Well Fed and Happy

Margaret arrived yesterday evening so a briefing meeting about her exhibition was first on her agenda this morning; ours was of course our walk. Before having a coffee at the bar, we were able to take her to see her predecessor's three exhibitions before he took them down. It was really funny to see his large canvasses which are worth quite a lot of money strapped to top of his pretty small car. It was almost like something out of Mr Bean.
As we needed to go and buy cava and fill up with petrol, Margaret came with us to a little restaurant in Espolla where we ate very well indeed for 13€ all in. Don't the two of them look as if all is well with world?
Joined Margaret, Kelvin and Irene, who are going to help hang the paintings tomorrow, at the bar for a glass of wine before rushing home to change the channel to record the last ever episode of The Bill.

Sun Rise

Yes, it is starting to feel cooler in the mornings too and long sleeves are needed for at least the first circuit of the lake. It's darker as well but we do get some beautiful sun rises. Such a shame that the camera can't really deal with them.

Exodus

Saturday and the holiday makers are heading back North and the market is once more managable. Had lunch at the local auberge and a pretty lazy rest of the day.
Sunday spent most of the morning with Nicole and Patrick first at a garage sale (except it was warm and sunny and therefore on the terrace and not much of a sale as it was a load of rubbish at outragous prices), then at the bar and then chez nous. Their (adult) kids even phoned to find out where they were they'd been away so long!
As if she hadn't had enough last weekend, Joséphine lent out her garden and barbeque to Linde and her invited guests. By the end of the evening there was a slight chill in the air, a sure sign that indeed we're moving towards autumn.

Belated Birthday

Finally managed to get our hands on the posters for Margaret's exhibition, only 5 days late. The printer is the nicest guy but a bit shambolic. Can you believe he asked me what price we'd agreed and when I said we hadn't he asked me what I thought and then said "oh nothing!" Of course we can't leave it at that but he so is difficult to business with.
In the evening we went to dinner in rather quirky sort of place. The meal was a birthday present from Christophe and Valérie. The restaurant was in a lovely old stone farmhouse which doubled as a bric-a-brac shop. Despite the wind, we ate in the garden and enjoyed a meal of fish (there was no other choice and there was not a lot of it)and fresh veg. Quite an experience!

Hot on the Trail

A day doing things for other people. Custodian of an exhibition in the morning, private investigator hunting down information for someone who contacted the Association in the hope we might be able to give him some info on a long dead local painter in the afternoon and co-organiser of the English conversation workshop helpers' meeting in the evening. I managed to find an elderly woman who knew him and she was kind enough to lend me a book but it did take me a goodly amount of time to listen to her life story (again) before I could leave. Oops I started off with a lie ... we had our walk this morning and this scene was for us; you can even see a faint reflection of the moon in the water. Just magic!

Full Monty

Spent yesterday recovering and didn't do much apart from having a coffee and an apéro at the bar in the morning.
Had to give our morning walk a miss today as Christian had a meeting in another village at 8.30am. I just spent the hour I had to wait for him on a bench, reading a book in the early morning sunshine. From here we went in search of bacon as we had French guests coming at lunch time for an all day breakfast. The English shop in Argelès was sold out so we had to make do with some waver thin slices of streaky. Anyway, Corinne Phil and Michel didn't really know any better. In the late afternoon there was a meeting chez Maggie to try and get the English conversation workshop in place but all that seemed to come out of it was headaches all around.

Wedded Bliss!

It was time to get the glad rags out once again but while Christian could wear the same as last time, my touser suit was far too hot for 38°. So what a good job that I'd found this dress at the end of my stay in UK. As last week, the bride was lovely, the food was great and the wine flowed freely. French weddings are however, a little differnt.First there were the legalities at the Mairie, then the religious service at the church in Argelès. To everyone's surprise, there was a band waiting on the church steps as the happy couple came out. Even more surprising was the President of the Conseil Général (which is responsible for the Départment of the Pyrénées Orientales) playing the euphonium which he borrowed off its rightful owner. The band then played us back to our cars. Next came the "vin d'honneur" which was in the grounds of a local chateau where we (all and sundry) sipped champagne pepped up with lemon zest and nibbled on really scrummy canapés. From here about 70 of us (family and close friends) went back to Juste and Josephine's for a meal in the garden. No need for a marquee here. Three sheep were in the process of being spit roasted, the trees were decorated with coloured lights and the tables in a chocolate and pistachio theme. All ver pretty.
We managed to keep going until 1.40am but gave up at this point while people were still at the cheese; so it was no cake for us.

All's Quiet...

The house is well and truly quiet. Didn't do much apart from spend about half an hour at the Sardane evening down at the recreation ground, finishing off with a coffee at the bar.

A Pride of Lions

Well, what else should we Leos eat in celebration of our birthdays but chocolate cake.Baked by yours truly, decorated by Elsa and eaten with much pleasure. There was even some left over which it fell to Christian and I to polish off as the others were leaving the next day to head north.

Canigou

Just look at the view of Canigou in the early morning sunshine.

Squatters?

Monday and another "on time",trouble free flight back home where we found the sun shining and a family of six installed in the house. It was the Pantin side of the family and to our great joy, they were in the process of preparing dinner. Now that's what I call service.
Today, it was our turn to provide dinner which we did at the lake; so we were there at both ends of the day. This photo is for Maureen as she told me when we spoke on the phone that she liked to imagine us going about our daily business. As you can see, Christian is engrossed in his ipod, his tongue peeping out from beneath his teeth as always when he's concentrating .... and please, no comments about the socks!

The Morning After

Took our time to get going this morning but we still fitted in a wee walk. Poor old Ollie though, he'd been up at six am to help take down the marquee and clear up but when he arrived back at the hotel he found that it was after midday and his bride had already checked out! So, it was back home to Mum and Dad's for a shower. At lunch time several of us met up at the hotel by the river where the happy couple and several of the guests had been staying for lunch in the garden. Yes, yes, yes. The sun finally came out, Ollie and Tash were reunited and it was a nice way to round of the festivities.
From here we went over to Mum's where we were able to catch up with Mary who'd come down specially from Birmingham.

The Bells are Riging ....

The day of Ollie and Tash's wedding dawned .... yes, you've got it in one .... grey and wet but it did let up when she came out of the church and it was possible to take a few photos. They were so lucky to have been lent the grounds of a lovely
manor house next to the church both of which originated in the 13th century and to have an uncle who has a big marquee. The food was well prepared and presented, of the nouvelle cuisine variety and the wine was excellent. The white was a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc which took me back to our visit there when I first discovered it at a wine and music festival on an island off Auckland.
The wedding went well apart from Dad's two wives being in the same place at the same time. They were seated in the same pew, seperated by Christian and I,though thankfully not at the same table!
Here is Mum looking like the Queen Mother and Christian looking pretty debonair. The little skinny one is my lovely, very young looking sister and the not so skinny one is our brother-in-law John. They can be rightly proud of Ollie and indeed of their other three. After a career in social work, it's just great to see a family who actually like each other and are happy in each other's company.There's only one left who's not married but Simon is a lad after my own heart. He and his partner Kim have decided to forget the stress of a big do and opt for a wedding whilst on holiday in a romantic location. Christian and I certainly had a no-stress affair but I don't suppose anyone would call Prestick "romantic"!
I know you're all dying to know what I wore .... it was so cold that in the end I went for the cream trouser suit that I'd taken with me just in case.

Merrie England

11th -13th
Wednesday we flew from Girona to Birmingham without any problems and picked up our rather tinny hire car which had a large burn in the carpet on the driver's side. Went straight to Mum's from where we went down to the local pub for something to eat. Sadly, the meals haven't become anymore interesting since the last time we were there.
Thursday, it was off for a dress hunt to the country park in Evesham where I'd been sure that I would find something. Before you start thinking green wellies and tweeds,there are a number of shops, one of which sells end-of -line fancy clothes. Every other time we've been,I've seen things and thought "that would be just right for a special do" but Sod's Law, this time there was nothing. The coffee shop and restaurant was jam packed so we fled with empty hands to find something to eat in a little Cotswold village pub. There was a pretty garden but Sod's Law agin, it was too wet and cold to take advantage of. However, there were no complaints this time about the creativity; price and quantity perhaps .... am I difficult to please or what ... well, you all know the answer to that! In the evening we had a meal at Chris and Rosemary's along with John, Jill and Mum and there was no way that we could fault the portions or the taste. Sheperd's Pie with lots of veg followed by rice pud. Can't remember when I last had either.
Friday we set off to Stratford again in the rain, again in search of a dress but once again I didn't find one. All the shops were at the tail end of the sales so it was all a bit of a waste of time. Had lunch in Morrissons and Mum did her weekly shop so at least someone was happy and on the way back to the car I snapped this photo complete with a couple of swans. What would Stratford be without its swans, oh yes, there is that man Shakespeare and an eyesore of a new theatre that's being built.

Al Fresco

Dinner this evening chez Danielle along with Yaneth, Jacques and Lisa. Great timing as we're off tomorrow to the UK, so yippee, no need to cook. Of course it was great to catch up with everyone over what is always a good meal.

All that Jazz

This afternoon the rain did come on and off but it was enough to put pay to any idea of our tapas evening taking place on the terrace. Christian once again breathed a sigh of relief to avoid carry all the stuff upstairs! It never ceases to amaze me how long tapas take to prepare. The evening went well and Di's new friend, a jazz saxophonist, got the thumbs up.

Distant Cousins

Rob's grandmother and my grandmother were 1st cousins; not sure what that makes us but after about five years we managed to catch up for lunch in a great wee restaurant the other side of Narbonne. Rob,his wife Jean and two friends had just finished a week on the Canal du Midi so it provided an ideal opportunity to meet up. We never seem to have time when we're in Scotland. The restaurant served good food creatively prepared and served and was full of character. Such a relief as when we booked it we only had internet photos to go on. As Rhona wasn't feeling too well and wanted to get back to the hotel, we didn't linger once the bill was paid. In any case we had to get back for an open air Gospel concert in the village. You'll know that we're not into "Praising the Lord" but the singers were great and full of enthusiasm and although the sky was heavy, the rain didn't come. After the concert, this time we did linger as we stayed to eat some supper with them before they went off for a night in a hotel and their next date on the tour.

Over the Border

In support of our other "twin" we headed off to the wee village just over the border for their annual fête and here's Christian taking time to do the tourist bit. It was much the same as last year but with less people. The Maurice Sisters sang again, the drumming group played again and we ate copious tapas again. The only thing different was that we decided not to eat there with the others from the village prefering instaed to head for the Hostal and something less substantial. We also gave the sheep roast in the village this evening a miss but did go down later for a short time to catch up with people and even had a wee bop!

Starting to Flag

Still managing to get an early start to our walk and with all the things that are going on it's great to get those 10 minutes at the end gazing at the lake over a coffee. An Association meeting this afternoon to continue our deliberations about the English Workshop resulted, of course, with some follow work for me to do. This evening's vernissage was very well attended which isn't really surprising as the artist is very well quoted. A real coup to have his exhibition in the village. Ended the evening entertaining our Norman "twins" down in our "pub" and pleased with the thought of not having to get up so early in the morning.

Out Again

No committee meeting but there was the language exchange as usual. For the very first time in nearly two years, we only had one French person among us and she was new. Still, we muddled along between us, had a laugh and even managed to learn something. As we were few in number we didn't bother with tapas and just had a glass of wine. This evening we had something to eat chez Jacques and Yaneth. I had to laugh - We had bought Lisa some stickers and she spent the whole evening taking them off their sheet and sticking them onto another. I suppose they were arranged differently and she seemed more than happy so why not?

Empty Hands and Tired Feet!

As we walked this morning the mist was coming off the lake. Is this a sign that the weather is starting to change? Still we couldn't linger too long over our coffee as I was due to go to Perpignan with Joséphine; she wanted to look at things for her daughter's forthcoming wedding and i wanted to find a dress for the one (and with any luch the other two)we're going to soon. What with the tail end of the sales and autumn stock coming in, I didn't find anything I liked. We had a lunch of quiche and salad in a bric-à-brac shop and then later on tea and a pastry on one of the squares. I arrived home empty - handed just as Christian was getting ready to go to his council meeting. I just kick off my shoes and gave my poor feet a well earned rest.

Cheshire Cat!

Cards, flowers and phone calls made up the morning of my birthday before going off to a local restaurant for lunch. It has fairly recently changed hands and was recommended by friends. The choice wasn't large but the ingredients were fresh and well cooked. The chef obviously enjoyed working with sugar as one of the "amuse gueule" was a yellow tear drop tomato coated like a toffee apple. Although we'd been invited to Joséhine's this evening we gave it a miss and just stayed home to drink a champagne when Christian arrived home from his weekly meeting at the Mairie. Duty before pleasure!

Local Wildlife

By the time we arrived back from our walk where I met this little fella, the family were more or less ready to head off to Limoux. We spent the afternoon quietly enough before going to Michel's for dinner with Christine and Joséphine. Another hot day but this time it ended in thunderstorms bring a bit off relief.

Flying High

A warm and sunny day punctuated by the drone of a helicopter which went back and forth all day taking people up at 35€ a go. At the same time there was a display and demonstration of model planes and helicopters but apart from that the only thing of note was that we had an early celebration of my birthday as the family are leaving tomorrow. They came up with a great present - a trip to the restaurant that I recommended to them but had never visited. Something to look forward to when we get back from the wedding.