SO-MY_LA

Societe Mycologique Landaise or Mycology society of Les Landes.
I thought it would be a good idea to join the above society as now that we are no longer at Carol I have no woods to wander through on the lookout for mushrooms.
It was my first outing with them yesterday. The weather was grey, mild and damp. As it was drizzling when I left I did take a showerproof with me and wore my rubber boots. The meeting place was at the lac de Gioule about 15 minutes drive away. When I got there at 9.30am most of the others were there and the rain was getting heavier by the minute. We were all present and correct by 9.45 and some of us left our cars there and went in other cars as the parking at the site we were going to was apparently rather limited. I went with Georges and Marie-Louise who had 2 adorable Yorkshire terriers in the car, memories of my dear, departed Titi!. The other passenger was another new subscriber to the group, I never did find out his name so I shall call him "newbie". We all got out of the cars at the site which was a huge beech forest. It seemed that the plan was to wander of individually or in pairs and search for any fungi. On finding any fungi one would carefully cut it and put it in ones basket. Memo to myself: next time bring basket and knife!! Fortunately the lack of basket and knife was not a problem for me as there were barely any fungi to be found! Too dry they said! One thing was for sure, the ground may be too dry but I am certainly not too dry, soaked to the skin would be a better description. I was torn between looking for non-existent fungi and trying to keep at least one other person in site so that I didn't get lost in the vast forest. After a bit more than an hour, apparently, someone called out that they were abandoning the search and returning to base camp. I say apparently as by this time I was virtually deaf because of the wet hood clinging to my head. I was also half blind because of the raindrops on my specs. Not a pretty sight!! Fortunately "newbie" was not far from me and he heard the order to abandon. The part of the forest that we were in was cut in 2 places by deep gullies. We had already been to the bottom of one to see some tiny fungi that someone had found down there. The descent and ascent were not easy and neither of us fancied trying that again. We set off in what seemed the right direction and eventually found what much to our relief, seemed to be a path which then lead to a definate track throught the forest. After walking along the track, for about 10 minutes we came to a clearing where the track stopped. Only solution was to turn around and follow the track back to its other end. At this point I had to say to "newbie" that I would catch him up in a couple of minutes as I had to relieve (pipi) myself!! I did note that he took advantage of this and did the same thing! Thankfully the track eventually led out onto a narrow lane and after another 10 minutes or so we were pleased to see just the one car waiting for us. George ferried us back to base camp where we were to have a picnic lunch. I have to say that I don't think I have ever been so wet in all my life and there was no way I could sit down and eat lunch like that. Being so near home I gave my excuses and said that I had to go home and change and would be back in half an hour. Back home, quick change and dry down and back I went. Everyone was settled and eating lunch in the, thankfully, undercover part of the picnic area and George and Marie-Louise had not only saved me a place they also had a folding chair for me. Another memo to self: bring folding chair next time. I have to say that French picnics have nothing on English picnics!! Most people take some sort of salad, cold meats, baguette, cheese, fruit, wine and coffee. One lady had made a large gateau which she handed round to us all. A veritable feast. The company too was good. I discovered that Georges has a wicked sense of humour and also speaks a little English. Marie-Louise speaks some English too and was eager to practise on me so the conversation was a mix of both languages. So depite the weather it was a very pleasant outing and good to meet the other members of the group.