Pole Dancer

You remember in this previous post I had told you that our Polish friend Kamila is a flamenco teacher? Well whilst visiting Avignon yesterday, we strolled past a Spanish guitar player playing flamenco in the street. Kamila asked if she could join in... and so she did! Brilliant!

Les temps changent

When we made our big decision to leave Finland for the south of France, one of the big reasons was that we were becoming increasingly frustrated with the climate of southern Finland. Some nice months (weeks?) in the heart of the summer and the winter, but lots of waiting in between! How many mornings did we wake up in despair at yet another cloudy sky? We would check the forecast several times a day and rejoice when the 5-day prediction showed a glimmer of sunshine some distant after-noon. Maybe.

Some people warned us that it might be too hot in the south of France. "Pffff, ridiculous" we answered. After five years getting used to the idea that a temperature just creeping over +20˚ is meant to be nice, we claimed we would not complain about the heat for, well, at least 2 years! Minimum!

Fast forward seven weeks and we're struggling to keep to our word! The first few weeks were nice. We'd only complain in our car. But it has no air-conditioning so that's not the same, right? We can complain about that, right? Right. Good. Hmmm but then the cumulative effect kicked in. Basically, the temperature barely goes under 20˚ at the coldest time of night. Sometimes it stays over. And the daytime temperature is usually around 32˚. OK for a couple of weeks holiday. Tiring in the long run.

And then to finish us off, France just got hit by a huge heatwave. For over three days running, the temperature was around 37˚. But not only that, the humidity was about 95% and there was hardly any wind. Even the locals found it hard. We capitulated. IT WAS TOO HOT!!!! There, I said it. I feel better.

Now the funny thing is that this morning we woke up to a cloudy sky and... celebrated!! Oh how times change...

Catch-up

We would dearly like this blog to be a little more alive and relate our life in a more immediate way, even if that means shorter posts and we will endeavour to do this. But first, we have a little catching up to do. 

Our time in France so far has been good. Busy but good. First up, we had 10 days in the family house by ourselves, which helped us settle in. And to welcome us on our very first evening: Bulls running in the street (You can't see them, they're in amongst the horses)! Suzie was most excited!

Then a few days later our removal arrived. Unfortunately, the lorry was too big to fit into the narrow streets of the village so I had to use our car as a shuttle 5 times to get all the boxes over! Phew... Hard work!

First trip to the supermarket and oh look at the amount of cheese and wine you can find here!

Our breakfasts and lunches in the garden have been our favourite part of the day...

And I got to ride my beloved bike through the vineyards... Miserable!

And we also started to visit the local area. Here Lunel...

...Uzès

...and Palavas-les-Flots!

Musically, things have also been interesting. On our fourth day in the country, we were sitting in the Arènes of Aigues-Vives watching some bull games when a young lady approaches us. "I saw you wearing a Jazz à Junas festival T-Shirt. Are you musicians?" It turns out they were looking for musicians to play at their weekly tapas evening on Thursdays in Lunel. A charming old street in the historical centre and a gig two weeks after our arrival. Nice!

But that is not all. Oh no it isn't! We went round the seaside resort of La Grande Motte one day to hand out some of her demos in case they would need singers. Not much interest apart from one place. And the very next day, they called to say they loved her voice and booked her for several dates in July and August! The location, just by the port, was beautiful.

We also had the pleasure to see some class acts as spectators. At Jazz à Junas, we really enjoyed the Christian Scott Quintet (enough for a signing and photo session!).

And after seeing Sting there last year, we returned to the Arènes in Nîmes to see Manu Chao. I'd been looking forward to seeing him for many years and was not disappointed! Fantastic entertainment!

But our summer has also been a very social one. The family spent some time here of course, and this culminated with our very special 40 + 40 + 1 party. 40th wedding anniversary for my parents, 40th birthday for my brother-in-law Stéphane, and 1st birthday for little nephew Edgar. As you will see, we are rather silly people.

Then came our good friend Santeri, the viking from Finland. With him we spent a couple of days visiting the riviera, including Monaco.

We even pushed all the way to San Remo for a taste of Italy. Buonissimo!

Closer to home, we also got really stressed at the beach...

... and wine tasting!

Next came Zuzanna's mother and we showed her Montpellier...

... Nîmes

... the Pont du Gard







... and the beach. Of course!

And the visitors just keep coming as right now we are enjoying a wonderful week with Kamila and Irek who flew in from Poland. We enjoyed the Estivales wine tasting festival in Montpellier...

Kamila tried her first ever oyster there!

And when she heard Flamenco music, she couldn't resist going up there with Suzie. You should know that Kamila is a flamenco teacher back in Poland...

I wanted to take Irek out for a bike ride...

...but it all ended in tears!

We recovered with our favourite part of the day of course.

And during a dominical walk, we were given an impromptu visit of the nearby Chapelle St Nazaire (XII century) by two very nice volunteers. Really interesting!

TIme for a photo shoot!

And last night, a lovely picnic in the Peyrou gardens in Montpellier at sunset...

... before ending the evening in a nearby wine bar in the historic centre. 

Kamila and Irek are still here until Saturday and then real life kicks in! I start working on Monday already and Zuzanna is in the process of enrolling onto a French language course. And this time, I fully intend to keep you updated on a more regular basis!