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11/22/2007
Repas pour les anciens
They really look after retired people in France twice a year the town of Lannion provides a free meal to the over 70s and free entertainment the harmonie band and the Jo Evens orchertre ( a trio accordion guitar and drums) . The harmonie band was 14 in number yesterday ( 4 of which are English speaking ). I have had some really good news Jeanno or Monsieur Echo has gone back to Paris for the winter, he is the bane of my life in the band as he has no sense of rhythm or tonality and plays loud.Normally in rehearsal I get the other sax player Sophie to sit between us so I don't hear what he is playing so well but now we have a 4 month break from him. For the meal they eat in a large hall and usually there is about 600 ( a captive audience they take away their zimmer frames ....) We play for an hour or so depending on the director of music. he is increasing erratic and beginning to lose the plot one number we played he changed the rhythm about 10 times also our drummer isn't in a good state he had one of his lungs removed this year not a good advertisement for smoking. Afterwards we get a free meal its a very good standard with wine I can't imagine it happening in the UK they would charge £10+ for the afternoon. During the long waits between each course we moan about the director ( a very nice guy but useless as a conductor ) and plot how to change him at the next AGM. Its symptomatic of France there is a lot of talk of change ( Sarko ) but nobody is prepared to make it happen
08:45 Posted in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: brittany, holiday, coat aillis, comments
11/17/2007
The roof
We started work on the gite Les Etables as soon as the last clients left.First it was the demolition team consisting of son 2 and 3 , Bas should change his initials to WMD as with a sledge hammer in his hand he is a destructive force and its the only time I wear a hard safety hat. It took two days to reduce the roof to the floorboards leaving the stone gable ends standing and sparing the dormer window , which is useful giving us an on site toilet and shower if needed. At last I have learnt to ask for help and Eric just about the only intelligent person I meet in the bar in the morning agreed to help. He is a house husband as his wife works in accounts but he has been writing a book which is to be issued on cd or downloaded on the internet quite a complex process with music and various voices, he also wants to rent a gite for Christmas for his family so we can do an exchange ( the price of the gite will rise the longer he works ) We did all the worst jobs in a couple of days which is the hauling of blocks and buckets of cement up a ladder which if it doesn't break your back then you should be able to finish the project. My English mate Phil helps with the posing of the frame for the roof , we have done at least 6 roofs together so are very quick so hopefully in a weeks time the gite should be reasonably water tight although the forecast for the next week isn't good.It looks as if I'll have to go to England next week as my mother is dying but I guess 80years isn't a bad age to make she had a good party last June with lots of friends and family there, its just a shame the last stages of life are differcult its a pity you can't press a button and go quickly
08:55 Posted in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: brittany, gite, holiday, coat aillis, comments
11/09/2007
Winter of dissent
It started a month ago with some strikes by train drivers who think its normal to retire at 50 years while the rest of society works until 65. It didn't have much impact in Brittany but last week the fishermen started protesting ( higher fuel prices and low fish prices? ) now they are serious protesters. They blocked the main towns/ports not letting out lorries the most important being fuel delivery trucks so there was a scramble to fill up at Super U this week before they ran out on Tuesday. The police eventually broke the blockade but then they change tactics and stopped a few lorries ( foreign ) containing fish products and dumped them on the side of the road.Sarko came to talk to them before his trip to America but was generally heckled he offered to suspend their social contributions but I think they want more than that so the protests will continue.
The weather has been very try but the goddess of rain quickly noted that I had taken a roof off to replace the timbers and slates and promptly sent a few showers over us also our local farmer Francoise had started cutting his maize crop, as soon as I hear his tractor working I know its going to rain. Max had a good result last weekend he plays for Plestin B team and they beat a local rival Ploubere 21-2 but he didn't score as he is playing fullback.
07:45 Posted in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: brittany, gite, coat aillis, comments
11/04/2007
Back to Blighty
The passport eventually arrived after 5 working days at the embassy and it had been flagged as urgent, they only have to check that I exist and don't have a criminal record . So I took an overnight boat to England it takes 12 hours as it out of season and the idea is you spend more money as the crossing should be 5-6 hours normally. My brother picked me up and was taxied to my sister at South Zeal ( it used to be a lead mining village outside Okehampton but nowadays its a very middle class place full of 4 wheel drive cars and hardly a Devon accent in fact being born and raised around Okehampton only for 6 years I felt more of a local ). My mother is in Exeter hospital on a ward for acute strokes and isn't in too good a condition with some paralysis on the right and can't talk as yet, when she starts complaining it will be a good sign.It was interesting to compare the hospital to French ones as my father had a couple strokes in France the rooms are much smaller either one or two beds where as Exeter had 6 beds to a ward open plan and much more traffic so its easy to see that diseases like MSR can spread, but to give them credit the hospital staff had been very good, x-rays and scans straight away. I only stayed a couple days as I have 3 sisters and a brother who visit regular so it was a dash to the airport using public transport ( a double decker bus to Exeter then a change to the airport which called in at the Met office which is based outside Exeter )The flight is only 50 minutes to Brest where my taxi was waiting ( 2 hours as I gave the wrong time ) but she had amused herself well by looking at the shops and spotted a smart coat which could be a useful bargaining chip in my quest to upgrade my baritone sax.
08:55 Posted in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: brittany, holiday, coat aillis, comments