Neuves-Granges: Marathon Lunch With Neighbours

"We've been having this house in Neuves-Granges for forty years. Some elders here still call us foreigners." said Ernest who himself loved to receive other foreigners in his village of eighty inhabitants.

Neuves-Granges used to have even less occupants. Since recent years, a slightly increasing number of young couples had opted to buy land and build their own houses there. Ernest and Nicole had befriended those newly settled families very fast.

Sunday, they were invited for lunch by their new neighbours Laurent and Sara. As I was around, they brought me along. When we reached the blue house, Bernard and Beatrice, another couple living next to them, were already there with their children. Each of the two young couples had three children. Coincidently each child from one family was close in age with the other child from the other family. So there were three pairs of teenage friends.

The hosts had a nice veranda, big enough to put a sofa set, a cupboard and a dining table. And it was still very spacious.

Needless to describe more, we began our meal with the snack sesson. The cute boy Louison and his lovely compagnon Beverly were among the first to pick at the crispy food.

Lola and her friend Ossana joined us soon after that.

The eldest of each couple were staying most of the time inside the house. I did not get to talk to them.

When summer is approaching in France, you can be sure that the sale of equipment for barbecue gets higher.

And the family set menu often includes several kinds of sausages cooked outdoor on the metal frame over a fire, accompanied by a combination of vegetables and semolina in salad.

As there were not enought seats for the children in the veranda, they were ordered to take their own food and eat it among themselves inside the house.

Louison and Beverly wanted to benefit the nice weather. The two neighbours ran towards the store

which was their playground.

As I had grown up in a residencial area in town, I was very envious of their childhood days in the countryside, embraced by the nature.

Later, Sara served us cookies and brownies that she had baked the previous night while Larent took out boxes of different types of ice-cream from the refrigerator. Second bottle of champagne was opened to accompany the dessert, after which some tea and coffee were brewed.

And you could be sure that the children would never turn down sweets at any occasion.

The neighbours from three families spent the whole afternoon together, sharing food and thoughts.

"The Parisians are going to celebrate Neighbours Festival on 27 May. Here, we don't need this festival to remind us that neighbours are around."

It was true. In Paris, most residents live in apartments and hardly see their nextdoor. In Neuves-Granges, the neighbours greet one another very often and pay mutual visits from time to time. Ernest and Nicole were the pioneers to receive outsiders in their house. And now they are blessed with hospitable neighbours. God is bringing new life to this village.