hour changes...

... at the 8 a 8 they thought the fact that the market was very slight indeed was due to the change of the hour and indeed, when I did my third round, it had got more crowded. Spookily quiet first thing though.

Last night I neglected to take photos of the eating of the fish, (see entry below.) They were delicious. Even my doubtful skills as a chef could not diminish them. Joel and Angela and Bob were the lucky recipients - and petite moi, of course. Thanks Jean xxx and Joel and Angela for the sparkly conversation. Angela has been here for the weekend and leaves tomorrow morning. No stamina.

Music, food, parties

 Stan Adler and Bernard Denis (aka the Silverbacks) playing last night at the Cafe de Fa to a packed house - they are amazing. I suppose a lifetime as a musician makes you  seriously top-of-your-tree and it was a privilege to hear them.
That said, we left early being unused to late nights. Golly, it must have been 11.00pm when I hit the sack :)

Voila - came back from pottering in Limoux yesterday to find that Jean had been fishing in the med and left us mackerel from his haul. Eviscerated! Guess whats for dinner chez nous tonight? Kisses to him and Claudine xxx









And look, a diary date. Can you believe the Creperie is a decade old?
Seems like only yesterday that (cont. p.94)

night and day...

 Sunset and sunrise. Ho hum. Not a lot going on :)

Return of the hero

Bob's back :) Brought from airport by Peter Dunn to whom many thanks and ice-cream ... tomorrow night our Stan is playing Cafe de Fa, see below - night out, yeah!!

Couiza again

Here's Claudinne  at the Perception des Saveurs Cathares where we went for a quiet meal together last night Not that quiet, several neighbours spotted...  as nothing is open in Esperaza on a Tuesday night, we all have to travel :)

Very good though, especially on quantity. I'm slightly aggrieved as I have a dental problem, can't get hold of my dentist and can barely eat. Did OK though.

---And there is activity at the TyRex. Looks like it might open again soon.

all the latest

Vincent is getting a new roof.
Erm, that's it, really...

Market report

 How smart is this... coffee bar set up next to the bank to serve the Sunday morning queue for cash. And opposite there is a stall selling macaroons - not the pretty little mouthfuls you get in the boulangerie but massive heavy lumps of the stuff, in fighting flavours. Expensive and worth every cent.

 Here a young woman labours on another embroidered masterpiece - she has three on display, this one nearing completion. Its taken 5 years so far and deals with esoteric symbols, ALL of them, probably. Beautifully done in petite point. She finishing up with the Hieroglyphic Monad which as we all know was John Dee trying to explain the nature of man (He was Elizabeth1's  alchemist/astrologer)
Esperaza market is brilliant.

any excuse

Kat, Margaret and I went to the lake at Arques to torture ourselves with our ineptitude with watercolours - in my case, anyway.

 Very nice up there...no-one around but a fisherman 'passing the time' as there are apparently no fish.

The point of this torture is that we get to go to lunch together and yesterday we happened upon the newly-opened Perception des Saveurs Cathares at Couiza - run by the extremely agreeable geezer who had the buvette at the campsite a couple of years ago.

 There's a deal of pleasure sitting in the building where we had to queue to sort out our taxes but a few years ago :) The new owner has knocked the place around a lot and his Buffet a Volunte is amazing, his British-style fish (as in 'and chips') especially successful. Its 16 euros for as much as you want of a range of food. Puddings, where I grazed heavily, especially decent as are the salads. Going back with Claudine next week, can't wait though may have to starve myself for a few days first. Book on 09 53 56 33 50.

THEN, as if we hadn't suffered enough, Roland cooked us dinner. He did swordfish with tremendous complications and I'm feeling like a beached whale today. Vachement bien though, Merci Roland xxx

research

Bob is away again and I'm just having to cope.
In the interests of research I tagged onto Andrea and Max yesterday, a morning in Carcassonne followed by lunch with Jim Hankinson and his daughter Mattie - and her bouncing babe Theo -

 The mot juste for La Taverne a Bacchus is eclectic. Or more simply, wonderful. It's a French mansion in the hills outside Limoux, off the Malras road, open for lunch from Wednesdays to Sundays. Its BIG and it was packed and that was not surprising - 16 euro menu and brilliant food, jolly ambiance, strange art and odd collections - alarm clocks, for heavens sake! -

Vegetarians will not like it one bit but carnivores will revel. 06 09 68 28 81 or 04 34 21 96 38.

I'm going back asap to check that standards haven't dropped.

Many thanks to Jim, well found that man.

Birthday ambulance

Yesterday morning bumped into Andrea, whose birthday it was.* I asked what she was doing to celebrate and was told that she was waiting for the ambulance to be delivered. Assuming this was a critique of her age, I demurred - but it turned out, yup, Max is driving an ambulance to West Africa to donate to an hospital there.
It arrived....

Bob has gone to London for a week and my life is relatively calm. Took an evening stroll under the moon...the photos don't do it justice. The quiet and stillness of the air play a large part in the pleasure of  a moonlit night in Esperaza -

*It was Ceris birthday too - happy birthday to yooooou xxxx

vast conviviality

Norbert and Louise improved the quality of our lives no end last night, with their eyrie on Mont Marot lit by the full moon; fun conversation and impeccable food.

Louise, as I'm sure I may have mentioned elsewhere, is one tremendous chef.

Thanks to all... Roland, Kat and Margaret for being entertaining, to Norbert and Louise for being superb hosts.

New Poste

 On Mondays the post office is closed.... here are the new hours. The post box, ditto. (you can buy stamps at the newsagents and post at the box outside the town hall - the post leaves at 3.00 regardless of what it says on the box)

It's raining.

But Margaret is back in town and Bob cooked for her, Ian and  me tonight; most good :)

Sunday lunch

Bruno Lang came to lunch - old timers will remember him as the power behind the Caderonne, back in the day when it was a bio restro, an arts centre and a cool hang-out. I reckon it was 18 years ago when it opened. He has since moved to fresh pastures and new worlds but occasionally visits Esperaza.

Here Rico is having a good look at him.

Bruno said, whats with the English? When you got here you were the object of curiosity for your rarity value. Now you stand in Intermarche and its all English -

(He didn't add, quelle horror... nice man)

Weather nasty, cold wet windy ugh. Feeble market as a result.

Esperaza in the sun

Brilliant to be back! What a pretty town... I've been in London for Dave Eyres' funeral which was as good as funerals can be, I guess. 

Managed to cheer myself up at the ENO, attending the first night of the Magic Flute - heartily and unreservedly recommended if you are in London - and seeing the Dorothea Tanning exhibition at Tate Modern. If you get there, get in early. Once the school children arrive the place is unusable. 

***Dear Tate Management, can we have a child-free day for art-lovers to look at art?

More cultural confusion

 Here is le fish'n'chips... its a bad photo which is a pity as le fish n chips is delicious. Its salmon, mushrooms, little potato chips and cheese. So unlike our own, allelujia!

 Yup, we were at the Creperie last night - New Kelly brought Bob  in from the airport (don't know why there is no snap of her, too quick probably). Above is Bob with Jo and Cameron from the Orkneys, visiting with MAX, voila! Who is here for about 20 mins.

 No snaps of Roy either but did get Candy - from a distance - she is getting used to the crowd control management that makes a Creperie waitress a success :)

 And all hail Olle-Bendick  who happened to be in Luc's bar this morning- back from Morocco - struggling to overcome the effects of the party at the Cafe de Fa last night.
He took us to see his new house. If I didn't love my estate so much I would be overcome by jealousy.

Marmite again

Pour nos amis francais que ne comprennent pas la reference  Marmite, ci-dessous... a Marmite is French for a cooking pot so the confusion is  understandable :)

Its REAL

Its evident, the arts centre is really happening - let joy be unconfined :)

Only other news is that Rico likes Marmite. Hes been showing a deal of interest in my breakfast for a while so this morning I broke off a bit of rice cake complete with butter and Marmite and he's my friend now.

Not rain

Yesterday - as rain was forecast -  it seemed a good time to go to Carcassonne and do some essential shopping.
l took the one euro bus, changed for the train at Limoux.

Should have paid more attention to the signs... blue skies, no wind.

By the time I got to Carca had to divest myself of mac and jumper. Fortunately was also wearing a t shirt.

It got too hot to shop seriously so took the 2.00 bus back - I say 2.00 o'clock because that's what it said on the train station notice board. The timetable says 2.15 and the thing turned up at 2.19 - driven by a young woman who looked like the heaviest thing she'd ever controlled was a remote.

She got a little lost from time to time. No matter; she had a map.

She shouted at the traffic - 'what are you waiting for, a passport?'- and was generally worth the euro. :)


Some sweetheart has posted the timetable into Carca on the bus stop. It won't last long so here are copies...

Hope they are readable. Carcassonne canal is looking like it needs rain, never seen it so dry. 

 Back home to temperature of 26 degrees, to find the town hall being labelled. Ha!! Its a giant stencil for the parking space which surely has a single use. An artist could have been employed to do it once, by hand...though it might have lacked gravitas.

 Today has dawned grey and looks as if the rain will really come.

Rain

Rain, more of a drizzle but still... and the parrot Rico has started saying SPRINKLE with an air of great decision. Weird.
Alain says this'll last all week and he's generally spot on.
All the new recycling points are full. Took my stuff to behind-the-church  this morning to find council workers trying to clean up the post-market excesses; they advised me to go to the Place d'Industrie. It's raining. Headed instead for Rue des Jardins, nearer, and they were full too. Finally found some space in the old boxes by ex-Effisol. If you have stuff to go, suggest you hang onto to it for a day or two.

wahey, Sunday

 En route to the market this morning, via the back alley - which has a much ruder name, but nevermind that now - market rather underwhelming, due in part to the number of French people out with the Gilles Jeunes protestors.
--My neighbours who are French and live near Nice, have their house here as a holiday home. They  went back to Nice early this morning to join in the major demonstration there.

Lunch was in the garden for John and his lovely wife Clare.... all brought pre-made in the market because I'm lazy. It was good, as was the wine they bought from Magrie.

This evening Kat and Roland, Mike, Hilary, Rose and I ate in the Creperie. Here it is, from the outside (for a change).