Contents of article "34. February 2008"
Wednesday 6th February
Friday 8th February
Sunday 17th February
Tuesday 27th February
Wednesday 6th February
Happy February! The weather is superb today - yesterday was very similar. Cold, cold early mornings but by 9am the sun is already beginning to warm your face and by midday, the temperature is reminiscent of a warm early summer day in England. Difficult to plan ahead on the ’what-to-wear’ front though! I wrap up in furry boots and fleece on the morning walk, and by late morning, we’re sweating cobs and moaning about the heat!!
The last thing that I wrote in January was "The TGV is coming along by the way for those of you who weren’t over at Christmas. The rails have now been fitted and test trains chug cheerfully along the tracks. More photos of that to come this weekend." However, I forgot to put the photos on so here they are with more to come after the weekend.
The rather unladylike scabs obtained from being knocked over by a dog a couple of weeks ago have nearly healed (and what hasn’t healed I have meticulously picked off!!!) but I now have another animal problem. A little bitsy bird has been slamming itself up against our French windows (and yes, I know that all the windows are French ’cos we’re in France but you know what I mean!) and pooping all over the chairs and tables Flippin’ ’eck, I don’t know where it all comes from - they must be made up of 80% poo!! Anyway, this morning the weather has been so lovely that we left the windows open and you’ve guessed it! It flew in and started battering itself against the ceiling and walls (and scattering poo everywhere). We finally caught it and put it out but it was in shock and stood frozen on the (poo ridden) table before finally flying off twenty minutes later. I’m a little worried about it as it was quite a cutie and I’d hate to be responsible for its demise from concussion or shock, but I’m glad for the time being to be poo-free.
When the feathery visitor first started popping in, I received a variety of suggestions for sending it packing from the forum, not all of them printable, but here are a few. "Perhaps it is mistaking its reflection for a possible mate? We all know how passion can overcome common sense"
"A hawk silhouette is the one recommended by the RSPB as most likely to deter the majority of birds from flying into windows.. There are lots of these on google images but would have to be transferred onto black paper."
I should actually be in Leeds round about now but I ’aint got no passport!! I sent it off just after Christmas, following my own advice in P-O Life to send it to the British Consulate in Paris. Mid January, I received my old (and nearly out of date by now) passport back with an accompanying letter saying that they could not accept the photos I had sent. Why? Because I had my mouth slightly open! I admit that it has been commented on before that I find it hard to shut my gob, shy retiring little flower that I am!!!
Friday 8th February
TSF studios
Press conference - Perpignan marathon
Wow! I am totally shell shocked! This week has brought a little more excitement than I can cope with! First, we were invited to the studios of TSF (Télé sans Frontières) as they would like to work ’en partenariat’ with us, today we were invited to the press conference for the Perpignan marathon and introduced to the mayor (Jean-Paul Alduy), the director of the Catalan Dragons, and other apparently important people, and next week we have been invited to a dinner and show for press and other interested parties, for the revealing of the programme for ‘Les Estivales’, the Perpignan summer programme of shows!! Today, they saved me a special chair marked press and introduced me to all the other press members - did I feel posh!!! (Pause for breath - rather a long sentence but I’m not being marked on it so who cares!!!!) I kind of wanted to put my hand up and say "Look, this is all a bit of a joke. I’m just little Kate, ex teacher and definitely not a writer or journalist and you’ve got it all wrong" but people are at last taking P-O Life seriously so I’m going along with it until they realise that I’m just an old fraud!!
Sunday 17th February
Well, we’ve all been on and off poorly for a week or so, culminating in Lucien being sick during the night on Friday, and us following hot on his heels. Won’t describe it to you but think carrots and tomatoes!!
Feeling much better this afternoon and nearly ready to rumble though I haven’t actually poked my head out of the house for a couple of days! We had friends coming over for dinner and had to cancel so are now stuck with coq au vin for 10, along with carrot and coriander soup for thousands. I was actually fairly convinced I had ’flu at first but realised when I managed to polish off two full bars of chocolate, a crunchie, a twix and a bag of liquorice rock (you know the ones, with a kind of coloured cream in them) that it was obviously a ’feed a cold, starve a fever’ thing and had definitely not affected my appetite.
The weather is a bit moody and unpredictable, quite chilly even during the day, and it definitely feels like one of the coldest winters we have had since I arrived here, in terms of how long it seems to have lasted. Last weekend we went walking with friends to the National Park of cap creus near Roses in Spain. Wow! The views are absolutely stunning - crystal clear, turquoise waters and exciting rock formations. In fact, it’s a is a protected national park which extends from Port de la Selva to Roses, just south of the Spanish border, and is the easternmost point of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the largest uninhabited area in the Spanish Mediterranean and with its fantastic views, unique fauna and flora, clear emerald waters and hidden coves, the park is an absolute paradise for walkers, scuba divers, bird watchers….. It is also easily accessible for those who just want to sit down with a book and a picnic on the cliff tops, look around them and say ‘wow!’
This peninsula sits on geological rocks that are more than 450 million years old and quite fascinating in their formations of bizarre, sculptural rock tableaux, several of which inspired the work of Salvador Dalí, one in particular on the islet of Culleró, in front of the small bay of the same name which apparently inspired Salvador Dalí in his work "The Great Masturbator".!!!!
The park can be reached via several winding roads, (don’t forget the sick bag!) which take you through an incredible lunar style landscape, with startling views of the ocean around each impressive curve. There are three natural sites, Cap Gros-Cap de Creus to the North, Punta Falconera-Cap Norfeu to the South, and Serra de Rodes to the West and the whole park is a wonder of walking trails and archaeological and cultural sites of interest.
To get there, head towards Figueres and take the direction “Llançà-Port de la Selva” or “Roses-Cadaquès” with the possiblity of going through superb scenery on ’can’t-sit-in-the-back-or-I’ll-be-sick’ roads or a straighter road which you will find on your map - which we didn’t take with us! Our friend’s dog, the gorgeous Millie, despite the windy roads being a little too much for her delicate tum tum, found herself a friend when we arrived - the poor cow was quite fascinated by the fearless terrier. What fun! We picnicked on the rocks overlooking a small beautiful cove and tried not to say ’Aren’t we lucky?’ too many times.
Tuesday 27th February
Yes! YESSSSS! Yabba dabba doo! Yowser! I did it! I drove all the way to Barcelona airport by myself! What a big, clever girl I am! The traffic on the A9 motorway was very thin; even the lorries behaved acceptably and the road didn’t become hairy until I came through the second péage and had to start messing about with lanes and nose to tail Spanish drivers. Easy parking at Barcelona airport too. Now I just have to get back which might be a little more tricky as I have slightly iffy 20:20 vision – well, more like 10:10 actually, and don’t see as well in the dark as I would like to, my only prescription glasses being sunglasses!! So you see the predicament!
