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Wednesday 2nd August
It’s August! Last time I looked it was much earlier in the year! What happened to July?
The weather here continues to be extremely pleasant - a little too warm at times but thank you to the person who invented air conditioning. Yesterday we went into Spain looking for bathrooms for the extension (not necessarily cheaper but much more choice if you know where to go - nudge nudge) and the air was suffocating. Getting out of the car was a chore - as soon as you opened the door the heat just hit you like a sledgehammer. We survived however, but came back with absolutely nothing, having been tempted home by the absence of the builders at 17h and the thought of a ’plouff’ in the piscine. Bliss! I never thought that I would object to half naked men running around my garden but there are so many of them, of all shapes and sizes, that it’s difficult to find a focus for the eye! Anyway, here’s a photo of the extension so far.
After the builders left last night, Lulu headed for the pool only to run back into the kitchen screaming. Fire? No. Burglars? No? Wild bison? No. There was a spider (a big bugger I’ll grant you) clinging onto the themometre in the pool and looking daggers at us. It was clearly ready to pounce but I netted it and chucked it over into the neighbour’s garden (Muttley-style chuckle)and so far it hasn’t come back with its mates so job well done though I say it myself!
regular men contemplating hole
Other news? Well, Bisou continues to fall regularly into the pool, although after a year she has finally worked out how to doggy paddle to the steps. We also have a bloody great hole in the wall of our lounge - an open invitation to mozzies and mouches of every variety to pay us a visit once night falls.
There regularly seem to be quite a lot of men contemplating the hole in the wall but nobody seems to want to fill it in for the moment!
Sunday 6th August
We have wind, but it’s actually quite refreshing - the sun is still shining and the wind just takes the edge off the heat meaning that you can burn nicely without feeling too hot or even knowing that you’re burnt until you get into bed!
Yesterday, on the way into Perpignan, we passed quite a large vine fire just after the Destock salon at Pollestres (good range of furniture at quite reasonable price for the region) Tried to get a photo but didn’t want to be a ’rubber necker’ - after all, somebody, somewhere was seeing their liveliehood go up in flames and I find that so sad. Most of these fires are caused by sheer carelessnes and selfishness. Smoke if you want - everybody should have the right to live their lives as they wish - but you chuck your fag end out of the car in a fire risk region and you are potentially ruining someone else’s life. I notice on the forum a thread where someone has complained about being behind a car which did just that. Why? All modern cars have ashtrays. If you have to smoke in the car, why not use them?
I am very busy at the moment putting the final touches to PO Life which should go to print by Wednesday and be in tourist offices and shops, hotels and supermarkets by Friday if all goes to plan. If you’re in the region, please ask for it - it makes me seem important!! I do so enjoy doing it, (even though we don’t make any profit) so if you can think of anything you would like to see in the next issue, please let me know. It’s so exciting to be a magazine editor - I am desperate to put ’Ed’s comment’ all over the place but apparently it’s not the done thing!!! (Am ah bovvered?)
Tuesday 15th August
Mais oui, bien sur. Today is a bank holiday - walks, bals, fireworks and all manner of delights organised throughout the region - and it is absolutely WAZZING it down! We were actually meant to be going on the Maureillas ’rallye pedèstre’ which was great fun last year. However, I have been ’smitten’ with some kind of food poisoning and associated symptoms for the past few days, involving doctors, hospitals and the whole medical system, so I completely missed being soaked to the skin on a fifteen kilometre upward hike into the clouds! Quelle dommage.
In fact, the 15th August is the festival of L’Assomption - a ’jour férié’ (public holiday), celebrated by Catholics throughout France and commemorating the departure of Mary from this life and the assumption of her body into heaven. Most shops close (although I notice that several large supermarkets around here are remaining open, in the morning) and there are festivities throughout France.
The extension is no longer being extended. The builders have quite simply boogered off without as much as a by-your-leave and left us amid chaos, with holes in the walls and unfinished bits of wire and plaster poking out of every orifice. Vive les vacances eh? Nothing gets in the way of a French ouvrier’s holiday, particularly a promise to have your extension finished by July! Still, bearing in mind how lucky we are to be in a position to build in the first place, I ’aint really complaining - just having an ’on principle’ moan!
Finally, despite being out of action recently due to my various ’bobos’, I have still managed to publish PO Life this week and will be distributing around the region as soon as I can get out and about. Here’s a few pages of it -I must admit I am rather proud! It’s definitely the best yet and such fun to research and watch it take form. If you have any ideas, suggestions, thoughts for articles, photos, features, tips...do drop me a line as the magasine is mainly based around the forum and your thoughts, questions and ideas. Or if you would like to write an article relating to the history, geography, culture - anything to do with life and living in the PO - that would be fantastic too.
Monday 21st August
Another beautiful day in the PO - a cloudless blue sky, with a light breeze whispering through the trees, and that distinctive smell of southern France in the air. The figs are turning from velvet green to dark purple, the grapes are nearly ready for harvesting, and the olives are ripening nicely on the trees.
Still no sign of our builders, who seem to have completely abandoned us! I have a sneaking suspicion that the extension may not be finished for the end of August.... or September.....or October. On the positive side, it’s given me a good excuse not to do any housework as twenty minutes after dusting, polishing, hoovering etc, the whole house is covered in a fine layer of dust again so .. à quoi bon?
There was a toro piscine show in the car park of the Céret intermarché this weekend. I haven’t been to one, as I can’t quite imagine enjoying seeing bulls performing tricks, but maybe I should, just to find out what it is really about.
Last night we went to Barcarès with some friends for a ’pierrade’. You order either a fish or a meat ’pierrade’ and get a plate of raw fish or meat, which you cook yourself on hot stones placed on the table. The fun is really in its novelty value, and it’s great for a long, lazy meal, as they replace the hot stones reglarly, so you can take as long as you want to cook and eat your dinner.
We also ordered a ’giraffe’ - normally a giraffe shaped beer dispenser with ice down the middle, containing six litres of beer which you pour yourself. This particular giraffe was very un-giraffe-like in shape - more of a football - but still greatly appreciated, and went down well... and quickly.
Monday 28th August
The weather continues to smile. Yesterday, we packed up a picnic and headed for the hills. Behind the casino at Le Boulou, there are whole warrens of superb walks for every level, taking you to the top of the world (or so it felt) We parked in the Thermes car park and headed upwards - a stiff climb for the first thiry minutes but so worth it for the view. If you look at the photos, you can see the motorway and on the far side the lake of Saint Jean Pla de Corts and Céret in the distance on the left, with Le Boulou on the right.
It was the kind of day that you want to bottle, and drink later with friends. Superb!
There was evidence all around us, however, of the many recent fires that have devastated the region. Trees were stark and dark and leafless in many places and blacky-yellow patches of brush and grass bore sad witness to these fires which seem to have spared few areas completely. To add to that, the hunting season is not far off and we came across several ’spotters’ standing on mounds with guns. Not quite sure what they were spotting, or even whether they were actually out to shoot or just look cool in their trendy orange ’vestes’ with matching rifles.
Lulu and Olivier put their hands (one particularly grubby and sticky as usual - yeuch) over my mouth and hurried me along the path, knowing that I have a tendancy to ask why they want to kill innocent animals for pleasure. I am not a vegetarian. I don’t deny that I enjoy a good steak, but I get no joy out of the thought that some poor animal has died to provide my dinner. Hypocritical? Well, maybe.
On the way back down, Bisou was having difficulty walking, as the ground was dry and thorny and hard on the paws, but Dad saved the day by carrying her for five hundred metres on his shoulders. There must be a lot of posh ladies out there who would give large sums of money for this fur coat!
France is open for business again after closing down for the whole of August (and some of July!!) Our builders turned up today out of the blue. We did think they had forgotten us but no. They have taken up where they left off and made no mention of the fact that the whole work is now several months behind. That’s fine - as long as they block up some of the holes. Last week, we received a very unwelcome visit from a viper!! Yes, honest. It wandered into the house uninvited and hissssssssed at us when we gave it notice to vacate. Details please Roger.
I believe they are dangerous though not fatal? Whatever, it caused complete hysteria chez nous, apart from Olivier who calmly captured it in ONE OF MY GOOD TUPPERWARES (2€30 from Gifi - what a bargain) and proceded to wave it in my general direction. Why are boys so immature?
August is nearly over and I still find it one of the least inspiring months of the year, as mentioned last year. The weather has been OK, but the light hasn’t been good (for us artists, yer know) - frequently cloudy, heavy heat, dry and sad vegetation - absolutely not my fave month. However, September approaches. Love it, love it, love it!
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