Willing (?) Recruits

30.10.10 Started off looking forward to a quiet weekend with just the weekly trip to the market programmed. Of course we ended up having a glass of wine with a whole pile of people but what could be more pleasant?
31.10.10
After an extra hour in bed while having our usual Sunday morning coffee in the bar, the Mayor asked if we could represent him at a lunch organised by one of the Old Soldiers' Associations. It meant abandoning the roast that I'd left cooking on a timer in the oven and any idea of a catch-up-with-the-blog day. Anyway it was a very genial affair which started with apéritifs, had paella as the main course (and very good it was too) and continued right through to digestifs so can't complain. As if we would but I really must find time to let you all know what we've been up to as I know you're just dying to find out. Well, you are, aren't you?.

Stroll Along the Prom

No time to walk this morning as Christian had a meeting of the SCOT (I won't bore you with the details)in St André. While he was being important, I sat in the car and listened to my Spanish podcasts. We didn't renage on the excercise as we went onto Argèles and had a walk along the front, finishing with a coffee in our usual haunt overlooking the marina. From there we took a trip around the supermarket which seemed to be noticably more expensive than where we usually go. I'm sure you're just fascinated to know about Carrefour v Intermarché but people often ask what life is like here .... it's not all sunshine and glasses of rosé, you know, there are the boring bits as well.

Well Worn Trail

My goodness, it was cold this morning at the lake - 0°! Went on our St Llorenç circuit with Jean and Françoise later on when thankfully it had warmed up.

A Later Start

Just too tired to go for a walk this morning so stayed home and did the necessary to the duck. Did however go for a walk with Jany in the afternoon, who's feeling depressed. Still the weather was fine and I was able to deliver the Association's latest messages at the same time.

2nd Time Round

24.10.10
24 of us made an early start for the Association's visit to Samatan in the Gers. If you remember we did the same trip last year to buy foie gras. We'd left sunshine only to find very wet and cold weather when we arrived for lunch at a gîte in the countryside. When we saw only 4 half litre carafes of wine on the table things didn't look too promising but they ended up ok. In the afternoon we occupied ourselves with a visit to a nearby chateau where we shown around by the owner. A lovely place in need of repair set in lovely grounds carpeted with wild cyclamen. There were photos of the chatelaine with the Queen Mum who had come to tea at some point. The place was obviously too draughty for an overnight stay. Our gite, in contrast was simple but fine and we were able to enjoy a couple of bottles of cava before dinner.
25.10.10

The weather was still cold this morning but we set to with gusto to seek out the best livers and birds. This year I was encouraged to buy a duck but as it had taken the whole of the morning for me to come around to the idea, I ended up with the last duck in the place at 2€ more than the rest had paid! I'm just sorry that I didn't take a photo as it looked so forlorn on its own in the huge hangar.
Once back in the village, we came back to our place where Gilles set about giving us all a master calss in cutting up a duck and doing a confit of duck legs. Christian dealt with our carcass receiving lots of praise for his knife work. Once the five birds had been done, the six of us settled down to mael of duck mousse, pâté, terrine and sausage with a some green salad to balance things up a bit.
All in all a great trip and at 14€ for two confited duck legs, two fine duck breasts, three lots of stock and a jar of pure duck fat (can't you just see Delia nodding in approval, I don't think 14€ was a bad deal and it did mean that the producer could finally go home to the warm.

Belated Happy Birthday

Met with Maggie this afternoon to help her with her article, (well to write it really)for the next municipal newsletter and then prepared for an evening with Danielle to celebrate her birthday which was earlier this month. I did the tapas, she brought the cake and we all drank the champagne. Cheers!.

Bad Head Day

Came out of the committee meeting fizzing and with a headache. The President came over all autocratic instead of just bossy, not listening to people and 'delegating' right left and centre. Consequently didn't hang around for the language exchange. By the time that evening came I was back on form and enjoyed our supper with David and Laura and life is back in perspective.

Pay Attention!

My turn finally arrived to take a session at the English workshop so with my Blue Peter hat on I made some flash cards and prepared some vocabulary about the garden. It seemed to go well but as the school report always says 'could do better!'They are a happy looking lot, aren't they but there again, this photo was taken before we started!

Goodbye and All That!

The final airport run of the season and all went without a hitch. Explored a bit more of St Felieu and found a quiet beach which will be great to visit at another time. It was still windy but the skies were clear and blue.
Finally made it to the restaurant El Far which Michel had told us about ages ago. The food was well presented and creative. El Far,by the way, means 'lighthouse'. Just look at the view (shame about the wc sign)of the sea far below. There are the remains of an Iberic village just by the side so you can have a dose of culture with your meal. Came home to reality after getting away from it all with a bit of upmarket eating as Christian had a meeting at the Mairie. That's life, as they say.

With Banners Flying

Today we more than made up for yesterday's inactivity; Coffee in the bar for starters and then up to the Coll de Manrella for the annual commemoration of Lluis Company's excecution. (See previous posts about this time)The weather was sunny but very windy and bitterly cold. It's funny to think of Mum and Maureen attending their first political demonstration at 81 and 86 respectively but even if they hadn't a clue what was being said in Catalan (neither did we, if it comes to that) they understood enough of the history to find it all very interesting and moving. We had lunch afterwards with the Mayor, his wife, Robert and Francine at the local auberge so all in all it was a morning for the two of them to be able to talk about back home and that wasn't all .... Françoise had managed to obtain some free tickets to a concert in Arles given by the Montpellier Symphony Orchestra which included among other things, "The New World". As there weren't enough tickets for Christian and me, we went and had tea with Josette. Françoise kindly delivered her charges back to us and was rewarded with a G&T. The least we could do, I say.

Saturday Saunter

Old habits die hard so it was off to the market followed by the usual apéritif at midday when we were joined by Joséphine. In the afternoon we had a saunter around the lake in the sunshine and not much else.

Tourist Circuit

Loaded our precious cargo (as our friend, Ann would say) into the car and set off over the border. Had coffee by the waterfall which was in full flood, watched the ducks and geese in Boadella, admired the view from the sanctuary and had lunch in St Llorenç. I wish I had a pound for every time we've done this circuit but funnily enough, we never tire of it. The scenery is just splendid and I'm not exagerating.Had an after dinner walk around the village and returned home via La Vajol where we looked at the monument and had hot chocolate and donuts in the café.After all that there was no need to think about anything much to eat and it was an early night all round.

First Snow

It was misty at the lake this morning and the first snow on the Canigou was clear to see now that the clouds have lifted. Went to my committee meeting but came home straight afterwards to go for a walk with Mum and Maureen after which we ended up at the bar for the usual Thursday apéritif. Had another walk in the afternoon taking them to see Margaret's exhibition but apart from that we didn't do anything exciting while Christian was at the Mairie.

In Search of the Lost Ark

Couldn't bear the thought of staying in for another day even though Mum seemed happy enough with her crossword and the soaps (ie, much the same as she does at home!)so we ventured out to Auchan where at least we could look at the shops undercover. Ah yes, the rain is still pelting down. That occupied us until lunch so we set the gps to take us cross country to the 'Old School Restaurant' in Palau del Vidre; encountered two problems :- a lot of the roads were impassable and when we finally arrived the restaurant was closed. Went onto Argelès village where we ate pizza. Won't say anymore about that but at least Mum was happy enough with what she got.
By now the weather had cleared up so we strolled along the prom and admired the photos of the earth as seen from above taken by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. Truly magnificent! Tea overlooking the marina and then home to get ready to go for dinner at Jean and Françoise's ... and what a palaver that was! Those of you who know us will have heard my moans about how difficult my Mum is to feed; well, Françoise checked with me first and I said that she couldn't fail with grilled sausage and that Maureen was no problem as she would eat anything. It turned out that the only thing that Maureen doesn't eat are sausages and Françoise cooked tham with lentils meaning that they were soft so Mum only took the tiniest bit to be polite. Christian and I felt duty bound to eat twice as much! Best laid plans and all that ...

Heart Beat

Back to the cardiologist this morning and Christian's heart rate continues to be too low and irregular; he wants him to wear a monitor for 24 hours before deciding what to do next.
Other than that we were confined to barracks for the rest of the day due to the rain.

Double Trouble

Thérèse to the rescue once again as we wave goodbye to Mary and say "benvinguts" to Mum and Maureen. This time we had a day out before hand looking around St Felieu where we fortified ourselves with a hot chocolate even though we felt overdressed in our wet weather gear. Well, it had been raining when we left home. The waves were crashing over the rocks in a spectacular manner which gave great photo opportunities if you were quick enough off the mark. We weren't inspired by any of the restaurants that we saw around the town so went to the spa town of Malevella which seemed deadly dull and opted instead for Sta Coloma where we found a really nice restaurant where the decor was traditional and the food good. Arrived at the airport at just the right time to collect Mum and Maureen and then the rain started to hammer down. What a welcome; Hope it doesn't confine us to barracks for too long.

The Long Awaited Rain

Finally, the threatened rain reached our part of France and it just threw it down. As a result, the village car boot sale had to be cancelled. The meal that had been organised was transfered to the village hall so Mary had another glimpse of life in our neck of the woods. The Mayor did a turn during coffe by singing in French, Catalan, Spanish, German, English and Russian which of course was received by rapturouse applause. Then it was on to the dance floor for some rock 'n' roll which Mary gallantly had a go at with Armand. I think the wine helped!
I've just realised that today is one of those days 10.10.10 Not sure if it has any significance but it's kind of pleasing.

Super Soirée!

Took a trip to the market this morning and had our usual apéritif before returning home to prepare for this evening's soirée which was by way of a thank you to some of those who were so supportive when Christian was ill.About 20 people came and Michel and Jacques provided the live music; I can honestly that a good time was had by all.

A View of the East

Today's forecast was for unsettled weather but we still took the risk to eat out on the terrace of the restaurant at lunch time. Not sure what the excuse was for not eating at home .... probably to give Mary a change of scene. In the evening there was Geneviève's vernissage enlivened by a storyteller of asiatic tales.As the night was still young, Kathy, Juste and Joséphine came back to ours for drinks, tapas and chat.

Opted Out

There was a definite lack of wild life to be seen on the walk this morning but what there was could be classified as an endangered species! Of course, I didn't duck out of the committee meeting this morning but yet again I didn't stay for the language exchange. That would be too mean when there is a visitor in the house. We had planned to go into Perpignan to do the shops but abandoned the idea in favour of enjoying an apéritif in the sun at the bar with the die hards of the exchange. As it happened Michel came by and invited us to take tea at his place which came accompanied with & couple of songs on his guitar.

Tourist Trail

Mary was up and out with us this morning for a walk before we set off for a day out. Decided to try the "Jou Vell" which we'd been told was quite good and very popular The setting was very pretty and we all appreciated sitting out on the terrace. The meal was buffet style and good value for money but pretty ordinary. on the way home, we called in to see Joséphine .... the idea of a cuppa was rejected in favour of an apéritif which became a pot luck supper. Mary was well appreciative of the spontaneity and great hospitality that came our way.

In the thick of it

Not much chance for Mary to rest up as Jean-Jacques who's on his own at the moment came for lunch and in the evening we were invited to Martine's 64th birthady soirée. A good mix of French, Catalan and Brits mingled on the terrace, ate tapas, sipped wine and then champagne with the cake. Needless to say, we all slept well.

Quick Turn Around

Well, the bed didn't have time to get cold before the next occupant arrived. Luckily Thérèse was here to help get the room ready while we nipped off to Girona to collect Mary.

2nd Time Lucky

Jen managed to finally get away from Girona and fortunately without a hitch; We lazed around and I didn't take the sheets off (as I did last time) just in case.. in the evening wewent to an excellent choral concert in the church, pity that Jen had gone as she would have loved it, 'her being a singer and all that'. There was of course an apéritif afterwards; I seem to write that quite ofter, don't I?

Pasta Pronto!

Market again this morning and as she wasn't feeling too good, Jen took it easy this afternoon. Luckily she felt up to going around to eat with Jean, David, Judith and Trevor but didn't overdo it. A very tasty lasagne was on the menu and it was warm enough to sit outside.

AGM

Imagine arriving in the village hall to set up for the Association's Agm only to find that the room had been already set up for a baptism on the Sunday. we weren't best pleased but after a lot of huffing and puffing we got ourselves sorted out. Jen had a quiet night in while 64 of us went to the local auberge but the verdict was not favourable. Too much salad on the plate etc, etc. We'll need to think again for next year.