Food, Friends and a Funeral

31.3.16:

Language exchange, glass of wine and soup at the bar where we were joined by Nicole P. Worked on the association site during the afternoon and then walked over to Ann and Terry's with Jean-Jacques for dinner going via the garden. It was looking better than we'd expected and we'll soon be able to cut some iris which over the years have proliferated creating an unbroken boundry on one side.
David and Laura were also invited and while people tried to speak French at the start, they soon lapsed back into English. Luckily, Jean-Jacques was able to follow, more or less. The main course was coq-au-vin and here's Jean-Jacques serving the dessert; a red berry soup topped with Vouvray sparkling wine which produced a foam. Not quite sure why he got the glory for what is apparently Terry's party-piece. It was not only stunning but delicious too.
Weather:
16° Cloudy start, sun, drizzle in the evening

30.3.16:

Had a long lie-in finishing off  "Chessmen", the last of Peter May's Lewis Trilogy https://www.goodreads.com/series/77173-lewis-trilogy A good read with well developped characters.
Lunch was late therefore.
The funeral of a neighbour in the afternoon was a sad affair. It was a civil ceremony (as was Christian's) but consisted only of the undertaker reading out the family's thanks to people for being there. Nothing really personal (unlike Christian's). While in the cemetary, of course, I thought I should go up to where we scattered Christian but quite honestly, it didn't make me feel any closer to him as I already do where ever I am. You'll notice that the cork has been stripped off the trees in the photo making them look quite impressive.
Weather:
18° warm and sunny

29.03.16:
Another little walk after coffee and another stint in front of the computer; this time trying to get to grips with getting a new health card. Was I glad to have Jean-Jacques come over for an apéro to break me out of a very ordinary sort of day.
Weather:
16°, sun