Yesterday was very hot and unfortunately I had arranged to go walking with Denise and her daughter Lauren, who is now back from her 8 months stint in Gillingham where she was teaching French to primary school children.  We drove to a hamlet just above the Prorel and proceeded to walk up a track until we came to a canal.  It was not only easier from here on but also cooler as it was in the shade.  When we had reached as far as opposite St Chaffrey we then started up again, winding backwards and forward as the road wound itself up the mountain until we came to the Dauphiné path where we turned left and headed back to Briançon.  We were glad to at last be walking downhill especially Lauren, who is a bit out of practise since her stay in England.   We all soon ran out of water and Lauren took the risk of filling up her water bottle as a “source d’eau” which Denise was rather apprehensive but Lauren assured her she had drank water in all sorts of places and was sure it would do her no harm.  On one brief respite, we watched a female pied flycatcher feeding a chick.  This baby bird must have left the nest prematurely as it could not fly at all and its mother was calling out in panic as we were only a few feet away.  We had Cora Chienne with us who might have been too curious also.  This was a long walk for a young dog but she loved it, jumping in every available stream and puddle to cool, chasing insects and playing hide and seek with Lauren.  She is quite obedient but still nervous around other dogs and Denise had to put her on the lead several times.  When we arrived back at the car, the thermometer registered 37º, phew!  I ached a little this morning after this 4 hour hike, the first really long walk I have undertaken this year of about 8 miles.

Back to French class this week.  Last week had been cancelled, which was lucky, me being under the weather, as Valerie had to go to Turin in connection with her Italian classes.  Yes, not only does she teach French and speak English, but teaches Italian too.  We had a new member in our class this week; a young Swedish man of 40 who is has been here 18 months and who seems to be able to speak French as well as Rick and me, although I had a little trouble understanding his accent.  He had been thrown in the deep end, however, whilst working the winter season in a ski hire shop, being taken on because of his Nordic languages.  In fact, Chris thinks he met him one time when Peter was here and they were looking at snowboards.  Having learnt his French orally, he is using the classes to clarify spellings and enjoyed the fact that we were talking French in a controlled environment.  Of cos, being Swedish, he is also able to speak English perfectly.  His name is Dennis which confused Valerie totally to begin with as this is the same as Peter’s surname.

Today is the summer solstice and also the “[tag-tec]Fête de la Musique[/tag-tec]” held every year on the 21st June all over France.  Chris, still being incapacitated, I left him at home and headed into to town where I met up with Denise and Michel.  We walked the short way to the Parc de la Schappe where their son Michael was playing in his band.  They have now given themselves a name – ‘Eight’, which is apparently a play on words from the word ‘hate’ as of cos they don’t pronounce the ‘aitch’ - but they still have no singer or lyrics for their compositions.  They played for quite a long time, their longest gig ever apparently, and their influences being heavy metal, it was pretty loud.  Several people passed by with their fingers in their ears!  They had quite a lot of support and at one point, several male ‘groupies’ jumped up on stage and head banged with the band.

Later on we walked through town and were amazed at the number of people who had turned out.  We didn’t know so many people lived here!  There seemed to be bands playing on every street corner and in every café, including a calypso band outside the Eden Bar, a [tag-tec]Dire Straits tribute band[/tag-tec] by the Bar Centrale, and a jazz quartet by the side of the casino.  There was a great atmosphere with no trouble of any kind as the crowds were more family orientated ageing from 0 to 60 years old.  Chairs and tables had been set up in the streets, food stalls were plying their wares and a DJ was playing music in the main square.  The weather held too, all too often it rains for the music festival, and it was warm enough all evening for shirt sleeves.