A Week in the Life of an Estate Agent in France
By Michael Bowditch

Monday. Always the busiest day of the week. While I have been enjoying my weekend my inbox has been receiving many requests to see properties. Last weekend, by the way, was the busiest one of the year for my village. Sunday was La fete d’olivier. Only in France, can they decide that the olive tree needs celebrating. Everything linked to olive oil, the wood from the olive tree, and the fruit itself. 200 stalls surround the old walls, and stall holders sell their wares to the 10 000 visitors that amble through. An oddity does occur however. Well 2 actually. The first is a contest held in the main square. It is called Grand concours d’aioli. 12 people of all ages stand behind their bowls made from olive wood. In front of them, they all have the following ingredients: 1 egg, a bottle of olive oil, a head of garlic and salt and pepper. The idea is to mix these ingredients in an aioli (generally used to dip crudités into) in your own, special way and then the judge, armed with slices of baguette, tries them all and declares a winner. Each contestant somehow manages to include their own secret, or not so secret, way of crushing the garlic, the speed and amount of olive oil that is drizzled into the wooden bowl, how it is mixed up and finally, with their finger, they taste it as if sampling a finest Claret.

The second bizarre event is called “The contest of throwing the Beret.” The Beret is the archetypal flat cap, usually black, that is worn by Frenchmen. This contest is to see how far the Beret can be frisbeed. Personal techniques have been developed over the years, ranging from quick flick of the wrist to something that resembles putting the shot. The cap has to land in a chalk marked area to be legal. The judge was a pure comic character. Long white beard, he was sporting an outfit fit for a clown- and of course, a red Beret. The winner flung his cap a total of 29 yards. He won a bottle of first pressed virgin olive oil- of course!