Mondays

Mondays is drawing but had to leave, coughing. Energy back though so cleaning, ironing and generally getting on top of chaos when John M. turned up to disturb the domestic flow, bless him. He bought this divine gift from Spain, an esoteric object of great potency, probably.

Now preparing to hang my next exhibition. All details to follow :)

Out with the old, on with the new

 

Already confused by the hour changing and the remains of my toxic virus l nevertheless determined to do the civic thang and see the new mayor in. Never seen it done in France. Was fondly remembering the mayoring in London where Bob and I became an item, which was a lot more fun:) - here there was speechifying.

Then there was voting. Its all alarmingly open. The entire team votes for their choice of leader, in a booth, one by one. The results are opened and read, one by one. Little OOhs of surprise as Georges was elected by all except four votes who named Bernard, see below.

Now, be aware that the elected team also consists of Jean Torrent, retired mayor, Francine his adjunte, Jean Fournier, town scholar and good egg, and Phillippe Rivano, head of the third liste. So this accounts for the four rogue votes - fair 'nuff.

Now you should also be aware that the same Bernard was elected six years ago on the ex-mayors' Jean Torrent's team as his adjunct.

He quit in the Torrent administrations early days, left town and has returned to re-run with George. So the people he junked have named him as prefered to George! Quite elegant, I thought.


More voting later for the adjunct. Again into the booth, the envelope, the box, the count. All for Bernard but the four, three tokenistic and one spoilt. Maybe this aint so dull after all...

The bloke from the Council General gave out the sashes and George addressed us.

He thanked everyone - everyone - but the outgoing mayor. Then he said that he had to get to work straightaway, there was lots to do - he wouldn't leave it until the start of the next election. Yes, it was a dig.
We wait with interest to find how easy he finds it to get things done hereabouts:) He thanked his wife for moving here, leaving her country to be with him and rather bigging up the fact that he himself hasn't lived here for years. Lets hope he dosen't get the same sort of shock that we Brits get when first coming here, the snails pace of daily commerce. If you're lucky.

I missed the next event, alas - the commemoration of the war dead and the visit to General Lafites grave - since my coughing and wheezing were getting worse. Also missed the town photo and the apero afterwards which shows how ill I feel. Did suggest to Georges that it would be a Good Thing to name a space after Micheal Lafite and that the banks of the Aude behind his house and the war memorial were a perfect spot; he said he'd see.

Better late than never, perhaps

Was overtaken by toxic bug when getting this post sorted - must have been on Weds. Hope other citizens are clear of it, its pretty unpleasent though the worst is over in 24 hours. Afterwards its just a question of pulling youself together which is why I've been in bed for three days.



Here is a pressie from Max from his North Korean foray. We had a splendid T Rex evening and hes back quite soon having rushed off somewhere else amazingly foriegn.He is here for the Toques et Clochers, of course.

 Lets hope his travel diary gets published one day.


Off to the life drawing day now, if you're planning to come its at the Espace Louis Alibert by the footbridge.

art news

 Here are Kat and Alecia delivering paintings to Sieur d'Arques for the Toques et Clocher expo.

If you are planning to put a painting in, get a move on - the cut-off date is the 31st of March.

Remember the three artists who stayed here in the summer, doing a project on the Mistral? Its finished; see
 http://www.and.org.uk/eventspace/triadic-disturbances/

 Margaret and John have gone till May, Bob goes today to the UK for a week, Max goes today till April (having arrived via Washington, North Korea, Bejing and Hamspstead.)

Do settle down everyone:)

That election in full

 Counting started about 6.30 - its a new system so everyone is very careful. 100 votes in little blue envelopes go into a big yellow envelope, then each yellow envelope of 100 goes to the counters who will open and check each vote in the blue envelopes before counting them.

 -At first he numbers don't tally so the envelopes are emptied and recounted after each of  the candidates has rechecked the number of voters -

 When the first yellow envelope is passed to the first counters at 7.15  there is a small smattering of ironic applause. The hall is crowded. Each liste is of 20 people all of whom have families and friends, plus the municipal workers are out in force. At 7.28 I smiled at Jean Torrent and gave him the thumbs up - he smiled and shook his head.  (Im texting Bob throughout so my timings can be pedantic )
At 7.48 first envelope is counted and Georges is on top...

Each envelopes is checked for any mark which will invalidate it - ANY mark, this year no crossings out or substitutions are allowed, only the folded paper with the names of the preferred list

Our third policeman stands on the stage and writes the numbers as they are reported to him, added each column - Rivano, Torrent, Reverte and spoilt vote - to ensure he has 100. Out of a voting population of 1465, 1117 turned out (though this figure was changed later to 1118)

By 8.10 Kat and I are trying to find out what constitues an outright majority. If no one party gets one the election continues next weekend. The socialists have done a deal to unite in that eventuality but its begining to look like they have so far just split the vote.

 

And at last, tummys rumbling all around, the total; Philippe Rivano 119, Jean Torrent 329, Georges Revert 618. A clear majority. Esperaza has a new leader.

The old leader and team gallop to Plan B where a sumptious repas awaits, thank heavens! Starving -

Kat chummed me to the party and short shrift was made, a good hearted and rather relieved evening passed.

I proposed a toast to the next time and got no takers. 'Never again', said Jean and his wife - the gossip and innuendo of the last weeks has taken its toll, I fear. Msr Ortega is to spend more time with his wife in a house in the countryside they are doing up; most of the team had contingency plans.



Its been a wonderful experience getting to know this lot and Im hoping that our new friendships will continue -

Election so far

... so far, lunchtime, all I have to report is queues. Queues and queues. It took me 40 mins to get from the entrance of the MJC, register, put my list in the little envelope, shuffle the length of the hall and put it on the box. Then my name and number was called, recognised on a Big List, stamped and my signature called for in another book.
Everyone good natured and chatty though -
Philippe Rivano, head of a rival list, had had an excellent haircut and really looked the part in a dove grey suit and a lavender tie. Georges Reverte, head of another rival list, always scrubs up well - he looked very presidential. My boy Jean Torrent may well have brushed his hair this morning. He looked like normal.
The mornings' greetings in the market consisted mostly in 'Have you voted yet? How long did it take?'
(its showery and a bit windy with outbreaks of sun BTW)

Voting continues until 6.00pm. Then the counting starts. I have explained that I'm pathologically innumerate and should not be allowed to count anything but I may well help with the sorting.

Further Adventures

 Went to shop in Toulouse and popped in on the Musee des Augustines to lick the Corbet they have... and a handful of other goodies hidden among the 19th century extravaganzas. Nice.

We stopped in Limoux for a dekko at the carnival - got these two snaps before the camera battery died :(

 Heres a snap taken last night, of the sunset reflected in the bus stop. What can be deduce from this, Sherlock? That the bus stop has been cleaned - THERE MUST BE AN ELECTION.
                                                             Don't forget to vote....

tonight

                   Public meeting tonight at the MJC, 6.00pm - come and have your questions answered :)

market glorious...

 ...but Im really bored with photographing it so here is a tunnel under the railway and our old wheelbarrow.

Warm, bright, all the world outdoors smiling.

Much electioneering going on. The highlight of this week will be my lot having a public meeting, Weds at 6.30 in the Culturel Centre next to the Creperie. All very welcome and the more Brits the better as it will look like I'm pulling; despite that all the Brits I've spoken to want anyone but my boy, the great and good Jean Torrent - apparently because he doesn't greet them in the street.

The team members that I've run into today are quietly confident or possibly massively deluded.

Thelassa thelassa

 Weather persits so Bob, Lily and me hightailed it to the Med.
          Fine plan:)

 On Weds Margaret took Kat and me to Carcassonne to see the Corot again - get there if you can, its enchanting - and quite by luck discovered that in the old library upstairs and above the Beaux Arts is a collection of kind-of art brut, outsider art which is difficult to pigeon-hole. It is the gift of Ceres Franco who came to France from Brazil in the 1950's, befriended the likes of Picasso and Dubuffet and Ernst and started her massive collection which she has given to the town. The collection is now permanently in place and you'd have to be very hardened to art not to enjoy it. Below is a Marianne, of course :)

fotoskills

 Just found out how to get photos from my email to this blog, clever me :) So here are Andy, Lou and young James missing our lovely weather and hanging out in Spainish palaces. Is that Seville?
Below is a photo I was send after John and Clares wedding. Tres drole. Tea in the Kings Road.

You can probably tell there is nothing going on here and quite right too. Lovely. Off for a walk.

sun back in sunday

Hot day, like most of Europe, though bedevilled with a less-than-playful wind. Bob, Lily and I wandered down to Couiza by Annies to see the little River Saltz and here it is,under the ruins of Coustasa.
        - Its brilliant here.

news from the north - Edinburgh

Iain, much missed Iain, has written - annoyingly Edinburgh seems to be enjoying lovely weather. He writes;

"It has been an exciting time to be gay here in Scotland. I can’t help but reflect the changes both in the law and attitudes in my lifetime. From illegality and social loathing to celebrating the Gay Marriage bill in the Scottish Parliament building.  The choir [Loud and Proud] were asked to sing at the end of the parliamentary session and at the MSP’s party afterwards.  I now have five invites to forthcoming weddings. I hadn’t realised how emotional I would find it all. Of course just because it’s legal does not mean that there is a queue of exciting beaus down on their knees in front of me, (l suspect I could have worded that better), begging for my hand.  I have to say that I have never wanted that for myself but it is certainly making a lot of people very happy.  Of course the religious mafia is claiming that the end is nigh mais plus ca change. What we need is a strike by gay clergy and stand back and watch the various organisations grind to a halt. Sadly the new  legislations here are matched by so much repression elsewhere. It’s all such a mystery to me.  Why should anybody care.

Have fun and enjoy the sunshine.

Bises

Iain "

 Come visit us soon:)

 

pounding these mean streets

Im canvasing, which strangely has nothing to do with canvas.
I got the job of talking to the foriegners in our commune. The electoral roll in the town hall revealed that there are twelve Brits and twenty-four others - Dutch, Belge, Portugese, Spanish - which it is my responsibility to convert to the cause of Jean Torrent, the excellent and good.
Exactly half the Brits I did in fifteen mins by being in the cafe in the square this morning. They were rather underwhelming in their enthusiasm though one of them offered to sell me his vote (for ten euors; anyone know the going rate??)

-But the day is beautiful and I am amusing myself taking photos as I pound the mean streets.

Fishing season has started but it seems that its been too cold and the trout aren't rising.
Carnival season in flood also - tried to make a link to the events site and failed but if you google it (or the English Library in Quillan, which has a great info site) you'll get the programme.

Kats dinner

Kat fed the girls last night, to great acclaim. This was the first photo I took, they get progressively sillier, as did we all; such a good combination of friends, we didn't stop swapping stories till the early hours.
Roy was to be the token man but cried off with ill-health. Love to him and Jo. It probably doesn't help to tell you you missed a great evening :(

The weather is lovely again though a vicious frost in the night.


Attention all * Jim says there is a clever scam in the region targeting English-speakers. If someone saying they are from Microsoft rings, just hang up.

max out

Wandered round to see Max and he was out but it was lovely out so I carried on wandering. Here is a lorry parked on a roof, honest
oh no it isnt really:) Fooled you hoho
below shows whats really happening. work going on at on the footpath at the end of the Rue des Tuilerie.

Below that is a photo of rabbits in the sky above Rennes le Chateau. Honest.

Diary date; Friday 7th March, coming up, Michelle (aka MICHAM) who draws with the group on Mondays is exhibiting with Jean-Paul Salort at l'Oustal, 34 Promenade du Tivoli in Limoux. Its a cave just after le Musee Petiet as  you head towards Carcassonne. 6.00 kick off; show up to April 30th. All welcome.

its a grueling life

 Last night was incredibly grueling - Max is back in town:)
What with new friend Mike for apero with Ryan and Alicia, then a Ty-Rex soiree with Kat and Roy and Jo, it is no surprise that it took a while to start functioning this morning. Gave up trying to work and opted to take my hangover to Corot at the Beaux Arts in Carcassonne. Idled the trip taking snaps, since the railway line is being dusted and you have to take buses (2), so here is St Jean Baptisite above the cafe named after his auntie, St Anne, in Couzia

 

and here the grey and wet Bishops Palace in Alet les Bains

 Carcassonne was better for weather - see blue sky appearing in the corner of the square - and the Corot expo was wonderful, really worth the trip. No postcards, not allowed to take photos - work was drawn from London's National Gallery, from Germany, Paris, New York and Edinburgh plus private collections. Its on till 21st May and entry is free. Rare opportunity to see this marvelous painter.

 On the bus coming home couldn't help noticing Corots all the way :)

Sunday lunch

The Creperie has reopened, allelujia! Despite all the extra space you must still book - crowded-
New kitchen and Kevin not so available to chat to, but all else remains the same. Margo, Theophile and I had a splendid lunch there in the company of lots of our neighbours. Apropos, since it has been in the local press that I am standing on Jean Torrent's liste, one of them came up to me and kissed me and said, Allez Europe. Very thrilled as there is a certain amount of debate about letting the foreigners into the town proper and I'm the token foreigner. (Except for Edith but shes on Georges liste)

After lunch we ambled to the playground and watched Theo play. Hes so big now but still charming :)

New gallery in town

The Olive tree was lit to light the way to Christelles new gallery where the arty folk of Esperaza hove up to check out Jean-Noels work and to toast Christelles endeavours.

 Here is the boy himself with his flicker machine - its like those books you flick through to animate an image only here its been motorised. Its glorious:) And if you stand in the right place you see a guy turning the handle to animate the image of himself turning the handle....tres drole. And a great evening. Congrats to all involved.