserie which has the most mind blowing selection of pastries for dessert. A fast return to the Carrefour to get some vanilla ice cream to go with the apple tart (Tarte aux pommes or Tart Tartin). A few chocolate selections were an essential addition to the apres dinner sweets.
Once the car was unloaded and bags unpacked Kim went to work on her duck extravaganza. Since grinding the breasts was not an option the chopping began and added to the sauteed onions, spices, and duck fat - a key ingredient to any French sauce (butter or heavy cream an alternative).
Starting in lower left: Dasha & Natasha, Alan, Maryiah, Tony, Kim, Andrew
As the clock struck 6 something Tony and Natasha (with Dasha in tow) arrived followed by their friends Maryiah and Andrew. The ladies met on a Russian speaking Facebook chat group where I assume they meet to burnish the rust off their Russian language skills. Although born and raise in the Ukraine Natasha is bilingual (actually tri-lingual since she also speaks English very well having taught the language in a past career). Maryiah was born in the old Soviet Union somewhere near the Russian border with Belarus. Andy is a kiwi born and raised in New Zealand before heading out to see the world traveling to over 80 countries around the globe.
At an early age Andrew saw his first hot air balloon and decided that ballooning is for me. He carted a balloon on his global trek going aloft when the urge and opportunity was present. They settled here in the Dordogne, built a house in the neighboring town of Saint Cybernat, and bought a ballooning business several years ago. Both are qualified pilots and get to satisfy their passion on a daily basis. When the season shuts down during the winter months they head to Dubai until an inconvenient war sent them packing as drones flooded the sky across the middle east.
As we exchanged personal stories over dinner it seemed that flying dominated the conversation. The added twist was that Andrew did some flying around the Okavango delta with Wilderness Safaris shuttling safari guests in and out of the Botswana camps; a subject we could related to.
As the evening was coming to an end they realized they had an early morning with a launch time of 7:30 in a field a short walk from our place. They invited us to join the gathering to see process of assembling the balloons and inflating them with hot air. We took a rain check since the late evening made for a late morning start.
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