An Esperaza Sunday

 Lovely Sunday here, a classic market day in sunshine and good humour - and a vide grenier on the riverbank. Got some embroidered sheets and would have got more but they are heavy things and I couldn't carry them. 

It all seemed too pretty to stop < > with a photograph which was rather dim of me. At my evening stroll the stall holders were packing up and I snapped them instead....

Oh and the frip is open, a new shop where le healthy started out from - opposite Linares, by the bank - there was an inauguration with the mayor and l forgot to snap that historic moment. 

Here's hoping you too are having a sunny, amicable and peaceful day, wherever you are :)

Norway's National Day

As I'm sure you know, today is Norway's National day.

Katrine invited us to share her heritage and all the tribe turned up in the sunshine, to lunch in her pretty garden on smoked fish and grilled meat and salads and other delights - including this cake in the form of her national flag.

Ole-Bendik was there of course and it was highly entertaining to hear him and Katrine debate various cultural positions. They come from different parts of the islands. Friends of mine are in Norway at the moment in Lofoten and sent a video - playing the same marching band music that Katrine was playing - which apparently you will hear everywhere in Norway today. 

Gratulerer med dagen! 

 

Wednesdays gossip

Since Jean-Luc and Isobelle have closed Tout-la so they can have a holiday ( well-deserved but bah!) - the Wednesday tribe have decamped to the back of Matthieus place by the station. Very frisky. Alain who is wheelchair bound nowadays got an ovation for getting up the steps, and Mike and Roy deserve one for shifting the furniture and getting in supplies.

Ulysses is back, a brief visit from Rome to Esperaza, his favourite place - his career as an opera singer continues to dazzle. Very disappointed there were no little fried fish available.

 

Bob and Pete and Clare and I hoofed it to La Chapaire, first time for ages. Extremely nice plat du jour - a deep fried chicken leg and a sweet potato and carrot thing. They have some new extreme puddings. Mine featured Baileys and a lot of cholesterol. 

We commiserated about their recent break-in but since the malefactor is already tried and in prison, the family were quite cheerful about it. 

 

The great and the good...

There's no mistaking Ole-Bendiks immortal face, now on the cover of the catalogue for the Royal Society of Portrait Painters - many congratulations to Kenny McKendry, a richly deserved accolade! 

The only thing missing is Cleopatra. 

 

Esperaza better than the Cote d'Azure.

 Lovely market morning... it was hot, coats were shed and revelry commenced. There is a Dutch coffee- making van down by the frip and though it takes a while to get served - one man making one coffee at a time - its is sooooo worth it :) will just have to get there earlier next week. 

Many mates out, lots of tourists around already. It rained later, plus thunder.

Saturday night - when I didn't take photos - Robin (who is back) and I took apero with Michel, who usually lives at the Italian end of France on the cote d'azure . His family's second home is next door so over the years we've got to know each other. Hence I knew the power of the orange liquor which they make from their own oranges; after a tumbler of that I quit, as the menfolk opened the first of the blanquette bottles. Clearly my age is telling on me - when have I ever before turned down blanquette?? 

Msr Louis, Michels father is now ensconced in the Maison de retrait with Ginette his wife, Michels mother. Wonderful to hear stories about them all, it was like a history of France in miniature. And I finally got to ask the question; why leave a sea-side paradise on the Mediterranean to holiday in Esperaza every year? 

His answer; too many tourists! It's noisy, crowded and you can't park anywhere. Even the local graveyard gets overrun as there is a statue to Webb Ellis who is buried there. (He's the bloke who picked up a football and ran with it as a schoolboy at Rugby, thereby creating a new sport.) (Allegedly.)

The bees are back in the old chimney!! The garden has sprung into life. So excited to see them. They used to be here all the time but disappeared for several years since a major attack by the Asian Hornets. So far, no sign of the bad boys and the bees are sweeping over the elderflowers that are scenting the air, happily and noisily humming. Joy.

Peace is flowing like a river

Here's Wilhelm - a bit late, as he and Emmy left my purlieu yesterday. Missing them.

Today is the 8th of May and a holiday here, to celebrate the outbreak of peace.

I went for a prowl between times and found no-one; the place was deserted. Maybe they were all indoors waiting for a pope? Improbable...

All the little shrines were flagged and flowered; it wasn't that long ago that the place was occupied by Nazis so memories are sombre and somewhat mixed.  Best not to forget.

Thinking of not forgetting, I recall wonderful Msr Francois telling me that in the day there were two cinemas in Esperaza - one where the cafe de la gare used to be and the other in Rue des Jardins where the little park now is. He said that you'd go to work on Monday morning and find 

out who saw which movies. And the big question was, did you cry?

Here's the Mighty Aude, also on holiday.

Habemus Papam, as I expect you know by now.

 

Lovely funeral

Michael Lovelys funeral will be on Friday, May 9th, starting with a drink at 10.00am at the Lovely Chateau. There will be a procession to the cemetery at Fa where he will be buried. Dress, erm, fanciful...

Thereafter, a celebration in joy at the Cafe de Fa - all according to Michaels wishes.

Michael Lovely RIP

 

Love this picture of Michael taken on his 80th, 3 years ago...

Heard this morning that he's died: off to join his much-loved brother in some seedy heavenly joint, no doubt. He's been remarking lately that death holds no fears for him and indeed, was expecting it soon. The rest of us thought the cardiologues would pull him back but clearly, his time had come. And gone.

He will be missed. Many condolences to the Lovely tribe.

Kaye and Maryann know how to party -

Birthday girl Kaye (here between Katrine and Siggy) held a stupendous party last night. Words are failing... here's a bunch of photos:

 

Apart from the fact that the mountain of food was delicious, the bath of booze ample, the international (and local) guests amazing, apart from all that the organisation was masterly. Unobtrusive and effective. Great big thanks to all involved.

Terry and Di are wed

 Di married Terry in blighty a week or so ago so the Rushtons held an enactment for the locals...

Cat and Andy from Granes

In classic Rushton fashion, bangers and mash were served but done really properly, coiled and skewered and onion gravied. It was rather hasty for us - Pete and Clare, Bob and I - because Bob and Clare had a plane to catch and were anxious about it. They caught it but  we had to leave a very agreeable party early, alas.

Delighted to meet Cat and Andy who are from my part of London; we knew all the pubs between us, most of which have been turned into apartments for the rich.

*Rather grim news from Guillaume Galeotti who runs the Chapaire restaurant. He and the family had just re-opened after their much-merited holiday but were alerted  last night by their security system alarm. Found a young man had broken in and was robbing the till. The family held him until the police arrived - 25mins later! No fun. And no violence used. This is the second time they've been targeted, hence the security system.

Hugs to them.

Mayday

 Last nights' fest at Tout-la was a blast - Jean-Luc ran out of food and draught beer and must be a wreck this morning. 

Here he is with his muguet, before the crowds packed in. He had warned us and reserved a table for the regulars whom he served first so most of us were OK for the fish'n'chip special, though I spotted several mates who couldn't get in/get served.  

The main thing about the chips here is that they are served with aioli, mayonnaise packed with garlic - which delighted Emmy, who is staying with us and is Dutch. Here she is;

Emmy is a life-long friend of Nel but Nel has been ill since she arrived, poor love; hoping she'll recover in the next week. 

The muguet  (lily-of-the-valley) thing is a custom in France for May 1st. You give a bunch to your co-workers, family and friends - kids pick and tie bunches for sale in the streets.

And its ages since I posted a pic of the frog so I feel its permissible today. Here s/he is, on a lily pad, communing with a fish:

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