September 5, 2008

• I am giving this site a bit of a rework

  - so bear with me while I sort it out!

July 20, 2007

• I was the only one at French yesterday as Rick is away for a month

  We still continue to enjoy lovely weather unlike the UK which is experiencing more heavy rains.  I keep hoping it will rain every night as quite often dark clouds loom early evening which will save me from watering, but alas this has not been forthcoming. (…)

July 17, 2007

• Arriving at the "Champ du Mars"

  We woke this morning to find at least 20 hoppers suspended from the sticky tape, so it worked! 
  Today the Tour finished a stage in [tag-tec]Briançon[/tag-tec] coming all the way from Val d’Isere and up over the gruelling Col du Galibier.  We spent the day with Denise and Michel, enjoying a lovely lunch in the garden along with Lauren and Michael too.  We waited until the riders were nearing town then Denise and I went to join the men at the central roundabout in town where the race came down past the barracks, turning left at the roundabout and then having to finish the race by cyling up the very steep “Chaussée”, left round the citadel and arriving at the “Champ du Mars”.  As Denise and I could not find our husbands, we carried on up to the citadel and took a post up on the “interdit” ramparts of the old town where we watched the leader cycle past, closely followed by Nicholas Sarkozy who had been following this stage of the Tour.  We then climbed up through the Gargouille so we could see the presentations but there were so many people about, we had to make do with watching it on the large screen specially erected for the occasion.  Denise recognised several of the town’s dignitaries but was disappointed she did not get to shake Sarkozy’s hand! (…)

July 16, 2007

• Invasion of the grasshoppers

  We are under siege from the hoards of grasshoppers and have taken to sleeping in our downstairs back bedroom.  One particular type of brown hopper are crawling up our house walls and disappearing into the roof.  They are then crawling through cracks in between the wooden logs upstairs and appearing all over our mezzanine floor where we usually sleep, heading for the warmth during the evenings when it turns colder.  There is no way I can sleep there at the moment, especially after Friday night when I heard one thud onto my pillow!  There are actually less hoppers this year due to the torrential rail we experienced during June, last year’s plague being due to the drought but we never had such a problem last year with them coming into the roof.  I told Chris that if we had not been fortunate enough to have our extra bedrooms, I would have made him rent a small apartment somewhere in the valley for me to sleep in!  I’m not normally of a nervous disposition but even I draw the line at having hoppers crawling over my face in the middle of the night.  I spent the weekend strimming the slope in front of the patio and this caused a whole army of hoppers to converge on the chalet. (…)

July 13, 2007

• I arrived back from the UK on Wednesday to glorious sunshine

  Friday 13th July
  I arrived back from the UK on Wednesday to glorious sunshine, altho’ Chris tells me there has been some heavy rain as well in my absence.    The grasshoppers seem to like the heat, however, and are invading us once again.  Even tho’ we are keeping all doors closed (luckily we now have netting on two of our upstairs windows) they still get in somehow.  I think we carry them in on our clothes or they just jump through the open gap at the right moment.  Farmer Coco cut the hay in the fields last week, so there is not much left for them to eat so hopefully they will soon die off. (…)

June 25, 2007

• Back to England for a couple of weeks

  Tomorrow I fly back to England for a couple of weeks, so I’ve been busy getting ready and packing. (…)

June 23, 2007

• Music Festival on the Champ de Mars

  I had a late one last night as the music festival continued with the “D’Etonnantes Festival” up on the Champ de Mars, just above the old town and which featured all girl groups.  I went along with Denise and Lauren where we met up with Michel and Peter from French.  The band stand was set up with its back to the road, which meant the bank opposite made a good natural seating area for the spectators.  The concert was meant to start at 8 but of course it was gone 9 before the first group came on.  These were “Ma Larsen” who played a mixture of ska, jazz funk and pop.  They were followed by “Subway” a rock band with an excellent lead vocalist.  The group headlining the event were “Les Suprème Dindes” (The Turkey Supremes) who consisted of 2 girls and 2 transvestites.  This band was obviously more professional and made a great sound until the lead singer opened her mouth.  Denise told me this music was more your typical French pop music.  We thoroughly enjoyed the evening and the music that was played and were pleased that there was a good turnout.  It was colder than the previous evening, however, with a cool wind and we were glad of our fleeces and the blankets Michel had thoughtfully brought along. (…)

June 21, 2007

• Back to French class this week

  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. (…)

June 19, 2007

• Day at Embrun

  Sue and I spent the day at [tag-tec]Embrun[/tag-tec] where I treated Sue to lunch as a belated birthday present, her having been in Spain for the actual day.  After weeks of unsettled weather, today was gorgeous and unusually muggy.  We sat in the main square of Place Barthelon named after a Eugène Barthelon who was born in the area in 1833 and who having made his fortune at Marseille bequeathed several properties to the commune in his will.  Originally this square had been called Saint-Pierre after the name of a church that was destroyed in 1585.  We enjoyed the menu of the day starting with melon with smoked ham, followed by fresh haddock in a creamy seafood sauce and “courgettes au gratin”, and finally a fruit salad for me and a fromage frais with a blueberry coulis for Sue, to finish. (…)

June 18, 2007

• Village Idiot

  I was harassed by [tag-tec]Villeneuve[/tag-tec]’s village idiot today in the post office.  Even after he realised I was English he would not leave me alone, standing in my space so I had to keep moving, repeating his sentences, pulling up his grubby T-shirt as he was warm and smelling like he could do with a good bath.  He had come in behind me and as there were 3 customers in front, I had to endure this for quite a while.  When it was at last my turn, he promptly stepped in front of me and got served first.  This, actually, was probably not a bad thing for me but I was surprised the Post Master did not make any comment.  Perhaps he thought it best to keep this local sweet. 

June 17, 2007

• I’ve not had a good week after my visit to the dentist

  I’ve not had a good week after my visit to the dentist.  The swelling has gone down considerably but I am still unable to chew on that side of my mouth.  I’ve felt quite rotten from the effects of the abscess and the side effects of the antibiotics.  But today I felt much better and actually did some gardening and tidied the garage.  The weather has been fine during the daytime with heavy rain early evening.  That’s good as it means I do not have to water my allotment which I planted with veg last week.  I have covered the whole patch up with some “voile” to stop the grasshoppers eating everything.  Due to the plague we had last year, there are millions of them everywhere but they are much smaller this year and all this heavy rain should kill some off, I hope. 
  Most of our [tag-tec]garden birds[/tag-tec] seem to have deserted us.  Food is plentiful and they are probably up the mountain nesting.  We have a couple of sparrows (the rest of the group must be up in the village having families), 3 jays one of whom is very tame now, chaffy of cos, and the two baby crows.  We have to shut the shutters in the computer room and the downstairs back bedroom as they were waking us up really early pecking on the glass.  They still visit in the mornings but are not quite so noisy, and it seems they are venturing further afield each day.  Although one is grey and other black, we believe they are both males, according to their behaviour.  It seems strange that the parents seem to have just deserted them, especially as this is usually their patch, although I did see a third one in the garden the other day.  Had mum come back to check up on them? (…)

June 14, 2007

• French dentists

  My appointment yesterday for the dentist was at 2pm and despite the French habit of always being late, I thought that perhaps I had better be punctual this time.  Well, I arrived before M. (…)

June 12, 2007

• An art lesson at Le Casset

  This morning I joined Maddy’s nursery school class for a trip to the [tag-tec]Le Casset[/tag-tec] lakes.  The class had been split into two halves and I was there primarily to keep Maddy amused whilst Sue gave this group of 3 year olds a painting lesson!  She chose a scene of sky, mountains, trees and lake, and colours and how to mix them were discussed along with her method of painting.  I thought she was very brave to draw and then paint in front of a group and all in French.  Christine, the leader was quite scary and kept the children all in their places – there was obviously no messing with her!  As children this age only have an attention span of 15 minutes, they were then allowed to let off steam and it was time for drinks and biscuits. 
  The other group had been having a [tag-tec]fishing[/tag-tec] lesson so then it was our turn to fish.  This was demonstrated by Stephan who spoke such good English, that I thought at first he was from the UK but his French accent was also so good that I was rather confused!  He was fishing for minnows using balls of damp bread for bait.  Each child was able to have a turn holding the rod and reeling in a fish which they were able to drop into a bucket of water after Stephan had removed the hook.  I am glad to report that all the fish were returned to the lake at the end of the morning. (…)

June 11, 2007

• Dentists in France

  I didn’t have a very good weekend.  Friday evening I met Rachel, Sue and Maria in the Bistro Bar in [tag-tec]Chantemerle[/tag-tec] to celebrate Rachel’s birthday.  An early drink at 5.30 stretched out to 10 pm and although we had a very pleasant evening, all that sugar plus chocolate cake brought on a migraine which lasted all weekend coupled with the fact that I also had severe toothache.  This is a tooth that has been giving me some jip on and off for 18 months although my dentist back in England has told me on 2 occasions he could find nothing wrong.  Well, it flared up about 5 weeks ago, and then calmed down so I thought I would be OK until my return to England at the end of the month.  I had to, however, find a dentist first thing this morning and tried the practice that Michel had recommended 5 weeks ago.  This was 9.30 on a Monday morning and I had expected a queue out of the door, but no, they were able to see me straight away. (…)

June 7, 2007

• Usually we can rely on the Serre Chevalier never to rain more than 3 days in a row

  This week has been depressingly cold and grey with plenty of rain.  We’ve never known it like this before in the 5 years we have lived here.  Usually we can rely on the [tag-tec]Serre Chevalier[/tag-tec] never to rain more than 3 days in a row. (…)

June 2, 2007

• Believe it not, the sun followed us all the way home until

  Saturday 2nd June
  There was some sun this morning but also plenty of menacing clouds around so we packed up the car, cleaned the chalet and headed to reception to check out a day early.  As it was now after the 10am check out time, I assumed we might have to pay for the extra night but they kindly gave me a reimbursement. (…)

June 1, 2007

• Le Mas de Gras

  We woke to blue skies and glorious sun so drove a couple of kilometres from the campsite to a village called [tag-tec]Le Mas de Gras[/tag-tec] and started a walk in this small valley.  We walked up first, although the path was not clear, to the top of an area called “Bouisset” then back down to the valley floor and across the river Nègue.  This is probably the best time of the year to walk in the south with all the pretty flowers.  I spotted Spear Thistle, Large Thyme, wild honeysuckle and fields of red common poppy.  Unfortunately black clouds then loomed over and as it started to rain we managed to shelter under a rock where we ate our lunch.   This cleared so we continued but not for long as another huge black cloud came over the top of the mountain with thunder and lightening so we had to curtail our walk and hotfoot it back to the car.  The rain became heavier and heavier and we became wetter and wetter.  I expect the elderly man who waved at us from his farm living room thought we were absolutely mad.  Especially Chris who had taken the laptop bag to hold provisions etc. (…)

May 30, 2007

• Mont-Dauphin and Guillestre

  Another very busy day planned.  First of all Chris had to go and buy a new gas bottle.  This is a heavy onerous task, but he was gone and back in a trice.  Before heading for our destination, fort Mont-Dauphin and the marmots, we stopped off at Géant for a newspaper and a new SD card for my camera which had been refusing to do videos on account of lack of memory.  The new one worked a treat and I am very pleased with it, especially as I now have a little video of Lin feeding the marmots.  Result. (…)

May 2, 2007

• "Fragments de Vauban" photographs by Jeff Céas

  Jean-François Céas is an amateur photographer of the Briançonnais.  He presents 50 photographs offering an original vision of the forts of Briancon.  After 35 years without ever having exhibited his work, he agreed to this dedication.  In 2006 he was the winner of the “Folio Review & Gallery”, selected by the Farmani Gallery in Los Angeles, during the annual world demonstration of photography “Rencontres Internationales”, the photography of Arles.  At his gallery in California Hossein Farman has the largest collection of contemporary photos.   He exhibited part of his collection at Arles in 2005 and he owns hitherto unseen photos of Marilyn Monroe.  Jeff Céas exhibited two black and white 50 x 60 cm photos in Farman’s gallery in September 2006 called “Trees” of which one is famously called “The Tree in Front of the Ramparts of Vauban”.   In the November 2006 edition of the magazine “Images”, a full page was dedicated to him.

• I am SO glad you moved to Serre Chevalier

  I was very worried in the morning as there had been torrential rain overnight, and snow on higher ground, and we had to go via higher ground to get to the airport.  Both Lin and Chris were coming with us as Chris’s Dad would be arriving on the flight we were to catch back.  True there was settled snow in Montgenèvre - it looked very pretty everywhere in the mountains when we got there - but the roads were clear and there was no trouble motoring.  
  J had been worried about the weight of her case – especially now it was packed with marmots and fleeces and the like – and we all waited to see how much it would be.  It was a few pounds under the maximum and she was relieved – until Chris said very loudly for all nearby to hear that she could have got a few more pounds of drugs in her case if only she had known!!!  We thought we might be arrested on arrival at Luton and all the marmots searched, but happily not so.  However the flight back was not without incident. 
  I am not a happy flier and suddenly J alerted me to the fact that a young woman opposite us had sent for the attendants and they were now all assembled and looking out of the window at the wing!!!  I was petrified and tried to find the emergency instructions.  I wouldn’t know where to put those tapes on the life jacket I suddenly realised as I could only see the attendant’s head when she did the demo.  I only knew where to put the oxygen masks.  Attendants came and went and eventually the pilot came along and he too looked out of the window.  Luckily, after a glimpse, he then smiled and returned leisurely whence he came.  Phew. (…)