Loire valley pumpkins & squashes

Every year one of our local villages St Remy le Varenne has a delightful event called Les Hortomnales. Essentially this is a celebration of pumpkins and squashes and a whole weekend is devoted to the theme. Competitions for the best decorated squash, bowls of steaming soup and pumpkin pie, guess the weight of the pumpkin, the biggest display of pumpkins and squashes I’ve ever seen in my life, pumpkin jams and chutneys. It’s a lovely, gentle event that attracts hundreds of visitors each year.

This year we were blessed with perfect weather so it was lovely pottering around the grounds of the ancient prieuré soaking up the sunshine, taking in the aroma of pumpkin soup and roasting chestnuts and watching the children marvel at the sheer size of some of the pumpkins.

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