4 Public Holidays and 2 Traditional Days

May 2026: 

 

 I recognise the Sink but not the Outfit!

 

 

 May kicked off as usual with tradition (gifts of lily of the valley) and a public holiday (May Day) on the 1st. Other public holidays followed with V.E. Day on the 8th, Ascension on the 14th, and Whit Monday on 25th. Two Fridays and a Monday giving workers a long weekend and a Thursday when companies and individuals ofter take a "pont" (bridge) thus prolonging the weekend.

Not everyone's idea of an enticing meal, five of us went off to Reynes for a "Cargolade", i.e., snails cooked on the bbq. On the other hand, they're much appreciated by the Catalans who even have a Brotherhood in the tradition of winemakers.

Twinning Visit: Eat, drink and be merry!

The main village event of the month was the 3 day visit from our Normandy twin town. Copious communal meals, visits to local places of interest, an official exchange of warm words and gifts all contributed to an atmosphere of conviviality. Enjoyed having Bruno, Christine and Agnès, who I've known since the resurrection of the twinning association, to stay. Our turn to visit them next year. 

The First "Café Rencontre" off to a Good Start

Was pleased that my idea for an informal monthly get together over a coffee was taken on board  by Cyrielle, the part time community worker. The café being closed on a Wednesday, the owners were happy to let us use their tables and chairs. Besides the folk above, there were others who dropped in including some cyclists on the green cycle route that passes through the village. Coffee, teas, juices are provided and participants bring something sweet (optional).

May's Exhibition

 

Open Mike at the Bar

 

Geneviève's Farewell BBQ in the Midday Heat of Jacques' Terrace

 

Yet another depart from the village, we said goodbye to Geneviève who is going to live near her son in Brittany.

  

  

 Just a couple of Get Togethers with Friends at the Bar

 

There were of course a number of others chez des amis especially as Michel had a series of house guests to entertain. 

 

My dessert for Lunch chez Jacques 

 

A Day out in Perpignan with Suzanne and Liz 

 

Yes, we really did go on the Little Train around the town. Not just the  tourist sites but also the Quartier St Jacques which in Medieval times was the Jewish Quarter now its the "quartier gitan." We had coffee at the Café Catalogne and lunch at the Figuier over which we caught up with all our respective plans and remininced about happy times in Scotland. 

  

 Ready for a Picnic over the Border

 

Une belle Surprise!

 

On arriving in La Jonquera to go for a cheap and cheerful lunch, we fell upon these old cars that had been on a rally. I didn't bother taking a photo of more than one of the several modern "luxury" cars. They just don't cut it!

 

 Another Lovely Surprise!

 

After endless complaints, the Mairie was finanlly forced to deal with the lamentable state of our street after a low slung car tore up two access covers and surrounding tarmac. At least the humps, bumps and pot holes have gone but it's only been resurfaced with tar and gravel rather than tarmac which is sheduled way down the road (sorry!).  And it would be churlish to complain about all the loose chippings that come into the house, wouldn't it?

 

 

Cherries, Cherries Everywhere. 'Tis the Season! 

 

 Nature Notes:

 

Full Moon instead of a Sunset this Month 

Weather: Daytime Max 38°, Min 18°   Night Time Max 22°, Min 8°

P.S. The second traditional day? If you've been counting, is Mothering Sunday. That's right, another thing that Britain does differently; 

Tradition never Changes

April 2026

I spent such a long time on the last post that I wondered why on earth I was keeping this up especially as I'm running out of steam. Even though there's plenty going on, it's a pretty routine life I live, doing much of the same every month. So, being reluctant to abandon "Chitchat" completely, it's time to scale back; a few photos and the odd comment here and there should do it.

 1st: Poisson Avril/April Fool's Day

Stick a fish on the back of some unsuspecting person. Our street just stuck fish on our doors like we do every year. 

 

 

 

Goigs and Pascal Omelette

A Catalan tradition that's kept alive in the village. 470 eggs and other provisions were collected for the Easter omelette during the time that the group sang it's way around the village. Donors were invited to dine on Easter Monday.

23rd April Sant Jordi/George in Figueres, Patron Saint of Catalunya & England. 

Tradition specifies that you give a book or a rose and of course tell children the story of George and the Dragon.

Fête de  Sant Jordi in the Village

 

 

A Concert Followed 

It included Catalan songs from two Catalans and a Frenchman. Pilar, by the way, is the woman that I have an English/Spanish language exchange.

 

This Month's Exhibition 

Joseph Maureso's Exhibition in Bages. All a bit strange.  

A Day Trip to Barcelona  with Michel, Kob and their friends Emon & Thierry from Amiens 

A Successful "English" Breakfast with Four French People  

 

 One of the Month's Restaurant Meals with JJ, Michèle & Henri at the Jardin de Céret

 

One of the Month's Apéros with Patrick, Florence, Thierry, Emon, Michel & Éric at the Figueres Market Café 

 

One of the Month's "Chez des Amis" (Michel) ; JJ, Jacques aka The Three Musketeers 

The Old Cork Oak in the Guinness Book of Records

Driven by neighbour Nicole and guided by Michel we found the tree situated in the Commune of Reynes. It's 21m high with a circumference of  5m. 

Odds and Ends: 

Michel and Kob arrived from Thailand, Eve from Chicago was in the village complete with her flute, Françoise had a bad fall, I'm still doing an English session with Lisa, a Spanish/English exchange with Pilar and not getting enough exercise!  

Nature in April:

 

 Chez Moi

 

In the Village  

In Vallespir

In Figueres

 

A Post is Never Complete  without a Sunset

Weather:

Daytime Max: 30°, :Min: 11° 

Night Time Max: 18°, Min: 7° 

Showers  

Change is in the Air

 March 2026

After the quiet of the post Xmas season, there was a burgeoning of village activities. The arrival of Spring, longer days as the clocks change, anticipation of possible Municipal change and a hope that the situation of women will change.  Yellow mimosa has given way to white almond and pink peach blossom creating stunning images  with cloudless blue skies and a snow capped Canigou in the background. There was colour in the village, too. 

Carnival time.

St Patrick's Day 

Celebrated along with a full house wearing the green at the bar and even ate there. Irish Jack responded to my request for "Only our rivers run free" and oh, did my skin prickle when the guy on the penny whistle joined in.

A mini concert: 

Ventured out in the evening despite the damp chilly weather, to the village hall.  Really enjoyed it. Top notch and different. Melodic sound  for songs in German, English, French, Spanish, Yiddish and vocal cords from a German singer and Israeli guitarist. Stayed for the usual apéro and caught up with various folk.

Lizzie's Vernissage. 

She made plenty of sales, the proceeds of which were shared between an association that neuters cats and an animal refuge. It too, was followed by an apéro accompanied by Jennifer singing and Tony playing jazz.

There were more serious events, too.

MsF's Soirée Tapas

It's a while since I attended one of the association's tapas evenings. It was a convivial evening with new people to meet, a variety of interesting food to sample and foot tapping music to enjoy provided by Gadjo Lolo. No regrets!

                                  International Women's Day

The association marked  with it's traditional salon du thé with the men serving women. Our street also did it's bit. We were invited to choose a remarkable woman and write a short text about her to be displayed at the start of the street. Decided on Gisèle Pelicot, the French Woman who was drugged and raped by her husband and 50 other men while she was unconscious. Backed up the text with some statistics.

                                “Shame must change sides.”

The Café Litteraire 

As usual the winter edition of the group met at the bar. This time it was upstairs in the "private" room. I listened with interest but didn't present a book. Maybe I should think about Gisèle Pelicot's "Hymn to Life" when I can find the confidence. 

Municipal Elections

After six years polling day arrived. Finally, there were 3 lists in contention but the incumbent Maire polled 50.02% of the vote on a turnout of 64.5%, thus avoiding a second round. In reality the Maire was only 2 votes in advance thus the most serious contender put in an appeal to the Sous Préfecture as he believed there had been irregularities. 

Next came the official "Installation" of the Council which I attended. The elected members which included 5 members of the Opposition, had to elect the Maire who then named his 6 Assistants i.e. those heading up particular functions and entitled to wear a sash. Just for interest, the Maire's has gild metallic tassels and the assistants silver. There was a bit of a rumpus when the Maire wouldn't let two Opposition replacements participate as he ruled that the correct procedure hadn't been followed. So, another appeal was lodged. The Leader of the Opposition nitpicked his way through the session to the amusement of some and the annoyance of others!

 

On the home front there was the usual round of social events with friends, chez eux, chez moi and at the café. Won't enumerate them. Trips outside the village merit a note and photo though.

Hansel & Gretel Salon du Thé, Céret

A treat for the 'non knitting" group from Lisa who isn't in a position to invite us to her house. Not just tea ceremoniously presented by Gretel and scrummy cakes made by the  Michelin* restaurant opposite but also a spray of flowers from the florist part of the establishment. An unexpected touch from Lisa and if you think that Gretel's German, you're wrong!. She's half Taiwanese, half Porto Rican and her husband is the patron of the restaurant! It was Angela's first time there and she was bowled over as only Angela can be. Something else for her "j'adore" repertoire!!

Le Jardin de Céret with Friends from Soréde

Marfil Restaurant, La Jonquera

Here, we met up with Dali's daughter, and her fella. I went for a starter of escalibade followed by paella and Irish coffee which was generous to say the least. The house offered limoncello and a herby type liqueur, leaving the bottles on the table, to end off the meal. Dali invited us (Henri & Michèle, JJ & Jacques, Nany & André, Cathy {her daughter} and Gérard {an ex Usap player}) all back to hers for whisky, chocolate and cake. The whisky at 105€, a bottle came from Cap d'Ona and was recently awarded best whisky in the world! I had to point out the codicil was "in it's category and we don't know either which organisation was making the awards and how much it cost to participate.

Perpignan with Joëlle

What's with the toucan? It was part of the street art expo. We didn't settle on anywhere to have lunch but had tea and patisseries at Brasserie 1900.

Farther afield, I had a day out over the border.

Roses with Jean & Françoise

Despite very strong winds, Françoise was having none of it and wanted to go to Roses. So, to Roses we went. Had coffee at Si'us plau then, battled our way along the front. Settled on a restaurant but settling on a table took 3 moves and even at the end up she wasn't satisfied as there wasn't a clear view of the sea! The meal wasn't to her liking either .. her entrée was tasteless, her main course was tasteless though her tiramiso was cleared without a negative word.

Finally, some exercise . . .

On the Coastal Path 

Wanting to take advantage of the warm sunshine, Françoise & I were joined on the coastal path leaving from Sole Mio by Véro. A bit chilly despite the sun.

Over the Channel, Little Sis had a birthday and inspiration didn't fail me

What better present for a cheesaholic? And the funny thing is I came across this one in France!

One last thing: 

Of all the screen time I had, "Immortal Man", the Peaky Blinders film and "Togo" about an Alaskan husky were the most memorable.

Nature Notes:

Weather:

Highest Daytime 22°; Lowest Daytime 11°

Highest Nighttime 12°. Lowest Nighttime 5°

Lots of rain, strong winds