Tempus Fugit

After a bit of an absence being very busy, yours truly is back. Have been much put out by the news from the States ~ a disabled person tipped out of his wheelchair, Bush believing that waterboarding although, torture is acceptable and another young person running amok with a gun ~ and its they who give the rest of the world lessons in morality and democracy!
Our Friday neighbourhood meeting wasn't as well attended as the previous one which meant that the discussion was more informal and we didn't wait until the end to circulate the wine and peanuts!
Saturday, as usual was market day where it was clear from the different languages that could be heard, that school holidays have started to roll out. It was cold and overcast in the morning but the sun fought its way through in the afternoon thus encouraging me to deal with the weeds. You've no idea how long it takes to tidy up a few pots and a couple of flower borders. Christian did take time off from the computer to make us a cuppa which kept me going. In the evening the 'list' congregated in the mountains to have a meal at "La Taverne". Spirits were high, there were great hopes of a result in the elections and a good time was had by all.
Sunday it was all systems go to prepare for Marie Christine and Pierre's visit so there was no lie-in. Headed off down the coast for a good lunch at L'Archipel'; there will be some of you who will remember the little stream complete with gold fish and palm tree in the middle of the rerstaurant!
Unable to work out the new one way system we found ourselves on a vertiginous single track road through the vineyards which gave superb views. Eventually found our way to a view point with even better views over the coast. Shame it was blowing a gale so beat a retreat home to light the fire and have tea.
Discovered that it had been Marie Christine's birthday the day before so we celebrated with a bottle of champagne and a candle on the dessert.
Monday the weather seemed to have improved so we decided to take our visitors up to the Col d'Ouillat to admire the views. Got to within a couple of hundred metres of the top only to find ourselves in thick cloud and the restaurant with panoramic views closed, therefore, no hot chocolate to warm us up.
Still, we came home with an armful of mimosa via some Roman ruins and a Romanesque church . After lunch we pointed the car in the direction of Figueres for a leisurely stroll around the town.
Christian woke up this morning at 6am to find our visitors had hit the road to Normandy while we were still in the Land of Nod. The news today about the police failing to arrest the Israeli for whom there is an international arrest warrant because of a fear of a shoot out left me in disbelief but perhaps I'm missing something. Here Sarkozy is in the headlines again, this time for decreeing that each primary school child should 'adopt' the history of a jewish French child sent to one of the concentration camps. Otherwise it's the forthcoming rugby match against England that's taking up news space. Closer to home it's been drizzling.
This evening Jean and Françoise did a soup run to share a pot of 'Calypso Lentil Soup' with us made with a recipe I'd given her. Before you think that abit odd, after all most people come bearing wine or flowers, they'd wanted us to go over to them but as Christian had a meeting, they decided to come here instead. The soup was good and there was no pot to wash.