A friend told us it was the Fources Flower Festival this weekend; Fources is a beautiful little village and since I’m just getting over a nasty bout of bronchitis and hadn’t been out for days, an afternoon out seemed appealing.

When we arrived, along with half the world, the whole village seemed to be involved in some way, as car park attendants, ticket sellers, there was even an army of children and teenagers, armed with wheelbarrows, to help buyers take their purchases to their cars. Every street and alleyway in the village was overflowing with plants and flowers; there were also garden ornaments, jewellery stalls, armagnac and floc stalls offering tastings and a man on a sort of pushbike, playing the banjo.

There were hundreds of varieties of veg on offer; white aubergines, black tomatoes, any number of varieties of pepper; we came home with five different flavours of mint! There were bonsai trees and 10 year-old vines in tiny pots (which they said were NOT bonsais, but came along with Bansai Tree growing kits), lemon trees covered in fruit, and gnarled olive trees in half barrels. The flowers were no less impressive, from the inevitable mass of geraniums to exquisite roses and bird of paradise plants, bouganvilleas in every shade imaginable and lilacs that filled the air with their perfume.

By next year, we may have an idea of what we want in our garden, which sounds like a perfect excuse for a return visit.