The permit.

Eight am in the departmental capital. The prefecture opens at eight thirty. The cafe where we usually have a coffee while waiting firmly shuttered. We go for  a long walk round the town to pass the time . 

When we get back to the prefecture it's eight fifteen. Proof of that old rule that time flows at a glacial pace when you're standing outside a government office on a cold, grey morning with nothing else to do. There is a gathering crowd of asylum seekers. Bored school children lean up against the wall of the school opposite and watch us. French school children are world class people watchers. They exude teenage disdain.  By eight twenty five quite a crowd has gathered.  Syria, Mali and Chad are well represented as is the UK. The Brits stand in mournful silence , their fellow permit applicants sit happily on the pavement and chat away.

Finally, the security gates swing open. Angus uses long rugby dormant skills and weaves his way through the crowd. I'm supposed to have the first appointment of the day but by the time I've made it past security the two permit windows are already in use. ' You'll need to wait for them' says the receptionist pointing to the two queue jumpers and stating the obvious. She then goes on to tell me that I've got to go into the waiting room . ' You can't stand here. Don't you know there's a pandemic ?'  

It goes without saying that the waiting room has, by this time, become a social hub of densely seated humanity.  Angus thinks of saying something to the ice maiden about social distancing but thinks better of it. A cheerful gentleman in a bright purple shirt comes and sits next to me . ' The washrooms have  a ceramic sink, soap and a thermostatically controlled system that produces just the right amount of hot water to wash your hands' he informs me. This is an unusual conversational gambit.  Angus thanks him for this insight but has to take a few moments to think through  what a thermostatically controlled system might be. It's rather early in the morning to be discussing weighty matters like this with a new found friend from Mopti.

After fifteen minutes the process is done. I've had my finger prints taken on one of those electronic scanners that never seem to work, my photo has been down loaded into the system and I've signed a 'Brexit' document. The new residence permit will be mailed in the next six weeks. Progress !

 

Paperwork.

A super quick blog this morning. 5:50 am. Angus is up early. Today he has a 8:30 am appointment at the prefecture. An hour and a bit drive down the motorway in the departmental capital. Last week he received an e-mail saying his post-Brexit residency permit was ready. Instead of being a 'communitaire' I'm now a resident alien which enables me to legally spend more than 180 days a year in France without a visa.

Sophie is none too happy to discover her family is up and about before she's fully awake. She does her best to pretend that no one is disturbing her rest. That PON trick of pretending if you ignore them they'll go away. The sound of 'The Font' opening the fridge door has her on her feet.

On Sophie's  'comfort break' tour of the village we are surprised to find four pilgrims and six horses trotting along the lane. The first pilgrims we've seen in two years. The logistics of riding to Spain on horseback must be complex. Where would you find feed for the horses ? Where would you stable them ? Perhaps there are companies that arrange equestrian travel itineraries.

 This is one of those little magical pieces of prose that sticks in the mind :https://annagat.substack.com/p/on-not-disappearing

Reverie interrupting

Overnight another mountain storm. A constant beat of thunder in the small hours lets us know its grumbling its way slowly over the ridge. This morning a few branches down and the ground satisfyingly soft after the rain. 

Breakfast Yogurt pots licked clean it's time for Sophie to head off on a Tuesday morning adventure. Today Angus, 'The Font' and the family diva are going for a long walk by the canal. We follow  a white van on the single track bridge that spans the river. The bridge was built in simpler, more leisurely days. For high speed 21st century living the bridge arches are alarmingly narrow. This doesn't bother the local white van drivers who zip along in speed limit denial.

The little porridge coloured Volvo is parked by the lock keepers cottage. We call it the lock keepers cottage and assume there is a lock keeper but we've never actually seen anyone emerge to do anything vaguely lock keepery. Perhaps, these days, it's all automated and the cottage is let out as a weekend retreat to Toulousians ? 'The Font' thinks that the capital investment needed to automate a canal that only has a handful of boats on it three months a year would be a very bad decision.

Sophie, as family diva, leads the way.

All goes well until the 7:32 train from Bordeaux to Toulouse ( stopping at Agen and Moissac ) goes hurtling by. The reverie interrupting train gets a full on PONette glare.

 So starts a new day with a Polish Lowland Sheepdog in deepest, deepest France profonde.

Unsung dinosaurs :https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ode-worlds-most-average-dinosaurs-180977614/

Double dose.

The weather all over the place. Nearly 30 degrees on Saturday.  Hail and 90 km/h winds on Sunday ( which pretty much did for the newly planted  dahlias and lupins ) . This morning grey and gusty. We're surprised to discover that one of the stone laying workmen is busily at work at 6:30.  We were told they'd be finished on Friday afternoon so this maybe a last minute rush to catch up.

The workman hasn't brought Jaffa Cakes. He is glared at then ignored. The family diva enjoys a brisk start of day walk down the hill followed by a  less brisk walk back up. The dog roses in full bloom after the rain.

Then its off along the motorway to the drive thru bakers. Three cars in front of us this morning. Mask wearing seems to be tapering off again - we seem to be the only people still wearing them . Purchases done Sophie and Angus then head off to a quiet corner of the car park to enjoy their croissant. The girl behind the drive thru window ( who did wear a mask ) was asked for one croissant but, following a conversation with Sophie ( who has yelped with delight ) , she's given us two. Such is the power of PONette mind control. Double curly croissant ends this morning.  Dog and master give this mornings offering a score of 11/10. 

To add to this mega stylish start to our day we then take a long leisurely stroll by the still closed shops. Sophie chases the car park ducks .A chic start ( by village standards ) to our Monday.

 

The ceremony.

Another May bank holiday. The second of four this month. This time it's the commemoration of  the end of WW2. Usually all that happens is the mayor comes along, borrows a ladder and puts out the flags on the war memorial. 

This year the new mayor - who is standing for re-election in May and who faces a National Front candidate- decides to hold a ceremony. A dozen or so old combatants show up at five to eleven. They are shepherded into line. The old mayor, resplendent in blazer, grey trousers and his tartan pork pie hat, holds the flag. They then salute ( twice as some of them didn't hear the command the first time it was issued ), lay a wreath, sing the national anthem and then head off to the village hall for a non-socially distanced glass or two of wine. We would have missed the ceremony altogether had it not been for the fact the new mayor had brought along a 'boom box' and a tape of the Marseillaise to help with the singing of the national anthem. The tape has 'stretched' ever so slightly. This generates a stirring but somewhat unusual fast-slow-slow-fast  rhythm. Sophie who is keen to see what is going on is 'encouraged' in from her vantage point at the gate.

 

Donkey.

Saturday morning. First light. A black and white C-A-T can be found contentedly asleep on the bench at the front door. It doesn't remain asleep for long. The C-A-T wakes, looks at Sophie, then escapes through the hedge . Sophie goes hurtling across the lawn in misplaced pursuit. C-A-T is safe; PONette happy.  

Grey and chilly as we set out from The Rickety Old Farmhouse. One of those days you know are going to be 'claggy' as soon as the sun is up and the heat builds.

A group of inquisitive young cows wander over to the fence to see us. Sophie is not amused. We pick up speed.

In the field where the slipper orchards grow wave upon wave of exotic looking blooms. Another variety of wild orchid ?

There was much commotion at the donkey farm three nights ago. This morning, way down at the bottom of their field, the reason for all the noise becomes apparent. The donkeys are too far away for the i-Phone to do them justice but a new, small, presence can be made out. He or she is enjoying a nap under the watchful gaze of a mother and two aunts. Could anything shout out 'French village' more than the arrival of a new donkey ?  I tell Sophie that all is well with the world.

After a morning full of  excitement the PONette is ready to lick the yogurt pots and have a reassuring ear chook before heading off to the strawberry farm.

 I'm not sure this is a very practical study. How would patient and bees work with one another ? :https://www.businessinsider.fr/us/scientists-taught-bees-to-smell-covid-19-infections-2021-5

Haughty indifference

 

Earlier in the week, when we were waiting for our jabs at the medical centre, a man wandered in to the reception to make an appointment for a vaccination. I'd expected that the staff would give him a date a month or six weeks in the future. Instead he was given an appointment the following day. Now, according to this mornings radio,  it's official. You can either turn up at the surgery in the evening to see if there's any vaccine left over or you can book up, whatever your age, and try for an appointment in the next 24 hours if there's a slot available.

Does this mean that the system is working to perfection ? Or, does it mean that take up of the vaccine(s) isn't what had been hoped for ? 

Here, the world is  calm and peaceful. A bit of a breeze this morning. The clouds ambling along above us. It was voting day in Scotland yesterday.  Despite the stormy weather turnout seems to have been high. It remains to be seen whether this helps or hinders the Nationalists with their call for independence. Sophie displays a haughty indifference to her companions conversation. She's much more interested in some fox poo she's discovered on the recently cut grass verge.

The man with anger management issues drives by. He stops long enough to tell us his court case against the builder has been delayed again. The fourth postponement due to the pandemic. 

Joan Collins is 82 and is releasing a new album of her greatest hits. The radio plays this as we head off to the river. Her voice really did have a remarkable tremulous clarity to it :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjA3FHAwIfk

Chicks !

Great news. Two tiny moorhen chicks are seen bobbing about happily on the village pond. As we approach their mother shoos them into the safety of the irises . From their size I'd guess they were two days old and this was their first outing. 

The pool men show up to start work on laying the stone round the pool. This is a surprise as the last thing we'd heard was that they were coming at the end of May.

The pump on the pools filtration system gave up the ghost three weeks ago. Angus arranged for a firm to come and fit the replacement. They were due next week but show up ( unannounced ) this morning to find the pool men hard at work laying stone. The chief pump replacement man is an unhappy individual. ' We can't get this done with these people faffing around' he says in a tone of voice that somehow conveys both irritation and a firm belief that I'm sixpence short of a shilling. They go. The pool house containing the pump is some distance away from the stone laying workmen so this reaction is a surprise.

Sophie is oblivious to this drama. All she knows is that there are workmen here and they haven't brought Jaffa cakes. 

 

Second jab day.

A start of day promenade by the river. Sophie leads the way. From time to time she turns and makes it quite clear that I need to pick up my pace. Sophie is an expert in non-verbal communication.

Back in the village our next door neighbours daughter is training a young horse. Sophie puts her head down and picks up her pace as we pass. You never know with young horses.

The wheat is now springing up. It's shoulder high to Sophie. In a couple of weeks she'll be able to wander into the field and be completely invisible among the tall stems. Her brother used to love charging through the wheat. Sophie is keen on it as long as she knows one of us is close by. Not so much timidity as prudence.

To the medical centre. Finding a space in the car park a challenge. They're running ten minutes late which means we have to wait in a room with a sign on the door saying ' To be occupied by no more than four patients'. Today it has fifteen people waiting for their jab. Angus  notes that two of the fifteen are wearing their masks around their chins. Can you become crowd phobic ?  The procedure itself takes forty five seconds. The nurse does the vaccination while the pharamacist prints out an official government confirmation that we're fully dosed up. A separate confirmation is downloaded onto an app on our phones. This phone app ( supposedly ) means we can travel when restrictions are eventually lifted.

I'm guessing  this seagull has done this many, many times before:https://mobile.twitter.com/gunsnrosesgirl3/status/1388202112941711365

This was unbelievable :https://mobile.twitter.com/gunsnrosesgirl3/status/1385908709356969984

Stubborn.

Our first start of day walk by the river in over a month. What is usually a forty five minute  stroll takes an hour. There are so many new scents to be savoured. Sophie will not be hurried. There is a French term, 'Tu es tetu', that reflects the PONettes attitude to being told to get a move on.

Strawberries which were E10 for four punnets are now E8 for five. I guess there's a couple more weeks of the growing season left before the heat brings it to an end.

The Old Farmer returns to to the village. His first post lockdown outing. Someone has scratched his car. Its one of those front to back, thin and deep scratches done by  a Stanley knife. He claims not to be bothered by this small act of vandalism but I can't help but feel he is. The venerable Mercedes is the pride and joy of this 91 year olds life.

River walk, visit to the strawberry farm and now a chat with the Old Farmer. Sophie does what she always does after a flurry of start of day hyperactivity .....  opts for a restorative nap.  This afternoon we get our second jabs.

 Remember car window winders ? :https://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/things-that-make-us-old?

Hearty.

A hearty good morning from Sophie who is in fine fettle. She somehow senses that a trip to the drive thru bakers is on the cards.

Can a day be perfect? Sun, the gentlest of breezes, an azure sky and fluffy clouds. Today we stop to admire the chestnut blooms on the tree in front of the church. The tree is in peak condition and after the rain of recent days the blooms  are outstanding.

School starts again today after a pandemic extended Easter break. The school bus is five minutes late. The two tikes and their long suffering ( 'They are nothing to do with me' ) teenage sister clamber on board followed by the rest of the village children. The teenage girl stares at her mobile phone so she doesn't have to recognize her brothers existence.  It goes without saying the 'tikes' look miserable over this end to their freedom. I'm guessing the mother is celebrating with a start of day glass of champagne .... or gin.

Angus and Sophie wander down the hill, past the Roman fort and then cut back up to the village through the fields. More fields than usual lying fallow this year. Has Covid upset the farmers routines or is this  just standard crop rotation ? Most probably the lack of seasonal workers from Senegal and Bulgaria . Fallow fields mean wild flowers ... in abundance . This is just fine for dog walkers.

 How many cruises to Antarctica can there be ? And this is just one company :https://us.ponant.com/destinations/antarctica?sortingCode=MY_SELECTION&hide=0

No embarrassment

Loic has had his second shot. I guess this means he has been fully Pfizerised. The doctor and a nurse went to the home and allowed twenty minutes per patient. Ample time to explain and calm. The old medical routine of one distracts while the other acts . After the jab Loic was given a small bag of Smarties . He'd happily do it all over again such is his liking for Smarties.

Sophie and her master set off on their walk. Our morning village focused routine takes us to the waterfall for a drink...

....then across the fields to the old Roman  road . We see from the oblong of grey that's appeared on the horizon that the farmer has pulled the netting across his apple trees.  The gold finches adore young apples....

..... then up the hill to the village and the pond. Some noisy toads but no sign of the moorhens this morning although 'The Font' saw them yesterday. Then home . Sophie makes it as far as the front door and then settles down for a restorative nap. There is only so much excitement a girl can take.

Angus has finished the weighty book on the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Boy was it heavy going.  It has been replaced by this  raved about, history of October 1962. Boy did we get close to the unthinkable.

Pandemic creativity. 75 variations of America the Beautiful coming on July 4th: https://www.america-beautiful.com/ . 75 versions sounds a lot - even for the most ardent patriot to listen to. Some of them I'm sure will be very avant garde.  Not wanting to put a damper on things but this World Series performance by Ray Charles is surely unbeatable : https://youtu.be/HlHMQEegpFs?t=32   Although this may come a close second and what a youthful looking backing choir ! :https://youtu.be/y1fihSpdEx8?t=125  

A truly important question :https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/restaurants/best-pizza-every-state

Boom !

Cool and cloudy. Perfect conditions for a long walk with Sophie. Down the ox track and then across the fields to the stream and the small waterfall. The weather has brought out magical smells in the long grass so our progress is of the 'fits and starts' variety.

The first solitary Poppy of the year makes an appearance at the edge of the wheat field.

For the French no less than four bank holidays in May. With so many we're never quite sure when the shops will be open or closed.  'The Font' heads off to the click and collect to stock up with anything we might need . Mid afternoon there's a huge bang. It sounds as if someone has fired off a shotgun. Angus checks the house and then goes down to the cellar to see if the boilers exploded. Everything's fine. All I can imagine is that one of the Rafale fighters from the Mont de Marsan airbase a hundred or so miles away must have gone supersonic and what I've heard is its sonic boom. France has sold the Indian government thirty six of the things and they're for ever passing over on test flights. This is the first time we've ever been bothered by such a window rattling boom. Sophie is quite unperturbed.

Strawberries from the strawberry lady and then time for Sophie to have a long restorative nap.

 These Irish donkeys are enjoying their first 'excursion' of the year :https://twitter.com/i/status/1387086676728688648