The usual scurry around preceeded an evening trip to the airport to pick up Mum.Thursday ( 9th) and it was the language exchange in the morning followed by an apéritif at the bar . Chutney making in the afternoon saw the end of 2kg of green tomatoes. That reminds me of one of my favourite films, "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café". Anyone else see it?
Friday (10th) after making three batches of cakes in the name of the Association, we went off to our favourite restaurant, treated by Mum. This time it was open and the fine weather encouraged us to have a stroll around the village. Christian snoozed in the car! Back home in time for the opening of an exhibition of photos at which the homebaking went down a treat. Brits also provided the music which as you can see, the kids found fascinating. The photos were good too! Mostly of a single fruit with some interesting titles
Saturday (11th) and it was the village's Autumn Fair and an opportunity to publicise and recruit
new members to the Association. The fair was opened by our local Deputée/MP and hasn't our next door neighbour just started to work for her? As well as this photo taken when she visited the stalls, Christian and I had the dubious pleasure of having individual photos taken with her which as she is UMP (Sarkozy's lot), could see our left-wing credentials seriously compromised! Lunch was another giant paella. Christian was on duty all day showing off the Mairie's new website which he's been responsible for commisioning. Reaction has been favourable and we're particularly pleased as it features a lot of photos taken by us. One amusing sight was when the line dancers who were there strutting their stuff joined in with a sardane! Espadrilles, cowboy boots and stetsons, fusion culture has arrived! I was there with the village website hat on (literally) and for our Sans Frontières Association as well which meant that I didn't get much of a break to spend with Mum.. Having started at 7.30am in the morning it was an early night for us all.
Sunday (12th) and another early start to be on duty at the Associations' and Mairie's stand again. Today there was a car boot sale but apart from an electronic translator neither Mum nor I found anything of interest. Lunch today was spit roast suckling pig which was delicious and the fair closed with a concert of Catalan music and song. The group, believe it or not includes a Scot! Rounded off the day with a drink in the bar to revive our flagging energy levels and put a bit of business Jean-Louis' way. Phew it was quite a marathon and I'm feeling a bit guilty that I couldn't be with Mum all the time.
Saturday (11th) and it was the village's Autumn Fair and an opportunity to publicise and recruit
new members to the Association. The fair was opened by our local Deputée/MP and hasn't our next door neighbour just started to work for her? As well as this photo taken when she visited the stalls, Christian and I had the dubious pleasure of having individual photos taken with her which as she is UMP (Sarkozy's lot), could see our left-wing credentials seriously compromised! Lunch was another giant paella. Christian was on duty all day showing off the Mairie's new website which he's been responsible for commisioning. Reaction has been favourable and we're particularly pleased as it features a lot of photos taken by us. One amusing sight was when the line dancers who were there strutting their stuff joined in with a sardane! Espadrilles, cowboy boots and stetsons, fusion culture has arrived! I was there with the village website hat on (literally) and for our Sans Frontières Association as well which meant that I didn't get much of a break to spend with Mum.. Having started at 7.30am in the morning it was an early night for us all.
Sunday (12th) and another early start to be on duty at the Associations' and Mairie's stand again. Today there was a car boot sale but apart from an electronic translator neither Mum nor I found anything of interest. Lunch today was spit roast suckling pig which was delicious and the fair closed with a concert of Catalan music and song. The group, believe it or not includes a Scot! Rounded off the day with a drink in the bar to revive our flagging energy levels and put a bit of business Jean-Louis' way. Phew it was quite a marathon and I'm feeling a bit guilty that I couldn't be with Mum all the time.Monday (13th) and Mum was in bed for most of the day having had a giddy turn. Not the first apparently. Think it may be related to her ears and her hearing aid not working. Anyway, she pulled herself around in time to go over to Jean and Françoise's for an apéro. As Jean is a favourite of Mum's , she wasn't ready to miss out. Thérèse managed to come along as well so there was a fair bit of catching up to do.
Tuesday (14th) After Christian's meeting at the Mairie we headed up the mountain's to have lunch at Claude's which was as copious as ever, then it was coffee at Michel and Joëlle's and afternoon tea with Philippe's Mum. Finally we went home to pack and Christian went off to a council meeting.
Wednesday (15th) On the road for 8.30, we enjoyed the warm sunshine up through the Massif Central, stopping at lunch time for a picnic. Haven't quite got into the French style with tablecloth, apéritif and wine but what we had was fine and meant that the fridge was left completely bare. By the time that we arrived at the Millau bridge the cloud had come down, the temperature had dropped and neither Christian nor Mum were ready to get out of the car. We arrive at Frank and Stéphanie's after 7.30pm and Mum was feeling giddy again. Things didn't get any better when we arrived at our Campanile hotel, normally a pretty safe bet, to find the three of us squeezed into a double bedroom. As it was the last available room when we booked and we'd tried several other places, I suppose we have to be grateful we had some where to put our weary heads. I did think that it would be a triple room. Ah well, we were all too tired to worry about it.
The next day didn'y get any better; delays on the road, an expensive, rubbish "breakfast" in a motorway cafeteria, rain, difficulty finding the hypermarket in Calais (yeah, don't snigger) and an even more rubbishy lunch. I wasn't a happy bunny as the saying goes.
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