Lunch and Linguistics, Boules and Bureaucracy

16.9.16: Boules at the Ready

The Association organised its first Boules tournament of the season. My trusty camera ever at the ready, I went down to the pitch to get some photos. I gave up on trying to take a group one as people just didn't listen to my far too polite request and kept milling about. Don't know why they were so undisciplined this morning. Jim and Mags said that it was like herding cats. If you're interested, Wikipedia says it's "an idiom denoting a futile attempt to control or organise a class of entities which are uncontrollable or chaotic." I've never come across this expression before but it seems to hit the nail on the head. Retired from the battlefield with my mission only half accomplished to the calm of the bar and a cup of coffee. Nicole P and I then took charge of preparing the apéritif  to revive folk. 23 played, 34 drank and 31 ate the set meal we'd organised at the village bar. And what do you know? There were no complaints! Food was tasty, hot and arrived on the table without much of a wait and even better there was a great ambiance.
Weather:
25° sunshine and cloud

15.9.16: Men who make Lunch
Thérèse is back which means that she was able to prepare the downstairs bedroom for Mary who arrives next week. As usual, I went off to the language exchange bur rather than sit with participants at the bar, I joined Nicole S and Jacques for an apéritif. Jacques, even though he is on his own, never has an empty fridge and he invited us back for a lunch of stuffed tomatoes and green peppers. Tasty, it was too.
Weather:
24°, sun but chilly wind

14.9.16: Women who Lunch

I won't bore you after today by saying that I was on the treadmill, just take it as read.
What a day, it was chilly and very wet. My cut and blow dry at the local hairdressers was a bit of a lost cause.
Out for lunch at Maggie's with Annette. Lots of female chat with a G and T and a bottle of rosé to keep the vocal cords lubricated. Lunched lasted until 5pm and then it was back to pass by the Association's English language workshops to take a few photos and collect any outstanding subs.
Was in bed for 10pm and slept soundly.
Weather:
23°, heavy rain

13.9.16: Negotiating the System
No time for the treadmill this morning as we were getting a lift to Lone's appointment at 8.30am. Upshot is that it's complicated as the inter-country is done by another department in Paris. Still signing on can be done on line and other requirements are nowhere near as onerous as they seem to be in her native Denmark. Apparently there, she has to present herself for at least two jobs every week.There'll be another appointment in 3 weeks time to see what she might be interested in doing. I was amazed at how spacious and calm the waiting area was. What's more there wasn't a security screen to be seen!
Had time for a quick whizz around the supermarket and a coffee while waiting for our bus but being as it was 10 minutes late, we missed our connection back to the village. Luckily, we bumped into a local handyman who gave us a lift back, apologising all the way for the state of his van. We were just glad not to have to hang around for nearly two hours until the next bus came. Back in the village, we stopped off at the bar for a rosé and learnt that Eve had been able to tell Nicole S when she came looking for me that that I was at the supermarket!
This evening was spent pleasantly enough over a glass (or two) of cava along with Martine at Jean-Jacques'.
Weather:
Low cloud and chilly wind first thing but the sun came out and temperatures rose to 30°

12.9.16: Wanderlust
Pounded the treadmill before Margaret came around for us to discuss a possible trip to Portugal. Looks likely for later this year. You'll probably be wondering who she is. An interesting woman whom I don't know that well but she's keen to travel and I think we'll get on fine. Had time for my usual coffee afterwards and did more association admin in the afternoon.
In the evening had supper with Lone, after we'd filled in a lengthy form for the employment office in preparation for her appointment there tomorrow.
Weather:
29°, sun