Adventures in France Episode 13

At the beginning of the week we returned Dappley to her owners and were just a little sad to see how enthusiastically she greeted her owners. Obviously she had just been putting on a brave face for us, while all the time she was longing for them to return! It was fun to have a little dog around the place, but to be perfectly honest, we couldn’t really think of having anyone’s pet here for longer than a few days, and then only infrequently.
On the way home again we called in at a large supermarket and bought ourselves an indoor aerial for the TV set we have been lent. Our idea was that if we could see the pictures while hearing the French, particularly on the news channel, we would be able to improve our French by leaps and bounds. However, our dreams of becoming fluent French-speakers overnight were still-born as, no matter what Neels tried, we could not get the aerial to pick up a strong enough signal to give us a picture that stood still for more than a nano-second. Oh well, it’s back to the hard way then…..!
The following day we were returning some of the hospitality that we have been shown, so were unable to return the aerial until the day after that, which we were a bit nervous about as we had lost the till slip. However, there was absolutely no problem at all. We merely said that the aerial was incompatible with our TV and that was that. Money back at once. The same day, I suddenly got fed up with my hair which was too long and badly needed cutting, so I phoned the number I had been given for an English-speaking hairdresser and made and appointment. She lives near a town called Mielan which was all new territory to us, and we had a really lovely drive down to keep the appointment. I know we are trying to do as much as possible in French, but I definitely do not feel competent to discuss a haircut in French and imagine if I mispronounced something vital and ended up with a shaven head! Anyway she is a lovely warm person and I am glad to have got to know her. That night, we had been invited out to dinner and when we left our friends’ house, it was just beginning to drizzle quite heavily. By the time we got home, it was pouring down, and continued to do so all night and most of the next day, with the temperature dropping way down again. Afterwards we discovered that our village had had 60 mms of rain, and the garden had been transformed once more into a bog! But there is always a bright side and in this case it means that the garden will not need watering for quite a few days.
On Saturday we set out for Toulouse airport where we were due to collect another cousin who has come to stay for a short while. The weather was not very bright and was quite cool too, but we are hoping for an improvement as grey days don’t make for good sight-seeing. We also have a full programme planned for the time he is here, and would really like to show him the area while it is looking its best.
Although we have almost exhausted the supply of vegetables in the garden, with only some rather magnificent onions still to be lifted. Our tomato plants that we rescued from the Agri are doing very well and have sprouted magnificently. We are longing for them to start producing to that we can find out just what kinds of tomatoes we have actually acquired. However, the fruit trees are now coming into their own and we are already getting delicious little Mirabelle plums. Soon we will start picking a bumper crop of figs, and I may well be glad that I have kept all the various bottles that we have emptied over the past few months! I see a major jam-making session ahead.
Of course the garden doesn’t stop there as there are still all sorts of flowers coming on too. We currently have a wonderful bed of gladioli – red, orange, yellow, pink and a striking two-toned pink and white one. We also have some really spectacular dahlias in a whole range of colours, and then my favourite is a blue hibiscus which I have never seen before but which is very eye-catching. Having not planted any of these things, it is a bit like opening a treasure chest and seeing what is inside, when these plants start flowering and we are loving the experience.

Adventures in France Episode 12

This week was an important one in the French calendar as it contained the 14th July, otherwise known as Bastille Day, the French National Day. It commemorates the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison in Paris, in 1789. The purpose was two-fold – to release political prisoners and to obtain ammunition and gunpowder, as the people (the peasants) feared reprisal attacks by the royal military and the feudal lords. Realizing the futility of trying to hold out against the attack, the Governor of the prison opened the gates, but due to a misunderstanding fighting continued and 65 of the attackers lost their lives while only one defender died. At the time, there were only seven prisoners incarcerated and none of them were political prisoners. However, the point had been made and shortly after, feudalism was abolished and the Declaration of Man and the Citizen was proclaimed. So now, every year at this time great celebrations are held in which fireworks play a big part.
In Aignan, the celebrations took the form of a communal dinner, held outdoors in the square in front of the community hall, followed by music and dancing, and finished off with the inevitable fireworks. Dinner consisted of a 3-melon starter with Parma ham (Spanspek, wintermelon and another white fleshed Spanish melon); duck breast, freshly grilled by the man at the braai, served with green beans and a couple of chunks of baguette; finished off with a commercial cornet ice-cream. There was also coffee, and of course, wine with the meal. Once again we were impressed by the behaviour of the children. There was no screaming or rushing about madly in and out of the adults. They all went off to one side and the bigger ones looked after the smaller ones, and everything was pleasant and orderly. When the time came, the children were fed first, and when the music was turned up for the dancing, they all joined in too. And since all the children had displayed such adult manners all evening, it gave the adults every excuse to ooh and aah at the fireworks, like children!
The following morning was a very late one in the Ferreira household! However we couldn’t dally too much as we were expecting a small guest later in the day and had arranged to collect her in the early afternoon from a house we had never been to before. It was not hard to find though and with the help of Jane and the directions given to us by the householder, we drove straight there. Our guest was a small rough-haired Jack Russell terrier, called Dappley, and she had come to stay for the weekend while her owners went on a white-water rafting excursion. Dappley was not at all sure about the arrangement, and sat bolt upright and perfectly still on my lap for the entire return trip, rather like a stuffed toy. However, after a day, she settled down and has made herself very much at home with us. She hops up on to the couch when Neels settles down to read, but is just as ready to go do some wild digging in the garden if we are outside. I think she has frightened all the field mice for miles around by digging open the entrance to a few burrows and huffing down them with great enthusiasm. She is a dear little thing and we will miss her when she goes back home at the end of the weekend.
It is now sunflower time in the Gers! The wheat has been harvested, the straw and grass cut and baled, and the bales have been carted to various farms. Now the sunflower plants which were only thirty centimetres high when we went to Vazerac on the 22nd June, are now over a metre tall and are flowering. What a wonderful sight! We are wondering what comes next in the farming year.
The weather this week has been really pleasant as it has been quite cold at night; cool in the morning and evening and then fairly warm in the middle of the day, and sunny most days. The weather forecast tells us that we should enjoy this while we can as it is just building up steam for another few sweltering days similar to the days we had a couple of weeks back. Oh dear!

Adventures in France Episode 11

This whole week has been very hot again, although Monday started out being a little cooler, so we got out into the garden and cleared away a lot of dead plants. Then we were stricken with conscience, having just removed the last vestiges of the delicious vegetables that our landlords had planted, and which we had eaten. Neels was all for planting some radishes, which we probably will do, because they always grow, no matter what, but we wanted something a little more adventurous than that and decided on tomatoes.. I phoned a friend for advice, who assured me that one could plant tomatoes at almost any time of the year.Then she asked where we were thinking of getting the plants and I rubbed my hands in glee thinking we were going to be given a few. ‘Oh’ I said airily, probably up at the Gamm Vert (a chain of nurseries) near…..’and I named a village close by. ‘Oh! Don’t do that’ she said, ‘Go down to the market tomorrow and get some there’ Well, having seen the price of tomato seedlings at previous markets we decided to go with our first plan and zoomed off up to the Gamm Vert. As luck would have it, the local branch turned out to be more like an agricultural supplier than a nursery, but we hung around until the young fellow behind the till had finished helping his customer and then asked him for tomato seedlings. He pointed across the shop and when we didn’t move he took us to the seed display. However seeds were not an option, far too slow for our liking, and we insisted on seedlings. Eventually he went and winkled the boss out of the office and the two of them took us into a vast, mostly empty, warehouse where there was a large trolley standing with a few trays of very badly abused tomato plants on it. They appeared to have been left out in the sun over the weekend without water, and were very sad and droopy. We agreed that that was the sort of thing we had been thinking of but perhaps plants that weren’t at death’s door! ‘A gift! A gift’ he said, picking out a couple that weren’t completely dried and crunchy. Grudgingly, we accepted 8 small plants and came home with our prize. First of all we gave them a good drink of water and then once it cooled down we put them into real earth with a handful of rose fertilizer (does it make any difference?), more water and whispered good night to them and crossed our fingers. Next morning we crept outside to check on our refugees, and Hurrah! They were all standing proud and strong. Yay! We will learn how to garden yet!
At the end of the week, we had planned to visit some English friends who live some distance away, in Montguyon, for what the French call ‘Le Weekend’. How original can one get! Our visit was planned to coincide with two annual summer events – a night market and a ‘fête’. Montguyon has some wonderful old ruins, which stand on a knoll, in the centre of town. The night market,held on the top of the knoll and which began at about 7.30 pm was actually less about buying items of merchandise from the stalls than about buying food to eat, meeting people and having a jolly good time. Long tables and benches are provided and everyone takes their own plates, cutlery and glasses. The idea is that one wanders around the stalls, decides what would be tasty and buys if before settling down at a table with one’s friends. Remarkably, the food was good and plentiful; the wine, also sold at one of the stalls, wasn’t too bad and we had a very enjoyable evening. The next night, however, was an unforgettable experience. This was the ‘fête’. The only way I can describe it is to call it an outdoor meal and a show. The weather was perfect after an unbearably hot day and at about 8 pm we went off down to town and parked the car as close as possible to the venue. The same tables and benches had been set out only this time they were below the castle ruins. Tickets for the meal had been purchased in advance, and in exchange for each ticket we were given a boxed meal consisting of a rice and tuna salad; a slice each of tender beef and pork, with green beans; a triangular wedge of Camembert cheese and a bread roll; and to finish off, a slice of fruit tart topped with a mixture of strawberries, pineapple, kiwi-fruit and apricots. Two men continually went around the tables with containers of wine with which they kept topping up the glasses.. By about 9.15 pm most people had finished eating and were moving towards the area below the ruined castle. We had brought our own chairs, as was required, and managed to find a space very close to the front, where a stage had been set up and behind it an elaborate support system for the trapeze artists who were to perform later in the show. While we waited for the show to start at 9.45 pm laser lights were played over the ruins, and floodlights were tested, bathing the old walls in different colours. I won’t describe everything we saw, as that would take far too long, but there were singers, dancers, a tight-rope walker and aerial acrobats. There had been about a hundred and fifty people who sat down to dinner before the show, but for the show itself, which was free, there must have been several thousand. And as a grand finale, we were all treated to a firework display that just went on and on. A very tired little group of ‘oldies’ finally got to bed at about one o’clock in the morning, knowing with a sinking heart that we had to be up again at 7.30 the next morning to make our way back home. We had enjoyed our outing immensely and are going to be on the lookout for similar events.

Adventures in France Episode 10

An early morning start was on the menu for Monday of this week. We had to be in Toulouse by 10.30 for our all-important appointment with the Office of Immigration and Integration to legalize our one year visa. We had refused any help in the form of navigators or translators, preferring to try to be independent, so, feeling rather nervous about taking on the bureaucrats, we programmed ‘Jane’ and set off. Needless to say, she made no mistakes, although we had to turn around twice when we turned at the wrong place. We had also allowed ourselves way too much time to get there and arrived a whole hour early, but sat in the car for half an hour to while away the time. After that, feeling that we very nearly well-done, we scrambled out of the vehicle and made for the main door of the building hoping that there was air-conditioning inside, and comfortable chairs. Air-conditioning there certainly was, but the comfortable chairs were not needed as we were shown through to the Medical Exam Department straight away. So much for having an appointment! After a fairly cursory history was taken, we were shown through to the X-Ray Room. I went first, and was instructed to remove all my upper clothing, in a small ante-room. I did so and then looked around for a gown to put on but, aha! this is France where no-one worries about things like that. Trying to be totally nonchalant, I went through to the x-ray room, held my breath at the right moment, and then stepped away from the machine. The radiographer rattled off something which I didn’t catch and, not wanting to do the wrong thing, I asked her to repeat it more slowly. Instead she switched to English and said ‘Take off all your top clothes and go and wait outside” Well this may be France and all that, but I already had all my top clothes off, so I took it to mean just the opposite, which was right. The next thing on the agenda was the medical examination. Really not my favourite thing, ever. But it was over in a flash. The doctor greeted me as I walked in and sat down; asked if I was well (Yes, thank you); if I smoked (No, not at all); and if I had high-blood pressure ( he was reading it off the history sheet) I replied that I had, but that it was controlled by medication; he ticked lots of boxes, then took the x-ray out of the envelope and held it up to the window, finally signing the form and giving it back to me. We wished each other a pleasant day and that was it. The first medical I have ever had where the doctor never even got off his chair, and certainly never came closer than the width of his desk away. Finally it was time to see the only person who could really make a difference – the lady with the computer and the set of rubber stamps! But all our worrying had been for nothing. She was friendly and efficient, and in no time at all we were entered into the computer and each had a ‘vignette’ stuck into our passports which entitles us to stay for a full year in France. This permit is renewable annually (Yay!) but can only be done in the two months prior to the expiry date (Boo!). This means that we will have to return to France to renew it each year (Yay!), but we will have to return in January to renew it before the end of March (Boo!) We are obviously going to have to do something about that expiry date. Just what, we don’t know yet. In any case, we left the offices in high spirits and decidedly pleased with ourselves for managing the entire episode in French.
On Wednesday evening, we had been invited to dinner with some friends of Nicky’s whom we had met about a week before. When they heard that we had no TV, they immediately offered to lend us a TV monitor , a DVD player and all their DVD’s. We were quite blown away by their spontaneous generosity, but when we arrived at their house for dinner, there was all the equipment standing outside the door ready to be loaded into our car. They were on the point of returning to England where they both work and will not be back here until September, but even so, it was an incredibly generous thing to do. Since then the evenings have taken on a new routine, with dinner at 7.30 instead of the (sometimes) 9 pm that it had been; washing up done and the kitchen tidied in rapid time; and then a quick dash to the lounge to settle in front of the TV set to watch a DVD. Gosh! It’s almost like being back in South Africa!
The rest of the week was very boring by comparison with the days taken up doing routine household chores. Thursday and Friday were unbearable hot with the temperature climbing into the thirties but after a spectacular thunderstorm on Friday night, everything cooled down again and has been very pleasant.
Isn’t it strange how First World countries can be so good at some things and so hopelessly behind the time with others. Take banking, for instance. One can easily draw cash at an ATM, just as in South Africa, but there is simply no option to get your balance from one. For that you need to go into the bank! Or cell phones, for another instance. In South Africa if you recharge your pay-as-you-go phone with, say, R10.00, you will get ten Rand’s worth of calls and a reasonable time in which to use it up, and of course, every time you top up your phone, the time allowed for incoming calls will be extended . I think when last I checked, I will be able to receive calls until some time in 2012, which also means that my number will not expire. Here, however, 5Euro buys you a week in which to make calls to that value. After a week you lose what is left over, but will still receive calls for some time. In an effort to have longer in which to make calls without having to buy another recharge voucher, we bought a 10Euro voucher, but we still can’t win as we now have an enormous number of calls to make if we want to use it up, even though we now have a month in which to do it. From the customer’s side it is really a no-win situation, but on the other hand, the landline set-up here at the house allows us free calls within France, so who really needs cell phones here anyway. Well, I for one. I like to ring people when I am running late in order to tell them not to worry. I also like to phone ahead to confirm times of events and such. I used it endlessly when we were here in 2008 to find caravan parks in which to spend a day or two, but if one is not using the phone endlessly, if you only want it for security, the system is definitely not on your side.
Sorry! No pictures this week. I just didn’t take anything worth passing on.