French Countryside | Cognac
Cognac, a symphony from nature's orchestra with birds, leaves, wind and water in happy co-existence. Like colours and textures of nature were painted on a smooth canvas. Lifetimes had past in this small village but somethings had remained. Old buildings holding new life, cognac was a paradise. West of France, 2 hours from Paris ,we reached Juillac-le-coq after Angouleme train station. Morales family was going to host us. Eva and I had met by chance, or maybe by destiny. She came to India with Pierrick, her husband for the first time and I was her personal Sari shopper for a day in Delhi. Tall and graceful, I thought of her, the first time I met her. Over lunch she spoke about her three children. I could tell how much she loved her family, she had that warmth in her. I was planning to travel that summer to Europe. Very Kindly she invited me to Cognac, her village where she worked in her family business of french liquor. We stayed in touch through emails and finally met again in the summer in cognac. Eva with her eldest daughter, came to receive us. First sight of the vast green landscape, and never ending blue sky, I was filled with this countryside freshness. Eva was enthusiastic to show us around and took us to the local church which was on the way to her house. I also bought a baguette for lunch, something I wanted to do in France. I was super excited to meet the rest of the family. She informed me about her two cats and a dog which made me a bit nervous. We entered the driveway to her house, more like a dream french mansion made of stone dating about two centuries where we met Heloise and Henry, her younger ones with Pierrick. Her house was beautifully done, like I would imagine a lady like her to have with every corner thought of, each item hand picked, each piece had a memory, a story. It had the same warmth she had. After a hearty french meal accompanied with liquor, we were shown our cottage.The main part of the house was surrounded by smaller houses for guests and a swimming pool. There was also a farm for her Poituo and hens. Our room had some prints of painting and white linen perfectly set for us. She had very well stocked our kitchen with milk bread, vanilla yoghurt and other French confectionary. We took day trips to the cognac city centre, Royan and Bordeaux. Driving along the fields on the curvy road, watching the moving birds and clouds, I was lost in the perfection of all around me. The smell of grass, Dancing lavender. We met some of her friends with whom we tried mussels. I couldn't get enough of the ancient stone houses around me. While Eva showed me some old wooden toys and dollhouses from her childhood, we revisited the little girls in us. We plucked berries in her vegetable garden. We were like her carefree children, blooming beautiful souls. Heloise's innocent smile and the joy on her face when she danced is something I still hold with me. We ate a nourishing supper of cheese meat salad and bread. Next morning our three-day dream was going to end, but I knew I had given a little bit of my heart to this family and this village and I would come again.
