The book club goes out for the day

Sometime in May in the Club de Lectura Frances at the library someone said that what we really needed was a trip to France. This would encourage some of the more reluctant, less confident speakers to make a real effort to express themselves. It was a good idea but unfortunately at that late stage in the year (the library's activities work on the academic calendar) it was really not feasible. Quel dommage! everyone agreed.

The next best thing, it was suggested, would be a more local "residential", a weekend away somewhere, maybe going to a spa where we could have all kinds of therapeutic treatments as well. The main advantage, naturellement, would be having meals together, going to visit places and talking French ALL THE TIME! In the end, however, this proved equally impossible. Few people could manage to take a weekend out of their lives at short notice and then, there was the cost.

So we settled for a day out, with lunch together in some nice place and everyone doing their best to speak French all the time. Allariz, near Ourense/Orense was chosen as our destination. I came back from the UK just in time and got up early on Saturday to rendez-vous (there's the French again) at 9.20 near the Plaza de Espana. We were a dozen people so we split into three carloads and off we went, arriving at Allariz in time for late morning coffee.

Allariz is a well preserved, well restored little town in the valley of the river Arnoia, with several small museums: leather, cloth, toys, iconography among others.





Apart from an appeal for independencia at the entrance to the alameda, there was no graffiti to be seen and, amazingly, no roadworks. Perhaps they are reserved for the newer parts of the town.

The old town has a Roman bridge and the usual collection of picturesque narrow streets and numerous churches, as well as the rather imposing Convent of Santa Clara.

We tramped up to the monte del castillo to discover that it exactly matched its description: the hill where the castle used to be. Although nothing much remains of the castle, some of the old fortifications remain and the old gateway has been incorporated into the streets of the town.

For lunch we had booked a table at the Acea da Costa restaurant, a former mill where you can still see the river rush under the building although we opted to eat outside under the trees on the riverside. The food was excellent and reasonably priced.

By now some of our party had used up their French and had reverted to Spanish. Earlier in the day, however, we had been greeted with a friendly bonjour from one of the locals who had heard French spoken.

After lunch some of us went for a digestive stroll, which turned into quite a lengthy hike, along the riverbank, choosing the shady side as it was a very hot day. Others gave in to the call of shopping as Allariz has outlet shops for many of the big names, selling clothes by Massimo Dutti, Adolfo Dominguez and such at bargain prices.

At the end of the day we all got back together for a drink in the Plaza Mayor. It was time to embarrass Maribel, the book club co-ordiator, by giving her a thank you present.

And then we were ready to get back in the cars and return to Vigo, with plans for a visit to, perhaps, Marseilles next year. Who knows; if enough club members put pressure on at the library there might even be funding towards the cost of such an excursion!