A bit about me…
Hey, I’m Hilary, an Irish writer living in Gascony, France.
When my husband and I moved here more than twenty years ago with our three children, I was struck by how familiar everything felt: the relaxed pace, the easy friendliness, and that very Irish fifteen-minutes-late-is-on-time attitude (le quart d’heure gascon).
Early on, we discovered a busy little restaurant in a hilltop village, the terrace spilling out across the square, and stopped for Sunday lunch. The atmosphere was convivial, the waiter joking with the rugby lads at the bar while he brought us bread, water and a jug of wine. Then, the cook appeared from the kitchen carrying a huge pot of soup and plonked it straight onto our table.
‘Bon appétit!’
We hadn’t ordered a thing. It was that kind of place – one set menu, take it or leave it. Given how popular the place was, we took it.
My husband ladled out the garbure* and the kids went on to have seconds. Then came cold meats and sweet Cantaloupe melon, followed by confit de canard, potatoes cooked in duck fat and green beans. Dessert was a basket of fruit and a platter of local cheeses. The children devoured everything; it wouldn’t be our last visit.
Later the owner circled the terrace with a bottle of Armagnac and offered us a glass on the house. When he learned we were a French-Irish family, new arrivals to the area, he offered a loud ‘Welcome!’ and went on to congratulate me on the fighting spirit of the Irish rugby team. I accepted the praise as if I’d scored those tries myself.
That experience stayed with me. It captured everything I’ve come to love about Gascony and it eventually found its way into my debut novel The Gascony Inheritance, which is set in a fictional village that might well be the Bassoues of the story.
Gascony has so much to offer – from jazz festivals and village bandas to the swashbuckling Gascon hero d’Artagnan (the real Charles de Batz de Castelmore d’Artagnan, that is, who makes an appearance in my novel too).
I’d love to keep you updated with news, research snippets, and behind-the-scenes stories as the novel takes shape. Sign up to my newsletter to get insights delivered to your inbox – no spam, ever.
Lovely to have you on board,
Talk soon,
- Garbure – A hearty Gascon soup made with ham (or duck confit), cabbage, tarbais beans, potatoes, carrots, and whatever vegetables are to hand. As my father used to say, ‘there’s both eatin’ and drinkin’ in it.’ Come to think of it, it’s not that different from the bacon-and-cabbage dinners I was raised on!