Baccalaureate party & biscuits

Since we got back from the UK last week the weather has been a little more like you would expect in south west France. It's only rained on one day & we've only had one thunderstorm and that was in the middle of the night. Let's hope the weather's now set for the rest of July & August. We put the scaffolding to good use this week and were able to finish hacking out one side of the barn & it looks like I'll have finished just in time. We had a phone call from Thierry this week to say M. Lagarrigue, the contractor we had asked to do the drive, will be making an appearance early next week. It will mean that all the debris we have accumulated from knocking walls down & hacking out will finally disappear and the land surrounding the house will finally loose the appearance of a building site. Thierry also mentioned that he hadn't heard anything from the owner of the Landrover but the garage had said I wasn't to worry about the Lightweight going as there was no one else interested in it!

On Wednesday M. Mazieres turned up with his facture or at least that's who I thought it was. Turns out he lives in a village called Mazieres & his business, SARL Mazieres Renovo, is named after it. His name is difficult to pronounce so he says it's easier if we call him by his first name, Thierry. A popular name out here & one we'll be sure to use on Saturday night. Barbara was out and had the cheque book so he invited us over to his house for an aperitif and, if the sun was still shining, we could have a dip in his pool. It wasn't by the time we got there but we were able to have a look round his home and all the work he's done to it. It's in a beautiful setting and he's made a good job of renovating what was a derelict house & barn. Sounds familiar. We're looking forward to Saturday night and as long as he keeps his Doberman, who's called Gordon, locked up I'm sure we'll enjoy ourselves. A strange name for a French Doberman you may ask. He's named after his wife's favourite drink, G & T.

Barbara had mentioned that when she'd called in to La Fouillade during the week to pick up the obligatory baguette she'd heard music playing. Now it was either the relaxed lifestyle we were now leading, that was quickly ruled out, or piped music was being played across the village for some reason. On Saturday we found out why. The annual book fair was in progress and the music was blaring away interrupted by regular adverts for the event. There were lots of local authors selling their books but there was no sign of that other major book launched this week. J K Rowling obviously felt that the success of her latest publication did not hinge on a personal appearance at the 10th annual 'Du Livre E De La Bd' in La Fouillade.

What a great night we had on Saturday at the celebration party for Thierry's daughters success in passing her baccalaureate. We were made very welcome and even got a mention in her thank you speech. There was a real mix of ages with her friends from college, grandparents and friends & neighbours of her mother & father all mixing with each other and enjoying the food & wine, of which there were lots. We arrived about 7:30 and were given a glass of Thierry's speciality, a fruit punch made with oranges, passion fruit, liquid sugar & white rum. There was also plates of canopies being handed round and by the time it came to sit down for the meal at 9:00 I wished I hadn't indulged in the nibbles quite so much. The French really do know how to entertain in an informal way and it was midnight by the time we were getting round to the final course, home made fresh fruit salad. It was a good opportunity to practice our French & a couple of other guests complimented Barbara on her efforts with the language. Nobody complimented me! There was a real mix of people there, a man who used to work for Kraft Foods and visited England regularly, the owner of an organic & fairtrade biscuit manufacturer who wanted to know which UK companies would be interested in his products. He pulled his ears forward and told us, in a pronounced English accent, that his major competitor was Charles (Prince) and felt the British market would be a difficult one to crack. You can judge for yourself HERE. There was also a couple, she was French & had met her husband in the UK and had lived there for over 30 years and moved back to France 5 years ago. Her husband was English and had been a TV set designer. He was also in the midst of restoring an old Range Rover and turned out to be a Land Rover enthusiast. We had a good chat and he offered to come with me & give the Lightweight the once over. If that was not enough he was also a mad Apple computer fan. This could turn out to be an expensive night out.

Bit of a lie in on Sunday after a very late night on Saturday but we still made it to the market in St. Antonin-Noble-Val. It was a glorious morning and the market was as busy as we'd seen it. Rebecca is here next week & I think we'll be paying a return visit.