246. Deep in Deepest France

2nd August. Just as the Fêtes de Bayonne kicked off last week, we escaped up to Salers in the Auvergne. For many people, Salers is famous for one thing: its beef. The Salers breed has to be hardy to survive the long winters up at altitude and their thick coats are a rich red. They all seemed to be fitted with bells around their necks and so we were serenaded every evening by what sounded like gusts of wind blowing through a windchime factory - as here!
 
Here's the village of Salers.. Three thousand feet up, it's built of volcanic basalt, and it presents a solid yet unprepossessing face to the world with its dark stone edifices and heavy split stone roof tiles.
This dourness is reflected in the food - here there are no large white plates with slices of meat artfully arranged on top of a mini-tower of 3 carottes rondelles - with a 'signature' swirl of jus.. (spare me!)

No, it's solid fare here and it's probably best exemplified by truffade.. perhaps the dish of the region. Here, the making of it is demonstrated by a presenter with his trousers on fire.. (at least, that's what it sounds like!) It is the ideal fuel if you anticipate digging a ditch sometime in the near future - but for bumbling around the lanes, visiting villages, it's probably a few calories too many!
However, when it's accompanied by a glass of Saint-Pourçain rouge*, it all seems to make sense..
* This was new to both of us - and we now have a ½ case on order..
Let's not forget that this region of France was heavily involved in the 100 Years War.. The fifteenth century Château d'Anjony is one of those medieval structures that simply take your breath away..

Outside of the villages, the physical features of the landscape have been laid out on a grand scale: