Spreading the Word

Another early start, breakfast on the terrace and then around to a friend's with a local photographer who was taking photos of her paintings to use on a poster.As they were all under glass, this proved to be very difficult. From there Christian went to pick up his 2nd pair of specs (for 1€) and I went for a bit of beauty treatment. There was just time to have a glass of rosé together before we went our separate ways for lunch; Christian back to the auberge in the village and me into the square for lunch with Barbara, Jill and Yolande. The latter two are hopning to set up an Association similar to ours in their village. It was the first time that I'd eaten in the restaurant and the location with it's view of the fountain was reflected in the price. Barbara and I both thought 20€ was over the top but as we were being treated, we couldn't say anything about it.

St Bernard?

At the lake for 7.10am this morning and we each did our own cicuits at our own pace. I wonder if Eddie and Suzanne have been doing the same. We've solved the question of why cars should park outside the car park .... because the barrier had not yet been lifted. Simple really. As you will see from the photo we took a wee refreshment with us but it was neither brandy nor Ricard and in case you're wondering ... the cool bag is around Christian's neck so that he could swing his arms. Another sunny day stretches before us and the supermarket beckons.

Change in Routine

With the weather getting hotter we decided to go for our walk around the lake before breakfast, so we were up and out by 7.10am. Eddie and Suzanne have just left for the airport (boo hoo!), Christian is at a meeting and I'm about to go and pay my respects at a funeral so I'd better go and change out of my red dress into something more fitting.

Slow Sunday

Our visitors went off for a last trip to the beach while we sat for a couple of hours on the terrace of the bar enjoying the weather, chatting and watching the world go by. Tried in vain to find someone who might have recorded Wallander ... how sad is that? The afternoon was spent pretty lazily too. As was the evening come to think of it. As a change from tapas we had aperitifs (!) on the terrace at home before dinner and coffee at the bar.

Tapas and Telly

Thursday there was the usual after language exchange tapas at the bar.
Friday there was a trip to the wine bar for tapas.
Saturday there was the association's tapas evening, so you could say that the four of us are all tapased out! In between all these interesting little dishes there was the tennis to watch, the football and Glastenbury to avoid (what a difference 30 years makes!)and sadly the last Wallander to screw up recording.

Friends, Romans and Good Food

After our walk we all set off to L'Escala and Empuries which was a Greco-Roman settlement and boasts important ruins. The sky was blue and the wind had dropped. A good lunch in the Hostal overlooking the sea followed by a stroll, we did our best to show our friends a good time. They reciprocated by treating us to lunch.Came home to see a tennis match that was at 31 games to 31 in the 5th set and which went on until bad light stopped play when they had reached 51 games to 51. There was a wee Frenchie playing so of course we were cheering for him. Christian and I bailed out before the end to go down to the recreation ground for the fireworks and "feu de St Jean" kicked off by the flame that comes down from Mount Canigou and ends with the kids jumping over the dying embers of the fire.

Old Friends and New Tables

We had company on our walk around the lake this morning though some of us were more bright eyed than others. The new garden furniture arrived as promised. We toasted it in the evening with a bottle of cava while Suzanne hopped up and down keeping an eye on the meal that she was cooking for us. By the way, that's not the new table but the one at the lake where we have an after walk coffee.

Sporting Life

Eddie and Suzanne arrived safe and sound last night and quite courageously joined in with the Association's boules challenge. The Tramontane was still blowing but we found a sheltered spot to play and BBQ. Much to everyone's surprise, especially ours, Eddie and I found ourselves in the final. Sadly after leading 8 points to 2, we lost 13-11. I swear Eddie has played before. It's probably just as well that we lost ... well, how much of a beating can French pride take at the moment? there was a lot of discussion over lunch about the antics of the French team with Anelka being sent home in disgrace over insulting the coach and the ensuing refusal of the team to train. The Health and Sports minister, a rather over weight woman, gave them a good talking to so let's see if it has any effect tomorrow when they play South Africa.
This evening there was music in celebration of National Music Day in the square and at Jean's house where Michen was also playing. Our guests were sadly all done in and stayed home to watch Wimbledon ... yes, it's that time of year again.

Weekend Off

On the physio's recommendation, there's been no walking this weekend. We went to the market of course and on Saturday evening we joined Di and Barbara at Maggie and Trevor's for dinner.
Today, the sun has at last been shining but the Tramontane has been gusting strongly. A bit of a shame really as there was a craft and produce market with stall holders from North and South Catalunya. There was couscous for lunch which was delicious, a group of English singers and entertainment for the kids. The photo shows the Maire and his counterpart from over the border inaugurating the fair.The ribbon in the Catalan colours is traditionally cut into small pieces to give to people for good luck. We should be alright as we both got a bit!
Eddie and Suzanne arrive this evening and let's hope that the ride won't be too bumpy.

Getting Things Done

After walking for an hour, we took ourselves off into Spain in search of the ever elusive garden furniture and low and behold we actually found some to our liking. What's even better is that it should be delivered on Tuesday and for free. Christian found a pair of walking shoes, we did a bit of food shopping in prepration for our visitors and resisted to the temptation to have lunch out. Rain came on just as we went up to a local monument for a comemmoration of De Gaulle's call to the French in 1940 to resist the Nazis. A local resident of 94 years old was presented with the Légion d'Honneur but don't ask me why it's taken so long. Feeling cold and a bit soggy 15 of us went to eat at the restaurant up in the mountains and to toast the Maire's wife whose birthday it was.