Change is in the Air

 March 2026

After the quiet of the post Xmas season, there was a burgeoning of village activities. The arrival of Spring, longer days as the clocks change, anticipation of possible Municipal change and a hope that the situation of women will change.  Yellow mimosa has given way to white almond and pink peach blossom creating stunning images  with cloudless blue skies and a snow capped Canigou in the background. There was colour in the village, too. 

Carnival time.

St Patrick's Day 

Celebrated along with a full house wearing the green at the bar and even ate there. Irish Jack responded to my request for "Only our rivers run free" and oh, did my skin prickle when the guy on the penny whistle joined in.

A mini concert: 

Ventured out in the evening despite the damp chilly weather, to the village hall.  Really enjoyed it. Top notch and different. Melodic sound  for songs in German, English, French, Spanish, Yiddish and vocal cords from a German singer and Israeli guitarist. Stayed for the usual apéro and caught up with various folk.

Lizzie's Vernissage. 

She made plenty of sales, the proceeds of which were shared between an association that neuters cats and an animal refuge. It too, was followed by an apéro accompanied by Jennifer singing and Tony playing jazz.

There were more serious events, too.

MsF's Soirée Tapas

It's a while since I attended one of the association's tapas evenings. It was a convivial evening with new people to meet, a variety of interesting food to sample and foot tapping music to enjoy provided by Gadjo Lolo. No regrets!

                                  International Women's Day

The association marked  with it's traditional salon du thé with the men serving women. Our street also did it's bit. We were invited to choose a remarkable woman and write a short text about her to be displayed at the start of the street. Decided on Gisèle Pelicot, the French Woman who was drugged and raped by her husband and 50 other men while she was unconscious. Backed up the text with some statistics.

                                “Shame must change sides.”

The Café Litteraire 

As usual the winter edition of the group met at the bar. This time it was upstairs in the "private" room. I listened with interest but didn't present a book. Maybe I should think about Gisèle Pelicot's "Hymn to Life" when I can find the confidence. 

Municipal Elections

After six years polling day arrived. Finally, there were 3 lists in contention but the incumbent Maire polled 50.02% of the vote on a turnout of 64.5%, thus avoiding a second round. In reality the Maire was only 2 votes in advance thus the most serious contender put in an appeal to the Sous Préfecture as he believed there had been irregularities. 

Next came the official "Installation" of the Council which I attended. The elected members which included 5 members of the Opposition, had to elect the Maire who then named his 6 Assistants i.e. those heading up particular functions and entitled to wear a sash. Just for interest, the Maire's has gild metallic tassels and the assistants silver. There was a bit of a rumpus when the Maire wouldn't let two Opposition replacements participate as he ruled that the correct procedure hadn't been followed. So, another appeal was lodged. The Leader of the Opposition nitpicked his way through the session to the amusement of some and the annoyance of others!

 

On the home front there was the usual round of social events with friends, chez eux, chez moi and at the café. Won't enumerate them. Trips outside the village merit a note and photo though.

Hansel & Gretel Salon du Thé, Céret

A treat for the 'non knitting" group from Lisa who isn't in a position to invite us to her house. Not just tea ceremoniously presented by Gretel and scrummy cakes made by the  Michelin* restaurant opposite but also a spray of flowers from the florist part of the establishment. An unexpected touch from Lisa and if you think that Gretel's German, you're wrong!. She's half Taiwanese, half Porto Rican and her husband is the patron of the restaurant! It was Angela's first time there and she was bowled over as only Angela can be. Something else for her "j'adore" repertoire!!

Le Jardin de Céret with Friends from Soréde

Marfil Restaurant, La Jonquera

Here, we met up with Dali's daughter, and her fella. I went for a starter of escalibade followed by paella and Irish coffee which was generous to say the least. The house offered limoncello and a herby type liqueur, leaving the bottles on the table, to end off the meal. Dali invited us (Henri & Michèle, JJ & Jacques, Nany & André, Cathy {her daughter} and Gérard {an ex Usap player}) all back to hers for whisky, chocolate and cake. The whisky at 105€, a bottle came from Cap d'Ona and was recently awarded best whisky in the world! I had to point out the codicil was "in it's category and we don't know either which organisation was making the awards and how much it cost to participate.

Perpignan with Joëlle

What's with the toucan? It was part of the street art expo. We didn't settle on anywhere to have lunch but had tea and patisseries at Brasserie 1900.

Farther afield, I had a day out over the border.

Roses with Jean & Françoise

Despite very strong winds, Françoise was having none of it and wanted to go to Roses. So, to Roses we went. Had coffee at Si'us plau then, battled our way along the front. Settled on a restaurant but settling on a table took 3 moves and even at the end up she wasn't satisfied as there wasn't a clear view of the sea! The meal wasn't to her liking either .. her entrée was tasteless, her main course was tasteless though her tiramiso was cleared without a negative word.

Finally, some exercise . . .

On the Coastal Path 

Wanting to take advantage of the warm sunshine, Françoise & I were joined on the coastal path leaving from Sole Mio by Véro. A bit chilly despite the sun.

Over the Channel, Little Sis had a birthday and inspiration didn't fail me

What better present for a cheesaholic? And the funny thing is I came across this one in France!

One last thing: 

Of all the screen time I had, "Immortal Man", the Peaky Blinders film and "Togo" about an Alaskan husky were the most memorable.

Nature Notes:

Weather:

Highest Daytime 22°; Lowest Daytime 11°

Highest Nighttime 12°. Lowest Nighttime 5°

Lots of rain, strong winds

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.