Farewell to France

Jenni here,
Final night in France and Gary, Colin & the kids have gone off to a Monster Truck show in Nevez (3 miles away), leaving me to finalise packing and catch up on e-mail. I'll be sorry to leave France as we've been really enjoying the house and 4 weeks just hasn't been quite long enough to do all the things I would have wanted. We have, however, packed in a fair bit:-
- tested out all the beds as we've shifted around to accomodate our various visitors,
- tested out the french planning system as we've applied to do some alterations to make the bed-juggling obsolete,
- tested out most of the local hostelries, some on a number of occasions!
- tested our calf muscles on a number of cycle paths - even finding some new ones (and some that ran out in bramble thickets as the scratches on Kate's back will show),
- tested the waters on all the local beaches (the Royal 'we' there, as I personally guard the towels and catch up on reading while the kids and Gary dive about in the surf, 'though I have been in a couple of times!)
- tested the wind on a number of sailing outings
- tested the kids' ability to put up with only each other for company - so far so good!
We have also managed to attend a number of local events in Comrie sur mer, starting with the World Cup Final on the night we arrived, which we watched in the newly opened bar/restaurant in the village. The atmosphere was very relaxed and simply bemused when France were beaten on penalties. Jack and I did have a bit of a post mortem on the game with the locals ( very amusing as my 'knowledge' of the whole event had been written for me on the back of an envelope a couple of nights previously then washed in my jeans' pocket!).
Julie, Donald and the kids were in residence on Bastille Day and we went to see the fireworks display at the harbour. This was a spectacular event as it coincided with the centenary of the local lifeboat and so, during the squib show, the lifeboat was launched lit up with flares. There was a huge crowd and the traffic in our street was queued up for about an hour trying to leave the village. We of course were very smug as it's only a short walk back to the house.
When Mum and Helen were here we went to a Poissonade in a tiny village along the coast. This is like the Comrie Thursday Club, but on a large outdoor scale, serving mussels / tuna steaks / sardines / chips etc. The weather, which had been too hot for comfort for most of the time the Coltarts were with us, decided to break that night and we (Gary) queued for 45 mins. in the drizzle to get the food, which wasn't that great ( but hey, it was cheap!) We,ve been to other poissonades since and have found the standard to be much better - bad luck Mum & Helen!!
The best one was this week, in a huge farm shed just a mile or so from the house, where they were serving up fish soup with croutons & grated cheese, crepes and cakes for 4 euros each - all very friendly and a great way to meet people - if only we could speak the lingo better!
Last night was probably the best local event - a Fest Noz - which was set up at the other end of the village in front of the chateau ( not really a castle, more a turreted house set right on the point with sea on 3 sides). The grass area was lined with open sided tents housing the food stalls and tables and a temporary stage was set upin an articulated lorry. We arrived in time to see the choir singing sea shanties followed by a great display of breton dancing in full costume - cross between Riverdance and Elizabethan quadriles with cossack pantaloons for the men and big frocks, aprons and high lacy caps for the women. Afterwards there was a bal populaire with the local ceilidh band playing as well as unaccompanied singers who amazingly kept the dancing going. The dancing was in the open on the grass and by the end the dust was really flying. It was really easy to join in as most numbers seemed to involve joining hands or pinkies and following round in long snakes. There were obviously those who were leading and doing proper steps and hand actions, but provided you sort of kept the beat, you were able to join in, have a laugh and still not spoil the whole thing for the locals. I particularly liked how your flip-flops caught in the electrical cables running across the dance area! The music was very celtic with pipes and horns so I think a wee booking for the Comrie Ceilidh band and Norrie on his pipes for next year! Throughout the proceedings the various food stalls were serving up fish soup, mussels, tuna steak, crepes - all really good and the whole night's entertainment and food for about a fiver.
We've also managed a couple of live music nights in the local bar (the one when Alastair and Gordon were with us was a bit dodgy, but this week's was much better - as was the sunset!)
The troops are now back from the truck fest and it seems to have been a great success, with the usual scant french nod to health and safety rules - who knows, maybe Jack will tell you about it!?