I think we are finally starting to feel as though we can kick back a little and have more time off doing renovation work. We have the main room virtually finished, though knocking down the wall between the living room/bedroom and rebuilding it with relocated double doors will be a bit of a mission. We think we will pay the builder to do this. We have now decided to paint the existing tiles on the wall where the wardrobe will be, and possibly also the horrible tiles on the walls in the bathroom. Doing this, especially the latter, will be a major saving on time, energy and cost. We can sort of vaguely start to see the end of the renovation process.
We kicked off today with a run around our usual route, then off to the market for our normal look-around. There is a large stall selling English books and I managed to get the sequel to a Kate Moss historical novel (set locally) I picked up a few weeks ago. We would like to bring back a big pile of books when we come next year. After our successful clothes shop yesterday ( yeeeeeessssssssssss!) we will be able to leave all our clothes in Céret and just bring back a bit of warmer gear for next year. We should still have plenty of room for books. Suzy and Tim brought out a bunch for us – mainly our travel guides.
Last night we made the decision that we just have to get out for meal at a restaurant. We have been here nearly two months now and have only been out once for lunch at Corsavy, other than many coffees or glasses of wine/beer, and the open air meal. We are usually pretty wrecked at the end of each day and actually prefer just having a scratch meal at home and relaxing on the sofa than going out. However, enough is enough and we have to make an effort. Does that sound crazy or what?
We were going to go out for dinner but wandering a bit after midday we were walking through Place des Neuf Jets which is a lovely plaza with four restaurants in it. We decided to eat there and then. The Place des Neuf Jets (Place of Nine Fountains) backs onto our own building. It was starting to fill up by 12.30pm as usual, and it looks gorgeous with everyone seated in the shade under the large trees, with the fountain trickling beside them and a jazz group busking next to it. There are some 70 tables, and every last one was full at 1pm.
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| Chagall placemat |
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| Lunch at Place des Neuf Jets |
We had the three course menu du midi of salad (Greek or Serrano), beef and vegetables, and chocolate mousse. It was delicious and of course we realised we should have come weeks earlier. We might now do a complete turnaround and go every Saturday! It was such a treat having grilled meat (our microwave isn’t much of a substitute) and carrots, courgettes and mashed potato. Oh joy! We can’t wait to have an electrician get our oven and cooktop up and running.
It is "only" 28 degrees outside today and it really seems quite pleasant. We must be getting used to the heat. We plan an easy afternoon today, catching up on emails, watching some of the French Tennis Open, reading etc. A little local booklet is produced here every month which gives the events that are coming up. It is very difficult to keep up with everything that is on – not only in Céret but the towns around about and on the coast. Today for example, a stage has been set up in Place de la Republique and at 9pm there will be a display of Catalan Cuban British sea shanties. Yes, it sounds crazy. But they are ‘contradansa’ rhythms, which is a bastardisation of ‘country dance’ from Britain. It seems that Catalan sailors brought them back on their return from Cuba.
We had a very pleasant visit from a NZ woman about 5pm. We had met her at the outdoor meal last Sat night and invited her around for an aperitif sometime. She is from Tauranga, just about to turn 65 (she looked about 50) and is travelling by herself. She travels to France every two years and has covered a vast amount of it over the years. This is her first trip to Céret and she has enjoyed it so much she seriously considered cancelling the rest of her trip and just staying here. However, she is soon to meet up with friends so felt she had to stick with her plans. She is a librarian at the Tauranga Polytech and reckons she has read over 100 books about people who have travelled through or bought property to renovate in France. She is now hoping to do a 6 month house-sit when she retires when she turns 65. She was very pleasant company and she loves our apartment. We will definitely keep in touch.
After dinner we wandered into Place de la Republique at 9pm to find out what the sea-shanties were all about. The seating that had been set up for about 500 odd people was virtually full when we got there. J wasn’t too keen (he said watching cows ruminate would be more gripping) but I enjoyed the entertainment. Five different groups sang four songs each, finishing off with the whole audience joining in on the last song. The whole evening as commentated and sung in Catalan so we figure that just about all residents here speak Catalan fluently as well as French. The bands were mainly made up of grey haired men who were having a great old time singing away and winding up the crowd. We didn’t get home until nearly midnight.
