Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Bastille Day.


One of those ' hot weather can be injurious to your health ' days. The radio station busy with admonitions to stay in the shade and drink plenty of liquids. 

The old folk start to gather early in the Salle des Fetes. Madame Bay is finding it increasingly difficult to come up with recipes for the allocated budget of €5 per head. Thankfully, there always seems to be a ready supply of free wine. Most of it served from the stainless steel tea urn that resides in the shade of the kitchen. The Old Folk are copious consumers. In Britain there would be someone curtailing their intake on the basis that drinking is bad for you. 


The lawn has now given up the battle against the heat. Bob and Sophie have a parched surface to play on. Not that this bothers them. Playtime is playtime. Serious business.


After lunch the mayor appears in the dented Renault with the missing hubcap. Time to put up the flags in readiness for July 14th. He rings the bell at the gate to ask if he can borrow a ladder. '' I seem to have forgotten mine " . This will be the sixth year that he's shown up at the door with the same request.

The Old Farmer and the farmer with the red nose get up from the OAP's lunch table outside the village hall and wander over to give the mayor encouragement. Or if not encouragement , advice. Or failing that constructive criticism. " Couldn't you find bigger flags. These seem very small ". The mayor, resplendent in red tartan pork pie hat, grey crimplene trousers, black shirt , and brown open toed sandals informs them that they're the same flags that have been used for the last ten years. '' Exactly the same flags '' he adds to curtail further discussion.




Bastille Day in deepest, deepest France profonde.

And here as a July 14th cadeau is a reminder of the glory that is French military head ware https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxb9BvLrdHQ



18 comments:

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

Hmmmmmmm.....never even considered the weather at the storming of the Bastille.

Is the furry fox looking a bit peaky?

WFT Nobby said...

I foresee a long a bad tempered village meeting sometime soon, at which the main item on the agenda is an agonised debate on whether or not to raise the price of the Salles des Fetes meal…
Cheers, Gail.

Angus said...

Nothing like a long dry summer to get an inner city heaving or a revolution underway.

Yes, furry fox has lost three appendages in the last 24 hours.

Angus said...

This being France the meals are free, There is however a limit to how much you can do for €5 a head for lunch and €5.50 for dinner. Creativity finally runs out. Creativity, is not something that the 20 old folk are keen on. Easy chewing takes precedence.

Louise said...

Bob has a very good bastille day look

Coppa's girl said...

Oh poor furry fox - there will be nothing left for the morose lads - should they ever return to ROF - to throw. Did Sophie have anything to do with the loss of the three appendages ?

Anonymous said...

Particularly liked the white 'Tetley Tea' style cap.

Anonymous said...

The singing is fabulous.. It is hard to take Mr. Hollande seriously(he is on TV5 right now), he reminds me of Peter Sellars.

rottrover said...

Your lawn and the villiage green would fit in perfectly here in Southern California...Happy Bastille Day to Bob and Sophie!

Unknown said...

I suppose after the ladder is returned the mayor would like a glass or two of your best vintage!

Angus said...

His early morning 'dapper' look.

Angus said...

'Jaunty' doesn't do it justice.

Angus said...

Sophie was almost certainly involved in the appendage loss.

Angus said...

He's had a good week.

Angus said...

That dry ?

Angus said...

Surprise. Surprise.

Unknown said...

Even here in rainy Vancouver BC it is tinder dry, we have not had rain for about two months. Stage two water restrictions in effect. Total campfire ban.luckily not too many fires burning near us. We do have so much wind combined with our recent heat wave made for very dangerous conditions and yet idiots still threw their cigarette buts out the car window. They do not make cars with ashtrays now......
Well at the end of each stressful day we do have several glasses of vino!

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

I hope you had a lovely Bastille Day.
Here, with the temperatures in the 90'sF (and the newly invented "heat index" well over 100), we would be as parched as you if it were not for the explosive thunderstorms we seem to have every afternoon. We are all counting the sleeps till fall. And back to Scotland!