Everybody Party

This weekend was the beginning of the summer season in Cruzy. The season begins with the Cruzy Fete which is a huge party open to everyone in the village.

The main hall in the village hosts everything from the Rugby team celebrations to the afternoon activities for older residents. It’s a very well designed building with an indoor stage, which can become a large outdoor stage. The back wall opens up. The dance floor was popular when the Spanish songs came on and groups of small children had the floor to themselves during the pop songs.

Wine and water were on the table and food was cooked in the open air. The bar became very busy as the night progressed and live band played on into the night.

We met some new people this weekend and it was lovely to spend time with others living in Cruzy.

The following day was the Vide Granier. This is little like a car boot sale, but with class. Many items were on sale including a quad bike, radiators, 1940s US Willie Jeeps (well, 1) and a large assortment of candles, picture frames and Barbie dolls. I walked away with a tray for aperitifs and a small clock.

Sweet Chario... (t)

This evening was spent in the heart of the village. The Church.

We were there to hear the local choir fill the space with song. 16 song were belted out, two were in sung in English.

The church was packed and it was a delight to meet new so many new people too. Tonight the church alter was not host to the choir. A blackbird flew in and joined-in some of the hymms.

When singing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, none of the choir pronounced the "t" in Chariot. As I have learn't from my French lessons here in the village, there are many words where the last letter is not pronounced. Chario is just one.

Somehow, to my ear, it sounded odd and I wanted to add a "t" every time. I left knowing that every time I heard the song in the future, I'd recall the Cruzy Choir and smile.

Windy

Just a few miles away fellow inhabitants of this area are regular recipients of the Mistral winds ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistral_(wind) ).

Last night we experienced the Mistral in full bellow. The wind blew and blew, and doors rattled, shutters banged and flower pots flew.

Alp got up at 3am to walk the dark halls in search if open doors or windows, and to ensure that none of our shutters were banging. We were safely battened down when he returned ten minutes later. Alas, our neighbours property had one shutter that was not locked down. It banged and banged as if it wanted to jump off its hinges.

We woke to find our garden had not really survived the winds. Many of the lighter flower pots were either on their sides, or feet from where they normally resided.

The Japanese Lawn looked like it had been brushed from left to right with a large comb . The ground was full of leaves, mostly dead, so I guess they flew in from our neigbours gardens as we had only cleaned up the court a few days ago.

In amongst all of this mess, was a handful of cigarette butts. Our neighbours builders are keen on using our garden as their ashtray. We are looking forward to them leaving when the project is completed - end of June we have been promised. The morning ritual of trucks, shouting and banging at 7am is begining to grate.

My French teacher arrived on time and completley unprepared for the lession. We revisited some old lessons and when a young lad walked passed she tutted and infomred me that she did not like him. When I asked how she knew him, she informed me that she had never spoken to him and never would. All because he was no of French heratage. I'm not sure our relationship will last long.

Ryanair

Ah, the joys of traveling.

Gone are the days when you paid your sacks of  money to an airline and they then took you from point A to point B with a smile. Yesterday, the lovely Ryanair cancelled our flight from France to the UK just minutes before boarding. They said it was due to a staff strike. Well, surely the strike would have been planned. The incoming flight arrived and the passengers got off the plane.

Anyway, they refused to help any of the passengers re-book flights or help them to alternative airports. All they did was list the other airports that flew to the UK from France and Spain.  No appology was offered. But Alp was told he could ask for a refund if he wanted to contact the UK call centre, which would cost a small fortune per minute.


We managed to get online and head for Girona in Spain. The airport there was packed. The Ryanair staff were all very rude, and best of all, nearly every passenger was forced into a 2nd queue to pay for excess bagage. If you decided to re-pack (i.e. take you jacket out of a case) you were forced to the back of the queue. It was hellish.

When we eventually go to the front of the queue, the sultry Ryanair check-in girl said her paperwork did not show our booking. Her paperwork was printed out before we booked our flight but she refused to get another copy. She told us to join another queue to sort out the problem. So, 4 hours after arrving at Gerona airport, we left as our flight left without us.

We drove back to France and stopped at every service station to buy Spanish sweets, cheaper fuel and bags of corn snacks.

Do tell your Ryainair stories and share your experiences on www.ihateryanair.org or counter the stories by posting on http://oppositeofryanair.wordpress.com/

Laundry

Today was Laundry day. We have allocate one day each month to do our laudry. We have so many items of clothing that we do not need to wash any more often. We have loads of t-shirts, socks and undies not only to cloth ourselves, but an army. Well, if they all wore medium sized t-shirts and had as 34 inch waste.

One day, not sure which, we will buy a Washing Maching. I am all for a washer-dryer, but the bank ballance insists we look at washing machines without the capacity to dry anything. Alp insists that he has never had a dryer and there is a 500 Euro difference in price at our local supplier.

With only 3 washes today (turns out shorts, t-shirts and bedding take less space than winter wear), we were able to pop into Narbonne to shop. One magazine for me with a free Van Dutch baseball cap (pink and baby blue) and a guide to the Cathards for Alan. Gifts for an impending trip to the UK were aquired too.

Car hire came in cheaper direct with Hertz than via websites. It was amazing how much I saved by just calling their booking line.

We are in line for a Ford Fiesta for our 7 days in the UK, costing a meer, or whapping, £113. The original price was almost £200. Now, if you were coming to Carcassonne the same week would cost you 99 Euros. If you fancy house sitting while we are in the UK, give us a bell.

www.hertz.co.uk  for the an online quote.

( UPDATE: I have since found that Ryanair often offer the same car by clicking on the Hertz link from their website  www.ryanair.com )


NOW, Here are our older BLOG entries from our first attempt at a website

Over time we will add photos etc

9th June 2007 In the last 3 weeks we have travelled many many miles in our Renault Scenic. We drove for 4 hours to see our friend who was working at the Cannes Film Festival, then drove back the same day. The following day we drove to Barcelona, then down to Murcia. 5 days in the sun and a lovely wedding later, we returned via Valencia and spent a couple of days around the city and the Americas Cup. Once back in Cruzy, we stopped for a breath (one day) and then drove on to Lourdes, returning the following day and managed to catch a site of the new Airbus 380 coming in to land. Boy is that plane large. Today was spent at the market, where we bought two ornate mirrors for a bargain, and promptly hung them in the garden.

29th April 2007 Vive Le Rugby Club, Vive Cruzy Imagine a quiet country setting. Imagine a light brunch of freshly baked bread, local cheeses and good wine, all shone down on by a bright yellow sun. Now imagine you are sitting around with friends talking about the setting. Now imagine hearing loud horns, cars racing by and cheering and chanting crowds. Welcome to Cruzy 30 minutes after Cruzy Rugby Club beat a lively opponent and moved into the Finals of the Languedoc Rugby Cup. All I can add is…. VIVE LE RUGBY CLUB, VIVE CRUZY! Catch all the latest news about the club via http://perso.orange.fr/rc.cruzy/ or for photos of the team http://coco.sport24.com/7.php Tuesday, April 17, 2007 Rain, Churches and Choppers On Wednesday, Alan and I did our laundry and returned home to add the tons of bedding, jeans, towels - you get the idea - to the washing line in our back yard. It began to rain, but undeterred, I told Alan it was an April shower and would pass, and to leave the items on the line. How very wrong was I? It rained constantly for over 24 hours. When it did let up, we popped out only to be caught in a second wave of rain that lasted all of Thursday and Friday morning. It was heavy rain with loud claps of thunder and bright flashes of lightning. At one point, I walked out to my car, sponged over it with washing up liquid, and returned 10 minutes later to a shining car. Saturday saw the rain dissipate enough for us and a visiting friend to experience some of the countryside before the heavens opened again. There was little rain on Sunday, but puddles and fast flowing water was everywhere. Here in Cruzy our little river which is little more than a stream most of the year looked capable of hosting white water rafting competitions. By Monday, the sun was out and making up for lost time. By 2pm it was baking and the car air-conditioning was on full belt. By Monday, the temperature was 34 Degrees and the air-conditioning gave out and I began to moan. I have managed to turn a golden brown in a very short spell.
This weekend was spent visiting the sights with a friend over from London. Key places included Carcassonne, Minerve, Beziers, Pezenas and Perpignan. We visited a church in each location. Some were large, some were impressive but the most interesting was St Jean in Perpignan. Each of the 6 chapels off to the side of the main atrium was a mini art gallery. It is now my favourite church in all the world... until I see more of the world. The statues of Joan of Arc, the live organ music (not a cd, but a real person playing) and the wonderful artwork make it a great place to visit.

Health wise, we all experienced a ride along the Canal Du Midi. We had 2 mountain bikes and a Chopper. the 1970s design did not hold up well to the mud and bumps along the route, but everyone had a go, each coming up with tales of woe linked to childhood experiences on Choppers. Our friend from London had a new tale to add by the time we arrived home, having narrowly missed the actual canal after splashing down into a large muddy puddle just yards from the end of our journey. Tuesday, April 03, 2007 Fitness Up and all the shutters open by 7am. This is a first for me so the day was only going to get better.
Today a resident was buried and the village folk dressed in black to see her off. She was driven off in a blue mini-van beautifully decorated in flowers. Late in the afternoon with the sun still shining we went for a little bike ride to look back at the village from a nearby hill. Well, lets just say Alan has ridden this route a number of times, and I have yet to master the gears on my new bike, control my breathing when exerting myself, and more importantly, I need to find new excuses for getting of the bike to catch me breath, other than saying, oh look - butterflies.
Spring has truly arrived. This morning the birds were all at it again bright and early, and I spotted my first bee while watering the plants. Out on the bikes, we saw loads of butterflies, many in colours never before seen, and the vineyards are beginning to show some colour with the twisted trunks of the vines now showing us buds. It is all rather pretty.
Of course, with spring comes thunder and lightning. Its like a free show, just the sound is up a little loud and the flashing lights a little too bright. 30 Mar 2007 Bike Today was spent searching for a bike for me. Alan has his mode of local transport, but more importantly, he has an easy keep fit machine. Off we drove in search of a keep fit machine for me. We ended up in the same store Alan bought his bike, and I got the same thing, just in different colours. I also stocked up on mudguards, puncture repair kits, tool kit, helmet, bicycle clips, lights, and of course, a pump.
Once kitted out we returned home, set up the bike and rode off into the sunset. Well, Alan rode off as after 15 minutes travelling uphill in the saddle, by ass was numb, my thighs were rubbing my jeans and the sweat was getting in my eyes. It only took 4 minutes to travel back down the hill. A coke, packet of crisps, bite of cake and a scoop of ice-cream later, I'd recovered. 28 Mar 2007 Birds This morning I woke as usual to the sound of birds outside my window. Today though it began at 4 am and went on and on that by 9am, I'd had enough and got out of bed. . Later, in the courtyard, all the bird food was gone from the trees (we leave out fat balls full of bird seed) so it appeared a feast was held in our yard by our flying guests and we provided the catering. Lying on the ground was a bat. Not only was I deprived of my sleep by to the birds, but it looks like the bats joined in too. Alan put up the new clothes line and I am sure the little fellow's sonic boom was off. That's what comes of mixing with the local birds.
20th February 2007 Today I tried to DIY shop and use more French. I managed to ask staff in one store “Je voudrais un prop. la plateforme n'est pas bonne”. This was my attempt to say that I needed a joist to hold up my floor. The floors are fine but I needed a prop for one of the windows as I want to use some cement to fill in a couple of large crack masonry. They did not have any so off I went. I came home empty handed but was out of the house for 4 hours. Two men did come up and ask me a question. I had no idea what they had said, but lucky one was using his hand so I worked out that they too were looking for something so I directed them to staff. I think I must have looked like a staff member. I was unshaven, dressed in jeans with a green T-shirt, but most importantly of all, I think I looked ready for lunch. I think I would have worked out what they wanted if I’d not been distracted by the overpowering scent of tobacco.
19th February 2007 Like many mornings before this one, someone drives through the village at 70kmph and screams out on a blow horn. Usually around 08:45. It could be vegetables, local fruit, fabrics or furniture vans full of stock heading for the village square. Then, about 20 minutes later, “Allo, Allo” comes blaring over the village speaker systems informing us that whichever van it was that drove through, is now set up in the village square and is ready to accept our Euros. This morning was different. The blow horn sounded the same, but with more authority. My guess the owner of the powerful voice had been to voice projection classes. To my surprise the same message was being projected at regular intervals from the moving vehicle. By the time I got out of bed, dressed, eaten and prepared the house to welcome our French Teacher, I’d heard the bellowing about 6 times. Imagine my surprise, and excitement, when I opened the door to in time to watch the van go by. Yes. The Circus is coming to Cruzy. For one night only and that’s tomorrow. Yes the circus is going to take over the village square and for just 5 Euros all the villagers will be there (well, not our teacher – she does not approve). Rest assured, I shall be there. Now, what’s “It’s Behind You” in French? After an hour of French talking about hours, minutes, quarter-pasts, middays and midnights, it was time to buy more polyfiller. We have managed to use 2 full 20kg tubs of the fine paste filling holes in our walls. Just as I was setting off there was a knock at the door and jumped beat in my heart. “oh my god, I’d have to answer the door and use my French.” Please oh please I hoped they wanted to know the time.
It was the village police man. In his hand was my new Carte Gris. This piece of paper had the new registration number of the car we bought in Provence. All he said was “Bonjour, le Carte Gris pour le voiture.” I was saved.”Ah. Bonjour. Mercy. Perfecta” and closed the door. I waited until he was down the road, and I jumped in the car and headed for the DIY stores. 5 hours later I returned. Not only did I buy the polyfiller, but an olive tree, food for a week and most importantly of all, I spoke to 8 people in French and even managed to help another shopper using my language skills. Yes, they are skills.
This is a shameful cut and paste from Angloinfo but it made me dizzy.
(http://languedoc.angloinfo.com/ )
"Trois sorcières regardent trois montres Swatch. Quelle sorcière regarde quelle montre Swatch?"
Et maintenant en anglais:
"Three witches watch three Swatch watches. Which witch watches which Swatch watch?"
Maintenant pour les spécialistes:
" Trois sorcières suédoises et transsexuelles regardent les boutons detrois montres suisses Swatch. Quelle sorcière suédoise transsexuelle regarde quel bouton de quelle montreSwatch suisse?”Et en anglais (accrochez-vous):
"Three Swedish switched witches watch three Swiss Swatch watch switches. Which Swedish switched witch watches which Swiss Swatch watch Switch?”
17th February 2007 Well with one of us in London and the other all alone in France, it’s the first time apart since the beginning of December. That in itself it not a problem, but the French speaker is in the UK and the non-French speaker visited a garden centre and tried to ask for bedding plants. He walked away with a Fig tree. It may have been the large hand gestures. On the 9th February two friends from London came out to visit for four days. The sun was out when they exited the airport, and 30 minutes later, we turned up to collect them. It was Sunday and all the petrol garages on route to the airport were closed, so we had a slight detour via the motorway service station (20km). If you ever wondered about life in the 1950s? Ever hankered for the simpler life with the local policeman greeting you each morning as you popped to the bakers, considered life in the countryside with its tractors and woodlands or even just live in a rustic house rather than a magnolia box? Its like that here. Of course the baker only bakes enough bread for 100 loafs, so you need to get in early, and the local policemen may smile at you in the morning, but give you a fine in the afternoon if you have left home without your car registration papers, your insurance, your ID, your MOT, your medical insurance details, so its no wonder all French men carry handbags. Of course, if your lights do not work, your car is held together with masking tape or you have farming equipment sticking out of all your windows, its not a problem. On the 9th was the first festival to announce the arrival of Spring. Roquebrun hosts the Mimosa Festival where the entire town comes together to show off their brightly coloured flowers. Apparently they have a microclimate. We visited 3 days later. Only the paper confetti remained. (I do not think it was pidgeon-friendly). We walled up to the Mediterranean gardens to find them open. People we have spoken to and have lived in the area for years have never entered. Its not dangerous, it just has a reputation for always being closed. We were lucky. We spent 18 Euros to get in and promptly remembered we had a lunch appointment in Pezenas, a 45 minute drive away, so rushed out having only seen a few cactus. We were 30 minutes late for lunch. Car keys are such a basic necessity for car owners, yet our electronic door opener for our Renault was playing up, so it was time to buy a new one. It cost 118 Euros for the electronic bit, than another 10 Euros for the key bit and three trips to the Renault dealer, 25km in each direction. But it works a treat and we got a free Renault keying (worth 12 Euros). All our neighbours own little Renault 4s which are made of iron and painted white. They are all over the place. I actually think you can start them with any key you have lying around. I’d love one, but having seen the Renault 4 junk yard just 20km away, I’d say many of them end up on their roofs. Anyway, who would want a Renault 4 when for only 2000 Euros you could drive a 30 year old 2CV. 08 February 2007 In one day we have managed to strip 30 years of wallpaper from the main living room. It’s an achievement worthy of folklore. Not only was there paper over paper, but previous owners had thought it wise to plaster, paint, polyfiller and varnish over wallpaper too. All we can do is thank Argos for the wallpaper stripper and our local DIY store of the scrapers. A lot has happened this month already. We popped down to La Manga to visit the relatives, staying in Sitges on route. Rather nice holiday town just outside of Barcelona out of season. It has the feel of a town on the French Riviera – just smaller. We arrived on a Sunday evening and managed to secure a room in a seafront hotel for a reasonable price. The parking on the other hand was 15 Euros for the night. Not so reasonable. It was a three and a half hour drive from Cruzy to Sitges but going through the tunnels in Barcelona was crazy. People drove like they were possessed and speed restrictions were ignored. As a result, we were contently entertained by driving slowly passed crashed vehicles. La Manga was sunny and we’d like to say we ate well. We ate a lot, but well was restricted to the Owners Club on our first night. Court Ingles was our eatery of choice a few times and Uncle Sams in La Manga managed to serve up the worst food any of us could remember consuming – ever! The chicken was transparent after having been microwaved a number of times before reaching the table and the staff could not be bothered with attending tables after the order had been taken. Do keep clear if you ever venture close by. On the way back up to France, we stayed one night in Valencia. What a delight. Not only was the hotel a gem, the staff helpful but the location made for a good nights shopping, (cashmere jumper 49 Euros – reduced from 140) but we walked through the older parts of the city and saw some of the delights on offer. It was dark and rather quiet at 10pm on a Friday night, but after a meal in a Itallian run baroque come shabby chic restaurant. We returned to the streets around midnight after a hefty bill, to find it heaving with people enjoying the night. Skateboards and Americans featured heavily. The following day, this is Saturday now, we met up with a friend over from the UK in Barcelona. We stayed closed to the tourist traps and again paid little for the hotel, but this time paid 25 Euros to park the car. Our friend very kindly treated us to a few bags of PG Tips and a few bars of Dairy Milk. We are eternally grateful for them. After a good catching up session along with meeting new friends we spent most of the evening eating Tapas. The following morning we all met for breakfast which consisted of super thick hot chocolate and a local donut mixtured item for dunking into the chocolate. What a great start to the day. After that it was a guided tour of the city by an expat who knew her way around. Back home the same night but alas, to a home without power, and it was cold, so off to bed early. Monday we discovered that the former owner had not transferred the electricity into our names so we were cut off after 6 months without payments. All this is sorted thanks to the intervention of our French Tutor, only taking 3 days to switch on again. Sorry to say that some update managed to be deleted. Oops. 16th January 2007We bought a car. We had very solid list of "must have’s for the car that included, space, air conditioning, diesel power, MUST be French, power steering, luggage space, sunroof and a cool audio system. Well, we bought a French car with air conditioning and a good boot. We visited Montady which looks to be a small village with a hill and a tall tower atop it. Turns out the village is a huge Desperate Housewives neighbourhood within commuting distance of Beziers and the motorways. The tower looks great from a distance, but up close it’s rather run down and unloved. Views were good and so we popped off to see the same view from 30 km away. Mad, but a nice drive. Missing text included Christmas and New Year. Kieran and Alan expect to move into l’abeille early in December 2006. November began with Kieran's folks returning and joining in the DIY adventure. Thanks to John and Alan, half the ceiling is of the dining room is now stripped, sanded, filled and undercoated ready for December when Alan will stretch to completed the job, all 3.5 meters away from the floor. October 2006 - saw both Kieran and Alan spending a great deal of time in Cruzy. Kieran’s folks dropped in for a few days to help organise the lad’s DIY schedule. A brief trip to Disneyland Paris helped the lads recover from paint pots and paint stripping. The dining room became the first room to receive the DIY treatment. The walls were stripped, holes were filled and white paint was applied. One wall became a shining example of what can be achieved organised team participation. Of course, the rest of the room looks dirty now and the ceiling looks grey rather than white. September 2006 – the final papers are signed and Kieran and Alan move into L’abeille. The following morning Kieran is rushed to hospital and spends 2 full days enjoying French hospital service. The poor lad had a kidney stone. Alan meanwhile bombed around the countryside looking for phones as both lads mobiles died. 18th August 2006 - Alan's last day at work. Will he miss not being so close to Buckingham Palace after 6 years of having lunch in the Queen of England’s front garden? 1st August 2006 - Alan and Kieran sign for the house, but do not complete or receive the keys. Kieran discovered that the new Renault Cleo was a great car to drive. The lads met the local pest control man who informed them that the house was lovely and should he have seen that the house was for sale, he would have snapped it up. This made the lads feel secure that they had made the right decision to purchase the property. Of course, the man also informed them that the 5 marble fireplaces in the bedrooms would catch about five thousand Euros each should they ever need the cash. 23rd May 2006The lads put in an offer on the 100th and something property they’d seen in France since beginning to look for a home in France. They chose the very first village they ever visited back in August 2005 - Cruzy. Kieran believes it to be 130 properties but Alan refuses to believe it… although Kieran does have 100s of snap shots of French properties.