November's End

30.11.16: Tea for Two, Wine for Two

Worked on the computer and had to send more papers for my grant. Some things never change.
Had a surprise visitor this afternoon; an ex colleague of Christian's, who lives on the edge of the village and had just heard that he died, came to present his condolences. Had met him once in the market but Christian had never sought to pursue the contact so I didn't invite him in.
Michel came for tea bearing digestive biscuits.Once he'd left I hot footed up to our store to help Maggie load up her van with the stuff we're selling for the Téléthon tomorrow.
Was out again a bit later to meet Nicole P who was in need of a morale booster so went to the other bar for a glass of wine and a long chat.
Weather:
14°, sun

29.11.16: Being Investigated
An "expert" came to call this morning at the instigation of the people who might give me a grant. His remit is to report on the energy saving benefits that will be brought by the work. Need a 27% saving, so time will tell whether I apply for help with insulation or the electricity.
Spanish this afternoon; I was as mediocre as ever.
There were only three of us for the apérobio this evening; Dani was elsewhere. Nico the chef is now working his winter schedule so it was Eve who did our tapas. We had suggested that she kept it simple with chips to share. Was tasty and a pleasure for the eyes.
Weather:
14°, cloud, rain later in the morning, clearing later

28.11.16: Challenging History

Early start for a committee meeting at 9am and then Maggie, Marguerite, Hazel and I continued to ruthlessly sort the donations we've had for the Télethon. Can't imagine people buying some of the stuff but as Hazel said "some one might like it". Went for a glass of wine and a catch up with Maggie afterwards.
Work is still going on in the square and this part looks so much bigger without all the cars and some of the trees cut down.
Spanish homework in the afternoon then Jean and Françoise came to see if my tv would be ok to show a film about Howard Zinn who wrote "A People's History of The United States"  https://zinnedproject.org/materials/a-peoples-history-of-the-united-states/   Those of you who know Jean will realise that the film which he'll show to a small group of us will be thought provoking. If you're interested, there are several videos on You Tube. The bits that I saw over our apéro will make for an interesting evening in the New Year.
Weather:
14°, cloud

Solidarity

27.11.16: Tête à Tête

Of course, I toddled over to the bar for coffee and was pleased that Patricia joined Maggie, Martine, Rosie the Maire, Jo and Yasmin. Yes, she's back from UK, bringing chocs and mince pies that amazingly survived the flight, for me. As the morning wore on, there was only Rosie, Patricia and I left by apéritif time. We talked and talked in the way that women do when they feel at ease with each other  Patricia said that she had had such a good time that she wanted to invite us for lunch so that it didn't have to end so soon. This was just how I'd hoped that the Café des Copines would work but I doubt that it will ever develop such intimacy. Still, that's another story.
Worked on the blog this afternoon so, as of now up to date. Yippee! Long may it continue!
Weather:
14°, cloudy

26.11.16: Giving Support

Went to the market with Maggie, met Françoise for coffee and then came back and had an apéro in the village. Warmed up the leftover stirfry for lunch and caught up with several emails and phone calls until it was time to go back to Christian's room for the latest vernissage.
Oh dear, I was the first to arrive, on the dot of 5.30pm and by 6pm there were only a dozen of us there. No one from the Mairie which was a shame as it was Ng's first exhibition; no friends of this enthusiastic and warm young artist either. Kitty and I had a fair bit of conversation with her in an all very relaxed atmosphere. Ng, who's self taught, uses a fine pen and ink for her designs, occasionally with a bit of colour. The patience she must have to do such intricate work. I'll need to go back and take a photo for you to see what I mean as my camera battery died on me as it had in Portugal; obviously didn't leave it on charge long enough. All very frustrating.
Went on from the apéritif to the bar and Kitty even had a glass of white wine which she finished!
Weather:
16° sun in the morning, heavy rain overnight

Almost there!

25.11.16: Stirfry, Salt and Spinsters

Getting towards the end of the blog catch up; thank goodness. Had a good go this morning before preparing lunch for Rowena who was whizzing through the village between appointments. Hadn't seen her since before the summer. Duck stirfry and a replay of Lone's prunes in red wine. More computer this afternoon before going to Linde's for an apéro.
You may remember that Linde started an Association in the village that sponsored young women in the Democratic Republic of Congo to go to secondary school. Some of them have now left and she's settig up a scheme to buy sacks of salt that can be sold by them in smaller quantities. Well, I think that's the idea but to be quite honest, I don't want to get drawn in as I've neither time nor energy to be involved though I'll probably give her the 25€ needed for a sack.
Jean, Françoise, Christine and Kathy were there too and we talked about anarchists, films, the selection of the republican candidate for the presidential election next year, renovations and nonsense.
Called in at the bar on the way home where the quiz that I'd avoided (had been asked to join 3 different teams) was in full swing. The place was full to bursting with over 60 participants. Too busy and noisy to do other than say my hellos.
Just in case you're interested today is St Catherine's day when it was customary in France for unmarried women to pray for husbands. Those unmarried women over 25 would wear elaborate bonnets; wonder if that was the origin of the millinary extravaganza I wore for the fashion parade! It's said that before a girl reaches 25, she prays: "Donnez-moi, Seigneur, un mari de bon lieu! Qu'il soit doux, opulent, libéral et agréable!" (Lord, give me a well-situated husband. Let him be gentle, rich, generous, and pleasant!") After 25, she prays: "Seigneur, un qui soit supportable, ou qui, parmi le monde, au moins puisse passer!" (Lord, one who's bearable, or who can at least pass as bearable in the world!") And when she's pushing 30: "Un tel qu'il te plaira Seigneur, je m'en contente!" ("Send whatever you want, Lord; I'll take it!"). An English version goes, St Catherine, St Catherine, O lend me thine aid, And grant that I never may die an old maid.
Oh, how things have changed!!!
Weather:
14°, sun

24.11.16: No Way Out
I do wish I'd had my camera with me when I went across the square which is being dug up at the moment as pipework is being replaced. Jacques was standing marooned on a tiny patch of ground, obviously ready to go out, surrounded on all sides by wide trenches!
Otherwise, it was the language exchange that was assailed by the smell of over 800 jars of jam being made downstairs, lunch at the bar with Nicole P, the blog and a good dose of telly. I guess you'll be thinking that I watch a fair bit of tv. Well, I do but I do read too, though in all honesty, nothing too earnest.
Weather:
16°, sun

23.11.16: Remembering Christian
Went into town to the lab to have my nail scrapped for analysis, the woman came to complete my file for the grant, helped sort out the jewellery and accessories that the Association is selling for the Téléthon next week and prepared the apéritif for the new members' welcome drink. Once again we were in Christian's room and I was so pleased when Philippe, the Vice-President, (the President is in hospital) made reference to him and to the appropriateness of the venue when he introduced me. Forgot to take my camera so there's no photo of the 20 or so folk who turned up.
Weather:
18°, rain

22.11.16: Market Mooch
Went with Michel to the food market in Figueres. All followed the usual pattern. Split up to do our shopping and met up for lunch in the café right by the market. Even our main course was the same as usual but being cooler we opted for a squash soup rather than gazpacho. Apart from that nothing out of the ordinary.
Weather:
17° rain but sun in Figueres

21.11.16: Entertaining Friends
Spent a lot of time in front of the computer interspersed with preparing dinner for Lone and Jesper, my Danish friends, Jacques and JJ. Michel had been invited too but didn't make it back from Montpellier in time.
On the menu:
Apéritif with Tapas (so no need to do a starter)
Chicken and Chorizo with 3 grain rice and salad https://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/chicken-chorizo-and-potato-stew.html made with red beans rather than potatoes
Cheese
Marmalade Cake with cream augmented by the prunes in red wine brought by Lone
A pleasant evening during which as all was ready to go, I could relax and enjoy the company of my guests.
Weather:
16°, wind and rain all day.

All in a Good Cause

20.11.16: Food for the Body, Food for the Soul

This morning there was another Téléthon event; this time it was an oriental breakfast. Mint tea, coffee and arab pastries. Once mass ended, the terrace in front of the bar filled up making it a more lively affair than it looks here. Patricia, who's recently been put out by her partner, joined us for the first time and I think it really lifted her spirits to pass the morning with us. After doing our bit on the terrace, we went inside for a coffee and then later on had an apéritif. Home for lunch, watched some telly, did some work on the blog and then went over to the church for a pianao and flute concert in aid of the Téléthon given by Marie-Pierre, Anne and Penny whom I've spoken of before. This You Tube clip was put on line by Marie-Pierre as a homage to the victims of the French attacks this year  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmJuJeisvHo
Weather:
17°, sun, strong winds later

19.11.16: Strutting my Stuff

So, the fateful day of the Téléthon fashion parade dawned and in line with Jany's orders we were there for 9am, even though it was scheduled for 11h30, to be made up by the local beautician. Jany arrived a good half hour after us (artistic licence) complaining that she had a sore throat and was exhausted. Straight off the makeup that I had had done didn't suit her, so poor Anaïs who'd not had any instruction from our estwhile director had to start again while all the time being given detailed advice. Don't know how she kept her cool. Another one of the models was a right prima dona and I felt that we really should have had more rigourous rehearsals.
Of course, it was well after 11h30 when we took to to the stage but the audience waiting to get to their apéritif were receptive and not too noisy.
Anyway, despite feeling uptight I got through my part as "the timid" and was pleased that many people hadn't recognised me under my very large hat. A photo will follow when Kitty sends me one. Just stayed on long enough to have a glass of sangria.
Watched a bit of tv to blank out my performance and then went to prepare the apéritif  for after a commentated slide show of an association member's visit to Argentina that was being shown in Christian's room. Came out from there after clearing up and went into the bar next door and had a couple of glasses of wine with Nicole by way of relaxation.
Weather:
17°, sun, cloud and rain later

Feet, Friends, Food and Fundraising

18.11.16: Catching up over Lunch

Toddled down to the carpark to take photos of those members of the Association that were going off to Spain to play boules only to find there wasn't a soul there. In fact there had been a last minute change of plan and they arrived later to play in the village. I came back later to do my duty and then went off to La Jonquera with Michel to do a bit of shopping. On the way back, we called in to see Juste and Joséphine and were warmly received and invited to stay for lunch. Joséphine's brother Nico and his partner Beatrice were there on holiday, so there was a lot of catching up to do.
An appointment at the hairdressers and some admin catch up took care of the afternoon.
Weather:
17°, sun, cloud later

17.11.16: While I'm here....

Only had a short time at the language exchange because I had a couple come to give me an estimate for a pellet burning stove. I immediately felt at ease with them as they made a thorough survey of the house and took their time to show me the models to choose from. Not that there was a huge choice as most were modern and wouldn't suit the house. Settled on a cast iron affair which was of course expensive but it was the one that caught my eye straight off.
There was only Ann, Terry and Nicole who stayed on for a drink at the bar after the exchange but no matter. Oh yes, and the cat, who like us, enjoyed the sunshine. Came home for lunch and to do some work on the blog before going to see the GP.
Every two years we have the right to a colon cancer screening (affectionately known by the Brits as a "poo test") available from the GP. She was out of them so I'll have to wait a couple of weeks for the new stock. While there, the GP had a look at my big toe nail as I thought it was infected. Sure enough, there's a fungal infection and I've to go for an analysis which takes 4 weeks for the results to come through. In the meantime I've a powder to put into my socks daily (yes, folks, if you're going to have this sort of thing, its better to have it in the winter than the summer) and a varnish to use once a week. Sorry if there's been too much detail.
There were 13 members of the public at tonight's coucil meeting mostly from the opposition. What I didn't understand, JJ filled me in on when we went to the bar from a glass of red wine.
Weather:
17°, blue skies

16.11.16: No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

Did quite a bit of admin and like always, frustrations abounded as I tried to register to pay my local and income taxes on a monthly basis. Gave up and invited JJ to lunch at the restaurant to say thanks for all his help past, present and to come.
Back home I made two cakes, one for tonight's apéritif dinatoire with music from Gadjololo (aka Lolo nickname, Laurent real name), a Téléthon event. He sang his most recent You Tube offering of a poem by Jany's father (an aclaimed Catalan poet) that he's set to music. Have a look at this clip as the photography gives a glimpse of the magnificence of our area. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1wkBwgeBF But, I digress ...
back to the foyer where I ate, drank, danced and marvelled at Marie-Paul (who must be heading toward 70) and Lolo who à propos of nothing, did the splits! Here he is accompanying the Maire who's always game to sing.
Weather:
17°, sun and cloud

15.10.16: Moon

The moon that was visible early this morning was a bit more impressive. Only other thing of note was a costume try on for Saturday. Help, I'm getting more and more twitchy about it!
Weather:
14°, sun and blue skies




14.11.16: Energise your Crystals

A quick trip with Maggie to the tax office to find out why I hadn't had a rates bill and had a lovely surprise to know that this year I'm exonerated. We then went to the supermarket and then for a coffee where we met up with Nicole (yet another one) from the village.
Jacques called around and stayed for an apéro and after lunch I tried to do some work on the association web site but I couldn't settle so went and had a cuppa at the other café with Nicole P. We both went to the Mairie to write our positive comments about a new housing development that is being contentested.
There was a wonderful sunset but the full moon that was meant to be the biggest for 70 years was disappointing. Still, hopefully it will re-energise my rose quartz (meant to bring good health) anyway.
Weather:
14°, sun, afternoon wind

Routine Start, more interesting End to the Week

13.11.16:

Overnight rain continued until noon. Sunday morning coffee is now taken inside. Sunday lunch was taken in Maçanet over the border. As it was the village fête commemorating their patron saint, St Martin, two car loads of us (André and Nany, Henri and Michelle, Kitty, Marie-Louise, Martine and myself) had lunch at Can Tenli. The place, needless to say was was doing a good trade for their speciality of salt cold. Even though it's desalinated, I find it too salty so I went for a meat option instead.
JJ came for an apéro this evening and we went over my estimates and caught up on family and holiday news.
Weather:
14°, rain and sun later

12.11.16:
Today is St Christian's feast day though there's no Christian at home to spoil. Still, life goes on; so, off I went to the market with Michel and met up with Françoise for a coffee and then with Lone back in the village for an apéro. This afternoon I walked over to Maguerite's, the association treasurer to update our membership lists. Then it was tea with Michel and dinner alone.
Weather:
15°, sun, cloud later

11.11.16:

Armictice Day speeches and wreath laying ceremony at the war memorial after which the assembly trooped behind the brass band to the Mairie for the inauguration of an exhibition about the Somme and Verdun. Interesting texts, posters, objects made from spent shell cases, weapons, photos and items of uniform.
There was an apéro afterwards at the Mairie of course and then I met up with Nicole, Kitty, Maggie and Martine for lunch at the bar. Spent the rest of the day on the settee in front of the telly.
Weather:
15°, sun in the morning, rain in the adternoon

10.11.16:

Language exchange as usual but our numbers were much reduced at the bar. This evening, there was an evening dedicated to "Les Poilus", the rank and file soldiers who fought in the 1st World War. There were songs sung by Lolo and Joan and letters written by men holding the line at Verdun. All very moving.
Weather:
16°, sun

9.11.16:
Marie-Jo came with a box of chocs for helping with her tickets and had another rehearsal for the parade this evening.
Weather:
16°, sun

8.11.16:
Had a bit of a later start this morning but there was still a bit of time to do so work on the computer, Jany and Kitty in the afternoon for tea and costumes and an apérobio  in the evening with Lynn, Dani and Ann.
Weather:
14°, sun and cloud

7.11.16:

A chilly start to a busy day and there was snow glistening on Canigou. Went to see Jany about the fashion parade, met Françoise about the couple with the flight problems, went to see the current exhibition in Christian's room this morning and then  in the afternoon I went to the lawyers about updating my will and had a coffee with Hortense. Came back from town with André, the builder who wanted to talk about the estimates for the work. Fingers crossed that the grant application will work. Gave myself a bit of me time afterwards catching up on various tv programmes.
Weather:
13°, sun

James, Kitty and Henrietta on Tour

6.11.16: A Pleasant End to the Hols

It was a misty start when we wheeled our cases down to the café bbgourmet for breakfast 
http://www.bbgourmet.net/bbgourmet-bolhao
Then it was off to take the car back with fingers crossed that they didn't notice the wee scrape on the wing mirror. Fortunately there had been one there when we picked it up and they didn't notice that it was a bit bigger. The sun was shining as we took off, as it was when we arrived back in Carcassonne after an uneventful flight. It was windy though and feeling very chilly.
Dropped off our cases and before I'd even got my coat off, there was a phone call about the trip to Scotland. A couple, despite having the flight number, had booked themselves back to Girona rather than Barcelona! Even so, had enough time to phone Mum to wish her "Happy Birthday" before it was time to meet Kitty and go over to Margaret's as Ken had kindly said he would cook a meal for us all. Their friend, Christine was there too. We ate, drank cava, talked about the holiday and burst into song at regular intervals!
Weather:
12°, sun and wind

5.11.16: A Must!

Mario, the owner of our flat, had thoughtfully created a walking tour app to put on a smart phone, of this beautiful city, classified as a UNESCO heritage site. We followed it and saw what we wanted to see without getting lost:

• Capela dal Almas with its outside walls completely covered in blue tiles, just up the road from our flat
• Bolhão Market opposite the flat
• San Benito railway station with its 20,000 painted blue tiles on the walls
• 18th century Clérigos church and tower
• Episcopal Palace
• Luís I two level railway and road bridge over the Douro river
• 19th century Stock Exchange
• Gothic church of St Francis
• Lello Bookshop, dubbed the most beautiful bookshop in the world by the Guardian  with its iconic staircase. Had to pay to go in!
• Lunch on the water front 
• Sandeman Wine Tour over the river
• Cable car
• Se Cathederal
• Town Hall
• Café Majestic, a fine example of Art Nouveau architecture 

 ...... and so much more. I'd love a long weekend there to just stroll, shop, eat cakes, drink coffee and a drop of vinho verde. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxqVlqRUhRI
Weather:
18°, sun, a little wind later

4.11.16: On the Road Again
Breakfasted in the same place as yesterday. Quite like being back in the village bar with the same faces, in

the same places. Anyway, it was time to move again so we retrieved the car and pointed it northward. Decided to make a lunch stop in Aviero, a town that was once on the coast but now is surrounded by salt flats; has several canals and a fair bit of Art Nouveau architecture. https://www.travel-in-portugal.com/aveiro
We visited the Art Nouveau museum (free for over 65s)  which had a lovely garden where another time, it would have been an ideal place to take tea. With brollies up, we made our way back to the car, wishing that we had more time to linger there but our flat in Porto was waiting for us.
Arriving at our destination, we parked the car up under a shopping centre, on the way out of which we lingered to listen to live music https://www.travel-in-portugal.com/aveiro that was obviously giving pleasure to its elderly audience. Seeing those smiling faces set us up for our search for the flat. It was so much more homely than the last one and had two bathrooms; always a plus.
https://www.airbnb.fr/rooms/7240303
Stayed long enough to choose our rooms and drop off our bags before going for an exploratory walk and a bite to eat. Just had a bowl of soup and a roast pork sandwich then it was early to bed in order to make the most of a full day's sightseeing tomorrow.
Weather:
21°, sun rain sometimes heavy

3.11.16: These Feet were made for Walking

Breakfasted in a nearby café on huge doorstops of toast and freshly squeezed orange juice and then took the train out to Belem where the famous tower and discoveries monument are. The town is also famous for its "pasteis de nata", little custard tarts. http://www.aviewoncities.com/lisbon/torredebelem.htm
Margaret and I took the lift up the monument and had some lovely views. Shame that the bridge was a bit hazy. As you may know, Lisbon still  has its old tram system so we took one back into the centre of town. The guide books say to watch out for pickpockets but we had no problem and can only speak of the kindness that we experienced.
Once back in town we walked or rather puffed up to St George's Castle with its fabulous views over the city. Had lunch in a side street complete with a half bottle of Mateus Rosé, (now there's a blast from the past) before wearing our feet out looking around the castle. That done, we walked back down again, stopping en route for a cuppa. In the fading light we wandered up the main pedestrianised shopping street and climbed up I don't know how many steps to have a vinho verde and bite to eat on a terrace overlooking the city.
Our last night in the capital found us moving on from food to music. The fado bar took a bit of finding and when we did, we had to jam ourselves in and try to get comfortable in a hot and stuffy atmosphere with standing room only. Not much fun so didn't stay too long. http://www.spottedbylocals.com/lisbon/tasca-do-chico/
Took the bus back which only went two stops before we arrived at the terminus only to find that we had a 15 minute walk back to the flat. Not exactly what we needed after a long day of being out and about fuelled by a few glasses of vinho.
Weather:
22°, sun

2.11.16: Following in Literary Footsteps

Drove up to Sintra, which is touted as a "must see" site. Drove through the mist up an extremely windy road flanked by autumn colours. The castle although grandiose was a bit Mickey Mouse and artificial. Kitty and James explored every room; I prefered to zoom through and sit on the terrace of the café and write postcards. http://www.golisbon.com/portugal/cities/sintra.html
The town itself was a nightmare parkingwise and to add to our frustration there was a downpour. Byron spent time here in 1809 and said of it, in Childe Harolde's Pilgrimage, "Lo! Cintra's glorious Eden intervenes in variegated maze of mount and glen." He obviously saw another side of it to us! After lunch, we visited the National Palacio which was a lifeless sort of a place and much to my annoyance, my camera battery gave up on me.
Back in Lisbon we had to park a bit of a way from the flat but the bonus was that parking was free due to building works going on. Margaret and I dined on traditional garlic sausage in a nice wee place run by two women; Kitty was on salad again.
Weather:
22°, sun and rain

1.11.16: Moving On

I'll start by explaining the title. James is Margaret (the driver), Kitty is Nicole (the holder of the purse) and Henrietta is me (the navigator). Nicole was so taken with her psydonym that she's decided to adopt it as there are so many Nicoles in the village.
Today is a public holiday (All Saints) so the roads were quiet for our drive to Lisbon. We had thought of making just a coffee stop in Tomar but got caught up in our first minor hiccup. Kitty was keen to visit the small Jewish museum which we did and it then became evident that she was dead keen to visit the Knights Templar castle that we'd already driven up to as far as the car park. At that point she hadn't declared her interest thinking that we weren't interested in visiting monuments! The ensuing discussion tried to clarify that we each had the right to air our wishes and if one didn't want to follow, she could do something else. Back we went up to the castle and we were so glad that we did. So much to see and beautiful gardens to stroll through. Not sure about the music but this You Tube video shows the architectural splendeur. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87aO1xzF0wY So much to marvel at and there was lunch to eat too.
Continued on towards Lisbon, making a stop in Obidos a picturesque walled town where coach tours stop. Have to admit it was pretty if very touristy and of course every other shop sold jingina, the cherry liqueur. Here it was sold in little chocolate cups; even Kitty indulged. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf9tUUdGtrg
Found our apartment easily enough; it was a good size but had little to personalise it. There were a number of small cafés around and on our evening stroll, we fell across a curry restaurant. While there we invited an Australian woman, who's travelling on her own, to join us. She's been on the road for two years and had loads of stories to tell.
Weather:
24°, sun and whispy cloud