Here comes Summer

 

Cornwall much beloved by artists and surfers not to mention Rick Stein, restauranteur and tv chef . . .  and you can't go any farther on mainland Britain. Myths and legends, cream teas and several holidays in this part of the country bring memories of picturesque villages, sandy beaches rugged coasts and wild seas. 

Hitch hiking and staying in youth hostels with Jill gave us many a tale to tell. Leap frogging on the way back from the pub; meeting some of the "Downliners Sect," a group you've probably never heard of and lots of sightseeing.

Later visits were considerably more comfortable and needless to say less unpredictable! 

July 2024: School's out, the roads are crowded, shutters are closed to keep out the blistering sun and visitors are expected. 

Kicked off the month with a well woman visit in Perpignan with Françoise on the 1st followed by a more agreeably spent evening. 

David & Laura, Hans & MM, Jim, Jacques and I installed ourselves at the picnic bench in the square. 4 bottles of fizz, some crisps, sausage rolls, charcuterie and other goodies later, we went over to the bar for the regular "Music at Sunset" evening. Michel played at the end of the evening and had we been indoors, he would have lifted the roof.

There were other events in the village to keep me occupied;

our summer neighbourhood get together, a summer market organised by the Mairie, a photo exhibition at the museum, Bastille Day with all its pomp and ceremony, a DJ in the square and three days of festivities to celebrate the feast of St Madeline,

the patron saint of the village which coincided with Valérie et al's visit. The bar installed an outside screen to show some important rugby match or other, involving Toulouse who, to Jacques' chagrin, lost!

To compensate, I got to meet his Australian friend Coral, about whom I'd heard much and to share a bottle of cava back at his place. The bar laid on some gypsy music which didn't live up to expectations and another concert given by Michel's group; 

this time including François who, when he's not playing rock on his base guitar, plays cello in a chamber quartet.

Days out from the village started with a trip with Nicole to Perpignan where we had lunch at a Lebanese restaurant. The next day Jacques and I had a day at the market in Figueres; Michel and Kob should have come but they where having to search for Kob's passport which they eventually realised had maybe gone into the huge communal rubbish container. With the aid of the responsible authority that sent someone with a small crane, by some miracle they found it!  While this drama was going on, Jacques and I were tucking into a simple lunch.

Another day out the day after involved a long, hot trip to Camprodon via Prats de Mollo for coffee and the Col d'Arès on the frontier to admire the views and remember all those refugees who fled Franco in 1939. Shops were closed for lunch by the time we arrived at our destination so we, too,  had a long, leisurely lunch at the "Can Parra" sitting in the shade of the trees. Food wasn't anything to write home about and was more expensive than we'd anticipated.

The next outing didn't come until a week later when a group of us went to the market in Figueres and for lunch at "Pollo, Pollo" in Empuriabrava that's said to have more canals than Venice. Michel had an acquaintance from Thailand staying for a couple of days. who was one of the most uninteresting people I've met. When he wasn't looking at his phone, even at the table, I might add, he asked questions about the advantages of buying a house in Spain. I wouldn't bet on him getting a bed another time.  

For our last visit to the market this month, there were only the three of us. Hot as it was, Kob drank hot chocolate! There was also a trip to Céret market while the family were here and I joined Michel & Kob for a trip to the one in La Jonquera.

The only other out of the village experience was a first visit to the new "in" place in Céret. Huge investment has enabled the move of the "Cap d'Ona" brasserie from Argelès. Result is a modern brewery, upmarket bar with an impressive list of flavoured beers, shop and a large terrace. On  Thursdays there are warm tapas on offer and music. Beer was light, organic and has understandably been nominated as the best in the world!

Closer to home there were, as usual, plenty of invitations. Topping the list was Hannah & Lees pre wedding paella at the bar accompanied by music from several local musicians, including Michel. The most by a long chalk came from Michel & Kob ; apéros, mojitos, tea, Sunday lunch and dinners, one with Michel's cousin and his Chinese wife who live in the States. There was also dinner at Jacques when he and Suzette touched down for a couple of days and lunch at Martine & Patrick's, who are friends of Nicole, in Canohes.

I did some entertaining, too, along the way; Valérie, her two daughters and the youngest's friend came for two weeks and were joined for a couple of nights by the eldest's boyfriend. As it happens, Maureen & Maxim have friends who live in a nearby village in a very swish house. The photos made me do a double take to think that such young people earn enough to own such a place. They joined us for an apéro before young'uns all went off for dinner in the restaurant. I'd felt just a little pleased with myself to think that I'd saved them buying one there (cos it 'aint cheap) until they said that they'd have another anyway! JJ and Jacques joined us on the terrace for dinner one evening and on another the family cooked dinner, each taking a course.

JJ hosted us all along with other friends, who's faces you might recognise, for an apéro dinatoire to renew our acquaintance with his nephew and wife. Not sure where the young ones have disappeared to but they were invited too.

But as we all know, life is not all pleasure. Heaven forbid that we should become complaisant!

• Talk about a lucky escape. A small plastic curtain hook fell behind the brick filled storage heater; thought «if I just tip it forward I can try and get at it». How stupid was that! The heater, all 100kg of it fell forward and somehow, don’t ask me more as it’s all a blur, I held onto it and placed it on the floor. Could have smashed my feet or fell back and hit my head or worse. So, so lucky but my god, I really did my back in! Jacques C & JJ took about an hour and a half to get it upright by levering it up, cm by cm while I got out of the way and went for a coffee with Françoise. Luckily it was mission accomplished by the time the family (Valérie, Maureen, Emma and Zoé arrived an hour later. Talk about bad timing, I was not feeling too bright. I just about made it through the translation of Hannah and Lee's wedding ceremony at the Mairie later in the day but I was disappointed that I didn’t have the spirit to sparkle. GP's visit, anti inflammatories, pain killers, muscle relaxants, a back support belt and two visits to an osteopath helped a bit but I presumed it would take time to get back to normal. 
• Laser treatment to clear deposits of I don't know what behind the crystalline lens put in after my cataract op.
  
• Delivery of a new oven; so one problem solved but such is the way of the world others were revealed. The rubber gas pipe behind it going to the hob, was 12 years out of date (gulp) and the support for the oven was hanging on by a rusty nail on one side (gulp) . . . the search was on to find someone to sort it all (gulp, gulp). 

As for other stuff . . . coffees in the village, sometimes in Céret, café & croissants on Sunday mornings, sometimes with music from Michel & Patrick, apéros at the bar sometimes with music from Michel, English with Lisa, jigsaws, wordle, journal, papers & magazines and of course, a bit of tv which didn't include the Olympics but did include watching Labour win the British general election. That was an "up" but the strong showing of Reform was certainly a "down." In France, Macron clung on but only with the help of the Left and once again the RN did well. Here they retained their 4 seats in the National Assembly. Definitely a "down!" 😱

Spanish: on hold

😧   Exercise: "Nada!" 

😧   Blog: neglected; actually writing this on 12.10.24

Nature Notes:

Can't believe that I took so few photos of nature here abouts. Can only think it's a result of not being on form and spending many daytime hours behind closed shutters because of the heat.

Weather: 

1st 28°H, 16°L; 31st 34°H, 20°L

Daytime: Max 38°, Min 26°. Night time: Max 27°, Min 16° One day of rain and thunder. Water restrictions continue.

June Already

June already and more and more people are appearing on the terrace of the café; midsummer, the longest day and the "Feux de St Jean" are in view as is a trip to chillier climes. Although looking at the above picture, you wouldn't believe that description of UK. There again, Wiltshire is a bit further south than my destination. 

What's Wiltshire famous for? Salisbury cathedral (13th century) sporting the tallest spire in Britain painted by John Constable

White horses carved into the chalk hillsides dating from the 18th century and of course, the monumental Stonehenge dating from 3000 BC or BCE if you prefer to leave the Christian reference aside in favour of "Common/Current Era dating. Writing this in August, the news has just broken that the large stone, known as the altar stone is not Welsh blue stone as thought but Scottish! No mean feat to transport a 6 ton (5,433kg) stone all the way from NE Scotland! 

1992: Our visit was a detour coming up from the overnight ferry on our way north. If I remember rightly we had breakfast in Marlborough and were disappointed that we had to view the stones from behind a rope which I believe is even farther back nowadays. If you're ready to sign up for a VIP visit for £61, you can go inside the circle and at the summer solstice special permission can be granted. Don't know, though, if you need to be a bona fide druid!! (lol, of course you don't!)

June 2024  Well, of course the highlight of the month was my trip to visit family and friends though this time I missed seeing Mary who will be a definite for next year's visit and Jen who I hope to see in the autumn before the direct flight from Perpignan hibernates for several months.

First off, was a visit to see Maureen, my Mum's Irish 2nd cousin, who lives with her daughter and son in law in the East Midlands. It was quite a journey for me on public transport; two buses to get to the airport which entailed a long wait for the flight and a bus at the other end to Leicester where Joanne & Terry picked me up. 12 hours in all. Maureen had just celebrated her 100th. Still going strong, she's some woman! Loves life, walks up 13 stairs to go to bed, attends to her own personal needs and does a 20 minute walk twice a day. Hope some of those genes have filtered down this way. She'd had a telegram from Charles & Camilla, an ornate certificate from the Pope and the prospect of 2,400€ from the Irish state! Of course we spent a lot of time reminiscing about her trips with Mum here and to Paris and Dubai when Christian and I were there, looking at photos and having a laugh. 

A pub lunch with Joanne and massive pieces of birthday cake were also on the cards.

Next stop was chez Jean & John which involved two buses, one of which set off with a water leak and was replaced en route. Finally, got to Coventry where I had time enough to eat a lunch in the bus station café before my hosts picked me up.  While tucking in to my omelette and chips, I heard a very noisy drug arrest going down and listened to a number of stories from one of the litter collectors employed by the Council about all the aggression he'd experienced. 

A quiet night in, looking out of the window at a peaceful English village was more than welcome. 

 

 The same goes for our visit the next day to steeped in history Kenilworth with its castle that we didn't have time to visit.

 

 The following day it was time to move on to my final destination but not before Sunday lunch at the local pub. A roast, what else? and what a bonus . . there was no bus to catch as Jean & Jean drove me down to Jill's.

 

No more humping around my suitcase or watching the clock to be in the right place at the right time. My bed was ready, space was cleared in the wardrobe and a bottle of cava was chilling in the fridge. Bienvenue chez Jill!

 

Chatted a lot, caught up with all the family, morning coffees, walked most days, put the visa card to work, watched tv and ate chocolate. And of course, went out and about. First outing was for prosecco and salad at the Church House Brasserie in Banbury

Sunday lunch at "The Black Horse", the oldest pub in the town (1540)

A superior hot chocolate on a wet Saturday morning in Stratford

Lunch and shopping in Stratford

Lunch and shopping in Warwick, the county town home to the Municipal Council that helped fund my university studies back in the glory days.

More shopping in Banbury that yielded several bargains

A must for every visit. Shame the other half of  "sœurs" couldn't make it 

We hadn't met since Yasmin and her husband sold their holiday home five years ago. Finally managed to get together in Oxford. I let the train take the strain and all went without a hitch. Dodging the rain, we found "Côte Brasserie" for lunch and chatted the time away. I was so pleased that Yasmin made it as the next day she was downsizing and moving out of London. Such a capable woman, with Raza away in Iran, she was managing it all herself. We parted with promises of me visiting and trying out the futon she's planning to buy for guests.

It's clear to see from the photos, the weather was mixed but glad to say that there was only one episode of such heavy rain and as I left there was a promise of sunny spells to come both sides of la Manche.

Despite having to check in 3 hours in advance because of problems with new security equipment, the journey home went without a hitch; JJ was at the airport to meet me and Jacques had dinner ready. Aren't I lucky to have such good pals? 

It goes without saying that there were other get togethers with friends, not all of which are mentioned below.

At last I returned hospitality to Michèle and Henri starting with an apéro chez moi. Lunch at the local restaurant, needless to say, far surpassed anything I could offer at home.
 

Apéro dinatoire chez Thérèse

 JJ entertained some his women friends over an apéro

Michel entertained some of his friends over coffee and croissants at the bar

The bar entertained all & sundry at a soirée musicale

All and sundry entertained the rest of us at the Fête de la Musique  

 

Two days later the Feux de st Jean celebrations were cancelled due to high winds but the decorations in our street meant that it wasn't forgotten.

 

An opportunity for us to catch up with Eric at his exhibition "Art in the Garden in St Cyprien. Was also an opportunity for us to have lunch by the sea at the restaurant "Espadron" which was a pot luck choice that we didn't regret.

There was another exhibition to see and this one was within walking distance in the village. As I hadn"t been around for the vernissage, Françoise and I went together. The artist was there so we had a private showing complete with recitation.

Other things of note? Wordle in 1 with "paint", the purchase of a new oven which necessitated having to organise replacing the struts holding it in place and changing the rubber gas pipe lurking at the back which should have been done in 2010!

Weather:

Temperature reached a high of 30° and dropped as low as 14° and there was one almighty downpour which for once was followed by consistent rain for most of the day In Uk there was a high of 15° and a low of 6°.

Notes of Nature:

 

 

Last Word:

Appropriately enough found at Maureen's!