April? Feels more like Winter than Spring!
1.4.22: Local Musicians swing into Action
A concert in aid of Ukraine raised 1,500€. That's Jacques on stage strumming away at his guitar.
2.4.22: Braving the Elements
A banda from Toulouse joined the village one to play at the market in the morning. It was bitt-er-ly cold so their audience was a bit meager. In the evening they played again but this time they had a more sheltered position and the terrace and the bar was packed. A couple of small whiskys by the fire inside was worth the covid risk.
Weather: 9°!
3.4.22: Variety is . . .
Lunch of a veritable couscous at Dali's in tribute to her Algerian origins, accompanied by foie gras and champagne in tribute to her French upbringing. I'm all for having the best of both worlds!
Weather: 10°, sunny, wind much lighter
4.4.22: Chez Suzette near Toulouse
- the house of the Resistant, Blanche Lavalade Robène that had been used as a staging post for those fleeing theVichy regime
- the old outdoor public "lavoire" that could do with a little tlc
- a canon that was buried during the 2WW
Weather: 13°, sunshine and cloud
5.4.22: On the Tourist Trail
The Capitol was not open to the public due to renovation work so we had to content ourselves with admiring it from the outside, searching our star signs embedded in the square and looking up at the painted ceiling panels of the arcade depicting the history and achievements of Toulouse.
Then followed a day of ecliesiastical visits:
* First off: Notre Dame du Taur started in the 14th century on the spot where the body of St Saturnin ended up after being dragged through the streets by a bull: straight sided wall tower built into the church
* St Saturnin, started in 11th century
* Church of the Jacobins, dominican monestary founded in the 13th century, Palm ceiling vault, luckily out of the way of Napoleon's soldiers and their horses that were garrisoned there and cloister
* Notre Dame de la Daurade which went from a 5th century basilica, to a church, Benedictine monestary, a tobacco factory after the Revolution, was destroyed and rebuilt in 19th century. Unusually, a black Virgin
*Various timbered, Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings and several squares.
*Walk along the Promenade Henri Martin (artist born 1860) on the banks of the Garonne.
* Lunch at "Au Gascon". Bon rapport qualité/prix
*Tea and views at the roof top café in the Galleries Lafayette.
All the while, Jacques pointed out landmarks pertinent to his and his family's history as did Suzette!Weather: Sunny after a chilly start
6.4.22: More Sights, no Churches
Wandered the streets instead, had lunch in one of the restaurants over the fabulous indoor Victor Hugo food market. Cassolet was on the menu; needless to say that it was very filling though I was the only one to give dessert a miss.
Walked along the Canal du Midi but the chilly weather and light rain drove us to "Midica" a modern home & gardens store where we made our way to the 5th floor café.
Jacques sister-in-law’s sister who's also Suzette's friend, Danielle came for an apéritif and joined us for supper.
Weather: Chilly, overcast and damp
7.4.22:
Weather: 20° and warmer sunshine
8.4.22: Straight back into socialising
A vernissage of paintings and sculptures followed by a "pot d'amité" and this time the Maire actually indicated that we were all invited downstairs to have a drink and this time I had time to stay for a while before moving on to the next event. More exasperating, he once again said that he knew nothing about art which wasn't his field of expertise! How can a politician not even waffle to make himself look a bit more competent by expressing a few thoughts about what appealed to him? Still, he gave me something to sound off about over supper at Jean and Françoise's.
Weather: 17°, a little drizzlz later
9.4.22: La Cocinelle
Weather: 16° sunny
10.4.22: A Gloomy Day
So election day dawned and with it the much talked about (even by the BBC) first round of the Presidential elections. I went over to the Mairie to watch the count which took over 2 1/2 hours. Not the most efficient I've seen. Ashamed to say, the commune voted for Marine Le Pen, followed by Macron, then Melenchon. The national tendance is said to be for Macron in the 2nd round (25th April) but it will be tight as people are fed up of having to vote for someone they don't support in order to keep out the extreme right wing and are talking of not voting at all.
Weather: 19°, sunshine and blue sky
13.4.22: Food with Friends
The elections provided plenty of material for discussion over lunch at Michlle and Henri's (Sunday), JJ's (Tuesday), Jacques (Wednesday) and supper at mine. (Monday)
Weather: 14°, heavy drizzle
15.4.22: That's more like it!
Something to get a move for this morning as a walk with Linde and Françoise was planned.
then down to Cosporons where there's a craft vinegar maker (their vinegar graces many a Parisian restaurant) and a monument to Vietnamese workers who died in an explosion at the then local dynamite factory owned by Nobel. In the field next to the cemetary was this cute Catalan donkey with the "trademark" dark cross on his back.
Had a picnic lunch in the shade over looking the sea after which we had a very warm walk back to the car up through the vineyards sympathising with workers having to pick grapes on these slopes.
Weather: 27°, sunny
17.4.22: Joyeuses Pâques
A quiet day; friends are either away, confined to their own 4 walls or playing safe. Hence, I've managed to get Chitchat up to date and am now off to plunder my stock of chocolate in the cupboard which is not far enough out of reach!
Weather: 22°, sunshine and blue sky
18.4.22: Highlight of the day . . . A trip to Lidl with Nick; chore of the day: cleaned the patio; pleasure of the day: chocolate and phone calls to friends; stupidity of the day: bed at 3am.
Weather: 19°, sunny, overcast later
19.4.22: End of a 110 Streak. Yes, failed to get today's Wordle
23.4.22: The last few days were more intesresting that those of late. Jacques came for lunch, I was invited back the next day and the day after I went with Françoise and Jean to Perpignan.
St Jordi's (patron saint of
Catalunya) day and I didn't think to wear "sang et or" or hand out
the Catalan flag . . . . and to think it was actually me who started off the
Fête de la Sant Jordi in 2009. The "festivities" were a sad affair; a
couple of sardanes, the Association's bookstall was uninviting and that was it.
No medieval costumes or music, no market stalls, no reading of the legend, no
street decoration. Well, the banda played yet again though their sound is
hardly of the epoch. Started off by meeting Martine
for a coffee where we were joined by Michelle and Henri. Ended up having lunch
with them, Nany and André who had been playing. so, the day was rescued.
Weather: 17°, feeling colder, spells of sunshine and rain
24.4.22: Out to See the Sea
