Snoozing and Socialising

31.8.15:

I'm actually writing this on 10th October and can't believe that it's been so long that I've let things slip. Been busy.
Went in to see the lawyer to sign some papers and then had a coffee before going for the bus. Chatted to a couple of Australian tourists while waiting andended up getting a lift back with Roger and Angela.
Spent the afternoon doing stuff on the computer for the association to fill the time before going to a party at this morning's chauffeurs' house. We were primarily Brits in attendance but there were 9 French, a South African, a Bolivian, an American, a German and a Laotian. Music from our era was provided by Kevin on the guitar. Food was good and there was plenty of it.
Weather:
30°, rain overnight which woke me up at 3am

30.8.15:

Met up with Nicole, Martine, Nancy and Annie at the bar for a coffee and chat. Already the nucleus of a women's group (?) but that's for October. Luckily, the wind didn' arrive until later so we had the benefit of the soothing sound of the fountain.
Turning down two invitations to go out this afternoon, I've just spent the rest of the day before screens of different sizes and finally the eye wash seems to be having an effect. Eyes are less red and not runing so much.
Weather:
29°,  Sun and windy

29.8.15:

Went off to the market  courtesy of Michel this morning which meant I could have a later start than getting the bus. Came back with him too. There were noticeably less people pushing their way around and I bumped into less folk that I knew too. That is with the exception of Anne, who I hadn't seen for, I don't know, maybe 3 years or so. Not sure why we lost contact. Of course, the news of Christian's death came as a huge shock to her. Anyway, she was keen to renew contact so we'll see how that goes.
A longer snooze than usual after lunch was a wise move as there was an invite to Jean-Jacques to help him deal with a jeraboam of red wine from his sister's vineyard that has now more or less been sold. Chantal, Jean-Marie, Nancy, Nany and André were also there but sad to say, we didn't make much of a dent into it. But, before that he opened a bottle of  "Yquem" Sauternes from his sister's wine stock, known to everyone but Nancy and myself as being top notch. Of course, it was accompanied by some foie gras. http://www.vinsetmillesimes.com/fr/4307-chateau-d-yquem
Die-hards that we are, Nancy and I carried on down to the bar afterwards to listen to a group playing Dixie music. Lots of people there having a good time. Feeling tired and still with sore eyes, for the second time I drank hot milk. The temporay waitress was a little thrown by this unusual night time order but as we know, the customer is always right.
Weather:
29°, Sun

28.8.15:

In need of a boost, I took myself over to the "beautician's" Des anyone know a better term? It just doesn't sit right. Anyway, had my nails painted bright red and a bit of chat. From there it was over to the bar to meet Françoise to discuss organising a couple of days away in Provence. As Françoise left, Nancy arrived and we had a glass of rosé together. She then treaed me to lunch. Sensible soul that I am, I had just a main course of calf's liver garnished with figs which was absolutely delicious. Red blood cells were happy.
While there, I came to the aid of one of the workers who will be staffing reception in the new "Maison pour Tous", by doing some interpreting and found myself offering to do some English with him and his colleague.
A snooze followed, then a quick rummage in the wardrobe to find a dress that would fit my new slim shape to look the part at the opening of an exhibition in the village.
After the apéro, some of us wandered down to the bar to continue the evening until about 10.30pm when there was only Jean-Jacques and myself left. We decided to have just a starter of goat's cheese salad washed down with water, which turned out to be my second free meal of the day!
Weather:
27°, Sun and cloud

Off to a Good Start

27.8.15

No Thérèse this morning as she's  on holiday but I can't say that I've been making much mess, so I didn't feel the need to replace her.
Went to the language exchange but left a little early to go to Monique's for lunch. She and her husband Roland live in a stand alone mas in the mountains. Beautiful spot but where does one go for coffee? I'd never met Roland, who's a pretty serious kind of bloke before. Chicken cooked in a solar oven was on the menu and I have to say I had a few uneasy moments when Monique said it had been sitting in the sun for over 24 hours. Glad to say, there were no undesirable effects!
In the evening there was an apéritif dinatoire at Michel's along with the neighbours from his street. It was a late evening; too late for me really as I as suffering with sore eyes pretty much like conjunctivitis. so, it was a good start activitywise that continued but wellbeingwise, it can only get better.
Weather:
29°, Sun

26.8.15:
 Slept through until 8am which is unusual and as there was nothing special planned, I lindered on until 10am. The bar being closed, I went to the restaurant for a coffee (offered by the patronne). People tend not to use it as a café so I sat in splendid isolation on the terrace reading on the ipod until it was time to go home and sort out some lunch.
In the afternoon; I went over to he Mairie to talk to Carmen about the women's group and she thought it was a good idea. on the domestic front I defrosted the fridge and worked my way through the laundry. Well, someone's got to do it.
Weather:
28° Sun

25.8.15:
Made a special effort and went to an association committe meeting to help plan the forthcoming AGM. Just as boring as ever so no regrets about  only being an occasional  attender.
Had lunch at André and Nany's. My goodness can she cook; as usual it was a Catalan culinary delight.

The apéritif came with little dishes of escalivade http://www.spain-recipes.com/escalivada.html and esqueixada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esqueixada
Then there was a starter of baby roast peppers stuffed with "brandade", a cod and olive oil purée with a light red pepper sauce. The main course was a Catalan version of "bouillabaise". Cheese, of course, came next with home made fig jam for the hard cheeses and cumin seeds for the soft ones.
You might not believe it but we then found room for a dessert or should I say desserts. Caramel egg custard, baby meringues, poached white peaches and chantilly. Rounded the whole meal off with a bottle of champagne, arriving home for a wee snooze at 4.15pm to be ready to go out later on.
Just about summoned up enough energy to go to the last local nocturnal market with Nicole. Finished the evening off taking tea for Nicole and a beer for me which we made last a good length of time while listening to music. We're joined at the end of our stay by Hortense and her friend Hella and had some chat with the British choir who were staying in the hotel above the terrace. I was quite glad when Nicole said she had to get back for her B and B guests but even so it was midnight when I fell into bed.
Weather:
30° Sunny and very warm

24.8.15:

The car went off this morning to have the window repaired and MOT done in order to sell as well as possible.
On a personal level, I telephoned to get my UK pensions transferred to France and what an easy affair that was. Two charming young women dealt with my request in a straight forward manner. France could really learn a thing or two about decluttering bureaucracy. Still, it keeps people in jobs, I suppose.
Michel came around to do a bit more on the computer for me so now the printer is functioning even though copies come out skew-wiffed! Arrived a little late, as a consequence at the bar for our regular apérobio. The chef remarked when I was booking that these evenings are getting closer together and that our numbers are growing! This time we were joined by Ann's friend Carol. A real good spread was set before us and of course, we made a sterling effort to do it justice.
By the way, I haven't shrunk just squatting down.
Weather:
24°

Music all the Way

23.8.15

Of course, there was coffee in the morning. Spent a pleasant couple of hours with Nicole, Martine and others. Then at 5pm came an absolutely superb concert given by Sine Nomine in the church; the power and quality of the voices, the breath control, the enthusiasm was just magic and so uplifting. http://www.sinenom.com/bio.php
On leaving the church, they then set up in the square, changed genre and sang some Cole Porter. A sheer delight and we didn't even have to leave the village to find such quality. You'll know that I usually avoid church music but this has made me think that I need to separate the music from the establishment and find out what I've been missing.
Saying "no" twice to invitations to join people at the bar to eat, I made my way over to Nancy's to meet up with Jean-Jacques, Yaneth, Lisa, Jacques and Florence for dinner. Florence, whose family is originally from the village lives in Florida and comes ever year for about a month so it was an international table with the States, Catalunya, France, Columbia and UK being represented.
We all drifted down to the bar afterwards to catch the last hour of 60's and 70's live music at the bar and have a nightcap. Hot chocolate for me. yes, you can believe your eyes.
Weather:
The rain forecast didn't arrive. Had sun and cloud instead

22.8.15:

This is more like it; more of interest going on around and about. Started today with a trip to the market where I lingered in front of the museum to listen to a choir of real quality. As it happens it was a British choir that comes together 3/4 times a year and does an overseas tour every other year. Tomorrow night they're due to sing in the village church. At the same time I joined Deanne, Marylyn and Neville for a coffee before heading off to the library for a change of musical gear.
Michel's rock group was performing, so obviously, it was important to go along and support them. Not that it was any hardship. A quick trip to the supermarket (well, a body has to eat at home from time to time) with Annette and Nancy.
The afternoon was spent quietly enough before more music at the recreation ground. The Pyrenean polyphonia who were in the village a couple of years ago were back but sadly they didn't live up to expectations. The leader gave a blow by blow account of their history and 16 year tour of Europe. He was worse than I can be! The quality of the singing wasn't as good as I'd remembered either which was explained by one of the singers saying that the best of the choir had stayed home and they were the "second eleven".
Françoise, Jeanaeu and Kathy spent the evening with me so I was disppointed for them too. The meal at 20€ without wine wasn't good value either but you win some, you lose some.
Weather:
Sunny, some rain in the afternoon with an enormous clap of thunder, windy in the evening.

Not Worth the Wait!

21.8.15:
Couldn't put it off any longer; so even though I wasn't back to 100%, I walked down to the local garage over a mile away to talk about an MOT and repairing the window on the car so that we can sell it. All seems complicated so I'm not really looking forward to negotiating my way through. The walk was no pleaure as it's a busy road but I did get a lift back to the village with a gut who'd just delivered some spare parts. Stopped off for a coffee at the bar and was soon joined by Nancy, Colin and Lynn.
After watching some tv, I talked Rowena through setting up the ipod that I'd given her and much to both of our surprises, we've done it. Just leaves the ibooks to sort.

This evening the sardane association organised an event at the recreation ground with a good "cobla" (group of sardane musicians) but sadly it wasn't that well attended. I think people are running out of steam or money, probably both. Left after the raffle was drawn. Of course, I didn't win anything but funnily enough the local butcher won the painting that his wife had donated! Came back up to the bar with Terry and Ann and believe it or believe it or not, my tipple of choice was hot milk! Desperate days, eh?
Here's where I have to say "sorry for this uninteresting post" to Liz who emailed me when she saw the blog was 10 days behind, asking if all was alright . Sadly it's not been because I've been too busy having a whale of a time. It's been such a non week that I couldn't rouse myself into action. To make matters worse, there are next to no photos to liven it up! Sorry folks.
Weather:
29° Sunshine and cloud

20.8.15:
Gave the language exchange a miss, feeling weary but did manage to get myself to the bar. Only drank a bitter lemon so you can imagine I wasn't on top form. I met up Jean-Jacques as well as Jacques, Yaneth and Lisa who are back in France after living in Colombia I even said "no" to joining them for lunch at the bar. Siesta'd a bit then defrosted the fridge so I had something to show for the day. Passed on a trip into town to listen to jazz with Colin and Lynn this evening settling instead for an early night. Everything catches up eventually, as people have long been telling me.
Weather:
31° Sunny

19.8.15:
Hastily made a dessert to take to Jean and Françoise's for lunch where were joined by Mairie-Andrée who has an exhibition on in the town. as you all know there's no such thing as a free lunch as we're being roped in to provide some entertainment at Thérèse's forthcoming wedding in Septemer. We have to dress (more or less) like Becassine, a Breton cartoon character from ways back who you're unlikely to have heard of. Click on the link if you're interested to know what's being asked of us  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9cassine
Went in on the bus and camr back with Maggie who had an appt in the town. Stpeed off at hers to see if I could help sort her new tv installation. False hope but we did get time for a chat, a cuppa and to discuss the forthcoming MacMillan ( + French cancer charity) fundraiser in September.
Weather:
26° Sun and cloud

18.8.15:
Coffee with Ann and Lynn at the bar.
Weather:
24°, feeling cooler with rain on and off

17.8.15:
Apart from Michel coming to continue with the computer, nothing to report her.
Weather:
28° Sun,  clouding over with a short rain shower

16.8.15:
What a creature of habit am I. Sunday morning and as usual I toddled over to the bar for coffee and met up with Nancy. we inger long, chatted to all and sundry then moved on to the rosé. how could I resist when Nancy suggested that we stay for lunch at the bar We started off reasonably with salads bur at the last hurdle succumbed to chocolate mousse.
The eating wasn't over however as in the evening I was invited along with Kathy to Linde's for a bbq. Magret canard, a whole one at that for each of us, was on the menu and didn;t it go down well with the grilled aubrgines and courgettes. There was a moment of panic for Linde when Katthy stoked up the flames but there was no need to worry as all was under control.
Funnily enough, Kathy said she'd dreamt the night before that I'd become mayor of Maureillas! I'm sure if I get the women's group that I'm thinking of up and running, as the 2018 elections approach, something more will be read into it but that's a long way off.
Weather:
Cooler, Sun and Cloud

Father afield but not much!

15.8.15:

Today's a public holiday and the village up in the mountains fiesta. I went up with Maggie for the inauguration of a refurbished square which was part of the celebrations. The new mayor from our twinned village from across the border was there as was Lluis, the President of the Lluis Campays association who gave a speech in Catalan. I won't bore you with going into the history for the umpteenth time you can just follow the link if you're interested  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llu%C3%ADs_Companys Just know that the square was named in his honour as an anti-francist. A sardane  and an apéritif followed. Good old Nancy had a go at dancing but found it more complicated than she'd anticipated. Is there nothing that this woman won't try? Maggie and I didn't dance the sardane neither did we stay for the annual giant paella, settling for the apéritif and prefering to come home and have a siesta.
Weather:
24° Cool in the morning but warmer laer with the sun. Nothing like previous years when there's either been a thunderstorm or baking heat

14.8.15:

Pension paperwork; yes, it is an never ending saga. Afterwards went into town with Michel who had a meeting at the Mairie and bumped into Hortense so we did our second lengthy chat in less than a week. Had my nails done in the afternoon which I'm sure many of you will find out of character but there you are. Then, there was music in the bar in the evening. Passed on the meal in favour of a couple of glasses of wine  and table hopping to avoid the showers.
Weather:
23° rain showers
News:
The American Embassy (re) opened in Cuba amid a flurry of concilitary words and a blare of publicity

13.8.15:
Thursday again and did the usual stuff but this time we language exchangers were joined by Nancy and Annie for a glass of wine.
In the evening there was an interesting wine tasting chez Gabriela and I went home the proud owner of six bottles of red kindly carried by Jean-Jacques.  http://www.domaine-des-schistes.com/fr/index.html
Weather:
29°, Cloudy, rain

12.8.15:

Took the early bus into Perpignan. What a disaster the "Centre del Mon" is. Dali named the old railway station the centre of the world decades ago but it's way off the mark for the new TGV station just across the tracks. Almost all the shops have gone in a very short space of time, the offices, carpark and hotels are empty. In fact there are more security guards than shops. With so many train and bus passengers passing through, how has it not worked? Still, there are reports that another group is going to take it over so we'll see if it can be turned around.
Had lunch in "Le Figuier" which I found last year with Elsa and was entertained by a table of six blokes next to me. Came home and snoozed. Big city life is too much for this country bumpkin; though in my defence, I had done a fair bit of walking.
Weather:
31°
News:
Huge explosion in a Chinese chemical plant

11.8.15:
Michel came around to make a start on sorting out computer glitches after which I treated him to lunch at the restaurant. Spent the rest of the afternoon decluttering Christian's usb keys. You and me both; Yawn, yawn !
Weather:
29°, sun

10.8.15:
Took the bus into town to meet Hortense for a coffee. Talked long and hard. Updated the blog this afternoon. Didn't have a lot of energy so gave the open air cinema a miss.
Weather:
30°, Sun after a cool start

Staying Local

9.8.15:
Coffee and chat at the bar before lunch of pheasant casserole. Quiet afternoon until it was time to prepare some tapas for Jean, Françoise, Jacques, Kathy and Jeaneau. At about 9pm we wandered over to the bar where there was some music and met up with Martine. As usual, there were a good number of Brits in the audience and whatever anyone thinks of the expat presence, at least our expats support village events and spend their money!
Weather:
26° sun and cloud

 8.8.15:
Didn't bother doing battle at the market and just contented myself with doing a few domestic chores. As a reward, after taking the rubbish up to the bins (no personal bins here) I stopped off at the bar where I met twins Annie and Violette and joined them for a coffee. Also met Michel on his way back from doing a stint at the village library and said "yes" to his invite to help eat up left overs.
The threatened rain came in this afternoon and gave the ground a well needed soaking. As a consequence, this evening's moules/frites and disco was cancelled. not that I'd intended going anyway.
I finally got the chutney done and had another go at trying to put my ebooks back on the ipod. Failed miserably.
Finally gave up well after midnight and went to bed.
Weather:
26° Rain (yippee!), cool

In Memorium

6.8.15:

Went into town with Michel and my lovely bank manager sorted out some things for me even though I didn't have an appointment and there were others waiting. Had a coffee, did a bit of shopping after which Michel dropped me off at Maggie's for lunch. Of course, he was invited in for an apéro of champagne and of coure, ended up staying for lunch. Lunch was the most delicious fillet of beef and had been arranged as a belated birthday treat so there were candles on the cake, presents and cards. A lovely surprise.
Arrived home for  about 5pm and had just enough time for a wee

rest before going out to the bar to eat again!
To put you in the picture, for the last few years Christian has sponsored a musical evening in the village. This time it was Latino/gypsy music http://www.lospayoss.fr/index.php?page=Accueil and part of the musicians' contract is being fed. Carmen, Martine and I ate with them. Really nice blokes , they wouldn't even let me pay for their cd. There was a mention for Christian from Carmen at the beginning of the concert and he would have been so pleased by the music and the obvious pleasure that it gave to the audience. People are right; he was a generous man.
Ended the evening having a nightcap in the bar with the Normandy "twins" and Agnes's cousin, Philippe.
Weather:
30° Sunny, cloud and a very light breeze later

5.8.15:

The Thursday usual starting with the language exchange where there  were just a handful of us. Jean-Pierre had brought some poetry that he'd translated. One, "Nathalie" that spoke of departed love made me shed a few tears as I changed the name  to Christian. An apéritif at the bar lifted my mood and cooking down some tomatoes to use in chutney this afternoon brought me back to earth.
This evening we had our regular apérobio and once again were well served with all kinds of tapas that brought envious looks from the people at the next table who were told that they were pre-ordered and not therefore available. Pays to be regulars, eh?
Weather:
29° Sunny

4.8.15:

Left on the bus at 9am and was home by 10.20am which was not bad going at all. It was hot walking from the bus stop; a walk that was longer than usual as the normal stop in the centre of the village was not in use due to road works resulting in the road being closed. The village has been chaos and the latest spectator sport for the bar regulars has been to watch tourists and others finding themselves in unknown territory without a clue where to go. There have been loads of signs saying that the main road through the village was closed and that there were diversions in place but the French are an anarchic lot and think that they don't apply to them. Residents complain of the increased traffic that's been roaring down the narrow streets but Jean-Louis from the bar is happy that people who would normally drive through have discovered what the centre has to offer.
I spent the afternoon quietly before going to José and Violette's for dinner with other people from the Mairie. I learned that in fact that it had been organised in Christian's memory. Another tear when he was toasted rolled quietly down my cheek. On the funny side, out of 11 people around the table, there were 3 wigs present. What are the odds for that happening?
Weather:
Hot and Sunny

Mountain Break

4.8.15:

A gentle start with toast and marmalade looking over at the mountains from the terrace. Then followed a long coffee break for me in the village café about 5km away while Rowena did work and council stuff at the Mairie which was connected to the outside world. Luckily my trusty ipod and myself enjoyed the peace and quiet as I galloped towards the bloody end of Philippa Gregory's "The Other Queen" (Mary Queen of Scot's).
Rowena treated me last night so it was my turn to pick up the tab today. I took her to a restaurant overlooking the river; once again in Spain where apparently she'd always wanted to try. Glad to say that she wasn't disappointed. http://www.amielmolins.com/
From here we went into Figueres for a bit of shopping and went in and out of shops until our legs lost the will to go on.
On the way home we stopped off to water plants that Rowena had planted around the church in the little hamlet (there's no budget for anything more grand). Sadly she'd forgotten the wateringcan so we improvised with the cool bag that should have been filled with the frozen food that we didn't have the energy to go and buy. Must have looked a bit odd. It was well into the evening by the time we arrived home so it was as well that we didn't need to eat before we headed for an early bed and for me, Mary, finally lost her head. That's the problem with historical novels .....  you're always waiting for the tragic end right from the very start. It's no wonder that I read crime novels as a counter balance to give me a dose of mystery.
Did I buy anything you'll no doubt be dying to know.  Yes, of course I did. Another pair of baggy lightweight trousers. Since I've lost a few kg, I'm feeling very Lauren Bacallish, if you know who she is. If you don't, no matter. Just think willowy elegance! Well, a girl can dream!
Weather:
35° Hot and Sunny

3.8.15:

Well, it's an ill wind that blows no one any good, as they say. Roger from the village knew that today I was going to Rowena's a way up in the mountains on the border by bus. He insisted on driving me to get my connection thus saving a wait of over an hour between buses. As it happens he looks after holiday homes, one of which is down the rough track where Rowena lives and there was a problem that he needed to go and sort out. So, unexpectedly I had door to door service!
There was a lunch of (gluten free) quiche, salad and champagne sitting under a pergola in the garden with the sound of water running into a little pond and mountain views opposite. Iydllic!
Living as she does in the back of beyond, you can imagine how important it is to have a good internet and telephone connections so with a pole that had come down, Rowena was anxious to know what was happening. We went up the track and down another one to visit the mayor and his Swedish wife, to find out what was what. Apparently, 48 hours was needed to deal with it. Ooooh, scary!
The (new) mayor who seems to have good ideas and open approach was interesting to talk local politics to and we whiled away a couple of hours refreshed by orange juice and another beautiful view.
In the evening we headed over the border for dinner at La Quadra http://www.laquadra.com/en/restaurant.html after an al fresco apéritif in the square. Great for Rowena as Spanish/Catalan restaurants take gluten allergies seriously; they mark their regular menus accordingly and may even have a dedicated one. Certainly not the case in France. Gluten free or not, the meal was excellent.
Weather:
Hot and sunny

Twins and Tourists, Drummers and Dining

2.8.15:

Today, it was the turn of our twin just over the border where about 20 of us from here went to support their village festival. Always a very pleasant day with a small market. Music was provided by a bateria (Brazilian style percussion band) made up of young and not so young drummers. Noisy, infectious and great fun. Unfortunately, lunch was a very long time coming. The restaurant had too many people (we were a table of 24) and not enough staff. Bread was extra and vat not included so working out individual bills became impossible so we just divided it. My meal (minus the add ons) was 13.90€ and I ended up paying 23€ for a very simple meal! They overcharged on the bill which Nany spotted and there were one or two other things that I won't bore you with which I'm sure upped the bill unnecessarily. Don't want to sound mean but it's not the first time  that I've felt ripped off there. Anyway, let's not get bogged down in my penny pinching.
When we finally managed to get away from the table, we headed for a mint tea served in a little, typical Morrocan "encampment on the square outside the church. Once refreshed, we made a beeline for home and I can tell you I was pleased to rest for it had been a long day.
Weather:
28° Sun and blue skies

1.8.15:

Didn't get to the market until late and trying to get around wasn"t much of a pleasure. The next three weeks are the height of the tourist season so we"ll just need to grin and bear it. There were millions of people on the roads and rail this weekend and today, jams of over 800km were reported.
This evening I wandered down to th recreation ground where there was a paella and dance, just to show my face and say "welcome back" to Bruno, Christine and Agnes from our Normandy twin town who are here for a week. Didn't even stay for a drink but came home, put my feet up and caught up with some old Inspector Linley episodes.
Weather:
28° Clearer skies and sun