The Family Left as November Arrived

 November 2022

 

I'll start by saying thanks to Sheila for her comment last month about "Chitchat." Spent a bit of time, trying to work out how to reply . . . yes, it's been that long that I'd forgotten how to do it; well that and the excitement that someone had  actually made a comment.

This month was more liberally sprinkled with meals out than usual; in Céret at Jean & Françoise's and at Michel & Christiane's. JJ was chauffer, picking up Jean & Françoise en route. The evening was fun and instructive. Art, maths, politics + and I was winkled out of my comfort zone by Michel who wants me to take up drawing and painting. Much to my surprise I sketched a coffee cup and saucer which was actually recognisable. Even Françoise said it was good and better than she thought it would be! Umh, a compliment? But as usual, the most part were chez Jacques. The Mexican meal was particularly hilarious . . .

Eric brought a superb fruit tart, Flor and Babette dressed up on a S. American theme and Anita was Anita. We ate well, drank plenty (kicked off with Margarita's and finished with champagne) and laughed a lot! 

Americans opened their doors to me as well. There was a "we've - all - but - sold - our - house dinner at James and Beverley's along with Roger & Don. I 'm curious as to why we're always invited at the same time as I don't hang out with them otherwise. A Thansgiving meal at Daniel (cook) and Jeanne's (games organiser). The turkey was tasty and the games were fun. A round robin of stating what we were thankful for came more easily to some than to others.

Two days later I knew how the Thanksgiving turkey felt. Dinner at Martine and Robert's was a copious affair; Martine is not a woman who will take "no" for an answer; neither in English nor in French.  

Not to be left out, there was an English lunch at Ann & Terry's. 

And did anyone cross my threshold to be entertained? Yes, they did. There was a lunch for Jacques, dinner for Mark, JJ, Jacques and Lizzie (Nick was sick), tea and a showing of the film "The Duke" for Ann and Terry and tea for Nicole.

Restaurant meals included lunch at "Le Devil" with Nicole in Perpignan, lunch at the café with Yaneth (no comparison) and lunch at the "Bigotti" with James and Beverly.

It was lovely sitting in the sun, listening to the buskers playing jazz enjoying the food, talking and laughing. Only little niggle was the uptight, unsmiling woman server who didn't get a tip. Spent the afternoon on the terrace reading the papers. No need to say how I spent the evening but suffice it to say, it included Enola Holmes (2). A good old "feel good" romp. And to think I could have gone to a no fireworks, no bonfire, bring your own food, almost expat full house at Roger's!

Didn't body swerve Kevin's surprise 70th though but there again it was a good French/other nationalities mix and he does give a lot to the village with his music. It was lovely to see how touched he was by this show of affection and to watch him perform with his wee girl who obviously adores him.

Maybe now's the time to talk about exercise. I actually did several sessions on the treadmill and had a long walk with Françoise, Véro and Justine. 

We were out for 3h30, going up 500m/1,600 feet. Making a detour to see the remnants of talc mining. The route to the dolmen, dating from  sometime around 3,000 BC was longer and more wearisome than expected. Still, there were some great views and the weather was warm. 

A morning down in Argelès with Jean & Françoise provided a more leisurely affair; a stroll along the prom and a coffee overlooking the marina in the sunshine entailed no effort at all.

Village life ticks over but sadly the Saturday market that flourished during covid has all but disappeared; only one stall remains. The terrace of the café though has retained it's clientelle. Being the run up to the the Téléthon at the begginning of next month, raffle tickets were being sold, oriental pastries and mint tea were offered for a derisory sum and orders taken for wild boar stew. The other fundraising event was a karaoke for which I baked a cake and lent a hand to cut up and portion out sweet and savoury offerings that would be on sale. To my relief I didn't feel obliged to stay as another dinner out called.

There were two public holidays this month; 1st (Touissant when families visit the graves of their loved ones, traditionally with pots of chrysanthemums) and 11th (Armistice) complete with a parade, speeches, wreath laying and an apéro. 

The anniversary of the beheading by a young islamist, of Samuel Paty a secondary school teacher, was marked here with the inauguration of a small square through which the primary school children pass to go to the canteen. It will also be the site of the village library when the renovations to the earmarked building are done.

 You might be asking if there has also been anything on the cultural side of life . Yes, there was a vernissage at the beginning of the month, the last until February.

There were three life sized sculptures of women, whimsily clad and with animal heads (pig, dog and a cat) by Christophe and paintings, by Yannick Raffaelle, which unlike the sculptures, were very appealing.

The turnout was abysmal (still half term, dark nights, cold, windy weather?) but the artists took it in their stride. To add insult to injury, the artists had laid on a generous apéritif. 

Moving up several notches, Anita shared her knowledge of the Art World while guiding Jacques and I around the  around this year's summer exhibition in Céret. Chagall, Modigliani, Soutine and Friends. Many of Eastern European origin, their style became known as "the School of Paris" in the first half of the 20th century. I particularly like this one "Parisian with a Fan" by Henri Hayden (Polish) dated 1912.

Only one musical outing and that was "Music at Sunset" organised at treh bar every first Monday of the month by Kevin.

Have continued my mental gymnastics with a daily Wordle, a quick code cracker, crossword, wordsearch and now an online jigsaw. Duolingo Spanish takes a bit more time as there are the ads to sit through.

Once a week, I'm now meeting Lisa, a Japanese woman married to a Frenchman, for some English conversation. She's an absolute delight and makes a good change for me 

Thank goodness nothing has gone wrong in the house, the chimney has had its yearly sweep and I've taken steps towards a "let’s make cooking less onerous and economise electricity" project. My decision to buy a multicooker was confirmed when the in store price was 20€ less than the online price which already 70€ off. Brought my new Ninja home; all 11.5kg of it. Have to admit that like many new babies, it's pretty ugly! Unpacked it and skim read the documentation. Was just like reading the dos and don'ts that come with medication. Hope to goodness I'll be able to get my head around it. I'm getting cold feet already and wondering if it's going to solve my culinary shortcomings.

The weather has apart from one day been dry. Started with 23° but at the end of the month it was only 14° though with the prospect of higher temperatures to come. Skies have been mostly blue; this one was not typical but interesting.

And the best news is that I've kept free of bugs even though there is more covid around and flu hasn't yet to arrive here.