Pizza and red wine

Here's Jamsie and Masher, bringing with them the beautiful weather. We had pizza and red wine.

Hot sun out there. The frog is basking.

Jamsie is checking out my book (-which he played a fair part in directing) 

If you haven't read it yet, it's on Amazon in most countries. Worth a read. Brace yourself. 

 

thinning crowds

 Our Gracie has left us for the summer, sniff, and Gert and Elsbeth are away for a while, as are John and Margaret. In the meantime, the weekend has been overcast and grey if not actually wet; frightful, since today was the first vide grenier of the season. 

A parochial event. No dealers out and just the Esperazannaise having a routal. 

I'm bewitched by my find, Tableaux de la Vie Arabe written and illustrated by Etienne Dinet and Sliman Ben Ibrahim.  Here they are though I can't tell you which is which... I am informed however that the critter that is being cuddled is a dessert fox.

Spent the afternoon with new friend Hugo Soder,  inventor and  creative geezer of the first water. He's leaving too, back later in the year. 

------But Jamsie is back in his chateau, all is not lost :)

Once a year, often

Here is yesterdays birthday boy, John Matthews, a slip of an 80 yr old...

I took this at breakfast at the Pont cafe, where blanquette and cake set us up for the day. The family went off to the Cafe de Fa for lunch and after that there was a surprise party at the Matthews lair. The evening flowed into the bar, Tout-la Apero.  I've lost nearly all the photos.

I'II bet that not many of the English-speaking community are feeling quite the thing this morning.

News

Our Gracie fed us last night - wonderful cooking! 

Here's a round up from town...

Ronan, our computer go-to wizz, is closed

The epicerie opposite the Chaparie is taking in washing - might be handy -

and le Chapaire is closed. Sigh.

Life goes on.

 

Easter sunday at Savs

 Saveria hosted an easter Sunday party, full of youngsters being energetic. We admired them for a while and then went home to bed :)

Lovely day for it... many thanks to Sav and tribe for a creative and entertaining day xxx

The weekend so far

Elsbeth and Gert shared the traditional easter fest with Kat and Roland, Bob and I - and as custom dictates, we had a lovely evening which was much appreciated! 

Here they both are and here they remain for another week before returning to the better weather in Copenhagen. We'll miss them xxx

and here's Roland, looking endearing... other photos pretty bad, which talks well of the quality wines that Gert insists on :)

The next day, somewhat early, Kat and Margaret and I went to Carcassonne to visit the exhibition in The Mason of Memories in the Rue Verdun. They were showing a small part of the collection left to the city by Ceres Franco, and very nice too. Outsider art with big heart. She had an unerring eye.

Thence to lunch :

This is the Ukrainian chef at Freaks, also in the Rue Verdun. Lizzie Jackson took me and Bob there a while back and we loved it. They only do lunches and you must book, so I did and we were very happy... 3 hours! A three hour lunch, just like the old days. They were understaffed of course but even so - we really enjoyed the food and the ambiance and chance to chatter.

Got caught in the hail storm, with attendant thunder and lightening, on the way home.  

Thence to Nels birthday party at Tout-la, where all our friends were cavorting. Here's the birthday girl who doesn't seem to have changed since we met some forty years ago - we've some great memories!

Here is Antonia with our resident immortal Ole-Bendik -

Below is John Morley with a friend he hadn't seen for forty years. They roomed together in college days. Below them, a photo of Tim begging for a caption...

The other snaps are too mixed a bunch, truly - but many thanks to our Nel for a splendid knees up and wishing her many more xxxx

Happy Easter

Not Easter yet, but it begins at Good Friday and we are fully armed for it... plus sunshine here in Esperaza!

And here's an important one for next weekend, lifted from the Mayors Fb page. Only two euros for a table, time to get rid of stuff? 

 

Birthday boy

It was Peter Dunns birthday, yesterday, and with great joy we tipped off to the seaside.

Clare and Bob shared the driving and our best restaurant, the fish one where the thing flops out of the sea onto your plate, was open. Its been a while - we generally travel off season so everything's closed. We were the only diners so they made an agreeable fuss of us...

The sun did its best and appeared sporadically - the beach was ours, pretty well.

got home knackered but refreshed. Except for Bob who is wrecked.

 

Signed

Great mornings signing on Saturday, many friends did me and Aileen the honour of popping into the library at Quillan and buying our books :) Thanks to Nel for this photo and for others, which I will treasure.

After a token recovery period, Lizzie and I went to eat at Tout-la, where Cleopatra wandered in followed by Olle-Bendik. He is such entertaining company. We had a good meal and a lively debate, after which Lizzie and I sat up late nattering.

It's now Sunday, it's wet, and she's gone off to Carcassonne to return to Blighty. Back in May.

An empty house - pro tem.

bygone days.

 Here are Rosine and Bruno, snapped at Tout-la and now en route to their various homes... not before they took me out for the day yesterday, to the Chateau de Villerouge-Termenes. It's on our coastal route and I've always wanted to stop and visit; it's lovely, not disneyfied nor indeed, particularly comfortable - a sign of authenticity, for sure.

questions were raised about the authenticity of the medieval feast that served as lunch - though it was good and great fun. Other people dressed up but we spoil-sports refused that level of engagement. They danced!!

Bruno and his sister did the tour of the place but I noted the heights, the stairs and the complete lack of lifts and sat in the sunshine instead. They loved it but were tired out.

Got home in time to welcome Lizzie, who is here for the Toques et Clochers , our local wine festival. (I've stopped going post-covid, when they stopped the art exhibitions.) Guessing that the random Trump Tariffs will have an impact this year - we'll find out. 

Shoot the polluters

wonderful gateau for OB's birthday event, in the rue Gambetta by tout-la.... brownies from Louise gorgeous too.

I have many photos of the crowd chomping and quaffing but you can take it as read :) Unfortunately many were smoking and there's only so much Ventolin an asthmatic can take so at least I got an early night.
 

Going to have to find a way of dealing with the breathing issues before  the summer, when the great outdoors becomes the worlds ashtray. There's extra drugs, masks or hibernation. Perhaps I'II carry a water pistol and just shoot the smokers!!

Birthday geriatric

I thought I knew O-B's age but he's changed it so lets just go with ancient of days... here he is at breakfast, cafe du Pont, with Father Matthews who turned up recently.

 

Here is a youth!! To prove that we know one. James is here this week, enormously grown again, with his gorgeous parents. 

And the frog, managing the insect life of the garden with the help of a gecko or two.

Hope all my local mates have got Saturday morning firmly in their dairies... this is for the SIGNING OF THE BOOKS when Aileen and I will be flogging our literary efforts at the English Library in Quillan. From 11.30 till 1.00. By the Pink Palace. Please come.

in hiding

 Bruno and I shared pre-dinner oysters last night, the other guests being in hiding. We had Chez Charlie Lasagne, yum, salad and strawberries all with a dry muscadet. Worked well :)

Sunshining for the market... so far -

more abomination of d.

 Scene of former glories, The TyRex is gently rotting away. Sigh.

Since I'd collated all my tax figures yesterday and was insisting on a celebration lunch, we had to go to Quillan - where of course we visited our Tibetan friends. 

They seem to be doing well, barely an empty table. Really enjoyed our meal which was enlivened by the children playing in the street outside; a reminder of how simple life used to be. 

Apart from the exciting news about our frog - clearly finished with hibernation - and that me and our guest are preparing beds for the next wave of visitors, thats it!

Tout-la

 Great Tout-la Wednesday, featuring O-B's family in from Norway to check on him -  and him still blossoming. Plus Peter G turned up as well as the usual suspects. And new boy Richard, new persons Deidre and Russell and others... Missed Roy who was away collecting Jo from the airport so no Alan who is usually wheeled round by the ferociously fit Roy. Pete and Claire left for blighty so also absent. 

Victoria

Olle

Justin 

Spot the Madso tribe!!!

the abomination of desolation

 

Here's le Healthy's terrace this morning... truly dismantled. Sad that another of Esperazas little treats has been lost - it looks very like TyRex today - 

Other news: The roof of the ex-Scottish Daves house is being redone.

Half of Esperazas glitterati are in Dublin for Kennys exhibition. The portrait of Mike, much admired, has been sold!