We are enjoying finally having the place finished, or as near as can
be. Today was the day for our apero for our French neighbours.
Unfortunately we received a note from Mme Delard (across the square) saying she
was ill and couldn’t make it, and later in the day she came across personally
to make sure we knew and to say sorry.
She really is very nice.
Swim in the morning and collected a few things for the
evening, and after lunch M. Molas (the agent from whom we bought the apartment)
came round to give us an appraisal of the current value of the apartment. We
had thought it would be helpful for us to have an idea of value in order to
make better decisions over the next year. He was most impressed with the
changes. We also took him up to the attic rooms above, and he is going to do
estimates for using them as either 2 bedrooms, or 1 bedroom and a roof terrace.
He’s also going to find out about ownership of the attic, as it is not at all
clear whether it is with M. Vargas, the original building owner, or shared by
the copropriety. We imagine we may end up paying somebody for the questions at
some point, but it will be worth it.
Six o’clock came round, our designated apero hour, and our immediate neighbours arrived each with a bottle
of wine. Not long after M. Antonetti (the father of the owners, and the main
worker) of the apartment above who had come in from Oms, and finally a little
later, M. Freitas, our builder and also owner of a boutique in our building. The
evening went superbly well. None of the guests could speak English, so the
entire proceedings were in French, but we chatted away about many things. We had
imagined it might be a bit awkward and only last an hour or so, but they all
stayed until ¼ to 9! Amazing.
We are very pleased. It was thoroughly enjoyable and has
given us the confidence that we will be able to make French friends as well as with
ex-pats. Not only that, but we can make decent conversation already, no doubt to
improve again with another 9 months of learning and practice.
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| Havaneres |
We finished off the evening with half an hour of listening
to Havaneres, the Catalan/Cuban/UK sea shanty singing, outside Bar Pablo.
