April 14th was our 40th wedding
anniversary, and we were able to celebrate it in Paris with friends and family!
Our friends from RAF days Nichola and Paul Cannock live in a
fantastic flat in the centre of Paris and were not only kind enough to put us
up, but also helped Rachel organise everything. We met up with Judy’s sisters
Carol and Gill and their other halves Terry and Phil, Ian and Di Harrop, Dave
Lockie and Richard and Clare Allnutt (and the Cannocks and Rachel of course)
for a superb lunch on the Sunday. Judy and I also did a bit of romantic
sightseeing of course.
As Paul was kind enough to let us use his underground car
parking space, we were able to take the car to Paris. Thus we could pick up
Carol and Terry and bring them back to Voutezac with us. They seemed to enjoy
their stay with us, although the weather wasn’t as good as it might have been.
One of our ways of contacting friends is on the dreaded Facebook.
When I had a quiet evening I put in a few names and got back in touch with
several old friends – we may even get some more visitors!
We have a lovely new Mairie in the village -according to the sign it cost
760,000€, and all the work was done by local firms. It houses all the offices,
a library, the relocated post office and meeting rooms. The village already has
an almost new Salle Polyvalente or village hall. Our boulangerie has shut, and
our mayor has said that having no fresh baguettes is unacceptable, so the
Commune will buy the shop and house, do it all up and get new tenants. Oh, and
there are 1,550 people in the whole Commune!
OLD MAIRIE
NEW MAIRIE
"VILLAGE HALL"
We had a good day out visiting the Cascades de Murel – when we eventually
found them. Lovely waterfalls and pools in a very quiet location.
One of our friends here, Ross Hill is a volunteer on a
heritage railway in the lovely village of Martel, about an hour south of us. We
had an excellent day there, and it is very impressive. We were lucky enough to
be on the trip pulled by their steam engine, which takes an old track which
takes a course high above the Dordogne valley, so there are some wonderful
views. There were a couple of coach parties from UK who were including the
railway in their trip to France – and it certainly went down well. Highly
recommended.
May was an interesting month – with four public holidays.
May 1st for Labour Day, May 8th VE Day, May 9th
Ascension Day and May 20th Whit Monday. Interesting how religious
holidays are still observed despite France being an officially secular
country. And of course if any holiday
falls on a Tuesday or Thursday then many people “Fair le Pont” – make the
bridge and take the Monday or Friday off as well. Conversely if a public holiday
falls on a Sunday, bad luck, no alternatives!
My oldest friend Dave Makepeace (and the saintly Juliette)
visited while they finished work on the holiday home they have bought about 40
minutes from us – and very nice it is too! They moved in and have also been
back for a break (teachers – more holidays than you can shake a stick at!).
Really nice to have them so near.
Finally bought a Kindle Fire HD – very natty bit of kit. Actually
ordered it at 4pm, and it arrived at 10am the next morning! Only problems are
that the battery life is poor, and because I can’t get any apps from either the
French or UK Amazon sites as apparently I live in the wrong place for both of
them. Very useful to be able to make Skype calls from anywhere I can get a
wi-fi signal though.
We have a favourite character called Bruno Courrèges in
books written by an author called Martin Walker. Bruno is a municipal policeman
(i.e. employed directly by the Mairie and not a Gendarme or Police Nationale),
and the stories are set in a fictional village, but in an area in the Dordogne
we know quite well. We knew the village was based on one called Le Bugue, so
one quiet Sunday we jumped in the car and drove there to compare fiction and
fact. Ah well, Mr Walker does say he has invented most of his places and
characters, and it was a nice day out!
Bertie is flourishing. We thought he wasn’t missing Faust,
but when we left him in my study when we went out he tried very hard to scratch
a hole in the door – which he had never done in all his 12 years. We do take
him out a fair bit – he is really a nice little dog to have around. His
favourite toy is a retrieve dummy, which he happily fetches back to me when I
throw it. He then trots off to his bed with it, where I expect he would happily
demolish it if I didn’t take it off him.
One Sunday when we visited Objat market we found that it was
also the Fete des Petit Pois. This actually involved stalls selling lots of
peas, but also folk singing and dancing, horses and carriages, and a farmer with
a pair of very gentle yoked oxen.
Last week had some friends from UK visiting – Jim and Ange
Wiggle. A very enjoyable few days, although the weather could have been a lot
better – naturally it improved as soon as they left. WE did have some good
days, including a nice visit to Sarlat. They took us out for a very nice meal
on their last evening with us – for which many thanks.
As a caseworker for the charity SSAFA I went to London to do
a couple of courses, one on the on line form used to progress cases and one on loss
and bereavement. I went over a couple of days early so that I could travel with
CityJet and not the dreaded Ryan Air. I stayed at the Union Jack Club, which is
a very nice club / hotel right next to Waterloo station. I managed to meet up
with Rachel and Nick, and we had an excellent meal at a very posh restaurant called
Rules. I also met an old friend Verena, and we met Nick at his place of work
the “Gherkin”. He took us up to the top for a coffee and some fantastic views.
A good trip, but glad to get home, of course.
Last night we rushed out at 11pm to watch the International
Space Station pass over. I have found a website which lets you find when it is passing
near you and is visible. We always find it exciting to think that there are
actually people whizzing past up there!
