29. 11. 07. Have finally found a source of cheap canvasses. Halles des Idées which is rather like a dollar store sell 50 cm x 40 cm canvasses very cheap. I have bought three so far and have finished one and have started another two which I hope to finish before I leave on Monday. There are signs of Christmas here now, the lights are up but not on yet, no Christmas cards only New Year’s cards, lots of chocolates in the supermarkets and lots of junk mail with special offers for just about everything from Christmas seafood dishes to scooters for 799 euros! J’aime la France.
Month: November 2007
La Vie Quotidienne
23. 11. 07. I thought that I would give everybody an idea of my day to day life here. The boulangerie – my house is up the street on the right where there is a white mail box sticking out of the wall, so you can see how close it is. The church is just round the corner and above it is the Place du Marché where they have the Wednesday market. Off the Place is the Tabac where I pick up my Midi-Libre. Running down from the Place is La Grande Rue at the bottom of which is the Allée Roger Salengro with my favourite bar, Les Négociants, the bank and the post office. At the end of the allée is the old train station and Gare Routier.
Fran and Clive’s Visit
12. 11. 07. Fran and Clive arrived last Tuesday for their first visit to Clermont. I met them at the station in Montpellier and we picked up the car and drove back here. I had made a bourguignon for dinner, but after a welcoming glass of wine, tried to turn on the gas only to discover that it had run out! It was too late to pick up another “cube” so we went over to the Venizia for dinner. Wednesday morning we went to the market and after lunch decided on a short tour round lac du Salagou. We arrived at the car only to discover that the battery was flat and, as it was a Prias, nothing worked, and we couldn’t even find the battery! After a call to Hertz and a wait for about an hour le depanneur arrived from Lodeve. Luckily he was quite small as he had to climb over the back seat and get into a space below the trunk to find the battery. The car started immediately and we happily went for a ride around the lac. Came home and enjoyed the boeuf bourguignon for dinner with a bottle of the local wine and then went down to the Negociants for coffee and cognac. Thursday was our day by the sea, so we went off in the morning to Marseillan and Marseillan plage where we went for a long walk along the beach before heading into Sete for lunch. We had a very tasty seafood lunch outside in a little restaurant overlooking the old port and then went for a stroll around town and then up to the cimitière marin overlooking the bay. Lots of chrysantheums on the graves after Toussaint. Friday we made a picnic lunch and drove to Lodève where we dropped in on my friend Malcolm and then headed up to the plateau where we stopped and had our lunch. After lunch we drove across to the Cirque de Navacelles and then down to St Guilhelm le Dessert and the Gorges de l’Hérault before heading back to Clermont. Had a wonderful dinner at Le Tournesol. Saturday, we loaded everything into the car and had a final quick tour around Villeneuvette before lunch at the Negociants. We then drove to Montpellier and dropped in on Claire’s expo and sale before Fran and Clive checked into Le Grand Hotel du Midi. After dropping off the car we wandered around the old part of Montpellier before having our final dinner in the Brasserie du Theatre. I stayed at Claire’s Saturday night and then Fran and Clive headed back to Paris Sunday morning. A great visit and hopefully something we can make into a regular event.