Contents of article "9. January 2006"
Tuesday 3rd December
Saturday 7th January
Wednesday 11th January
Monday 16th January
Friday 20th January
Tuesday 24th January
Saturday 28th January
Ow! My head!
Tuesday 3rd December
Happy new Year! As somebody wrote to me last week......"Happy new Year, a pocket full of money and a cellar of beer ...a horse and a gig and good fat pig...." I don’t know where it comes from but it sounds a reasonable wish for the year to come!
The weather here is decidedly chilly at the moment, with a Tramontane to blow you all the way to Perpignan and back - a saving on the motorway toll!
We spent New Year up in the mountains with all the cousins and had a great laugh, although the New Year meal, at a cost of 90€ per person, was poor, and the wine and champagne ’à volonté’ was not ’à volonté’
The company made up for it though and I put my total lack of rhythm to good use on the dance floor, embarassing son and husband and providing everybody else with ’dine-out-on’ gossip for weeks to come! Lulu tested a few wines and a glass of champagne and had me worried when he insisted he could hear the sea by putting a couple of glasses to his ears!
On the first stroke of midnight, the Spaniards in the salle de fete carried out the time honoured Spanish tradition of eating a grape for every bong, twelve in all, to bring good luck for the 12 months ahead. It means of course that everybody starts the New Year with a mouthful of grapes as it’s almost impossible to finish eating the grapes by the time the clock finishes chiming. People usually still have most of the grapes in their mouths, and they start looking at each other and have to laugh, leading to much hilarity, spitting and dribbling (which is an excellent way to start off a new year in my opinion!!)
Coming back down from the mountains on New year’s Day, via Mont Louis, villefranche de Conflent and Prades, there was absolutely nothing open - even the boulangeries were closed which is quite unusual, but it was quite late by the time we got moving so I suppose they could have opened and closed by then. We stopped at MacDo in Prades as a special treat for Lulu, who has overdosed this Christmas on foie gras, oysters and smoked salmon, and was in desperate need of some junk food! I’m not too keen myself, and would have preferred some toast and peanut butter to soak up the champagne but I must admit that it was comparable to the 90€ per head banquet of the night before and a hell of a lot cheaper!! I must add that that particular meal was unusual and the first time that I have had a New Year in France where the food and wine have not been top class, so please don’t be put off.
Saturday 7th January
The heavens opened this morning and cats and dogs came tumbling down from the skies. We went for a short and soggy bike ride, as Bisou needed to stretch her paws, and I was saddened and upset to see gun-toting hunters everywhere, strutting around with braces of pheasants tucked into their belts, and looking very proud of themselves. They wear luminous orange or yellow caps so that they don’t make a mistake and shoot each other too regularly. It’s a shame they don’t give the same sporting chance to the poor creatures they are hunting! I didn’t take any pictures because I didn’t want them to think they were worth it.
Despite the cold and wet weather we are having at the moment, tiny buds are already beginning to appear and the cherry trees are growing long pink fingers. Spring isn’t quite here but it never feels far away. If it rains again tomorrow, I might get out my paints. I love saying that - it makes me feel so arty!
I’ve had a bit of a sniffle for the past few days. What a fantastic feeling to be able to stay in bed without feeling guilty about ringing work to say you’re not coming in, and putting on ’the voice’ which you use automatically to prove you’re ill, even though you really are, but you feel like you have to exaggerate it otherwise they might not believe you! If you’re nodding your head now and saying ’I know exactly what she means’, hand in your notice tomorrow and move out here. You won’t regret it, I promise!
The Tent caterpillars are in full swing at the top of the trees. Their larvae are found on apple and cherry trees, and when they hatch out, they all get together and help to build the nest which is made of tough layers of silk and webbing. Each nest has several openings so that the caterpillars can come and go. If you wish to see the caterpillars working on their nest, the best time is mid-morning or early evening. It is believed that they build these nests to protect themselves from predators as well as to provide a moist environment to encourage the growth of insects. Yeuch! They are actually quite clever chaps as they leave a trail of silk behind them when they leave the nest to feed, which relays information to other caterpillars and also ensures that they are able to find their way back to the nest easily. I wouldn’t mind that facility myself for when I leave my car in the car park at Auchan ! I’m told that if they drop on you, it can create an allergic reaction, which can be quite unpleasant for several days. I’m sure that the Oracle will have something to add!
Wednesday 11th January
Banyuls
Woke up to a splendid frost this morning - white bushes and plants and a bright blue sky. By midday, the sun was actually giving off some heat - not quite enough to require sunblock but plenty enough to make you want to grin at it and do a little jig - so we set off to the sea side to delver some of our FactFiles (Don’t forget to look out for it when you’re around and about in the PO. It should be in all the tourist offices and many of the big supermarkets, restaurants, hotels etc.) First of all we went to Banyuls which is a lovely place but quite deserted at this time of year. All the cafés and restaurants are closed and the town looks quite sad.
After that we followed the coast back, stopping at Port Vendres, Collioure, Argelès, Saint Cyprien and Canet. Port Vendres was actually quite busy - being a port and marina, the sunshine must bring out the sailors.
We were told by the very nice lady in the tourist office that a new restaurant has just opened which is apparently very good. I think she said it was called la Tramontane (not very original) so I’d be very interested to hear on the forum from anyone who has tried it.
Leaving Canet around 17h, the sea was the most fantastic colour, a shimmering turquoise pulled right off a water colour painting. My trusty camera is unfortunately not quite up to it and the photos I took don’t show it off in any way near - but it was beautiful! The dune area between Canet and Saint Cyprien is really worth a visit. There are some fabulous walks, plenty of parking, and if you want to see a spectacular sunset, it’s the place to be.
Bisou of course took full advantage of the photo session on the beach to dig down to Australia again.
Yesterday, on a visit to some friends in the Aude, we passed vineyards that were quite badly flooded. I wonder how this effects the wine crop for next year. I wouldn’t have thought it would do it much good. Whilst we have had some quite heavy rain here, it has been nowhere near flood proportions. We do seem to be protected from much of the extreme weather by the mountains - even when the Tramontane blows, it is usually less severe here in Maureillas.
Monday 16th January
Just on my way to Barcelona to catch the plane to Leeds. Will continue this ’on the other side’! New title for a week ’My Life in Leeds’ Hmmm - it just doesn’t have the same ring! Adios!
Friday 20th January
Well, Pyrenees-Orientales weather this certainly is not - but it’s lovely to spend some time with my Dad and see all my friends, so I can put up with the miserable weather for a short time. It’s the lack of light during the day that makes the difference although it does have its advantages in that it doesn’t show up fine lines and wrinkles, thus allowing me to lie about my age more convincingly!
The flight from Barcelona to Leeds with Jet2 was punctual and straightforward but no longer the ridiculously cheap prices that have been a trademark of the cut-price airlines over the past few years, totalling 179 euros including taxes. Last year, I flew back at a similar time for 94 euros so quite a rise. Of course, the fares differ enormously from day to day and it is best with Jet2 to go into their low fare finder. Here, you can look at the individual one way prices for each day throughout each month and cut your cloth accordingly.
Barcelona airport is very nice - clean and easy to navigate although I must say that products in the duty free areas seemed to me to be more expensive than in Spain AND France. However, I do like to spend thirty minutes amongst the lotions and potions, trying on the rejuvenating creams (Helena Rubenstein - 149 euros for a small pot - ouch!) and blathering my face in eye serum and unwrinkle, decrinkle pastes and ointments. At those prices, you expect a miracle when you look in the mirror and it’s a bitter disappointment to find the old you staring back.
Tuesday 24th January
Well, I’m back and finding it a bit chilly around the hillocks! The Tramontane reared its tousled head this morning, bringing with it a drop in temperature, but despite the parkiness, the sky is blue and the sun shining down on the PO.
I arrived back at the old homestead to find that the cupboard was bare! Olivier has not been shopping since I left over a week ago, and he and Lulu have survived on pasta and cuppa soup for a week. Even Bisou has suffered from being left alone with the boys, and has not been served up her usual Canigou light, (specially for fat dogs with dodgy tums) but an unknown brand, picked out on a dip dip dip basis during a panic buy sortie to the local shop. Never mind - it’s nice to know they can’t cope without me
Saturday 28th January
Wow, this is absolutely fantastic! The whole world has gone white! I have never seen snow like this in England - it just keeps on coming down. In fact, the last time I saw snow falling as relentlessly as this was in Quebec on a school ski trip several years ago. Life continued as if nothing was happening: snow ploughs quickly cleared the main roads, creating two to three metre walls of snow on the pavements so that it was like walking through a snow tunnel - but traffic continued as normal and people went about their daily life. Here, life seemed to have come to a total halt. There is no traffic on the roads (which have NOT been cleared at all in Maureillas) and the postman didn’t even attempt to come along our road this morning. In fact, there is nobody around at all. Branches are snapping off trees with the weight of the snow and the telephone and electricity lines are loaded and straining worryingly under the burden. It’s so beautiful and very eerily exciting but I might well change my mind if our electricity fails and we have no heating or cooking facilities!
I took these photos this morning at around 11.30 and it has not stopped since. In our garden, there is at least a foot of snow, and the vines which you can see peeping over the snow in one of the photos are now completely covered. The Canigou is hidden by thick white cloud and the Albères mountains which you can see quite clearly in the first photo, are no longer visible through the white out. The mimosa, which was turning yellow and bringing a touch of Springtime to the PO, has been taken totally by surprise, and peers with shock and disbelief from under its white wooly bonnet. Bisou came back from our last walk looking like a big, round snowman with icicles hanging from her beard and moustache and snowballs clinging to her belly and tail. I think it’s time for a cup of tea.
