Verts et Bleus

Ah, yesterday..... unforgettable. Newly arrived in Tilling, we
discovered late afternoon that COES had won the bouclier of
Champions of France, beating Panjac 17 - 6.

Lousie was holding a cocktail party to celebrate her birthday
-she is but a child as the photos shows and a jolly pretty one
too - when we heard the noises that precede a victory entry
to Esperaza.

(Louise is very nearly wearing the team colours)

The assembled party-goers ran into the street to cluck the
Entry of the Queen of Sheba; mercifully the crowds were
noisier than the cluckers so this tribute went unrecognised.

The team were loaded onto a tractor as darkness fell...


and followed by our cheering town to various cafes, finishing at
the rugger capital of the Café de la Gare.


The tabac carried the headline this morning:




It is extraordinary, really; this is a very small town as is
Couiza so beating everyone else is pretty cool.
There is a reception at the Mairée tomorrow night at 7.00
followed by a free meal for a thousand people at Couiza, cooked
by Msr Charlie who I imagine is quite busy as I write.

He's invited us all.

celebrity spotting

I'm back-

Saw Anthony Caro and Albert Irving at a launch at Jesus
which featured some dead good Anslem Keiffers, though he
wasn't there, and some unchallenging other pieces.

And Mary Warnock was on the bus to Cambridge Coach
station with me. Was too overwhelmed to photograph her.

Not a bad haul for a three week trip among the stars...

valediction...

I'm off abroad for three weeks -
yesterday the ladies had lunch so I need to loose weight. Fabulous cooking from Yvonne and fun
with Lou, Kat and Di. Thanks,all...

The evening brought more excesses with Steve,
Leo, Annie and Pete, Theo, Gus and Kat at the magical T Rex.

Went for a morose walk at twilight, wondering how come I'm not going to be here.

Mountains are in fine fettle, this pic is a close up of my currently favorite orchid, Himantoglossum Hircinum.

Try saying that when you're testing blanquette.

Back soon x

european kissing vote

Its time to vote again and what fun it is in Tilling. You go into
the Centre Culturel and kiss the bloke sitting at a table and give
him your polling card.
Then you kiss everyone standing around the table.
You pick up the list that you plan to vote for and in a curtained
booth you fold it up and put it in the little envelope that the
bloke at the table has given you. You come out and kiss the
newcomers.
Then you stand in a line to put your envelope in the box above -
as you can see, it is transparent and placed in a hole in another
table. Everyone standing about is kissed. Another bloke takes
your card, picks up the list of etrangers and finds your name -
you sign it upside down. Then you kiss him and go to the vide
grenier at Fa.

*
Anyone catch the red dwarf last night?
I'm curious because I don't know what its supposed to be like
and what I saw I thought was probably an hallucination due
sobriety and the lateness of the hour. It looked like a green
and gold phoenix, a tiny glittering thing with a long tail.

usual suspects at Marcus and Corellas

Here are the Art Watchers of the Aude; and Ulla Bendick arriving late with his
contribution.

kitten in drama rescue

Not a lot happening so here is a nice picture of Msr Pozo and
colleague successfully rescuing a kitten from a rooftop in Rue
St Helene last week...
Tonight should be fun, its the vernisage at Espace d'art in
Rennes les Bains for VERT, a group show on the theme of
green.
And yes, I am in it.
Hope the weather holds; forecast is dreadful.

watch the skies...

Everyone has gone, the esotericists and the Captain; alone
again, with nothing to do but star watch.
Last night with Annie and Pete in the courtyard, sober (ish),
watched a satellite develop two lights and then spread out
so each light, traveling at the same (ostensible) rate, zoomed
off in different directions.
It was chilling and thrilling until Pete came up with a sensible
explanation which I didn't understand but seemed to satisfy
him. And hes clever.

But on the 6th June it seems that the moon, a moment away
from its fullness, will be eclipsing a red dwarf.
Will it be Dozy, Beaky, Mick or Tich? Or, erm, Doc, Sneezy,
Happy, Grumpy or etc? And how can we know?

Saturday night will find me flat on my back watching out with
the trusty Russian binoculars.


PS The strange little boxes here are where I was trying to nick
an image from someone elses blog - and failing , at least this
machine won't open them - all it is is a hand-drawn sign seen
in a shop in Westminster, saying : Only 2 MP's at a time.

pentecost