I often go to market in a small town called Villeneuve de Marsan. It isn't a town that would be on a tourist itinerary just a typical French town. On a Wednesday, market day, it comes to life. There is still a small poultry (live) section and at certain times of year a foie gras market. In May the variety of plants on sale is astounding, vegetable plants, herb plants, annuals and perennials.
Due to the unseasonable weather this year, lots of rain and large variations in temperature I have lost most of my tomato plants which had been potted on for planting out this weekend. So, yesterday I set forth for Villeneuve to buy some replacements. When I got there it seemed that everyone else in the area was there for the same thing. The car park was crowded and the streets seemed to be full of elderly men driving elderly Renault 4s and equally elderly ladies treating the road as a pedestrian precinct! I did manage to negotiate these hazards and was lucky to find somewhere to park the car. Everywhere there were people carrying bags or boxes of plants. I managed to make my way through the crowds and join the queue at one of the vegetable stalls. The queuing was somewhat aggressive but I managed to hold my place. Patience is a virtue that I have learned since I came over here and whilst waiting my turn I looked around and watched the people.Where else but in France would someone say excuse me can I just get through to kiss my friend! The three people who were manning the stall were working at an amazing speed - no time to chat with so many people to serve. At the back of the stall were huge piles of boxes full of plants, mainly tomato plants - the French certainly love their tomatoes and even if they don't grow any other veg seem to find room for at least a couple of plants. Finally it was my turn to be served and I triumphantly bore away my plants. I was also tempted to buy a few annuals, I doubt if anyone could pass by such an amazing display of plants and not buy a few.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Holidays 2010
Holidays for three of us this year, me, N and Rambo! We left home on April 27th, mid afternoon, in glorious hot - 25C - weather. Cristel is going to be looking after the tomato plants that I potted on and will also water the garden if the hot weather keeps up. First stop was for 4 nights at Martin and Meike's in Ariege. Good to see them both again and to see Meike much better than we have seen her for a while. Ramo seemed to remember being there before and he and one of the dogs, Chai, must have remembered their previous "arguments" as they both kept well clear of each other! On Wednesday morning we went to Fossat to visit Ann and Mark a couple of Australians who are renting Jez's house and had coffee and a long chat with them. They are friends of Graham and Judy another couple of Australians who we knew well when they too were renting the same house. Then we went into Fossat and had a pleasant lunch on the terrace before N dropped me off in Artigat. There I met up with Meike and spent the afternoon at the Scrabble club, it was good to see my old Scrabbling friends and they too seemed pleased and surprised to see me again. On Thursday Meike and I went up to Andorra to do a shop and have lunch. We had good journeys there and back and were back at Landry by 3.15. In the evening I went with Martin to see the horses who were up at Janirou and then we met up with N and Meike at les Etoiles the old home of Sjef and Leonoor. It has been bought by Baas, Dutch and Julie, English and they are doing a lot of work there. They had a couple of Irish girls visiting them and we spent a couple of hours there drinking aperos and chatting. As we were sitting there I remembered that it was exactly a year ago since I was last there, with Leonoor, just after she and Sjef had split up and just before her return to Holland. I felt quite sad,
Thursday evening a couple of Martin and Meikes friends arrived, in camper van, to spend the night before continuing on to Spain. N and I went to Mike and Jik's for dinner and spent a very enjoyable evening with them. When we got back to Landry drinks were flowing! We both had a drink with the 4 of them and then made our excuses and went to bed whilst they continued well into the night.
On Friday morning we went back to visit Dominique and Ines at Carol, Jean-Marc was working. They have done a lot of work since we were last there. Where the old pig sty was they have installed a huge boiler and hot water tank. The boiler works on wood of which they have plenty and radiators are installed throughout the house. They are now in the process of converting the rear of the house above what was N's workshop and bathroom. It will make another bedroom as well as dressing room and bathroom. Dominique is expecting another baby in November so they will need the extra room. Outside there is now a manege for schooling the horses although I am not sure how Dominique has time to do that as she is working full time again. The garden is still a mess but they are still finding the time to grow some vegetables.
After saying our farewells we went over to Sainte Suzanne to visit Tim and Tina - always good to see them and catch up with their news. Then back to Artiat where we had lunch at l'Escale. We did sit on the terrace as we had Rambo with us but the weather was definitely cooling down. Back to Landry for a lazy afternoon before packing most of our belongings ready for departure the next morning.
So, Saturday the first of May, we set off for Provence. Our first stop was in St Gilles, clost to Arles, where we had lunch with Phillip and Christine. Phillip was married to a childhood friend of mine who died a couple of years ago. He has recently met Christine and she is charming. It was nice to have a lazy lunch and a long chat before leaving for the last stage of our journey to Massanne. The weather was definitly getting cooler and rain was forecast.
We arrived at the camp site, just over the road from a small beach on the Etang de Berre, at 5.30. The mobile home was fine and we soon unpacked and made ourselves at home. There is a small bar and restaurant just over the road so that evening we went over there and had a pizza. We ordered one each and they were huge so we brought 2 large pieces back home with us. The meal was accompanied by "entertainment" from a Dutch lady who had imbibed rather too much of the local brew!
We awoke the next morning to the sound of rain! We had breakfast and soon the rain stopped. I had a look on the internet for any vide greniers (boot sales) and found one nearby. When the rain stopped we set off to find it and got ourselves mixed up in a cycle race! Luckily we were just going through before the cyclists and found ourselves waved through. After browsing around the vide grenier we went back to the mobile home and had, guess what, pizza for lunch! Later in the afternoon I decided that we ought to find a seaside resort to visit.After looking at the map we decided to go to Sausset les Pins. We set the sat nav and off we went, through the town of Martigues and down to Sausset. Just before arriving at Sausset we went through the village of St Julian where we found another vide grenier so we stopped there to have a browse. Sausset is a nice little town with a large pleasure boat marina. It was very busy as the weather had cleared up and I suspect it is a popular place for day trippers from Marseille and the surrounding area. We had a walk along the beach, watched some surfers, and then repaired to the terrace of a cafe by the marina for a beer. It was very pleasant sitting there watching the world go by and we may well have stayed there to eat later on but for the fact that the waitress"forgot" to bring me my 5 euros change! Once reminded she looked somewhat shamefaced to say the least. In he end we ate at a Buffalo Grill on the way back home, France's answer to American dining!
The area that we are staying in is very watery! The Étang de Berre is fed with fresh water by the rivers Arc, Touloubre and La Cadière-d'Azur and – since 1966 – by the Canal de la Durance. Two canals link it to the sea: the Canal de Caronte leading towards Port-de-Bouc and the Canal du Rove which leads towards L'Estaque. However the underground portion of the latter is blocked by a rock fall. In central Martigues the road goes over the Canal de Caronte giving the town a seaside appearance.
On Monday we made our first visit to Nadine and her mother which was the main reason for us holidaying in this part of the world. We met Nadine when she sold us Carol, our first French home, and we became very good friends. Sadly her mother had a stroke a couple of years ago and Nadine is now her full time carer, not an easy time for either of them. The journey there took about 40 minutes, most of it on dual carriageways similar to that of the Toulouse ringroad - that is to say extremely busy roads and some horrendous drivers! They live in les-Pennes-Mirabeau between Aix en Provence and Marseille. We were so pleased that we had the sat nav as it would have been very difficult to find. After leaving the town we got to large commercial centre, drove past that back into wooded landscape and then to the housing developement where they live.
http://www.provenceweb.fr/e/bouches/pennesmirabeau/pennesmirabeau.htm
Their house is on a corner plot,hidden by high hedges and in a quiet area.It was so good to see Nadine again and she was so pleased to see us and of course Rambo! It took a while before Rambo and Nadines 2 dogs, Tommy and Ouska, made friends but they were all right in the end! Mme was up and in a wheelchair in the sitting room. Nadine and N went out, down to the supermarket, and I chatted to Mme. She seemed very bright and mentally not as bad as I had expected. When Nadine and N returned we had an aperitif and then lunch. In the afternoon we chatted and I showed Nadine and Mme photos of Carol. The nurse came to put Mme to bed about 6 and I helped Nadine get acquainted with her laptop. It rained all day so we weren't able to go out for a walk with the dogs. We got back home before dark laden down with leftovers from lunch which was very good of Nadine as I didn't have much to do to serve them up.
We woke on Tuesday morning to torrential rain and high winds - wonderful!! Luckily we are well prepared for the weather, we have the laptop with internet connection, Scrabble and books! Later in the morning we went to Auchan on the outskirts of Martigues for a few essentials. I also bought a pair of rubber boots as I had not brought any wet weather gear with me! In fact I spent the week in one pair of jeans and one or other of the two sweatshirts that I had brought with me! All my summer clothing stayed in the wardrobe waiting for warm sunny weather that never arrived!
We had lunch in the Auchan complex and then came back home via St Mitre les Remparts. It had stopped raining so we were able to explore the old town.
Wednesday was Nadine's 60th birthday so went went over to see her again. I had framed some photos of Carol for a present for Nadine and she was very pleased with them. Mme was in bed this time and she stayed there whilst we went out for lunch with Nadine. After lunch we spent the afternoon and the early part of the evening with them. Mme came out of her bedroom, in the wheelchair, for a while until the nurse came in to put her to bed. Nadine said how much brighter she had been whilst we were there, we said was it not possible for her to go to a day centre sometimes, somewhere where she would meet more people but apparently she refuses to go anywhere, not even into the garden. It was very sad to say goodbye to them both, Mme said why did we have to go, why couldn't we stay, when would we go back again. Nadine just looked so sad and exhausted.
Thursday, no rain but dull and cold. Went to Arles, walked round had lunch there before driving through the Camargue to Ste Maries de la Mer.Beautiful area but so busy and so many tourists (like us !). I fancy that a lot more land on the Camargue has been given over to rice production since we were last there. In the evening we had a very pleasant and reasonable meal of quail and chips at the bar over the road.
Friday another dull cool day but with the odd sunny period this time. The best part of the day was, for the first time, being able to talk and to see my grandchildren on Skype!! I had persuaded Rob and Julie to set it up for me. What a joy it was. We then went to les Baux de Provence an ancient village perched on top of huge rock outcrop.
http://www.lesbauxdeprovence.com/
We had lunch on the terrace of one of the many restaurants and at times the sun even made an appearance! Then back to our holiday home to pack and prepare for our departure next day before a final meal at the bar over the road. On our return from the restaurant I had another chat with my NZ family it being Saturday morning there and Dannielle's birthday.
Saturday we were away by 10am and set off back to Ariege where we were to spend the night before the last leg of our journey back home. On arriving at Landry we were amazed to see piles of broken branches. Apparently it had snowed - snow in May!!- the previous Tuesday and the wet, heavy snow had settled on the trees and broken off many of the branches. We had a pleasant evening with Martin and Meike and left on Sunday morning. We called in at Mike and Yiks to pick up a half lamb for the freezer - one of theirs that had been killed the previous week - before heading off to call in and have llunch with Kate and Peter on the way home.
Finally back in our own home at 6pm. Good to go away but good to get back as well
Hopefully, you will find a slideshow of our time in Ariege and Provence at the bottom of the page.
Thursday evening a couple of Martin and Meikes friends arrived, in camper van, to spend the night before continuing on to Spain. N and I went to Mike and Jik's for dinner and spent a very enjoyable evening with them. When we got back to Landry drinks were flowing! We both had a drink with the 4 of them and then made our excuses and went to bed whilst they continued well into the night.
On Friday morning we went back to visit Dominique and Ines at Carol, Jean-Marc was working. They have done a lot of work since we were last there. Where the old pig sty was they have installed a huge boiler and hot water tank. The boiler works on wood of which they have plenty and radiators are installed throughout the house. They are now in the process of converting the rear of the house above what was N's workshop and bathroom. It will make another bedroom as well as dressing room and bathroom. Dominique is expecting another baby in November so they will need the extra room. Outside there is now a manege for schooling the horses although I am not sure how Dominique has time to do that as she is working full time again. The garden is still a mess but they are still finding the time to grow some vegetables.
After saying our farewells we went over to Sainte Suzanne to visit Tim and Tina - always good to see them and catch up with their news. Then back to Artiat where we had lunch at l'Escale. We did sit on the terrace as we had Rambo with us but the weather was definitely cooling down. Back to Landry for a lazy afternoon before packing most of our belongings ready for departure the next morning.
So, Saturday the first of May, we set off for Provence. Our first stop was in St Gilles, clost to Arles, where we had lunch with Phillip and Christine. Phillip was married to a childhood friend of mine who died a couple of years ago. He has recently met Christine and she is charming. It was nice to have a lazy lunch and a long chat before leaving for the last stage of our journey to Massanne. The weather was definitly getting cooler and rain was forecast.
We arrived at the camp site, just over the road from a small beach on the Etang de Berre, at 5.30. The mobile home was fine and we soon unpacked and made ourselves at home. There is a small bar and restaurant just over the road so that evening we went over there and had a pizza. We ordered one each and they were huge so we brought 2 large pieces back home with us. The meal was accompanied by "entertainment" from a Dutch lady who had imbibed rather too much of the local brew!
We awoke the next morning to the sound of rain! We had breakfast and soon the rain stopped. I had a look on the internet for any vide greniers (boot sales) and found one nearby. When the rain stopped we set off to find it and got ourselves mixed up in a cycle race! Luckily we were just going through before the cyclists and found ourselves waved through. After browsing around the vide grenier we went back to the mobile home and had, guess what, pizza for lunch! Later in the afternoon I decided that we ought to find a seaside resort to visit.After looking at the map we decided to go to Sausset les Pins. We set the sat nav and off we went, through the town of Martigues and down to Sausset. Just before arriving at Sausset we went through the village of St Julian where we found another vide grenier so we stopped there to have a browse. Sausset is a nice little town with a large pleasure boat marina. It was very busy as the weather had cleared up and I suspect it is a popular place for day trippers from Marseille and the surrounding area. We had a walk along the beach, watched some surfers, and then repaired to the terrace of a cafe by the marina for a beer. It was very pleasant sitting there watching the world go by and we may well have stayed there to eat later on but for the fact that the waitress"forgot" to bring me my 5 euros change! Once reminded she looked somewhat shamefaced to say the least. In he end we ate at a Buffalo Grill on the way back home, France's answer to American dining!
The area that we are staying in is very watery! The Étang de Berre is fed with fresh water by the rivers Arc, Touloubre and La Cadière-d'Azur and – since 1966 – by the Canal de la Durance. Two canals link it to the sea: the Canal de Caronte leading towards Port-de-Bouc and the Canal du Rove which leads towards L'Estaque. However the underground portion of the latter is blocked by a rock fall. In central Martigues the road goes over the Canal de Caronte giving the town a seaside appearance.
On Monday we made our first visit to Nadine and her mother which was the main reason for us holidaying in this part of the world. We met Nadine when she sold us Carol, our first French home, and we became very good friends. Sadly her mother had a stroke a couple of years ago and Nadine is now her full time carer, not an easy time for either of them. The journey there took about 40 minutes, most of it on dual carriageways similar to that of the Toulouse ringroad - that is to say extremely busy roads and some horrendous drivers! They live in les-Pennes-Mirabeau between Aix en Provence and Marseille. We were so pleased that we had the sat nav as it would have been very difficult to find. After leaving the town we got to large commercial centre, drove past that back into wooded landscape and then to the housing developement where they live.
http://www.provenceweb.fr/e/bouches/pennesmirabeau/pennesmirabeau.htm
Their house is on a corner plot,hidden by high hedges and in a quiet area.It was so good to see Nadine again and she was so pleased to see us and of course Rambo! It took a while before Rambo and Nadines 2 dogs, Tommy and Ouska, made friends but they were all right in the end! Mme was up and in a wheelchair in the sitting room. Nadine and N went out, down to the supermarket, and I chatted to Mme. She seemed very bright and mentally not as bad as I had expected. When Nadine and N returned we had an aperitif and then lunch. In the afternoon we chatted and I showed Nadine and Mme photos of Carol. The nurse came to put Mme to bed about 6 and I helped Nadine get acquainted with her laptop. It rained all day so we weren't able to go out for a walk with the dogs. We got back home before dark laden down with leftovers from lunch which was very good of Nadine as I didn't have much to do to serve them up.
We woke on Tuesday morning to torrential rain and high winds - wonderful!! Luckily we are well prepared for the weather, we have the laptop with internet connection, Scrabble and books! Later in the morning we went to Auchan on the outskirts of Martigues for a few essentials. I also bought a pair of rubber boots as I had not brought any wet weather gear with me! In fact I spent the week in one pair of jeans and one or other of the two sweatshirts that I had brought with me! All my summer clothing stayed in the wardrobe waiting for warm sunny weather that never arrived!
We had lunch in the Auchan complex and then came back home via St Mitre les Remparts. It had stopped raining so we were able to explore the old town.
Wednesday was Nadine's 60th birthday so went went over to see her again. I had framed some photos of Carol for a present for Nadine and she was very pleased with them. Mme was in bed this time and she stayed there whilst we went out for lunch with Nadine. After lunch we spent the afternoon and the early part of the evening with them. Mme came out of her bedroom, in the wheelchair, for a while until the nurse came in to put her to bed. Nadine said how much brighter she had been whilst we were there, we said was it not possible for her to go to a day centre sometimes, somewhere where she would meet more people but apparently she refuses to go anywhere, not even into the garden. It was very sad to say goodbye to them both, Mme said why did we have to go, why couldn't we stay, when would we go back again. Nadine just looked so sad and exhausted.
Thursday, no rain but dull and cold. Went to Arles, walked round had lunch there before driving through the Camargue to Ste Maries de la Mer.Beautiful area but so busy and so many tourists (like us !). I fancy that a lot more land on the Camargue has been given over to rice production since we were last there. In the evening we had a very pleasant and reasonable meal of quail and chips at the bar over the road.
Friday another dull cool day but with the odd sunny period this time. The best part of the day was, for the first time, being able to talk and to see my grandchildren on Skype!! I had persuaded Rob and Julie to set it up for me. What a joy it was. We then went to les Baux de Provence an ancient village perched on top of huge rock outcrop.
http://www.lesbauxdeprovence.com/
We had lunch on the terrace of one of the many restaurants and at times the sun even made an appearance! Then back to our holiday home to pack and prepare for our departure next day before a final meal at the bar over the road. On our return from the restaurant I had another chat with my NZ family it being Saturday morning there and Dannielle's birthday.
Saturday we were away by 10am and set off back to Ariege where we were to spend the night before the last leg of our journey back home. On arriving at Landry we were amazed to see piles of broken branches. Apparently it had snowed - snow in May!!- the previous Tuesday and the wet, heavy snow had settled on the trees and broken off many of the branches. We had a pleasant evening with Martin and Meike and left on Sunday morning. We called in at Mike and Yiks to pick up a half lamb for the freezer - one of theirs that had been killed the previous week - before heading off to call in and have llunch with Kate and Peter on the way home.
Finally back in our own home at 6pm. Good to go away but good to get back as well
Hopefully, you will find a slideshow of our time in Ariege and Provence at the bottom of the page.
Funeral.
One day in April I received a phone call from a lady in the village who I have only met a couple of times. She told me that the mayor's mother had died, that the wake (veillée) was that night and the funeral the next day. It was obvious that we were supposed to participate somehow and I asked her if it was necessary for us to go to the wake. Thankfully, as we had never met the deceased, she said that no that wouldn't be obligatory but left me with the impression that we should be at the funeral. The conversation then went on to all deaths in the village as I was asked if we would like to be notified each time there is a death. I asked, tactfully, if it would be OK if we were just notified of people in our part of the village, Perron, and was told yes that was OK and she will give me a call when any happen!
I confirmed this with Helene and asked her if N should really be there as well to which she replied that he should be. Helene asked if she could go with us and we arranged to pick her up and she said she would get a small floral tribute for us the next morning.
So all spruced up and soberly dressed we picked Helene up at 1.45 the following day along with 2 small floral tributes. When we got to the church there were a lot of people there both inside and out. Following Helene's instructions N waited outside whilst Helene and I walked to the altar to place the flowers. Somewhat embarrassing as there were already so many people in there. Am not sure that the flowers were necessary as if everyone had taken some there would have been many more. We then collected N and seated ourselves at the rear of the church. It was the first time that we had been in the church in Castandet and I found it to be quite plain compared to many other catholic churches that I have been in. Soon the bells tolled and the coffin was wheeled (yes wheeled!) in followed by the family of the deceased. The parish priest, who we have met socially is in his 80's and a very pleasant chap, gave a long address and the service continued for about an hour. We left before the internment, Helene advising us that it wasn't necessary for us to be present. In a strange way the fact that we were almost ordered to attend gave me a feeling of belonging to the village. We must have done alright as we have recently received a card from the mayor and his family thanking us for our attendence and condolences.
I confirmed this with Helene and asked her if N should really be there as well to which she replied that he should be. Helene asked if she could go with us and we arranged to pick her up and she said she would get a small floral tribute for us the next morning.
So all spruced up and soberly dressed we picked Helene up at 1.45 the following day along with 2 small floral tributes. When we got to the church there were a lot of people there both inside and out. Following Helene's instructions N waited outside whilst Helene and I walked to the altar to place the flowers. Somewhat embarrassing as there were already so many people in there. Am not sure that the flowers were necessary as if everyone had taken some there would have been many more. We then collected N and seated ourselves at the rear of the church. It was the first time that we had been in the church in Castandet and I found it to be quite plain compared to many other catholic churches that I have been in. Soon the bells tolled and the coffin was wheeled (yes wheeled!) in followed by the family of the deceased. The parish priest, who we have met socially is in his 80's and a very pleasant chap, gave a long address and the service continued for about an hour. We left before the internment, Helene advising us that it wasn't necessary for us to be present. In a strange way the fact that we were almost ordered to attend gave me a feeling of belonging to the village. We must have done alright as we have recently received a card from the mayor and his family thanking us for our attendence and condolences.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
There is such a thing as a free lunch!
On Sunday the 11th of April the whole village was invited to a free lunch given by the fair commitee of Castandet. Apart from the pre lunch aperitifs everything was free. Aperos started at 11.30 but being used by now to the length of time that people will hang around the bar we didn't arrive until 12.30. Even then it was probably another hour before we sat down to eat. It did give us time though to chat to various people. Helene and her son Florian were there as well as Bernard and Pascal both neighbours of ours. Apart from them though and us we were the only ones representing our part of Perron. We met Nadine who is on the fair committee and she was verry chatty and pleasant, insisted that she bought us an aperitif.
We finally sat down to eat sitting with Helene and Florian. Florian was up and down like a yo yo and spent more of the meal time rushing about, outside with the other children,rather than eating. The meal as ever consisted of starter, entree, cheese, salad and pudding washed down with copious amounts of red or rose. As coffee and armagnac was served the singing started! One of the younger ladies had a microphone and she wandered around with it catching the sound, at one point she and a very elderly gentleman were smooching and singing. Then came the piece de resistance! One of the chaps started to sing
"Iam the music man and I come from down your way and I can play
What can you play?
Pia, pia, piano" etc etc this then goes on to include the miming of many musical instruments with the chorus being sung in between each one. Obviously he was singing it in French! Most people soon joined in myself included as ,amazingly, this is a song that I used to sing in the pub back in my youth!! By this time N was beginning to find the noise too much and decided that it was time to leave. I was enjoying myself and decided to stay as Helene would give me a lift back home.
It was perhaps as well that N left as soon afterwards Florian came rushing in screaming his head off. He had fallen, or been pushed, and had cut/grazed his leg. Helene immediately went into panic mode and asked me to look after him whilst she went home to get all the necessary first aid equipment! I am afraid, that hard mother as I was, I would have told him not to be such a baby and to get on with it! Anyway he sat next to me, sobbing, until she got back with a bag of stuff. She whised him off to the toilets to wash it, came back and sprayed his leg with antiseptc, at which he started screaming again. Then she dissolved an aspirin in water which he refused to drink and went off outside again to play with the other lads. So two outings with them which have ended in "injuries" and tears. What will happen the next time!!h
We finally sat down to eat sitting with Helene and Florian. Florian was up and down like a yo yo and spent more of the meal time rushing about, outside with the other children,rather than eating. The meal as ever consisted of starter, entree, cheese, salad and pudding washed down with copious amounts of red or rose. As coffee and armagnac was served the singing started! One of the younger ladies had a microphone and she wandered around with it catching the sound, at one point she and a very elderly gentleman were smooching and singing. Then came the piece de resistance! One of the chaps started to sing
"Iam the music man and I come from down your way and I can play
What can you play?
Pia, pia, piano" etc etc this then goes on to include the miming of many musical instruments with the chorus being sung in between each one. Obviously he was singing it in French! Most people soon joined in myself included as ,amazingly, this is a song that I used to sing in the pub back in my youth!! By this time N was beginning to find the noise too much and decided that it was time to leave. I was enjoying myself and decided to stay as Helene would give me a lift back home.
It was perhaps as well that N left as soon afterwards Florian came rushing in screaming his head off. He had fallen, or been pushed, and had cut/grazed his leg. Helene immediately went into panic mode and asked me to look after him whilst she went home to get all the necessary first aid equipment! I am afraid, that hard mother as I was, I would have told him not to be such a baby and to get on with it! Anyway he sat next to me, sobbing, until she got back with a bag of stuff. She whised him off to the toilets to wash it, came back and sprayed his leg with antiseptc, at which he started screaming again. Then she dissolved an aspirin in water which he refused to drink and went off outside again to play with the other lads. So two outings with them which have ended in "injuries" and tears. What will happen the next time!!h
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Somewhat surreal.
I had to pay a visit to the doctor this week - nothing important just my regular bi-annual visit. Our doctor is very young and I suspect had not long been with the practice when we registered with him. The practice is in the small town of Grenade-sur-l'Adour (http://www.tourismegrenadois.com/Grenade.htm) about 12 kms from here. For the first couple of years he moved from consulting room to consulting room but now he has finally got his own consulting room and waiting room which are quite separate from the others with an entrance at the rear of the building. The approach to his surgery is via a narrow little alley, the impasse des Ramparts, which is lined on both sides by very old houses. Next to his surgery is the 14th century church (or the rear which is certainly showing it's age!)
One goes from this rather beautiful little alley into what can only be described as a very modern, aseptic waiting room which has been cleaned to within an inch of it's life! There are no magazines, when I inquired as to why he told me that they harbour bacteria - I didn't like to ask him if the rather elderly magazines in the other waiting room had been disinfected! Sitting there this week reading my book, I can't wait anywhere without some reading material, I listened first of all to the church bells tolling the hour and then became aware of the sound of the radio playing in the background. The music I heard was Leonard Cohen singing Hallelujah! Such a contrast between ancient and modern.
One goes from this rather beautiful little alley into what can only be described as a very modern, aseptic waiting room which has been cleaned to within an inch of it's life! There are no magazines, when I inquired as to why he told me that they harbour bacteria - I didn't like to ask him if the rather elderly magazines in the other waiting room had been disinfected! Sitting there this week reading my book, I can't wait anywhere without some reading material, I listened first of all to the church bells tolling the hour and then became aware of the sound of the radio playing in the background. The music I heard was Leonard Cohen singing Hallelujah! Such a contrast between ancient and modern.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Trip to the mooutains.
I have made a friend in the village, H, and we have started seeing each other once a week or so. We sometimes play Scrabble and chat and other times have a day in town browsing the shops and having lunch. We first met her at a boot sale and got chatting and discovered that we both lived in Castandet. After a first marriage and 5 children she divorced and remarried and at the age of 42 had a 6th child, F. Sadly her husband died suddenly when F was only 4 years old. The other children are now grown up and have flown the nest and F is now 12 years old. H and I get on very well, she has a good sense of humour and we laugh a lot.
At the end of January a day trip to the mountains was organised by the village, mainly for those who wanted to ski. H asked us if we would like to go, Nigel declined but I thought it would be a good day out. So we booked to go, H and I and F and his friend N, the cost was only 15 euros and that included breakfast and lunch as well as the coach fare - not bad value. We had to be at the mairie for 6am so it was a very early start for me. Not being too sure when breakfast would be served I got up in good time to have coffee and cereals before I left to pick up H,F and N en route to the mairie. We left Castandet at 6.15 and arrived at La Mongie at 8.45, the coach having to stop on the mountain to put snow chains on as there had been a big snowfall the day before.
Everyone got off the coach and added several layers of clothing as it was very cold. Breakfast appeared from within the coach and a table was set up. Thermoses of coffee were put out as well as fresh baguettes, ham and cheese oh and red wine for those who wanted it - a bit early in the day even for me! By the time we had eaten F and N were pretty wet through from rolling in the snow and as they were wearing jeans and didn't have a change of clothing I could already see disaster looming!
The skiers picked up there skis, others went to hire skis and we went to hire a couple oof sedges for the boys. Getting to the sledging area was quite a challenge. Firstly it was not very obvious where it was situated and then when we did locate it the fresh, deep snow was not easy to negotiate all of us tumbling over several times. Thankfully the boys were able to occupy themselves with the sledges for an hour or so, getting even wetter in the process. H and I had a go as well, great fun but sadly I am not as agile as I used to be and getting to my feet is not as easy as it used to be. No springing up, more of a stagger!
After an hour or so we went and sat outside one of the many restaurants and had a welvome hot cholcolate and a sit down. The sun was beginning to warm up and had it not been for the constant whinging of the 2 boys it would have been a pleasant interlude.
Then it was back to the coach where everyone met up for lunch. I must say that whoever catered for the trip did a fine job in both the quality and quantity of the food provided. There was more bread,cold meat, pate and cheese as well as 2 huge platters of potato salad and pasta salad. More red wine of course and soft drinks. The only thing that I could complain about is that there was no seating! Had I known I would have taken a folding chair.
By this time the 2 "angels" were soaking wet and whinging dreadfully but they wanted to have another go at sledging so off we set again to negotiate the stagger through the thick snow to the sledging area. When we got there they set off again and H and I sat on our bags on the snow desperate to have some comfort after all the standing around that we had been doing! Sadly the afternoon sledging session was more stressful than the morning session. Having mastered the art of it the boys were now looking for more excitement and this culminated in F escaping our watchful gaze and trying to sledge down a virtual precipice that was out of bounds. On seeing this H yelled at him to stop but he of course took no notice and launched himself down the steep slope. Of course disaster struck and he came off the sledge and started screaming that he couldn't move his leg. We managed to disentangle him and get him up on one leg, screaming all the time. H was sure that he had done himself some serious injury so we set off with N dragging F who we had got down the slope and onto his sledge towards the first aid station. When we got there he refused to go in - I would have dragged him in if he were mine!- but no we then set off for the shop and restaurant area to gather our resources. At this point he was managing to hobble along and I was pretty sure that he hadn't done himself a great injury. On arrival at the shop/restaurant area I was pleased to see that there were lots of deck chairs on the terrace and the sun had warmed the area nicely. At this point I opted out of the childcare and said that I would sit in a deckchair, have a beer and enjoy the sun. H went off in search of trousers to buy so that the boys wouldn't be wet anymore taking them both with her. I then enjoyed the best hour of the day watching the skiers on the slopes, enjoying my beer and soaking up the sun. When they returned she said that F had been almost hyothermic but thankfully she had been able to buy some trousers for them and he was warming up. His leg seemed much better in fact I swear that he kept forgetting to hobble when he thought that no one was looking! Thankfully it was soon time to go back to the coach and leave for home. There was only one casualty, our neighbour S who has been knocked over on the ski slope and suffered a pulled muscle. It was good to sit in comfort on the coach, all I wanted to do was to relax and recover but with the radio in the background blaring out a frenzied commentary on the rugby match and H chatting away there wasn't much hope of that! When we got back to Castandet we were invited to partake of an aperitif much to the 2 boys disgust - in fact F stamped his foot and said that he would walk home and disappeared into the gloom. When H finally found him hiding at the back of the mairie she gave in and I took them home. What a relief it was for me to then come back home to blessed peace and quiet! Not a day that I would like to relive.
At the end of January a day trip to the mountains was organised by the village, mainly for those who wanted to ski. H asked us if we would like to go, Nigel declined but I thought it would be a good day out. So we booked to go, H and I and F and his friend N, the cost was only 15 euros and that included breakfast and lunch as well as the coach fare - not bad value. We had to be at the mairie for 6am so it was a very early start for me. Not being too sure when breakfast would be served I got up in good time to have coffee and cereals before I left to pick up H,F and N en route to the mairie. We left Castandet at 6.15 and arrived at La Mongie at 8.45, the coach having to stop on the mountain to put snow chains on as there had been a big snowfall the day before.
Everyone got off the coach and added several layers of clothing as it was very cold. Breakfast appeared from within the coach and a table was set up. Thermoses of coffee were put out as well as fresh baguettes, ham and cheese oh and red wine for those who wanted it - a bit early in the day even for me! By the time we had eaten F and N were pretty wet through from rolling in the snow and as they were wearing jeans and didn't have a change of clothing I could already see disaster looming!
The skiers picked up there skis, others went to hire skis and we went to hire a couple oof sedges for the boys. Getting to the sledging area was quite a challenge. Firstly it was not very obvious where it was situated and then when we did locate it the fresh, deep snow was not easy to negotiate all of us tumbling over several times. Thankfully the boys were able to occupy themselves with the sledges for an hour or so, getting even wetter in the process. H and I had a go as well, great fun but sadly I am not as agile as I used to be and getting to my feet is not as easy as it used to be. No springing up, more of a stagger!
After an hour or so we went and sat outside one of the many restaurants and had a welvome hot cholcolate and a sit down. The sun was beginning to warm up and had it not been for the constant whinging of the 2 boys it would have been a pleasant interlude.
Then it was back to the coach where everyone met up for lunch. I must say that whoever catered for the trip did a fine job in both the quality and quantity of the food provided. There was more bread,cold meat, pate and cheese as well as 2 huge platters of potato salad and pasta salad. More red wine of course and soft drinks. The only thing that I could complain about is that there was no seating! Had I known I would have taken a folding chair.
By this time the 2 "angels" were soaking wet and whinging dreadfully but they wanted to have another go at sledging so off we set again to negotiate the stagger through the thick snow to the sledging area. When we got there they set off again and H and I sat on our bags on the snow desperate to have some comfort after all the standing around that we had been doing! Sadly the afternoon sledging session was more stressful than the morning session. Having mastered the art of it the boys were now looking for more excitement and this culminated in F escaping our watchful gaze and trying to sledge down a virtual precipice that was out of bounds. On seeing this H yelled at him to stop but he of course took no notice and launched himself down the steep slope. Of course disaster struck and he came off the sledge and started screaming that he couldn't move his leg. We managed to disentangle him and get him up on one leg, screaming all the time. H was sure that he had done himself some serious injury so we set off with N dragging F who we had got down the slope and onto his sledge towards the first aid station. When we got there he refused to go in - I would have dragged him in if he were mine!- but no we then set off for the shop and restaurant area to gather our resources. At this point he was managing to hobble along and I was pretty sure that he hadn't done himself a great injury. On arrival at the shop/restaurant area I was pleased to see that there were lots of deck chairs on the terrace and the sun had warmed the area nicely. At this point I opted out of the childcare and said that I would sit in a deckchair, have a beer and enjoy the sun. H went off in search of trousers to buy so that the boys wouldn't be wet anymore taking them both with her. I then enjoyed the best hour of the day watching the skiers on the slopes, enjoying my beer and soaking up the sun. When they returned she said that F had been almost hyothermic but thankfully she had been able to buy some trousers for them and he was warming up. His leg seemed much better in fact I swear that he kept forgetting to hobble when he thought that no one was looking! Thankfully it was soon time to go back to the coach and leave for home. There was only one casualty, our neighbour S who has been knocked over on the ski slope and suffered a pulled muscle. It was good to sit in comfort on the coach, all I wanted to do was to relax and recover but with the radio in the background blaring out a frenzied commentary on the rugby match and H chatting away there wasn't much hope of that! When we got back to Castandet we were invited to partake of an aperitif much to the 2 boys disgust - in fact F stamped his foot and said that he would walk home and disappeared into the gloom. When H finally found him hiding at the back of the mairie she gave in and I took them home. What a relief it was for me to then come back home to blessed peace and quiet! Not a day that I would like to relive.
January in Castandet.
The first event for the New Year was a visit to our neighbours, Jeanne and Cristel, to celebrate Epiphany. We had not got back for their usual celebration with all the immediate neighbours but were invited to go on our return. We ate petit fours and cake of the Kings and drank champagne. We had a very pleasant afternoon with them and chatted a lot about times past in Perron. We came home laden down with petit fours and cake of the Kings, enough to keep us going for several days!
Next was the annual mayors reception to wish everyone a happy new year and to hear the mayors speech. As is usual there was quite a bit of hanging around before the speech and this time was taken up with new years wishes. The form is to shake hands, or kiss, everyone whether one knows them or not and to wish them "Bonne Annee and Bonne Sante" - quite timme consuming! After the mayors speech when he wished us all happy new year and good health, spoke of events that had happened over the year and thanked numerous people the annual aperitif was served. Last year we also had a sit down meal but funds must not have allowed that this year and only nibbles were served to accompany the aperos.
Event number 3 was a Jazz evening and meal given by the village music school. It turned out to be a very pleasant evening. There was an ensemble of 4, 3 musicians and a singer, and they played and sang whilst the meal was served. One chap who we have seen at previous visits provided some entertainment as well, by getting quite drunk and barracking the jazz quartet!
Next was the annual mayors reception to wish everyone a happy new year and to hear the mayors speech. As is usual there was quite a bit of hanging around before the speech and this time was taken up with new years wishes. The form is to shake hands, or kiss, everyone whether one knows them or not and to wish them "Bonne Annee and Bonne Sante" - quite timme consuming! After the mayors speech when he wished us all happy new year and good health, spoke of events that had happened over the year and thanked numerous people the annual aperitif was served. Last year we also had a sit down meal but funds must not have allowed that this year and only nibbles were served to accompany the aperos.
Event number 3 was a Jazz evening and meal given by the village music school. It turned out to be a very pleasant evening. There was an ensemble of 4, 3 musicians and a singer, and they played and sang whilst the meal was served. One chap who we have seen at previous visits provided some entertainment as well, by getting quite drunk and barracking the jazz quartet!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)