I’m very aware of how lucky I am. The weather’s been great
and I have few restrictions on what I can do. I did manage to limit things
slightly by falling hard on a gravel path when out on a Nordic walk. I was
completely winded (as opposed to out of breath) and struggled to speak until I
could get enough air into my lungs. Fortunately we had a fluent English speaker with us: my French disappeared with the air and I just managed to gasp that I wasn't seriously hurt. Nothing broken, as far as I could tell, but I found it uncomfortable
to tie my shoelaces or carry the teapot for a weeks or so.  |
| Local produce |
The early part of June saw us heading to a small music festival, Les Belles
Bretelles (Beautiful Braces) focussed on accordion music. We got there late
morning, to find it was just starting to get going but enjoyed looking at the
stands. There seemed to be a problem with the sound system so we had food and a
beer, chatted to a few stall-holders, had an ice-cream, then came home.
A few days later, I took part in the Trail des Sarrasins. Sarrasin means buckwheat but it could as
easily have been called after barley or peas. Seven miles, mostly through
fields. It was lovely evening, not too hot, and all went well until I
remembered The Lady of Shallot and we crossed a small river. Somehow the rhythm of the poem fitted in with
my pace. I could only remember the first verse, then the first line of the
refrain, so by the time I’d covered a few miles it was becoming rather
monotonous and I tried to switch to French. The miles passed and I had plenty
of people to chat to when I wanted, followed by water, cakes and a free waist
pack.
I’d been invited for a mammogram (apologies in advance if
you don’t want to know more – skip on a few lines). The big advantage here is
that it happened five minutes’ walk away from home. The mildly disconcerting part was that it was done by a male nurse. I have no problem at all with this
and he was a lovely guy but I did find it slightly odd to be chatting about his
various trips to the UK (we both loved Scotland) while he manhandled my boobs
efficiently into the various positions. The results were fine, fortunately and
the X-rays arrived a week or so later in the post. I’m thinking of having them
framed as a souvenir of living here.
I had another ‘first’ when I went to meet a friend for tea.
Caroline is an English teacher who had lived in the UK and had stayed with me
when I fell while the instructor fetched her car. A couple of classes at her
school have their lessons entirely in English for their last three years, then
sit the Cambridge Exam in English. I’d love to go sometime and see how it works. It was great, when I wasn’t injured, to just sit, have a chat and put
the world to rights.
 |
| Piles of food! We struggled but managed it. |
Things are starting to wind down for the holidays, which
seemed to mean food with people. The first meal out was for the helpers at the
seniors group to thank us for our input: an estaminet
which served mostly local food plus rather a lot of wine. My grandma used to go
to a Darby and Joan Club but I don’t think it was quite like that.
The Nordic walkers went for a meal after a walk: another estaminet,
plenty of great food and good company. 
Midsummer’s Day here means the Fete de la Musique. It’s
great just to stroll around town and see what bands are playing: jazz, hip-hop,
metal, folk, rock, there is something for everyone. Our little local square
hosted metal and rock bands at one end, and seventy yards away at the other
end, a band and DJ. In the end we went inside the new beer store for a drink
and could talk without shouting over the music (usually!).
The lime trees blossom around midsummer. The flowers are
fairly unspectacular but the smell, when the sun’s on them or after rainfall,
is wonderful. On several occasions I took circuitous routes home to smell the tilleuls and sitting with the windows
open watching the sun go down has been lovely. If it hadn’t been for the lack
of madeleines I could be the new Marcel
Proust.
I managed to bookend June with another fall: exactly the same thing –
my foot slipped on some sand at the roadworks in town and I went straight to my usual prone Superman position. This time I got straight back up and had to reassure the three people who’d
come rushing to assist that I was perfectly fine. I could only think that it
would have made a great GIF.
Have fun.
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